System setup: GL tracking options [in-depth guide]
Guide contents: Navigation | GL tracking options | Default GL accounts | Work in progress tracking | Prebilled purchase orders & media | Advance sales tracking | Advanced purchasing tracking | Revenue forecast tracking
Navigation
Menu > Admin/manager > System setup > GL settings > GL tracking options
The GL tracking options will define how you want the system to track your financial transactions and, eventually, how you will be able to report financial data from a company, office, or department standpoint.
GL tracking options
Default, If you do not have GL Companies Setup:
Edit GL Closing Date - Set as part of your monthly closing procedures. The date set in this field will prevent transactions from being posted and unposted in a period prior to the date. It does not include the actual date seen in the field. Ex. If you want to close February, you will set the date to 03/01/20XX.
Optional, If you do have GL Companies Setup:
Multi-company closing date - If you have multiple GL Companies set up, then you can choose a closing date for each GL company. Checking this will open a new screen like this:
First month of fiscal year - Set the beginning month of your fiscal year. This will be used for calculating year-end retained earnings and other financial report settings using fiscal year.
Require GL accounts - Used to determine if the system will require a GL account when entering financial transactions in the system. If you are going to post transactions to the ledger, then this option will default. This option is checked by default. NOTE: We recommend you NEVER uncheck this.
Track WIP in GL (optional) - Used to determine if you want to track work in progress in your general ledger. If you have this option selected, the system will also require 'show items': with 'require items' checked. You will also see the optional setup fields for default WIP accounts in the GL tracking options.
Allow Entry of Transfer/Split Date - (default= unchecked) If unchecked, the Date of Transfer/Split will use the transaction date of the transaction regardless of when it was actually transferred/split.
If checked, when a transaction is transferred or split, the user is able to set the date of the transfer. This will be used for financial reports.
Ex: Time entry Project 1 was entered on 1/15. The time entry was transferred to Project 2 on 2/15. When running the Project P&L, the time entry will be seen in Project 1 until 2/15. In Project 2 it will not be seen until 2/15.
Turn GL Company On - If the option is clicked, Workamajig will allow you to track transactions against different GL companies. Please setup GL Companies before enabling this option. It will also ask you to pick a single GL Company to flag ALL existing transactions with. NOTE: Do not turn Off and then back On the GL Companies feature, as this will reset all data back to one single GL Company. If you turn this off by accident, please contact support@workamajig.com.
If you Turn GL Company On, the following options appear:
Require GL Companies - This will be checked by default when you Turn GL Company On. We recommend never unchecking this.
Default Company - This allows you to set which GL Company will be used when creating new projects and other transactions. NOTE: This can also be set at the Client level.
Default (company and) office source for revenue - (Only available if using GL companies.) Select project/person. Default=project. This selection defines where WIP and client invoices will get the (GL company and) office settings for posting revenue. Ex. Company A-Project 1 is worked on by a person from Company B. Should revenue be posted based upon the Project>>GL Company A, or based upon Person>>GL Company B. By default, Workamajig uses the project to post revenue.
Show offices - If enabled, the system will allow you to track projects and transactions to different Offices.
If Show Offices is enabled, the following options appear:
Require Offices - When checked, all transactions will require an Office. This typically pulls from the Client and Project setup. If you are new to using Offices, then you can keep this unchecked while you workout your processes without getting positing errors.
Update Existing Records - Allows you to update all existing data with "no office", to a single office.
Show departments - If enabled, the system will allow you to track projects and more specifically their transactions (time and expenses) to different departments. Be sure to setup Departments and then Items before requiring.
If Show Departments is enabled, the following option will appear:
Require Departments - When checked, all transactions will require a Department. This is set at the Item level. Such as Services and Purchase Items. So be sure you set them up first before requiring departments.
Show tasks on expenses - If enabled, the system will allow you to link specific transactions to a task on a project.
If Show Tasks on Expenses is enabled, the following option will appear:
Require tasks on expenses - This is used to require that all expenses be categorized to a specific task on a project. This option used to be required, but the system now allows you the option of not having to track your expenses to a specific part of the schedule. If you do not charge your expenses to a specific task and you view the budget by task, you will not see the expenses that have not been charged to a task. You should use the service view of the budget if you will not charge your expenses to a task.
