GLCMPMNT General Ledger Comparative File Maintenance
Comparative File Maintenance
Application Overview
The purpose of the Comparative File application is to maintain a prior‑year comparative amount that will be understood as the previous year's year‑to‑date activity for a given account, as of the end of the particular accounting period.
For example, sales of a particular product were $5,000 during each period of the previous fiscal year. Since P&L accounts are closed out at the end of each fiscal year there is a prior year beginning balance of zero. The comparative amounts for this account would appear as follows:
-----Comparatives----- | |
Begin Balance | 0.00 |
Period - 1 Balance | - 5,000.00 |
Period - 2 Balance | - 10,000.00 |
Period - 3 Balance | - 15,000.00 |
Period - 4 Balance | - 20,000.00 |
etc. |
|
Balance Sheet accounts are treated in much the same way although the prior year beginning balance would not necessarily be zero. Take for instance a cash account that had a beginning balance of $15,000 last year and increased by $1,000 during each period of the year. The comparative amounts for this account would appear as follows.
----- Comparatives ----- | |
Begin Balance | 15,000.00 |
Period - 1 Balance | 16,000.00 |
Period - 2 Balance | 17,000.00 |
Period - 3 Balance | 18,000.00 |
Period - 4 Balance | 19,000.00 |
etc. |
|
Be sure not to enter comparatives for undefined periods. If your fiscal year is comprised of 12 monthly periods you must leave the entry for period number 13 blank.
When comparative figures are printed on a Balance Sheet statement, the figure that is entered for that period is printed on the Balance Sheet. When comparative figures are printed on a P & L Statement, the figure that is entered for that period will print in the Year-To-Date column on he statement. The amount of change calculated from the previous period will print in the current column.
Credit entries must contain a minus sign in the first position to distinguish them from debit entries as in the examples above.
There is no default in the entry of comparatives.
At the end of the first fiscal year you will run the Year‑End Procedure application. This application will automatically update your comparative figures. Comparatives need only be entered once when the package is being first set up. Comparatives may be deleted or purged individually by account using Delete mode or they may be purged for a range using the List mode.
The Comparative Year refers to your fiscal year. Whenever a relative reference is made in this manual to the Comparative Year such as PY for Previous Year, the previous year is assumed to be equal to one year less than the year of the last period of the period file.
Run Instructions
Select Comparative File from the pull down G/L Maintenance window. The following screen will then be displayed:
Comparative File Maintenance Entry Screen
The following options are available:
- Select the desired mode from the Comparative File menu bar
- Enter the data requested on the screen
- To exit press the ESC or F10 key when the cursor is positioned for entry of the first field on the screen
To return to the menu bar, press the ESC or F10 key. To leave this application, press X for EXIT when positioned at the menu bar.
Entry Field Descriptions
Name | Type and Description |
1. Account No | An account number in the standard account number format. Enter a G/L account number. Enter F7 search by number or F8 to search by name. |
2. Comparative Year | 4 numeric characters that represent any year between 1900 and 2000. Enter the year that you want to reference for these comparative balances. If you are using a fiscal year that differs from the calendar year, calculate the comparative previous year by subtracting one from the year of the last period in the Accounting Period File. |
3. Begin Balance | 9 numeric digits with no decimal places and an optional minus sign (999,999,999-). Enter the appropriate starting balance. |
4. Period- 1 Balance thru Period-13 Balance | Each balance entry is a 9‑digit numeric field with no decimal places and an optional minus sign (999,999,999‑). Enter the appropriate Period Balance amount. |
List
Name | Type and Description |
Starting Account | A standard account in the standard account number format. Enter the starting G/L account number range. |
Ending Account | A standard account number in the standard account number format. Enter the ending G/L account number range. |
Starting Year | 4 numeric characters. Enter the starting year range. |
Ending Year | 4 numeric characters. Enter the ending year range. |
Purge Records? | Y or N. Enter Y to purge records or N to decline. |
Comparative File Maintenance (Account Search By Description)
Comparative Account List