• Section
  Codes are being entered that allow the user to only print determined parts of the Chart of accounts, 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 totalization 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 autocomplete 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 the Accounts
• Gr (Totalize in)
  It indicates a group so that the program can totalize this line in the group.
• Gr1 and Gr2
  Additional grouping codes to use with external accounting report files.
• Opening balance
  Insert the account balance at the beginning of the year.
  The amounts in credit must be entered preceded by a minus sign. The total of the debit amounts (positive) and those in credit (negative) must balance and result in zero. If the opening balances do not balance a difference is shown in the information window.
  If you have added or pasted accounts and the difference is not correct, proceed with a Recheck of the accounting (Shift + F9)
• Movement Debit and Movement Credit (Protected columns)
  The total of the debit and credit movements included in the Transactions table.
• 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
  The budget amount for the current year is being entered.
  The budget amount for the Expenses (debit) must be inserted in positive, the Revenue in negative (credit).
• 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.
• Prev. yr. Difference (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.
• Adresses columns
  It is possible to have the program add addresses columns in order to manage customers or suppliers data.
   

Adding or moving columns

• When an Amount column is being added in the Chart of accounts, the program composes the total of the amounts according to the selected grouping scheme
• Added columns of the Number type, on the contrary, are not being totaled.
• With the Columns setup command, the columns can be made visible, the sequences can be altered and it is also 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 ordered by description or other criteria

In you need to order your accounts in a different way, use the Extract and sort rows command from the Data menu.

Views

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

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

Bookkeeping accounts

In order to create an account, go to the Accounts table and enter a number or a code in the Account column.
This same number is then used in the Transactions table as Debit or Credit account.

• The account number can be composed by numbers, letter and separations characters.
• It is not possible to have more than one account with the same number.
• Each account must have a BClass and must belong to a group.
   

The BClass

Each account must belong to one of the following BClasses:

• 1  for Assets
• 2  for Liabilities
• 3  for Expenses
• 4  for Income

The BClasse number must be as indicated, regardless the account or group code. It is also possible to create Off Balance Sheet accounts (for example for warranty down payments, e conditional committments), that must have the following BClass:

• 5 for Off Balance Sheet: Assets
• 6 for Off Balance Sheet: Liabilities

Opening balances

The opening balance of each account is entered in the Opening + currency symbol column.

• The Assets balances are shown normally
• The Liabilities balances are entered with the minus sign (negative)
• Usually only the Assets and Liabilities opening balances are entered.

In order to automatically transfer the opening balances for the following year, please visit the Create New Year lesson.

Opening balances differences

In a correct accounting file, the total of the Assets opening balance should be equal to the total of the Liabilities opening balance, so no differences are shown.
If the totals do not match, the program will show a warning message telling you that there is a opening balances difference (Information window).
If you have changed some account numbers and you think the error message is not correct, please Recheck the accounting.
When using Banana Accounting for the first time, the opening balances must be entered manually.

Accounts with addresses

It is possible to add a few columns in the chart of accounts, to include the addresses management:
Tools menu -> Add new functionalities command

This command will add in the Chart of accounts the following things:

• several columns (name, last name, company, town, ...) where you can enter the client / supplier / member address and data
• the Address view where you can see the added columns (in order to change the view or the views organization please consult the Tables setup page)

Clients/supplier register
When in the accounting plan you need to manage a clients/supplier register, meaning a specific account list for all clients, you need to have complete data with address, phone number, email, VAT number, etc. in this case adding the columns of the Address view is very useful.

The grouping and totaling system

Banana has developed a very practical and immediate grouping system, which allows you to set in the Accounts table all the information necessary to define the structure of the balance sheet, profit & statement and other reports. You can therefore setup:

• Titles
• All the needed accounts, including client and customer records, cost centers and segments
• All groups and totaling levels you need (up to 100)

The grouping system is flexible; it allows you to implement any national chart of accounts and at the same time to adapt it to the specific needs of your business. Both very simple and very complex plans and presentations can be created.
Another advantage of this system is that it allows you to see the results immediately. Next to each account and group, you immediately see balance, movement and budget. Totals are updated istantly as you edit your file.

