Suggestions for Specific Financial Reports

Your reporting needs depend on a number of factors, including your type of business, your business size, your organizational structure, and management preferences. Here are some suggestions for financial reports that apply to most organizations. You may want to define these same report formats for your own organization. You may also want to define custom reports which are specific to your organization or the industry in which you operate. Income Statements Income statements present the results of operation for an organization for specific periods of time. Income statements report revenues, expenses, net income, and earnings per share. The most common income statement formats are:
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Current year -- presents results of operation for the current year only. Comparative time periods -- presents results of operation for two specific periods, usually quarters or years, in side-by-side columns. The report may also include one or two additional columns representing the dollar and/or percentage change from one period to another. Comparative amounts -- presents actual results of operation compared to some other measure, such as budgeted revenues and expenses. The report may also include variance and variance percentage in separate columns. Rolling -- presents results of operation for consecutive periods of time. For example, you might want a ten year rolling, eight quarter rolling, or twelve month rolling income statement. The key elements of any rolling report are that the time periods are the same (years, quarters, or months) and they are consecutive.

Income Statement Type Current Year

Report Definition Considerations Row Set: Define account assignments to group related revenue and expense accounts. Define calculations for subtotals and totals. Optionally, use display options for totalling account ranges. Use row set format options for indenting, line spacing and underscores (for subtotals and totals). Use the change sign feature for revenue accounts, so credit amounts print without negative formatting. Column Set: Define a custom column set using the amount type YTD-Actual.

Comparative Row Set: Time Periods Use the same row set used for Current Year income statement. Column Set: Use a standard column set choose from Monthly Comparative YTD; Quarterly Comparative YTD; or Annual Comparative QTD, YTD. Optionally, define a custom column set. Comparative Row Set: Use the same row set used for Current Year income statement. Amounts Column Set: Use a standard column set choose from PTD Variance; QTD Variance; or PTD, QTD, YTD Variance. Optionally, define a custom column set. Rolling Row Set: Use the same row set used for Current Year income statement. Column Set: Use a standard column set choose from Rolling Monthly or Rolling Quarterly. Optionally, define a custom column set. Use period offsets and relative headings to synchronize columns with reporting periods.

Table 1 - 14. (Page 1 of 1) Report Definition Considerations for all Income Statements:
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Use the level of detail feature to produce report variations for different levels of your organization. For example, use the Controller level of detail to create income statements for your executives. Use content sets to generate departmental income statements. You can also use content sets to create breakdown income statements for other account segments, such as cost centers, regions, and products. For consolidated income statements, perform your consolidation activities first, then run your report using the parent set of books (or parent company segment value). See: Performing Multi-Company Accounting in General Ledger

Balance Sheets Balance sheets present the financial position of an organization at a specific point in time, usually the end of a period, such as month-end, quarter-end, or year-end. Balance sheets report assets, liabilities, and owners' equity. The most common balance sheet formats are:

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Current year -- presents financial position for the current year only. Comparative time periods -- presents financial position for two specific periods, usually quarters or years, in side-by-side columns. The report may also include one or two additional columns representing the dollar and/or percentage change from one period to another. Rolling -- presents financial position for consecutive periods of time. For example, you might want a ten year rolling, eight quarter rolling, or twelve month rolling balance sheet.

Balance Sheet Type Current Year

Report Definition Considerations Row Set: Define account assignments to group related asset, liability, and equity accounts. Define calculations for subtotals and totals. Optionally, use display options for totalling account ranges. Use row set format options for indenting, line spacing and underscores (for subtotals and totals). Use the change sign feature for liability and equity accounts, so credit amounts print without negative formatting. Column Set: Use the same custom column set you defined for current year income statement. Optionally, define a new custom column set (using the amount type YTDActual) if you need different formatting options.

Comparative Row Set: Time Periods Use the same row set you defined for the current year balance sheet. Column Set: Use a standard column set choose from Monthly Comparative YTD; Quarterly Comparative YTD; or Annual Comparative QTD, YTD. Optionally, define a custom column set. Rolling Row Set: Use the same row set you defined for the current year balance sheet. Column Set: Use a standard column set choose from Rolling Monthly or Rolling Quarterly. Optionally, define a custom column set. Use period offsets and relative headings to synchronize columns with reporting periods.

Table 1 - 15. (Page 2 of 2) Report Definition Considerations for all Balance Sheets:

Use the level of detail feature to produce report variations for different levels of your organization. For example, use the Financial Analyst level of detail to create detailed balance sheets for your internal auditors. Use content sets to generate departmental balance sheets. You can also use content sets to create breakdown balance sheets for other account segments, such as cost centers, regions, and products. For consolidated balance sheets, perform your consolidation activities first, then run your report using the parent set of books (or parent company segment value).

Statement of Changes in Financial Position A statement of changes in financial position analyzes changes in an organization's financial position between two specific points in time. Essentially, the statement explains why an organization's balance sheet has changed from one point in time to another. There are two different types of statements of changes:
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Accrual basis -- identifies the sources and uses of funds. Sources of funds include such things as net income, increases in debt, reductions of assets. Uses include such things as debt retirements and depreciation. Cash basis -- identifies the sources and uses of cash. Sources include such things as collections of receivables and sales of assets. Uses include such things as payments on accounts payables, debt retirement, and acquisition of fixed assets.

Either of these statements of changes might be prepared for the current year or for comparative time periods. Statement of Changes Type Accrual Basis

Report Definition Considerations

Row Set: Define account assignments for sources of funds. Use DR (debit) and CR (credit) activity types as needed. Apply appropriate accrual accounting rules when grouping accounts and determining what activity types to include. Use non-displayed row definitions for intermediate calculations. Define calculations for subtotals and totals. Use row set format options for indenting, line spacing and underscores (for subtotals and totals). Use the change sign feature for accounts with credit amounts. Column Set: Depending on your reporting needs, use one of the custom column sets you used for current year and comparative time period balance sheets.

