Lesson 1 GL New staff member - Oracle General …services.nwu.ac.za/sites/services.nwu.ac.za/files/files... · Web viewGeneral Ledger (GL) Inquiries Balances by Consolidation Document

General Ledger (GL) Inquiries

Balances by Consolidation

Document Summary

Product Owner / Author Antonet Müller

Editor Name Chimoné Barends

Date 2014/12/01

Time 08:00 AM

Template Verbose

Lesson Objectives

On completion of this lesson you should be able to:

Understand the definition and purpose of a Balances by Consolidation Inquiry

Run a Balances by Consolidation Inquiry

Understand and interpret the search results of the Balances by Consolidation Inquiry

Drilldown to an E-doc

Export search results to an Excel spreadsheet

Lesson Scenario

As an existing staff member of the NWU you are required to work through this lesson, make some

notes if necessary and print out the documentation as a guideline.

This lesson will show you how to do Balances by Consolidation Inquiries, understand and interpret

the search results and be able to give correct information to those you report to.

The examples in this lesson display account balances at the highest reporting level (the

summarized consolidation level) and allows you to drill down to the next reporting level. You can

continue this drill down process to arrive at the actual e-doc where the transaction began (assuming

the transaction originated with a KFS e-doc and not from an external system).

Please note : The exact examples in this manual might not exist anymore on the database at the

time you work through this lesson. This is only for demonstration purposes. It is recommended that

you work through the E-doc manuals first and use your own E-doc examples in the Inquiry manuals.

Lesson Prerequisites

You need to be a NWU staff member that is registered on KFS as a user.

You need to understand that you have a responsibility towards the financial reporting of your

department and the university to interpret, understand and report in a responsible manner on these

Balances by Consolidation Inquiry results.

Balances by Consolidation Inquiry Page: 2 of 35

Table of Contents

1. Definition and purpose of a Balances by Consolidation Inquiry

2. Navigation

3. Process overview

4. Lookup Criteria

5. Running a Balances by Consolidation Inquiry

5.1. Running Inquiry by Account

5.2. Wildcard

5.3. Balance Types

5.4. Pending Entries

5.5. Consolidation or Detail

6. Understanding and interpretation of the search results

6.1. Additional information

6.2. Sorting the inquiry results

6.3. Debit / Credit view

7. Drilldown to an E-doc

8. Export search results to an Excel spreadsheet


1. Definition and purpose of a Balances by Consolidation Inquiry

The Balances by Consolidation inquiry displays account balances at the highest reporting level (the

summarized consolidation level) and allows you to drill down to the next reporting level. You can continue

this drill down process to arrive at the actual e-doc where the transaction began (assuming the transaction

originated with a KFS e-doc and not from an external system).

Please note : The Balances by Consolidation Inquiry does not take the SOF rules into consideration. It

only indicates the variance between Budget, Actuals and Encumbrances. It also only includes Income and

Expense object types.

The drilldown pattern of this inquiry is as follows:

o Balances by Consolidation

o Balances by Level

o Balances by Object

o General Ledger Balance

o GL Entry Lookup

o E-Doc

2. Navigation

KFS navigation: Main Menu > Balance Inquiries > General Ledger > Balances by Consolidation

Figure 1

Figure 2


3. Process overview

Figure 3

4. Lookup Criteria

Figure 4

A number of lookup criteria are displayed


Displays the account balances

at the highest reporting level

(consolidation) and allow you to drill

down to the e-doc.

Balances by Consolidation

InquiryRequested inquiry

resultsReports back on

inquiry

Figure 5

Fill in at least

o Fiscal Year, Chart Code and Account Number

The lookup criteria default to

o Current fiscal year

o Consolidation

o Cost Share Sub-Accounts Excluded (Cost Share will not be used by NWU)

o Pending entries not included

Default values may be changed.

Use the lookup icon as necessary to select the criteria.

Select the desired Consolidation Option that is, what level of detail you would like the report to present.

o Consolidation displays an aggregate total for all sub-accounts for the selected chart and account

number.

o Detail displays the balances for each sub-account for the chart and account number selected.

