The columns of the double-entry Accounts Table

Documentation •
In this article

 

The Accounts table is made up of several columns. Depending on the Views, columns are displayed simultaneously. Each column has its own purpose.

The data to be entered in the following columns are explained below:

  • Section
    Codes are being entered that allow the user to print determined parts of the Chart of accounts only, when printing the Enhanced Balance sheet by groups.
     
  • Group
    Contains the code that defines that this is a group row. The group code is then used in the GR column to indicate the total of an account or group.
     
  • Account
    The account number, cost center or segment is being entered.
     
  • Description
    A text to indicate the name of the account, group, or section.
     
  • Disable (only visible in the Other view)
    By entering 1, the account does not appear in the auto-complete list, but can be used in the Transactions table;
    By entering 2, the account is disabled and can not be used.

     
  • BClass
    It indicates whether the account is 1 = Assets, 2 = Liabilities, 3 = Expenses, 4 = Revenue, see Accounts page
     
  • Sum in (Gr)
    The code of a group is indicated so that the programme totals the amount of the line in the group.
    The heading 'Sum in' has been adopted with the Banana Plus version.
    The column name has remained Gr, to maintain compatibility with earlier versions of the programme.
     
  • Gr1 and Gr2
    Enter additional grouping codes to use with external accounting report files.
     
  • Opening balance
    • The account balance is entered at the beginning of the year.
    • Credit amounts must be entered with a minus sign in front
    • The sum of all the amounts, those in debit (positive) and credit (negative) of the accounts belonging to classes 1,2,3 and 4 must result as zero. If the opening balances do not balance, a difference is indicated in the information window.
      If accounts have been added and the difference is not exact, Recalculate the accounting.
    • The opening balance, in the balance sheet accounts, is used to calculate the current balance.
    • If values have been entered in the Budget table, the opening balance is used by the program for opening financial planning.
    • For further information, see the Double Entry Opening Balances page.
       
  • Debit and Credit movements (Protected columns)
    The total of the debit and credit movements included in the Transactions table.
    • If there are no errors, the totals of the two columns are balanced, otherwise a difference is displayed in the Balance column which must be checked and corrected.
    • In line called Difference must be zero, regarding these two columns, it is correct that there are amounts. The important thing is that their values are equal. See also Mathematical Basis of Accounting.
       
     
  • Balance  (Protected column)
    The balance of the account includes the opening balance and the movements in debit and credit.
    The balance in debit is positive, while a credit balance is negative (minus sign).
     
  • Budget
    You enter the budget amount for the current period.
    • The budgeted amount for costs (debit) must be entered in positive, for revenue in negative (credit).
    • If the Budget table has been activated, the Budget column in the Accounts table is protected and the amounts are those calculated on the basis of the budget postings.
       
  • Difference Budget (Protected column)
    The difference between Balance and Budget amount.
     
  • Previous
    The balance of the account at the end of the preceding year.
    With the command Create new year or Update opening balances the values in the Balance column of the file of the preceding year are being carried forward.
    When a new accounting is being created and the user wants to obtain printouts with the amounts of the preceding year, the values of that year have to be entered manually.
     
  • Difference Prev. year (Protected column)
    The difference between the Balance and the amount of last year.
     
  • VATNumber
    The VAT number in case this account is linked to a client or a supplier.
     
  • VATCode
    The VAT code that needs to be applied automatically, when this account is being entered in the debit A/c or credit A/c column of the Transactions.
     
  • Address columns
    These columns are used to enter the addresses of the customer and supplier accounts. If the columns are not present, they can be added by activating them via the Tools → Add new features → Add address columns menu in the Accounts table.
     

Adding or moving columns

  • When an Amount column is being added in the Chart of accounts, the program will calculate the total of the amounts according to the selected grouping scheme
  • Columns added of the number type, on the contrary, are not being totaled.
  • With the Columns setup command, the columns can be displayed, the sequences can be altered and it is equally possible to add other columns.
  • With the Page setup command one can also define the layout of the print (portrait or landscape) and the zoom.
     

Accounts list sorted by description or other criteria

To obtain lists of accounts sorted in different ways, use the Extract and sort rows command from the Data menu. We recommend you to be very careful when sorting the rows with different criteria in order not to create confusion in the groupings and totals.

Views

The chart of accounts is created with default views.
  • Base The principal columns, the grouping columns and the balances are displayed.
  • Transaction The columns with the Debit and Credit transactions are displayed.
  • Budget The Budget column and the Difference Budget column are displayed. 
  • Previous The Previous column and the Difference Prior columns regarding the previous year are displayed. 
  • Other The Disable column, the VAT number and the Fiscal number column are being displayed.
  • Print Only the Account column, the Description and the Balance are being displayed.

The views can be customized and others can be added with the Views setup command.

 

Tell us how we can help you better
If the information on this page is not what you're looking for, is not clear enough, or is not up-to-date, let us know.

Share this article: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email