How the grouping system works

The Banana grouping and totaling system is based on the following columns of the Accounts table:

• Group (Total row)
  When, in a row, a group identifier is being entered, the row becomes a TOTAL row.
  In this row the amounts of the Gr column, that contain the same identifier, are being totaled. 
  When a group is present, there cannot be an account.
• Gr (Adds this row into the TOTAL row)
  The number here must be one of the numbers defined in the Group column.

With this system, an account can be totaled in a group row, the group in another group and so on... in order to create different totaling levels. 
This totaling system is very flexible, but it takes some "getting used" to, in order to be able use it well.

Examples of the main groups in the Double-entry accounting

Every accounting file template uses its own totaling system. Hereunder the main groupes of the Double-entry accounting are being explained.

In the Double-entry accounting, the total of the Debit balances (positive) together with the Credit balances (negative) have to result in 0 (zero).

• The 00 is the row where all the amounts are being added together.
  It is the grand total of all the Debit & Credit balances.
  In case the Balances columns do not amount to zero, it means there is a Debit/Credit difference and thus most likely a mistake. In these cases it is useful to proceed with a checking of the accounting
  In the Debit and Credit columns of the Transactions view (Accounts table), there are only positive amounts, so also in the row of the 00 group, there will be the total of the transctions not equal to zero.

The calculation sequence to arrive at 00 is therefore as follows:

• The 1000 account -> group 1 (Total Assets)-> Group 00
• The 2000 account -> group 2 (Total Liabilities) -> Group 00
• The 3000 account -> group 3 (Total Revenue) -> Group 02 (result Profit & Loss Statement)  ->  Group 297 (Profit/Loss of the current year in the Balance Sheet) -> Group 2 (Total Liabilities) -> Group 00.
• The 4000 account -> group 4 (Total Expenses) -> Group 02 (result Profit & Loss Statement)  ->  Group 297 (Profit/Loss of the current year in the Balance Sheet) -> Group 2 (Total Liabilities) -> Group 00.
   

The result of profit & loss statement is added in equity

As you can see in the example, the Group 02 (Profit /Loss from Profit & Loss statement) is totalized in the 297 liabilities group (current year result).
With this group organization, we have several advantages:

• In current year operating result is displayed in the balance sheet
• The Total Liabilities will match the Total Assets (provided that there is no accounting error).

Adding or deleting subgroups

Adding a totaling level

With this system it is easy to add totaling levels.
When we want to create a subgroup for the Cash & Cash equivalents accounts:

• Enter an empty row after the bank account
  • Enter the value 10 into the Group column
  • Enter the value 1 into the Gr column
• Indicate the Gr 10 in the accounts 1000 et 1020
• The sequence for the calculation becomes:
  The 1000 account -> Group 10 (Cash & Cash equivalents) -> Group 1 (Total Assets) -> Group 00. 

In case you want to insert another subgroup, "Current Assets", proceed in the same way.

• Add an empty row above the row of the Total Assets.
• In the new row:
  • Indicate the number 11 in the Group column
  • Indicate the number 1 in the Gr column
• In the Clients and Goods for resale (inventory) rows, indicate the Gr 11.

Deleting subgroups

In case the Chart of accounts shows subgroups that are no longer needed or not wanted, these can be deleted. Just delete the row of the subgroup and modify the Gr of every account that was part of that subgroup.

Checking of the structure

Once the Chart of accounts has been set up, execute the Check accounting command of the Account1 menu. In case there are errors, the program issues a warning.

Infinite loop error

This warning appears when a Group is being totaled in a Group of a lower level, reason for which an infinite error loop is being created.
There would be an infinite loop when, in the preceding example, the Assets Group (1) would be totaled in Group 10.
The program, after having calculated the Group 1, would total the amount in Group 10, which in turn would total the amount in Group 1, and then again in 10 without ending.

Profit & Loss Statement with Gross Profit

It is also possible to use a Profit & Loss Statement that starts with the total Business result and that subtracts the costs.
Hereunder the example of the Swiss PME Chart of Accounts is shown.