Cash Basis Row Set: Define account assignment ranges for sources of cash. Use DR (debit) and CR (credit) activity types as needed. Apply appropriate cash accounting rules when grouping accounts and determining what activity types to include. Use non-displayed row definitions for intermediate calculations. Define calculations for subtotals and totals. Use row set format options for indenting, line spacing and underscores (for subtotals and totals). Use the change sign feature for accounts with credit amounts. Column Set: Depending on your reporting needs, use one of the custom column sets you used for current year and comparative time period balance sheets. Table 1 - 16. (Page 1 of 1)

Report Definition Considerations for all Statements of Changes:

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Use the level of detail feature to produce report variations for different levels of your organization. Use content sets to generate departmental statements of changes. You can also use content sets to create breakdown statements of changes for other account segments, such as cost centers, regions, and products. For consolidated statements of changes in financial position, perform your consolidation activities first, then run your report using the parent set of books (or parent company segment value).

Consolidating Reports Consolidating reports present financial statement information for each company in your consolidated entity in side-by-side columns, together with the consolidated total. A consolidating report can be prepared for virtually any type of financial report, but is most often used for income statements, balance sheets, and statements of changes in financial position. Consolidating Report Type Report Definition Considerations Income Statement and Balance Sheet Row Set: Use the row set created for your standard income statement, balance sheet, or statement of changes. Column Set: Define a custom column set using segment overrides, so each column displays

and Statement of Changes

only one company. You can use this same column set for all consolidating reports. Define a column for intercompany eliminations. Define a column for your consolidated total. Create a calculation to total your separate company columns and add/subtract the intercompany eliminations.

Table 1 - 17. (Page 1 of 1)

Report Definition Considerations for all Consolidation Reports:

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Perform your consolidation activities before running your report.

Operational Reports Operational reports serve many different reporting needs. Here are some of the more common operational reports:
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Sales analysis -- provide a more detailed look at and analysis of sales than is normally available from an income statement. Expense detail -- provide a more detailed look at and analysis of expenses than is normally available from an income statement. Budgetary -- facilitate the process of preparing budgets or monitoring budget performance. Encumbrance -- report on encumbrance types, such as commitments and obligations. Variance -- measure variations of actual financial results from anticipated or budgeted amounts. Exception -- highlight unusual financial results, excessive variances, abnormal account balances, unexpected transaction volumes, etc. Exception reports are primarily used by managers for operational control of an organization.

Operational Report Type Sales Analysis

Report Definition Considerations Row Set: Define account assignments for your sales accounts. Use the expand display option for the greatest detail. Define calculations for subtotals and totals. Use row set format options for indenting, line spacing and underscores (for

subtotals and totals). Use the change sign feature for sales accounts, so credit amounts print without negative formatting. Column Set: Depending on your reporting needs, select an appropriate standard column set or existing custom column set. For example, use your current year income statement column set for a current year sales analysis. Use the Monthly Actual standard column set to produce a sales analysis report for each month in the current period. If needed, define a new custom column set. Other: Use a content set to create sales analysis reports for each region. Use a row order to rank sales in descending order by department within the regions defined by the content set. Expense Detail Row Set: Define account assignments for your expense accounts. Use the expand display option for the greatest detail. Define calculations for subtotals and totals. Use row set format options for indenting, line spacing and underscores (for subtotals and totals). Column Set: Depending on your reporting needs, select an appropriate standard column set or existing custom column set. If needed, define a new custom column set. Other: Use a content set to create expense detail reports for each cost center. Use a row order to rank expenses in descending order by department within the cost centers defined by the content set. Row Set: Depending on your reporting needs, use an existing row set. For example, to generate a budgeted income statement, use the same row set used for your income statement. If needed, define a new row set. Column Set: Choose from one of the standard column sets Monthly Budget or Quarterly Budget. You can also copy an existing column set then modify the amount types for each column definition to use one of the available budget types. Optionally, define a new custom column set. Use a control value to associate specific budgets with your column definitions. Other: In your report definition, associate budget names with the control values that are assigned to columns in your column set.

Budgetary

Encumbrance Row Set: Depending on your reporting needs, use an existing row set. If needed, define a new row set. Column Set: Copy an existing column set then modify the amount types for each column

definition to use one of the available encumbrance types. Optionally, define a new custom column set. Use a control value to associate specific encumbrances with your column definitions. Other: In your report definition, associate encumbrance names with the control values that are assigned to columns in your column set. Variancen Row Set: Depending on your reporting needs, use an existing row set. If needed, define a new row set. Column Set: Choose from one of the standard column sets PTD Variance; QTD Variance; or PTD, QTD, YTD Variance. You can also copy an existing column set then modify the amount types for each column definition to use one of the available variance types. Optionally, define a new custom column set, using a calculation column to compute the variance. If you define a new column set, use a control value to associate specific budgets with your column definitions. Control values for the standard column set are already defined. Other: In your report definition, associate budget names with the control values that are assigned to columns in your column set. If desired, use a row order to rank your variances in ascending or descending order. Row Set: Select an existing row set. Column Set: Select and modify an existing column set to include exception columns. Optionally, copy a standard column set and modify the copy. Define the exception conditions. Other: Use exception reporting features, as desired, on any of the financial reports previously discussed. For example, you can combine exception reporting with variance reporting to flag any unusual variance amounts.

Exception