The Backbone of Financial Reporting: An In-depth Look at the General Ledger from Gen Chart to Sub Accounts
The general ledger is the cornerstone of any robust financial accounting system. It serves as a tool to test clearing accounts for zero balances and to identify unusual entries, such as debit entries in revenue accounts or credit entries in expense accounts. This essential chart of accounts provides a summary of activity by journal and month, primarily used for review and control procedures. Plus & Minus offers nine industry-specific charts of accounts, and it allows customization to suit your company’s unique needs, consisting of a general set and a sub set.
Gen Chart (Chart of Accounts)
The gen chart is the backbone of your ledger and reporting system. Once established, it seldom changes, providing a uniform structure for financial tracking and reporting. In a large company, it is referred to as the “Uniform Chart of Accounts”. The gen set can include up to 5-digit accounts, supporting a maximum of 999 accounts, searchable by description or number.
Sub Chart
The sub account, which can be up to 12 digits, is highly flexible with no practical limit on the number of sub accounts. The sub chart of accounts changes continuously (e.g., new, change, or inactive). You can modify the sub chart of accounts in any function and can limit access to subs using five attributes. You can search by description, number, or string (hypersearch). The hypersearch looks for a string match in the name or address fields. The sub chart is divided into sets for: banks, customers, vendors, employees, fixed assets, jobs, departments, profit centers, cost centers, notes receivable, notes payable, shareholders, partners, funds, worker comp classes, etc. You are limited to 99 sets.
Link
The link defines sets of subs and acts as a prefix to the sub account and a suffix to the gen account. This unique linker design supports a single-file structure, crucial for defining financial structures without data entry. Links can represent various entities, like customers or vendors, ensuring seamless integration across the general and sub charts.
The following defines two links:
| Link | Description |
| 22 | Customer |
| 44 | Vendor |
Links in the sub chart:
| Link | Sub | Description |
| 22 | 110 | ABC Customer |
| 22 | 130 | DEF Customer |
| 22 | 140 | GHI Customer |
| 44 | 110 | PQR Vendor |
| 44 | 130 | STU Vendor |
| 44 | 140 | XYZ Vendor |
Links in the gen chart:
| Gen | Link | Description |
| 1400 | 22 | A/R – Trade |
| 1450 | 22 | A/R – Allowance for Doubtful Accounts |
| 3100 | 44 | A/P – Trade |
| 3150 | 44 | A/P – Holding |
You have 4 gen accounts and 6 sub accounts, but 12 accounts as follows:
| Gen | Sub | Description | Description |
| 1400 | 110 | A/R – Trade | ABC Customer |
| 1400 | 130 | A/R – Trade | DEF Customer |
| 1400 | 140 | A/P – Trade | GHI Customer |
| 1450 | 110 | A/R – Doubtful | ABC Customer |
| 1450 | 130 | A/R – Doubtful | DEF Customer |
| 1450 | 140 | A/R – Doubtful | GHI Customer |
| 3100 | 110 | A/P – Trade | PQR Vendor |
| 3100 | 130 | A/P – Trade | STU Vendor |
| 3100 | 140 | A/P – Trade | XYZ Vendor |
| 3150 | 110 | A/P – Hold | PQR Vendor |
| 3150 | 130 | A/P – Hold | STU Vendor |
| 3150 | 140 | A/P – Hold | XYZ Vendor |
Receivables
You can assign 16 gen accounts as receivables, where you track by invoice number. In addition, you can assign 2 gen accounts “by balance,” where they track by balance, similar to a credit card statement.
Payables
You can assign 16 gen accounts as payables, where you track by invoice number.
Journal Entries
There are various functions available to enter journal entries:
- Recurring (by month, day, or year)
- Reversing (into the next day)
- Forward (future period)
- Backward (prior period) with retro year re-open
- Manual
Rounding
You have three options:
- Cents
- Dollars
- Thousands
