How do I run a detailed trial balance for year end? When the report is run for the year (1/1/XX - 12/31/XX) The canned trial balance report does not list the year’s account details for each account, only the final YE balances. If the number does not balance, one cannot find the error without the detail listed. Thanks in advance for the help. This is my first year end close on Manager.
There is no other trial balance report. Getting the information you desire depends on what you mean by a “detailed trial balance.” If you are referring to a list of all transactions, that’s the General Ledger Transactions report. Or if you are looking for information about movement in the various accounts, that’s the General Ledger Summary report.
But a list of transactions doesn’t tell you where the mistake is. With Manager’s error-prevention features, if your trial balance doesn’t balance, in all likelihood that is because you have transactions sitting in your Suspense account waiting to be corrected. See the Guide: Clear transactions in Suspense account | Manager. And remember, throughout the program, many figures are clickable to drill down on contributing transactions. It is much easier to review for mistakes that way than to laboriously go through long lists.
Thank you. I just ran the GL Summary Report (not a common accounting report name). This is akin to the Trial Balance but still does not print the account’s transactions, only the summary.
I am not asking about ‘mistakes’ in the GL and not balancing. I am referring to posting errors - i.e. posting to the wrong account, which would now show as a ‘mistake’ but instead, as a balancing error with another account. One cannot see this from a summary. Example: A utility expense is recorded as insurance. One cannot find this error from the summary balances, but instead, from the account detail. Or if your cash balance does not match your 12/31/xx bank statement. These won’t show in suspense account b/c they are properly posted as far as a double entry accounting system goes. However if your numbers don’t balance to your statements, you need the detail. Manager only allows detail online and not print, without having to print each account detail individually?
This is a standard balancing activity.
You need to use the General Ledger Transactions report so
I would use different terminology for what you describe than “balancing activity.” It is a form of auditing, albeit internal rather than external. No type of trial balance will find the kind of mistakes you offer as examples, because debits will still equal credits, and that is what a trial balance verifies.
Mispostings like your utility expense example are easiest to find by drilling down from the Summary page on your Utilities account (or wherever you post them). Search for the utility company’s name and you immediately have a list of the (probably 12) bills from that company for the year, which can be checked against the bills you have on file. Repeat for other utility companies. The same process can be applied to every account and goes very rapidly with Manager. I never hesitate at doing a 100% verification at year’s end.
This is best handled with Bank Reconciliations. The process guides you automatically to the problem.
Please show me how to print the detail on one document for each GL account.
Thank you.
As an accountant preparing tax returns for small businesses, I don’t rely on bookkeepers to make the correct entries. By taking a quick look at this standard operation, one see and ask for detail on certain postings that are erroneous. With a lump sum number, this is not visible.
Because you don’t run these features does not mean they are not commonly used or required in reconciling year end numbers. I have never seen business accounting software that does not perform this basic function. This is not an extraordinary task, but a standard operating procedure in reconciling year end records. This common task becomes quit laborious, having to print every trial balance detail individually. Perhaps this options could/should be added to the GL Summary Report as an option so that the detail could be printed, to include account detail. The data is all there.
Apparently, you have not looked at the solutions offered. The General Ledger Transactions report does that.
Then don’t look at the lump sump numbers. Either use the General Ledger Transactions report, as suggested, or drill down on the numbers in the Trial Balance.
I never said I don’t verify or reconcile year end numbers. In fact, I said exactly the opposite, that “I never hesitate at doing a 100% verification….”
This statement is why I think you did not look at the suggested solution. You would have seen that you do not need to print every balance detail individually. You can view them in a single report. Moreover, Manager is designed as a computer-based system, not a paper one. Any accountant can install a free desktop edition to view clients’ data.
The General Ledger Summary report is a summary. Throughout Manager’s built-in reports, summaries give top-line numbers. The General Ledger Transactions report gives details. You choose the report based on your needs. Most people don’t need tens or hundreds of pages of details, so a summary is available. For those that do, the details are available, either one account at a time or all accounts at once.
Yes, it is. So are the reports.
Excellent. I must have misunderstood.
Please send me the step-by-step directions on how to pull a single, printable report with all trial balance detail for the year. I can only see how to view one GL account at a time.
Thank you
Leave the account select box blank and it will print a report for all accounts
Joe91,
Thanks for your clear instructions. I didn’t realize one could not pick an account and run it wide open. That worked, although the GL accounts are populating in this order:
4000
6000
1000
2000
3000
I may be able to export to Excel and reformat. I’m just happy to have the data in a printable format.
I appreciate your help.
They print by group, generally: Income, Expense, Assets, Liabilities, Equity.