Create a Main Account

 

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Expand/Collapse item  Overview

Main accounts are used as the basis for creating a chart of accounts. The combination of a main account and subaccounts creates a general ledger account. Use these procedures to create a main account in Main Account Maintenance or to create a main account on the fly in General Ledger data entry windows.

Expand/Collapse item  Before You Begin

  • Before creating main accounts, make sure your account structure is set up in Account Structure Maintenance.

  • To create a main account on the fly from an Account No. field in a General Ledger data entry window, the Add Main Accounts in General Ledger check box must be selected on the General Ledger Options Main tab.

Use one, all, or a combination of the following methods to create a main account:

 

To create a main account in Main Account Maintenance

  1. Select General Ledger Setup menu > Main Account Maintenance.

  2. Enter the main account. For more information, see Main Account Maintenance - Fields.

  3. Enter the description and short description. The short description is used when building the description of a general ledger account. If the Short Description field is blank, the description in the Description field is used.

  4. Enter the account group. The account group initially defaults based on the value of the main account entered but can be changed.

Note  If the account group entered has an account category of Non-Financial, the Clear Balances check box appears. Select this check box to clear balances for accounts based on this main account.

  1. In the Account Type field, select an account type, and in the Cash Flow Type field, select a cash flow type. The account type and cash flow type initially default based on the account group but can be changed.

  2. In the Status field, select a status for the main account.

  3. To define when postings to accounts based on this main account can occur, enter the Start Date and End Date fields.

  4. If rollup types are defined, in the Rollup Types field select a rollup code for each rollup type and click Accept.

The main account is created.

 

To create a main account on the fly

  1. In a General Ledger data entry window, in the Account No. field, enter a new main account and press ENTER.

  2. In the Account Entry window, select the main account Value field and click the Add button. For more information, see Account Entry - Fields.

  3. In the Main Account Maintenance (On-the-Fly) window, in the Copy From field, select an existing main account to copy information from. For more information, see Main Account Maintenance (On-the-Fly) - Fields.

  4. Enter the description and short description. The short description is used when building the description of a general ledger account. If the Short Description field is blank, the Description field is used.

  5. Enter the account group. The account group initially defaults based on the value of the main account entered but can be changed.

Note  If the account group entered has an account category of Non-Financial, the Clear Balances check box appears. Select this check box to clear balances for accounts based on this main account.

  1. In the Account Type field, select an account type, and in the Cash Flow Type field, select a cash flow type. The account type and cash flow type initially default based on the account group but can be changed.

  2. In the Status field, select a status for the main account.

  3. To define when postings to accounts based on this main account can occur, enter the Start Date and End Date fields.

  4. If rollup types are defined, in the Rollup Types field select a rollup code for each rollup type and click Accept.

The main account is created on the fly.

 

Expand/Collapse item   Example - Account Number Structure

This example account number structure consists of 5 segments. The account number separator defined is the dash (-). The main account description separator defined is the colon (:). The subaccount descriptions separator defined is the dash (-). The account description of up to 50 characters is created by combining the main account's short description along with the short descriptions for each remaining account segment.

Account Number

Account Description

40000-01-000-010-100

Desk Sales: Irvine-Main-Steelcase-Sales

40000-01-000-010-200

Desk Sales: Irvine-Main-Steelcase-Marketing

40200-01-000-020-100

Chair Sales: Irvine-Main-Miller-Sales

The first segment designates the main account, and segments 2 through 5 represent subaccounts that identify the detail accounts.

 

Segment 1 is five positions

Segment 2 is two positions

Segment 3 is three positions

Segment 4 is three positions

Segment 5 is three positions

Segment Description

MAIN

CITY

LOCATION

PRODUCT LINE

DEPARTMENT

Account Description & Values

Desk Sales = 40000

Chair Sales = 40200

Lighting Sales = 40300

Irvine = 01

Atlanta = 02

New York = 03

Houston = 04

Main St. = 000

Peach Ave = 001

Broadway = 002

Clay St = 003

Steelcase = 010

Miller = 020

Geiger = 030

Kimball = 040

Sales = 100

Marketing = 200

Receiving = 300

Shipping = 400

Warehouse = 500

Accounting = 600

Payroll = 700

Human Res = 800

Admin = 900

The account structure applies to all accounts for the same company. If a particular account does not require subaccounts, you only need to enter the significant digits. The remainder of the account number will either be zero-filled or contain blanks (if the account segments left unfilled are truly alpha).

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