Extended use of the totaling system

The totaling system is very flexible:

• In one Group, it is possible to add Groups as well as Accounts
  This can be seen in the earlier shown example where the Group Cash & cash equivalents (10) and the accounts (1100 and 1300) are being totaled in the Assets
• You can use whatever kind of numbering
• You can create up to a hundred totaling levels
  • The Total row can be after the rows
  • The Total row can be before the rows
  • The Total row can be completely elsewhere, in a separate position
    This is being used to create registers (for example, a client register)
• The accounts and the Groups can be totaled in one single other Group.
  It is not possible to total one and the same account at the same time in two groups.
• This system is also being used to total the Cost centers and the Segments
  Pay attention though to not use different groups for normal accounts and for cost centers, because the resulting amounts will not be correct. 

Totaling of the Amount columns

The calculation procedure totals the amount columns

• The amount columns defined by the system are being totaled.
• The amount columns added by the user are being totaled.

The sequence of the calculation

The programme calculates the totals in the following manner:

• Sets the values of the Amount columns of the Groups rows on zero
• Totals the amounts of the Account rows into the Group rows (first calculation level)
• Adds the balance of the Group rows into the Group(s) of a superior level
  Repeats the operation until all the levels have been calculated.

Related Documents

• Opening balances

In order to create automatically an Enhanced Balance Sheet with groups, the chart of accounts needs to be configured with special codes that are to be entered in the Section column:

Sections in the Assets

• Enter a * on the same row as the Balance Sheet title
• Enter 1 on the same row as the Assets title

Sections in the Liabilities

• Enter 2 on the same row as the Liabilities title

Sections in the Profit & Loss Statement

• Enter a * on the same row as the Profit/Loss Statement title
• Enter 4 on the empty row below the Profit/Loss Statement title

Note: when there is a clear distintion between Revenue and Expenses in the Chart of accounts, you need to:

• Enter 3 on the same row as the Expenses title
• Enter 4 on the same row as the Revenue (Income) title .

Sections in the clients/suppliers register

• Enter * in the same row as the Clients/Suppliers register title or on a empty row (as in the following example)
• Enter 01 on the same row as the Clients register title
• Enter 02 on the same row as the Suppliers register title

The amounts will be shown in the same way as for the Assets and the Liabilities.
This encoding is also valid when the clients and suppliers are configured as cost centers.

In case there are cost or profit centers configured, enter the following elements

• An * on the row of the Costs and Profit Centers title, or on a empty row
• 03 on the same row as the Cost centers title or on an empty row preceeding the Cost Centers
• 04 on the same row as the Profit centers title or on an empty row preceeding the Profit Centers

The Cost Centers amounts will be shown as positive (in black) like the expenses; the Profit Centers amounts will be shown in negative (in red)  like the revenue;

For more information please vist the Sections logic page

Related document: Enhanced Balance Sheet with groups

Adding a new account or category

• Position yourself in the row above the one where you want to add the new account
• Add a new empty row with the command Add rows from the Edit menu
• In the columns, insert the account number, the description, the BClass (1 for the Assets, 2 for the Liabilities, 3 for the Expenses and 4 for the Revenue), and the Gr which needs to be the same as the one inserted for the accounts belonging to the same Group.

Note: If you first enter a transaction with a non existing account and later you create the new account in the accounting plan, you will first get an error message, that will go away only if you recheck the accounting with the Shift + F9 key, or the Recheck accounting command from the Account1 menu.

Adding a new group

• Position yourself in the row above the one where you want to add the new group
• Add a new empty row with the command Add rows from the Edit menu
• In the columns, insert the group number, the description and the Gr which needs to be the same as the group you wish this group to be totalized.

Renaming an account or a group

• Position yourself in the Account or Group column in the Accounts table, or in the Category column of the Categories table (or in the VAT code column in the VAT codes table)
• Choose the Rename command from the Data menu
• Enter the new account, group, category or code number

The program will automatically update the Transactions table with the new number or code.

Deleting an account or a group

• Position yourself on the row number that contains the account that is to be deleted
• From the Edit menu, click on the Delete rows command
• Enter the number of rows that you wish to delete

After deleting an account, a category or a group it is necessary to use the Recheck accounting command from the Account1 menu. The program will give you a warning message if the deleted account, category or group was used in the Transactions table.