Show items - If enabled, the system will allow you to select the type of item that you want to link to a transaction. NOTE: We recommend you NEVER uncheck this, and this is also required if 'Track WIP' in GL is selected).
If Show Items is enabled, the following options will appear:
Require items - This is used to require that an item ID is entered on all financial transactions. This can be useful if you plan on using items to track types of purchases. Items are also used to default the expense accounts onto vendor invoices. When a purchase order is added to a vendor invoice, the system will look at the item ID on the purchase order line and try to determine the expense account from the item. If it cannot determine an expense account from the item, the system will look at the vendor record to determine if there is a default expense account for the vendor. If the vendor has no default expense account, the system will look at the control accounts and use the default expense account specified there.
Track quantity on hand - This allows you to use simple inventory techniques to track the amount of an item you currently have on hand. Each item has a quantity on hand value that you can manually update. When a vendor invoice is approved, the quantity on hand is increased for each item on the vendor invoice. When an item is used as a miscellaneous project expense, the amount is reduced for that item.
Default Expense Account from Item - If enabled, the expense account will be obtained from the purchased item on vendor invoice lines. An expense account can be set for an item at the item level.
Show GL Class - If enabled, the system will show the GL Class field on transactions. This is for rare cases where you need to classify accounting transaction beyond the typical workflow and options.
Require Class - If you require GL class, a 'default class' must be entered and will be used as a default on transaction headers.
Default Class - Used for all transactions to start with a Class already pre-populated.
Use Class from Detail for WIP - If enabled, the system will use the class ID specified on each transaction rather than on the billing Item. For labor & expense reports, the class is pulled from the employee record.
Default GL accounts
Next Journal Number - Enter the next number that should be used for a new journal entry. This number is updated after each new journal entry.
Enable JE Approval Process - When enabled, you can now submit Journal Entires for approval if you do not have the right to Post JEs.
When Enable JE Approval Process is checked, the following option appears:
Default JE Approver - Select who will be the default approver for new Journal Entires.
Billing account (AR) - Select the GL account that will be used for accounts receivable. NOTE: You should only have one AR account.
Default sales account - Select the GL account that will be used as the general sales account. This will be used when no item is selected on an invoice/voucher. It will also be used when creating fixed-fee invoices and billing worksheets.
Vendor invoice account (AP) - Select the GL account that will be used for accounts payable. NOTE: You should only have one AP account.
Default expense account - Select the GL account that will be used as the general expense account. This will be used when no item is selected on vouchers.
Cash account - Choose a bank account that you will want to have defaulted to on all new receipts. If left blank, you will need to choose a bank account before you can "Save" a receipt.
Unapplied cash receipts account - Used to automatically apply a receipt when posting a receipt to run financial reports that are not applied to an invoice or GL account.
Unapplied payments account - Used to automatically apply for a payment when posting a payment to run financial reports that are not applied to an invoice or GL account.
Write Off Accounts - The default account is used when you use the Write-off button from an invoice.
Advance billing account - Used exclusively for advance bill invoices only. When you check 'advance bill' on a client invoice, it will make all the lines on the invoice point to this account. NOTE: Do not post any other type of transactions to this account, nor use this as another default account.
The above account MUST be used on Advance Billing invoice lines - When checked, all advance bill invoice will have their lines forced to be set to the Advance Billing Account.
Purchase discount account - Used when you have a vendor set up with early payment discounts. NOTE: Most vendors no longer offer early payment discounts and prefer credit cards.
Bank fee account - Used when posting a client receipt to track the total amount of any bank fees that were charged.
Work in progress
These default accounts are used exclusively for the WIP tracking feature in Workamajig.
For more on this feature and its use, please review the Post work in progress (WIP) [in-depth guide].
Labor
Agency time (asset) - Enter the GL account that should be used for tracking the asset side of labor when posting work in progress. When labor is posted to work in progress, this account is debited.
Agency time adjustment (income) - Enter the GL account that should be used for tracking the income side of labor when posting work in progress. When labor is posted to work in progress, this account is credited.
Agency time write-off (contra income) - Enter the GL account that should be used when transactions are written off. When you write off the transaction and then post work in progress to the ledger, the system will credit the agency time asset account and debit the agency time write-off account.
Other expenses
Other expenses (asset) - Enter the GL Account for miscellaneous expenses and expense report converted to a vendor invoice.
