Video help

In this video:

Creating divisions
Import file requirements
Importing Trial Balances
Allocating
Importing using mapping (View further videos on mapping)

Jump to a specific point in the video with the chapters button in the video.

Example of importing a Trial Balance

See the Import examples topic to see some examples of:

importing a single Trial Balance
importing multiple Trial Balances
importing using Mapping by Account
importing using Mapping by Code

Trial Balance features

Image shows the Trial Balance screen in the software. The on-screen options have been labelled with numbers which correspond to the numbers in the table below.

	Option	Function	Notes
1	Sync editing	Synchronises edits made to manually edited allocations	On: edit an allocation and all period allocations for that account will be updated to the same allocation Off: only the edited allocation is changed The default Sync editing setting for reports can be changed via My Preferences
2	Allocation display format	Changes how the allocation is displayed	Code: allocations are presented with the code first, then the description, for example: CACOH - Cash on hand Description: allocations are presented with the description first, then the code, for example: Cash on hand - CACOH
3	Import	Import a Trial Balance from Excel	See Trial Balance import format
4	Map	Map a Trial Balance	Select a division, all accounts or just unallocated accounts to apply a mapping method Automatic: The software analyses the account descriptions and automatically maps accounts to an Accurri code Filter: Filter the Trial Balance to the accounts to be mapped to an Accurri code and map them all at once Learn: Accurri can learn your existing mapping. If a Mapping by Account file has been imported, this will be applied to an imported Trial Balance(s)
5	Move	Move a Trial Balance to a different division	Select a division to move the Trial Balance from and to
6	Delete	Delete a Trial Balance	Select a division to delete the Trial Balance from
7	Clear balances	Sets all balances in a division and period to zero	Select a division and period to clear the balances from
8	Replace	Find and replace allocations	Select an allocation, division and period to find and replace with another allocation
9	Export	Export to Excel	Exports to Excel including any filters
10	New division	Adds a new consolidation division	Divisions can also be created and imported in Edit entity
11	Current balance	The current period balance	Balance cannot be edited directly in the Trial Balance, it is locked to ensure good audit trail
12	Current allocation	Current period Accurri allocation	Type all or part of an allocation or description. A full list of codes is available here Different periods can have the same, or different allocations, for a single account (Note: Sync editing must be switched Off, see above)
13	Prior balance	Prior period balance	Balance cannot be edited directly in the Trial Balance, it is locked to ensure good audit trail
14	Prior allocation	Prior period Accurri allocation	Type all or part of an allocation or description. A full list of codes is available here Different periods can have the same, or different allocations, for a single account (Note: Sync editing must be switched Off, see above)

What are Trial Balance Import methods?

There are several methods to import a Trial Balance file:

Standard Trial Balance: The default import to be used when not using either of the mapping methods
Mapping By Account Trial Balance: This option will only appear when Mapping by account is setup. The Trial Balance will be allocated based on the allocations in the mapping module.
Mapping By Code Trial Balance: This option will only appear when Mapping by code is setup. The Trial Balance will be allocated based on the allocations in the mapping module.

Read more about the mapping methods in the Mapping topic or see the Import examples topic for more examples on importing a Trial Balance.

Import a single Trial Balance

To import a single Trial Balance into a new report (the required file format is shown below):

Click Inputs > Trial Balance
Click Import
Select Number of Trial Balances to import - Single
Select the Division name
Select the Trial Balance import method (unless using the Mapping module select Standard Trial Balance)
Select the file to import
Click OK
When importing a single Trial Balance, the first visible worksheet in the Excel file will be imported into the division selected

See the Import examples topic for examples on importing a Trial Balance.

Import multiple Trial Balances

To import multiple Trial Balances into a new report (the required file format is shown below):

Click Inputs > Trial Balance
Click Import
Select Number of Trial Balances to import - Multiple
Select the Trial Balance import method (unless using the Mapping module select Standard Trial Balance)
Select the file to import
Click OK

See the Import examples topic for examples on importing a Trial Balance.

Import file format

Trial Balances are imported via an Excel file without a header in the file. The requirements for each column are:

	Column A	Column B	Column C	Column D	Column E	Column F
Column	Account number	Account name	Current balance	Prior balance	Current allocation	Prior allocation
Required	Required *	Required	Optional ^	Optional ^	Optional	Optional
Notes	100 characters maximum length	200 characters maximum length	Currency	Currency	5 characters	5 characters

The requirements for an interim report are: Note: Interim reporting is only available with a Platinum licence and an interim basis of preparation.

