I’m new to Manager Accounting. So, maybe you already have this and I just need to be told how to access. Or maybe there is already a good alternative to accomplish the same thing. I’m listening.
Here is what I seek:
There would be a note field for every account that you can see from “Settings >> Chart of Accounts”. From the list of accounts you would be able to see beside each account just the first line of the account’s note field, if there is a note for an account. If there is no note for a particular account OR if the first line of the note is blank, then no note would appear for the account.
If you click the Edit button beside an account, you would see the account’s Name, Code, Group, Control Account or Starting Amount, just like it is now. But in addition, you would see a note field. From this view, you could see all of the note, not just the first line. If you want the notes but don’t want them to show on the Chart of Accounts page, then you would put a carriage return (newline) on the first line of the note, and type all your notes on succeeding lines.
What would I use it for? I would use the account note field to record any information about the account that I want to remember. I might type bank account numbers. I might type any policies I have regarding the account. For example, maybe a certain expense must only be paid from a particular bank account or from a particular credit card for whatever reason.
I think the note field would not change any reports. If I want some additional information to appear on a report, I can include that information in the account’s name. So, having a note field would not change other parts of Manager Accounting.
Like I said at the beginning, I just started using Manager Accounting. I’ve only used it a week. So, I am certainly listening if anybody wants to tell me a convenient way to keep notes on the accounts.
There is no such feature. Nor would it be keeping with the design of the program to add it. The Settings tab is not meant to be a place you go often, and the chart of accounts is definitely not designed as a note repository.
A carriage return in a field would be ignored, by the way. That’s just how HTML works.
As you gain familiarity with Manager, I think you will come to see that having to drill down through Settings => Chart of Accounts => Edit for the account just to see a bank account number or determine which account to post a transaction to would be an enormous distraction.
But there are definitely ways to make certain kinds of information available. For example, adding custom fields to cash accounts for institution name and account number is very handy. Check these custom fields to show as columns and they will appear in the Cash Accounts register. See below:
Control the order of appearance of custom fields with Position numbers:
Now you see helpful information before entering transactions:
Of course, you must edit your cash accounts themselves to add this new information before it will show in the register. If there are restrictions on what an account can be used for, you could also add a custom field for that information. This avoids all extra clicking around.
Thank you. I think you have given me exactly the pointer I needed. I think further. And I think I would not need notes on each and every account. Seems that you are right that adding custom fields which show in cash accounts would be more than adequate. And cash accounts are more likely than some other accounts to have any need for notes.
You are right that every time I wanted to check a note on an account, I would quickly tire of having to go to Settings >> Chart of Accounts, then select the account to see its notes.
Thank you. I feel you understood me so quickly and pointed out a better alternative.
It is also common to maintain a written description of account usage as an accounting policy statement. But such tables may get complex as you adapt to local tax regulations, so the accounting file itself is not a good place for them. Auditors are usually impressed, though. In fact, in some jurisdictions, permissibility of certain actions (such as, for example, exploiting a particular capital expenditure threshold to expense rather than depreciate fixed assets) requires adoption of such a written policy.
You got me thinking: If I try to keep accounting policy notes as a separate note attached to each account in the accounting file, then seeing all the policies together becomes more complex. And spotting contradictions in policy becomes that much more difficult. But by putting all the policies in a separate document or maybe a spreadsheet, contradictions would be that much easier to spot.
I find myself learning more than just the software here. Thank you again.