Select the desired Pending Ledger Entry Approved Indicator option. The Pending General Ledger inquiry offers

three alternatives:

o The ability to exclude all pending entries by selecting No

o Only those pending entries that are fully approved by selecting Approved or

o The ability to include all pending entries by selecting All.

Cancelled and disapproved pending entries are not pulled into the balance inquiry results.

Please note: Choosing to include all pending ledger entries in an inquiry can generate misleading results

because saved documents may contain incomplete or unbalanced accounting entries. Choosing to view all

pending ledger entries should be done with the understanding that unapproved entries may change drastically

prior to actually posting or they may not post at all.

5. Running a Balances by Consolidation InquiryBalances by Consolidation Inquiry Page: 6 of 35

5.1 Running Inquiry by Account

Figure 6

Complete the lookup criteria

The Balances by Consolidation Inquiry are run for an Account. The results include all the income and/or expense transactions for that account per consolidation, comparing

Budget, Actuals and Encumbrances and calculating the Variance.

1. Chart: Type I or I

2. Account: Type 1A00001 or 1A00001

3. Consolidation Option: Consolidation

4. Include Cost Share Sub-Accounts: Exclude

5. Include Pending Ledger Entry: No

6. Click

5.2 Wildcard


Figure 7

Unlike the other inquiries, it is not possible to run the Balances by Consolidation Inquiry by using the wildcard * for inquiring on all Accounts starting for example with 1 (SOF 1). The message that will be displayed is:


2. Account: Type 1* for all source of funds 1 accounts.




6. Click

5.3 Balance Types


Figure 8

All the Balance Types are included in the Balances by Consolidation inquiry results.

Balance Types include Current Budget (CB), Actuals (AC) and Encumbrances (EX or PE).

Only specific Balance Types, for example Pre-encumbrances (PE) or Actuals (AC) cannot be requested in this

inquiry.

You can drilldown on all the Balance Types.

In Figure 8 the following is displayed:

o Current budget of R320

o Actual Amount of -R40

o Encumbrance Amount of R100

o Budget – Actuals – Encumbrances = Variance

320 - (-40) - 100 = 260

1. Chart: Type V or V

2. Account Number: Type 1A00009 or 1A00009



5. Include Pending Ledger Entry: All

6. Click

5.4 Pending Entries


Figure 9

The option also exists to include pending entries.

The Pending General Ledger inquiry offers two alternatives for including the pending ledger entries:

o the ability to include all pending entries by selecting All or

o only those pending entries that are fully approved by selecting Approved.

Cancelled and disapproved pending entries are not pulled into the balance inquiry results.

Please note: Choosing to include all pending ledger entries in an inquiry can generate misleading results

because saved documents may contain incomplete or unbalanced accounting entries. Choosing to view all

pending ledger entries should be done with the understanding that unapproved entries may change drastically

prior to actually posting or they may not post at all.


2. Account Number: Type 1A00001




6. Click


Figure 10

When you drilldown on the OPER consolidation in Figure 9 the Balances by Level are displayed.

Figure 11

When you drilldown again on the Lookup By Object the Balances by Object are displayed. In the example in

Figure 11 four objects are displayed which include pending lines. Total amount = R16 736.22


Figure 12

When choosing to exclude pending entries, the number of items retrieved could be less (if there was pending

lines that are now excluded) and the amounts could also differ.

In Figure 9 the amount for the OPER consolidation was R16 736.22. When excluding the pending lines, the

amount in Figure 12 is R18 736.22 for the same input criteria. A pending credit amount of R2 000 is not

included.

Only the transactions already posted to GL through the nightly processes are displayed when excluding the

pending entries.






6. Click


Figure 13

When you drilldown again on the OPER consolidation in Figure 9 the Balances by Level are displayed.

Figure 14

When you drilldown again on the Lookup By Object the Balances By Object are displayed. In Figure 14 only

3 objects are now displayed which exclude pending lines. Total amount = R18 736.22

The number of items retrieved as well as the amounts differs from Figure 11 where the pending lines were

included.

5.5 Consolidation or Detail


Figure 15

Figure 16

The Consolidation Option allows you to select the level of detail you would like the report to present.

Consolidation produce a report aggregated at a high level while choosing Detail will result in very granular and

detailed results.