	Column A	Column B	Column C	Column D	Column E	Column F	Column G	Column H
Column	Account number	Account name	Current balance	Prior balance	Current allocation	Prior allocation	Annual balance	Annual allocation
Required	Required *	Required	Optional ^	Optional ^	Optional	Optional	Optional Interim reports only	Optional Interim reports only
Notes	100 characters maximum length	200 characters maximum length	Currency	Currency	5 characters	5 characters	Currency	5 characters

* Account numbers must be unique (no duplicate account numbers). If the Trial Balance does not have an account number, copy the account name from Column B to Column A, assuming each description is unique.

^ An 'optional' column means it does not have to contain data, but the column must still exist. For example, if importing the current period balance and allocations:

Column C would contain the balance
Column D would be blank
Column E would contain the allocation

See the Import examples topic for examples on importing a Trial Balance.

The following image shows a valid sample file:

Image shows a valid Excel import file with the data in the correct columns.

If imported into a new report, the above file would import:

Current period balances
Prior period balances
Only the current allocation is populated in the file, so this would also be used for the prior allocation

The balance columns are rounded to 2 decimal places when imported, in accordance with the currency system. For example, in Excel a balance of 12.4567 will be imported into the software as 12.46.

Allocate or map a Trial Balance

The following methods are available to allocate, or map, accounts:

Include the allocation in the imported Trial Balance Excel file (the required file format is shown above)
Manually allocate each account by typing the allocations into Trial Balance screen
Use Mapping by Account
Use Mapping by Code

Map

To see additional options, click Map after importing a Trial Balance:

Automatic: The software analyses the account descriptions and automatically maps accounts to an Accurri code
Filter: Filter the Trial Balance to the accounts to be mapped to an Accurri code and map them all at once
Learn: Accurri can learn your existing mapping. If a Mapping by Account file has been imported, this will be applied to an imported Trial Balance(s)

Changing allocations for the Current or Prior period

Allocations can be changed for only the current period, only the prior period or both periods, depending on the Sync editing setting applied. The system default setting is that Sync editing is On, meaning changing an allocation for an account in the current period will also change the allocation for that account in the prior period (and vice versa). If the allocation for only one period must be changed, Sync editing must be turned Off.

The system default can be changed to the following options via My Preferences:

On: Sync editing will be On each time the trial balance screen is opened in any report
Off: Sync editing will be Off each time the trial balance screen is opened in any report
Remember: The Sync editing setting that was last used for the report will apply each time the Trial Balance screen is opened in the report

To change the Sync editing default setting:

Click Administration > My preferences
Select the Sync editing default setting, either On, Off or Remember

Import errors

Errors that could occur while importing a Trial Balance:

Importing multiple Trial Balances, but only one imported - ensure Multiple is selected
Hidden columns in the Excel file. Check this in Excel, by selecting all columns, right mouse click and select Unhide.
Blank rows in the Excel file
Totals at the bottom of the balance columns
Account number is blank
Account number is duplicated (each account number must be unique)
Account description is blank
Extra information in the Trial Balance Excel file. Open the Trial Balance in Excel and press and hold the CTRL key and then press the END key. This will scroll to the end of the data in the file. Check the last row Excel moves to is the last row of the Trial Balance, if it is not, delete the extra rows
Formulas or links in cells. Formulas or links cannot be imported as values. To check if the Excel file contains formulas or links in cells, navigate to the Data menu and click Edit links. If formulas or links are present, copy the data from the Excel file and paste as values into a new Excel file

How totals are calculated for Interim Reports

For Interim Reports, as the comparative period covers two different periods (generally, statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income being 12 months ago and the statement of financial position being 6 months ago), the interim performance and the prior position balances are ignored.

