Menu Path: General Ledger Report Writer Financial Report Format Maintenance
Create a new report format for your financial reports.
Edit or delete an existing financial report format.
Use Financial Report Format Maintenance to create financial report layouts. Financial reports are comprised of two parts: the row definitions and the column definitions. The rows define what accounts or group of accounts constitute a line item. The time frame of the report is defined at the column level. The rows are defined in Financial Report Format Maintenance, and the columns are defined in Financial Report Print / Export. A financial report format is comprised of text lines, accounts, or groups of accounts, summaries of existing lines, calculations of existing lines, underlines, and page breaks.
This outline provides a structure or a template, on which many reports can be based. For example, if you create a Profit and Loss report, you can reuse the structure you develop here to run online reports, and print monthly, quarterly, or yearly reports. You can, using that same structure, create multiple layouts with columns representing past years, this year, budgets, etc., and perform comparisons based on the columns you have selected. Because the time period is not defined along with the layout, you have flexibility without redoing work.
For information on using percentages in your reports, see Financial Report Writer FAQ.
To create a financial report format:
Visualize the report. Have an idea of how you want the report to look when you are finished. If you have last year’s copy of a report, use that as the basis for the report you will enter. Verify that you know the account or accounts that make up a total in a specific row. When you have gathered the information you feel is relevant, you are ready to begin creating the report. Remember that this format can easily be updated. The following is an example of a visualized report:
Sample Balance Sheet Title
Assets Sub-Title
Cash: Bank 1 Account
Cash: Money Market Account Account
Total Cash Summary
Accounts Receivable Account
Blank Row
Total Assets Formula Row
Blank Row
Liabilities Sub-Title
Accounts Payable Account
If your company uses consolidation ledgers, verify the ledger ID for which you want to create a financial report format is entered in the Ledger ID field.
Enter a name for the report format in the Financial Report field.
Note You can base a new report on an existing report. To do this, enter the name of an existing report format in the Financial Report field, and change the name in that field. You can then edit the report, and save it with the new name.
Select a row type. For more information, see Row Types.
Enter information for the row. The available options depend on the row type you selected in step 4. If you want to create a blank space in the report format, use the Text Only row type, and leave the Description field blank.
Click the Enter button.
Repeat steps 4 to 6 until you have completed the entire financial report format.
Use the arrow buttons to move rows up or down, or change the indent values for rows.
Click the Save button in the ribbon. The report format is saved.
The available types of rows you can insert into your financial report format include:
Text Only - This type of row contains static text. This is used for titles, subtitles, and blank rows. If you want to indent the text row, enter the number of spaces you want to indent the row.
G/L Account - This type of row displays information for a general ledger account or reporting account. If you want to indent the general ledger account row, enter the number of spaces you want to indent the row.
NOTE A reporting account is a grouping of accounts, represented in one row. The software handles this type of group by creating a new account, available for reporting only by the financial report writer. For more information, see Defining a Reporting Account.
Summary - This type of row contains a description and the sum of two or more consecutive rows in the report format. To define a summary row, enter the row numbers for the first and last row you want to summarize. If you want to indent the summary row, enter the number of spaces you want to indent the row. Select the % Basis check box if you want values in the row to appear as percentages. Also, select whether the row defaults to a credit or debit.
Formula - This type of row consists of a description and a mathematical calculation for two rows. You can add, subtract, divide, or multiply rows. Enter the description, and select the rows by entering the row numbers in the Row fields. Select the operator for the calculation using the Lookup button. If you want to indent the formula row, enter the number of spaces you want to indent the row in the Indent field. Select whether the row defaults to a credit or debit, and check the Print and % Basis check boxes if desired. If you want your formula to consist of more than two rows, you must include the formula row in another formula, and so on, until the final formula contains all the desired rows.
Underline - This type of row inserts an underline into the report format. Clear the Print check box if you do not want the underline to appear on the printed report.
Page Break - This type of row inserts a page break into the report format.
A reporting account is a user-defined account created solely for reporting purposes. You can use reporting accounts to summarize data from a subset of your accounts. To create a reporting account, select the G/L Account radio button, and then click Reporting Account. The Reporting Account Maintenance window appears, and allows you to define the accounts that comprise the reporting account.
NOTE If you edit a reporting account definition, and it is used in multiple reports, it will change in every report in which it is used.
To print the report format, select output options on the Select tab, and click the Print button in the ribbon.