When choosing Consolidation the Sub-Account and Sub-Object would indicate *All*

The Cost Share Sub-Accounts will not be used by NWU. Therefor keep the Exclude default setting.






6. Click


Figure 17

Figure 18

When choosing Detail the Sub-Account and Sub-Object would be displayed if any exists. If not, instead of

*All*, only a dashed line --- would be displayed.



3. Consolidation Option: Detail



6. Click

6. Understanding and interpretation of the search results


Figure 19

Figure 20

The inquiry results for the Balances by Consolidation inquiry consist of 2 parts. (Figure 19 & Figure 20)

The first part indicates the Budget, Actual, Encumbrance and Variance amounts per Consolidation.

The second part summarizes the Income & Income from Transfers and Expenses & Expenses from Transfers

to calculate the Available Balance.

Please note : the Available Balance does not take the NWU SOF rules into consideration. For example, in

SOF 3 the Budget Amount is not “real” money and not available for spending. The Balance by Consolidation

inquiry results is only a comparison between Budget, Actuals and Encumbrances to calculate an Available

Balance. The Available Balance is however not available for spending in NWU terms.

Figure 21

The interpretation of the inquiry results’ columns are

Column Description


Fiscal Year Used for the purposes of financial reporting. Indicates the fiscal year to which General Ledger entries were posted.

Chart Code One character that indicates the campus / high-level structure of the KFS Chart of Accounts that the Account are specific to.

Account Number An account identifies a pool of funds assigned to a specific university

organizational entry for a specific purpose. Indicates to which Account the transaction was allocated to.

Sub-Account Number Certain transactions could have been allocated to an optional finer level of detail within a particular account.

Reporting Sort Code The Reporting Sort Code is an additional attribute for reporting purposes – centrally used.

Consolidation Code An attribute of Object Level that is used to group similar object levels into

categories for reporting. Each Object Level belongs to a single Object Consolidation.

Lookup By Level A drilldown option to drilldown to the Balances by Level.

Budget Amount The current budget amount in this account for the selected fiscal year.

Actuals Amount The total of all actual activity for a given balance line of the selected fiscal year.

Encumbrance Amount The total of all encumbrance activity for a given account for the selected fiscal year.

Variance The difference between the available budget and the actual amounts, plus encumbrances for an object code or category.

Account Group A smaller group of accounts within an organization to which the transaction belongs to.

Please note: The variance column in this inquiry does not take the SOF in consideration. The variance is calculated, but it does not reflect funds available for spending. For example: In a SOF 3 Account the budget would be part of the variance calculation, but SOF 3 budget is not available funds, it is only a guideline.

The inquiry results list the balances per consolidation that meet your lookup criteria. From here you can drill

down to the General Ledger Entry Lookup and then to the E-doc that created the transaction.

6.1 Additional information


Figure 22

The underlined inquiry results will provide more information when you click on it.

1. Click on

2. Click after viewing additional information.

Figure 23


Figure 24

3. Click on

4. Click after viewing additional information.

Figure 25

6.2 Sorting the inquiry results


Figure 26

The inquiry results can be sorted by any of the columns’ values by clicking on the underlined column heading.

1. Click on for example. The results will be sorted according to the amounts. From negatives to positives. For example -1, 0, 1.


Figure 27

6.3 Debit / Credit view


Figure 28

When you drilldown on the Consolidation Code, the detail will display whether it is a debit or a credit type

Consolidation Code. The Consolidation Object Name will start with a D or a C.

1. Click on

Figure 29

2. Click on


Figure 30

The Debit/Credit view, as in the General Ledger Entry inquiry, is not part of the Balances by Consolidation

inquiry.

It means that you have to take the type of Consolidation / Object into consideration to know if an amount is a

debit or a credit.

If an amount is a positive amount, it acts according to the Consolidation/Object type.

o If the Consolidation/Object type is a credit, and the amount is positive, then it is a credit amount.

o If the Consolidation/Object type is a debit, and the amount is positive, then it is a debit amount.

If an amount is a negative amount, then it acts against the Consolidation/Object type.

o If the Consolidation/Object type is a credit, and the amount is a negative, then it is a debit amount.

o If the Consolidation/Object type is a debit, and the amount is a negative, then it is a credit amount.