Re-billable expenses (income) - Enter the GL account that should be used for tracking the income side of other expenses when posting work in progress. When other expenses are posted to work in progress, this account is credited.
Expense write-Off (COS) - Enter the GL account that should be used when transactions are written off. When you write off transactions and then post work in progress to the ledger, the system will credit the expense asset account and debit the expense write-off the account.
WIP Vendor Invoices as Revenue - TBD.
When checked the following option appears:
WIP Vendor Invoices at Gross - TBD.
WIP Misc Costs at Gross - TBD.
Transactions on hold not posted to WIP - default=unchecked - if checked, transactions that have been marked 'on hold' will not be included when posting WIP.
Media
Media invoice accrual (asset) - Enter the GL account for vendor invoices related to BO and IO.
Media Invoice (Income) - Appears when "WIP Vendor Invoices as Revenue" is checked.
Media invoice write-off account (COS) - Enter the GL account that should be used when transactions are written off and then post work in progress to the ledger. The system will credit the media asset account and debit the media invoice write-off account.
Production invoice
Production invoice accrual (asset) - Enter the account that should be used to track the asset side of the direct expenses when posting work in progress.
Production Invoice (Income) - Appears when "WIP Vendor Invoices as Revenue" is checked.
Production invoice write-off (COS) - Enter the GL account that should be used to track the write-off amount when direct expenses are written off from a project.
Undo write-off after posting to WIP - default=Unchecked - if checked, the system will allow the transaction(s) to be selected in the Project>Billing: Written off section to be made billable again. Once billable, the transaction(s) are treated as "normal" unbilled transactions.
Prebilled purchase orders & media
NOTE: Do not leave this section blank.
Accrued cost account (expense) - Default: Blank > Enter the account that should be debited when the order is billed and credited when the vendor invoice is posted. NOTE: This is only used if the 'accrue cost to item expense account' is left unchecked.
Accrue cost to item expense account - If checked, the cost will accrue to the account setup on the purchase/media items instead of the account specified in the accrued cost account (expense) field. This may cause a difference in the cost account when the order net accrued differs from the voucher amount.
How accruals are tracked
When you post a client invoice that contains a prebilled order, Workamajig will do the following based on the GL accounts you have designated above:
1. debit AR, credit sales
2. debit accrued cost account (expense), credit prebilled accrual account
This allows you to run financials to show revenue and also an accrued expense in the same period. When the vendor invoice comes in for the prebilled order and the vendor invoice is posted, Workamajig will reverse the order accrual via the following:
1. credit AP, debit COGS
2. credit accrued cost account (expense), debit prebilled accrual account
Advanced sales tracking
Post sales using detail - Checked by default. When you post a client invoice, the system looks at each line item and determines if it uses the 'post-sales using detail' option. When this option is selected, the system will look at each transaction and those tied to billing items. The system will then determine the sales accounts and classes to post to based on how the transactions are linked to billing items.
Track sales over/under - This option tracks the variance sales on an invoice based on standard vs. actual. When this option is checked, the system will post an entry to its normal sales account based on the standard bill rate or gross amount. The system will then create a second entry to the sales or expense over/under account for the difference between the standard amount and the amount that was actually billed. If you were to bill one hour of time at $100.00 per hour and you actually billed the time for $80.00 the system would post $100.00 to the normal sales account and ($20.00) to the labor over/under GL account.
Labor over/under income account - Enter the GL account that should be used to track the labor portion of the variance.
Expense over/under income account - Enter the GL account that should be used to track the expense portion of the variance.
Advanced purchasing tracking
Recognize credit card charges as payments - Applies to cash basis accounting only.
- If this box is checked, the system will consider credit card charges as payments, and the cash basis GL records will be created upon posting them.
- If this is not set, cash basis records will be created when posting the receipts applied to credit card charges.
- This setting is not meant to be changed back and forth.
- NOTE: Make sure that all credit card charges ARE PAID AND RECEIPTS POSTED before changing this checkbox.
Revenue forecast tracking
Opportunity labor account - This allows you to track the labor amount entered in an opportunity to a specific GL account. This number will then be used for revenue forecast reporting.
Opportunity production account - This allows you to track the production amount entered in an opportunity to a specific GL account. This number will then be used for revenue forecast reporting.
Opportunity media account - This allows you to track the media amount entered in an opportunity to a specific GL account. This number will then be used for revenue forecast reporting.
Cost Account - TBD.