Button |
Description |
Exit |
Click this button to close the Financial Report Format Maintenance window. |
Delete |
Click this button to delete the selected financial report format. |
Cancel |
Click this button to clear all selections. |
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Click this button to output the report based on the selected options on the Print Options tab. |
Save |
Click this button to save the financial report format. |
Page Header |
Click this button to display Define Page Header, which allows you to define the page header for the selected financial report. |
Page Footer |
Click this button to display Define Page Footer, which allows you to define the page footer for the selected financial report. |
Field or Button |
Description |
Enter the name of a financial report format, or click the Lookup button to select an existing financial report format. |
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Enter a ledger ID for the financial report format, or click the Lookup button to select a ledger ID. Note This field is only available if at least one consolidation ledger is set up. |
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Select one of the following row types:
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Enter a description of the line. This field is only available if you select the Text Only, G/L Account, Summary, or Formula radio button. |
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Enter the percentage ID for a basis or grouping. This field is only available if you select the G/L Account, Summary, or Formula radio button. For more information on using these fields, see Financial Report Writer FAQ. |
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Select whether to use single or double dashes to create the underline. This field is only available if you select the Underline radio button. |
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Enter a general ledger or reporting account number, or click the Lookup button to select an account. This field is only available if you select the G/L Account radio button. |
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Enter a general ledger or reporting account description, or click the Lookup button to select an account. This field is only available if you select the G/L Account radio button. |
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Enter the first row in a range of rows to summarize. This field is only available if you select the Summary radio button. |
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Enter the last row in a range of rows to summarize. This field is only available if you select the Summary radio button. |
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Enter the rows to use for a calculation, and click the Lookup button to select a calculation to perform on the two rows. This field is only available if you select the Formula radio button. |
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Enter an amount to indent the line. This field is only available if you select the Text Only, G/L Account, Summary, or Formula radio button. |
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Select whether to display the starting or ending balance for the general ledger account. This radio set is only available if you select the G/L Account radio button. |
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Select whether to default to a credit or debit. This radio set is only available if you select the G/L Account, Summary, or Formula radio button. |
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Select this check box if you want the row to appear as a percentage. This check box is only available if you select the G/L Account, Summary, or Formula radio button. For more information on using this check box, see Financial Report Writer FAQ. |
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Select one of the following to control whether the data option selected for report columns is overridden for the row:
EXAMPLE You are creating a Statement of Cash Flows and the columns will display transactions. You can select Balance for specific rows that you want to display account balances. This radio set is only available if you select the G/L Account radio button. |
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Select this check box if you want the row to use a bold font. This check box is only available if you select the Text Only, G/L Account, Summary, or Formula radio button. |
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Select this check box if you want the row to use an italic font. This check box is only available if you select the Text Only, G/L Account, Summary, or Formula radio button. |
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Click the Lookup button to select the font color for the row. This field is only available if you select the Text Only, G/L Account, Summary, or Formula radio button. Example Red |
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Click this button to enter the format row at the end of the report. |
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Click this button to insert the format row after the selected row in the Rows grid. |
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Click this button to clear the entered row information. |
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Click this button to display Reporting Account Maintenance, which allows you to enter general ledger account filter criteria for the report. This button is only available if you select the G/L Account radio button. |
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Select this check box if you want the row to print. Clear this check box if you need to add together multiple formulas, and you do not want the subtotals to display in the report. This check box is selected by default, and is only available if you select the Text Only, G/L Account, Summary, Formula, or Underline radio button. |
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This grid displays rows in the report format. To edit a row, double-click it, or select it, and click Update. You can also edit values in the following columns directly in the grid:
You can click the left and right arrow buttons to decrease or increase the indent value for a selected row. You can click the up and down arrow buttons to move a selected row up or down in the report format. |
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Click this button to edit the selected row in the Rows grid. |
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Click this button to copy the selected row. When you click this button, the row options are copied above the Rows grid, but the copied row is not added to the report format until you click Enter or Insert. |
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Click this button to delete the selected row in the Rows grid from the report format. |
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Click this button to undo the last edit action you performed for the current financial report format. |
Field or Button |
Description |
Select one of the following output options:
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Save Report File |
Select this check box to save the Crystal Reports report (.rpt) file for the report to the folder entered in the Report Working Directory field for your user ID in User Profile Maintenance. You can use the report file to customize the report. For more information, see Crystal Reports FAQ. This check box is only available if you select the Screen radio button. |
Save Access Database File |
Select this check box to save the Access database (.mdb) file for the report to the folder entered in the Report Working Directory field for your user ID in User Profile Maintenance. You can use the Access database file to customize the report. For more information, see Crystal Reports FAQ. This check box is only available if you select the Screen radio button. |
Output File Type |
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Specify File Name |
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Output Directory |
Enter the location for the output report, or click the Lookup button to navigate to and select a location. This field is only available if the Specify File Name check box is cleared. |
Output File Name |
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Excel Format Name |
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Format Maintenance |
Click this button to display Excel Format Maintenance, which allows you to set up Excel formats. This button is only available if you select the Excel radio button. |
Save As Type |
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Include header |
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Delimiter |
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Enclosing Character |
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Printer |
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Subject |
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Report File Prefix |
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Add Additional Comments |
Select this check box if you want to include additional comments with the emailed report. If you select this check box, the Additional Comments window appears after you click the Print button in the ribbon, and allows you to enter the comments. This check box is only available if you select the Email radio button. |
Print Full Heading on All Pages |
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Print Title Line on All Pages |
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Report Language 1 |
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Report Language 2 |
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Horizontal Shading |
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Collate |
Select this check box to collate the printed copies of the report (if you are printing multiple copies of the report). This check box is cleared by default, and is only enabled if you select the Printer radio button and enter a value greater than 1 in the Number of Copies field. Example You are printing five copies of a 20 page report to distribute to five different people. Leave this check box selected, so that pages 1-20 of the first copy prints, then pages 1-20 of the second copy, etc. If you clear this check box, five copies of page 1 prints, then five copies of page 2, etc. |
Horizontal Shading Color |
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Number of Copies |
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Report Files |
This grid displays report files set up for the report, and is only available if report files are set up for the program in Report File Maintenance. This grid includes the following columns:
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