In the example in Figure 28:

o Line 1 of the results: OPER Consolidation: Operating expenses consolidation is a debit consolidation

type. The Actual amount of R16 736.22 is a positive amount, which means it acts according to the

consolidation type which is a debit. Therefor the R16 736.22 is a debit amount.

o Line 2 of the results: CINC Consolidation: Current Income consolidation is a credit consolidation

type. The Actual amount of R1 100.00 is a positive amount, which means it acts according to the

consolidation type which is a credit. Therefor the R1 100.00 is a credit amount.

7. Drilldown to an E-doc


Figure 31

You may drill down into detail when there is the Drill Down link available, or if the amount or other attribute (e-

doc, for example) is a hyperlink.

The drilldown pattern for the Balances by Consolidation Inquiry is as follows:

o By Consolidation > By Level > By Object > GL Balance > GL Entry Lookup > E-Doc

1. Click on in the Lookup By Level column.

Figure 32

1. Click on in the Lookup By Object column.


Figure 33

You can drilldown on any of the amounts in the Budget, Actual or Encumbrance column, or on Drill Down in

the See Pending Entry columns.

1. Click on in the Actuals Amount column.

Figure 34

When you drilldown on the Actual Amount, the next screen is the General Ledger Balance Lookup.

1. If you want to do an inquiry for example on the R8000 in March, click on

Figure 35


The next screen is the General Ledger Entry Lookup.

In the General Ledger Entry inquiry you may drill down to the actual e-doc from the document Number link.

1.Click on the document number to open the document.

2. Click on after reviewing the document.

Figure 36

Figure 37

You may also drill down on the See Pending Entry column.

1. Click on


Figure 38

If there isn’t any pending lines for that object, the message No values match this search will be displayed.

Figure 39

If there are pending lines for that object, the next screen will be the General Ledger Pending Entry Lookup.

In the General Ledger Pending Entry Lookup you may drill down to the actual e-doc from the document

Number link.




Figure 40

Figure 41

You may also drilldown on Budget Amounts.



Figure 42

The next Screen is the Balances by Level Lookup.


Figure 43

The next Screen is the Balances by Object Lookup.

1. Click on in the Budget Amount column.

Figure 44

The next Screen is the General Ledger Balance Lookup.

1. Click on next to March.

Figure 45



Usually in the General Ledger Entry inquiry you may drill down to the actual e-doc from the Document Number

link - if the transaction originated in KFS. The Budget in KFS will be imported from IDU, therefor it does not

originate in KFS and further drilldown is not possible.

Figure 46

You may also drilldown on Encumbrance Amounts.


Figure 47

The next Screen is the Balances by Level Lookup.



Figure 48

The next Screen is the Balances by Object Lookup.

1. Click on in the Encumbrance Amount column.

Figure 49

The next Screen is the General Ledger Balance Lookup.

1. Click on next to March.

Figure 50


In the General Ledger Entry inquiry you may drill down to the actual e-doc from the document Number link.




Figure 51

8. Export search results to an Excel spreadsheet


Figure 52

To export the entire result list in .csv, spreadsheet, or .xml format, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click a

link to choose from among these options:

1. Click on at the bottom of the inquiry results.

Figure 53

2. Click on at the bottom of the screen.

Figure 54

3. Click on in the next screen in Excel.


Figure 55

Please note : to be able to do calculations in Excel, you will first have to insert columns to change the amounts

to a debit and credit view. In KFS all amounts are positive for debit or credit objects. You will have to change

the credits to negatives in order to do calculations in Excel. Please also refer to: 6.3 Debit / Credit view in this

manual.

4.Save the document on your computer. You can now use Excel functions like sort, fi lter etc.

to process the data according to your reporting needs.

Lesson Summary

Having completed this lesson you should be able to:

Understand the definition and purpose of a Balances by Consolidation Inquiry

Run a Balances by Consolidation Inquiry


Understand and interpret the search results of the Balances by Consolidation Inquiry

Drilldown to an E-doc

Export search results to an Excel spreadsheet


Documents

Lesson 1 GL New staff member - Oracle General …services.nwu.ac.za/sites/services.nwu.ac.za/files/files... · Web viewGeneral Ledger (GL) Inquiries Balances by Consolidation Document