How to edit settings for a General Ledger Account
Go to to open a table of accounts.
To view or edit a specific account, double-click on an account or highlight an account in the table and click the Select button. Either of those actions will pull up a General Ledger Account window like this:
On the upper part of the window the following information will appear:
- The title at the top of the window displays the folder and subfolders in which this account appears, followed by the account description.
- The G/L Account code (the field is called Account on this screen) is the code used throughout the system to identify this account. Review the Adding General Ledger Accounts section for more details about creating this code. Review the Changing or Moving an Account to Another Folder section for instructions on how to change the G/L Account entry.
Select a different G/L account by using the lookup button located to the right of the Account field.
Use the page arrow buttons to navigate to the first account, previous account, next account, or last account.
To change the Folder in which this account resides, click on the down arrow and select a new folder. Note that the account code needs to be within the range allowed in the selected folder. Review the Changing or Moving an Account to Another Folder section for instructions on how to move to another folder at the same time the G/L Account entry is changed.
General Tab
Select an account from Financials > Chart of Accounts, and the following window will appear. Select the General tab:
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On the General tab, the account Type cannot be changed after an account is created. The possible types are Asset, Liability, Capital, Revenue, or Expense.
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Inactive is a check box for accounts that are no longer being used. If an account is inactive, a warning message will be displayed each time the account code is entered. For more information, review the section on Making an Account Inactive.
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The Description should be the name of the account. (For example: Checking Account, Retail Sales, Advertising, etc.) The account description can be changed without any adverse effects on the system. Best practices: make the account description short, clear, and specific, so an accountant can come into the system and understand what each account is used for without needing to ask.
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The Department field describes the department identified in this account. If the department code is zero (XXXXX-000), this entry can be used to further describe the account. See the Departments and Profit Centers section for more details.
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Use the Note to record any important information about this account. This entry is used only for miscellaneous information and is not printed on most general ledger financial reports.
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The Reconcile This Account checkbox makes the accounting system include the account in the reconciliation function. Checking this box will activate the Reconcile button on the general tab and add some additional entry fields in the advanced tab. For more information, review the section on Account Reconciliation.
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The Bank Account button will be active only on accounts that are classified as bank accounts. See the section on Account Classification for more on how to classify accounts as bank accounts.
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Click Budget to display budget totals for account. See section on Budgets for more information.
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The Profit Centers button will be active if the Use Profit Center switch is enabled in the tab. Review the section on Departments and Profit Centers for more information on using Profit Centers.
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The New button brings up the wizard to add a new General Ledger account. Review the Adding General Ledger Accounts section for further instructions.
Review Print Buttons and Menus for details on setting up reports in this window and using the Print option.
Advanced Tab
Select an account from Financials > Chart of Accounts, and the following window will appear. Select the Advanced tab:
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If the current account is a Revenue or Expense type, the Retained Earnings Account entry must be set. Otherwise, this entry field is disabled and can be ignored. If this entry field is enabled, it must contain a general ledger account that is classified as a retained earnings account. All the available accounts can be listed by clicking on the down arrow to the right of this entry field. Review the Retained Earnings and Other Equity Accounts section for more information on the use of Retained Earnings accounts. Since our example above is an expense type account, we set the retained earnings to reflect the account entered in the Equity folder.
- To change the account's Classification, click the Change button to open a new Change Account Classification window. To change the account classification, highlight a classification description and click Select. To leave without making changes, click Cancel to exit.
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Selecting the correct 1099 Form setting is important when printing year-end 1099 forms. Review the Printing 1099 Forms section for more details on this setting.
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The Printed Register Balance entry only activates when the Reconcile this account checkbox in the General tab is checked. All accounts classified as a bank account should be reconciled, as well as cash accounts and accrued tax accounts. The Printed Register Balance reflects the ending balance of the last printed register. For example, this field would allow the user to record the ending balance of the previous check register in order to use it as the beginning balance of the next report.
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The Last Reconcile information is updated with User login name, Date, and Time when the account reconciliation process is completed. Review the Account Reconciliation section for more details.
Click OK to save changes and return to the main window.
Click Cancel to keep original settings and return to the main window.
Click New to bring up a window to create a new G/L account. Review the Adding General Ledger Accounts section for details on how to use this wizard.
Delete will delete the selected G/L account. Note that a G/L account cannot be deleted if transactions exist in any year tabs. Instead of deleting a G/L account, accounts with transaction history should either be merged with another account or moved to an inactive status. For further information on merging an account or making a G/L account inactive, review the Making an Account Inactive section.