When preparing an Interim Report, the 'prior' totals are calculated as follows:

Statement of profit or loss: aggregate of 'Trial Balance' and 'Adjustments' from the prior columns (Columns E and F)
Statement of financial position: aggregate of 'Trial Balance' and 'Adjustments' from the annual columns (Columns G and H)

Warnings

The following warnings may be shown:

If any period does not balance, a balance warning will be displayed, one warning for each period that does not balance
If any period contains an allocation of 'UNSET - Unallocated account', an UNSET warning will be displayed. Clicking on the warning will filter the Trial Balance to show UNSET allocations for the period clicked

If an UNSET warning is received the following actions can be taken to deal with it:

Update the UNSET allocations to the required allocation by typing the correct allocations or by using the Replace option
Export the Trial Balance, update the UNSET allocations to the required allocations and import the Trial Balance again
If mapping has been used, apply mapping to UNSET accounts by clicking the Mapping button

To delete the accounts:

Export Trial Balance, delete any UNSET account rows which are no longer required and import the Trial Balance again

All UNSET allocations are ignored by the software.

What Trial Balance should be imported?

For a new report, the Trial Balance should reflect the level at which the auditors audit. Do not import a summary Trial Balance, as the comprehensive audit trail will be of no use to the auditors. The Trial Balance should be unedited from the General Ledger (do not edit in Excel), with any adjustments posted, so the auditors can trace the numbers and check next period retained earnings matches. The end objective for a new report is to balance the comparatives to the previous report.

For a report that has been rolled forward, the Trial Balance should have the same account number format as previously imported and only the current period has to be imported (so 3 columns (A: account number; B: account name; and C: current period balance), no comparatives or allocations). See the examples topic to see some examples of importing a single Trial Balance, importing multiple Trial Balances, importing using Mapping by Account and importing using Mapping by Code. See the Trial Balance topic to read more about the format required for a Trial Balance.

If the profit or loss details expenses by function, there are two ways the numbers are calculated:

Expenses in the Trial Balance are broken down by function, generally by cost centre (so you don't just have one salaries and wages, you have multiple salaries and wages by cost centre)
The Trial Balance does not provide a breakdown, so all expenses (bar 'Finance costs' and perhaps 'Cost of sales', it depends on the circumstances) are put to 'Other expenses' (for instance allocation EXPZS) and an Adjustment is posted to split expenses, which would then refer back to the methodology, a workpaper or a report so the auditors are clear where the numbers come from

There are varying degrees to this and there are many scenarios. For instance, expenses not by true function, just the bulk of expenses put to varying categories, for instance 'Marketing' consisting of direct advertising and promotion costs but not the employee costs of the marketing department. You want to balance the prior period and ensure you have a good audit trail, so the first option is preferred and second option is the fallback position.

US GAAP Trial Balances

It is common to have US GAAP Trial Balances and these are imported in Inputs > Trial Balance. Any IFRS related adjustments / journals are entered in Inputs > Adjustments. The adjustments aggregate into the reported numbers and show separately in the Audit Trails.

Change of General Ledger

When there is a change of General Ledger ('GL'), the account numbers (the primary key in the database) change and there will no longer be a 'match' (for both balances and allocations) for the new Trial Balances to the existing data (old Trial Balances). For a change of GL, there are two approaches that are broadly described below:

1) Retain the old GL Trial Balances for the prior period and import the new GL Trial Balances into the current period and allocate these (the result is that you will have mixed account numbers, old and new GL's, in the Trial Balances and Audit Trails).

The main pro to this approach is that there will be no issues with balances that were consolidated in the GL conversion (such as employee benefit expenses merged with general expenses).
The main con to this approach is that there is no direct comparison and any inconsistent allocations period-to-period are harder to find (but not impossible, as the Audit Trail clearly identifies each account).

2) Re-import Trial Balances, including both current and prior period, from the new GL and allocate these.

The main pro to this approach is that there will be matching data and direct comparison for both periods.
The main con to this approach is that there could be significant work creating adjustments (via Inputs > Adjustments), if numbers do not match and need manual intervention for splitting as they are not just a reallocation in the Trial Balance. This could be because profits, assets, liabilities, etc being completely different from the old GL to the new GL, for whatever reason. More often, it is to do with expenses being reorganised and often consolidated (such as staff training, customer training and supplier training being merged into one account 'Training', whereas for the financial statements for the prior period these could have been allocated to three separate expense lines).

Also, with either approach, there may be issues with current opening retained earnings balances not matching the prior closing balance. This will relate to mismatched profits between the old GL and the new GL. The conversion of GL's is often not a perfect science, as organisations strive to improve the GL.

Finally, with either approach, a scoping exercise needs to be undertaken to work out the best approach, much like when you first set-up your reports in the software. This scoping exercise should also consider utilising features like Modules > Mapping, which saves significant work when setting up multiple Trial Balances that have a common General Ledger Chart of Accounts.