Create Balance Records

Use this function to create Account Balance records based upon the parameters you specify and, if adding components, to create Chart of Account records as well. This function can be repeated if appropriate for each range of accounts.

Every account within the range specified will have Account Balances records created for it, for the fiscal years defined. In addition, if account segments are being appended to a "main" account number, new Chart of Accounts records will be added and Account Balances records will be created for the new accounts as well. If you do create new Chart of Accounts records, you will probably want to edit the account descriptions afterward, which you can easily do through the Edit Account Descriptions function (accessed from the Initial Setup Pulldown Menu).

The Create Balance Records Setup Screen, shown in Figure 5-3 below, appears when you select Create Balance Records from the Initial Setup Pulldown Menu. This screen allows you to establish update options to be stored in a temporary one-record file. You enter the setup screen in Add mode and you are not allowed to change mode.

Create Balance Records Setup screen

This screen contains the following update options for creating balance records:

Starting Primary Account

Enter the starting value of the range of primary account numbers. You can click on or press the Scan key to find an appropriate entry or to help you establish a beginning point. If the starting value represents a valid account, the system displays the account description defined in Chart of Accounts File Maintenance, but this need not be a valid account.

If you subsequently enter values for account components, each eligible account within the primary account range will have these values appended to it. To be eligible, an account cannot be a heading or summary account and cannot have an account component defined at or beyond the level specified in the field Beginning with Account Component (see below).

For example, assume your account number has four components: Main Account, Sub Account, Division, and Branch. You decide to enter only the Main/Sub Account combinations during Chart of Accounts File Maintenance, and you want to use this function to automatically create the rest of the account records, appending the Division and Branch. In this circumstance, you would enter the lowest Main/Sub Account combination (to which you want Division/Branch combinations appended) in this field and the highest Main/Sub Account combination in the Ending Primary Account field. Then, in the fields below, you would enter the desired Division/Branch combinations in Account Component Values to Create and "3" in Beginning with Account Component.

In a similar fashion you could use just Main accounts, appending Sub/Division/Branch combinations; or you could use Main/Sub/Division combinations, appending just the Branch.

If no account components are entered, Account Balances records only will be created for each non-heading account within the primary account range.

Ending Primary Account

Enter the ending value of the range of primary account numbers. You can click on or press the Scan key to find an appropriate entry or to help you establish an ending point. If the ending value represents a valid account, the system displays the account description defined in Chart of Accounts File Maintenance, but this need not be a valid account.

See the remarks under Starting Primary Account above for more information.

Start Fiscal Year

Enter the first fiscal year (as a 4-digit year) for which Account Balances records are to be created for the primary range of accounts.

End Fiscal Year

Enter the last fiscal year (as a 4-digit year) for which Account Balances records are to be created for the primary range of accounts.

Account Component Values to Create

Enter the values for the lower level account components which are to be appended to each eligible account in the primary account range. Define each combination that applies.

See the remarks under Starting Primary Account above for more information.

Beginning with Account Component

Enter the number (2, 3, or 4) of the account component which represents the first component in the combinations specified in Account Component Values to Create above.

See the remarks under Starting Primary Account above for examples. In the first example, you would enter "3" in this field, indicating you want to append Division/Branch combinations (since Division is the third account component).

In a similar fashion you would enter "2" if you were using just Main accounts, appending Sub/Division/Branch combinations; or you would enter "4" if you were using Main/Sub/Division combinations and appending just the Branch.

Press ENTER or click or the OK button to store the update options and continue. The system may redisplay the screen to show any new or changed system-supplied items or to report any error or warning messages. If so, you must address any concerns and press ENTER or click or the OK button again. To exit the function without creating any balance records, press END or click or the Cancel button.

If you elect to continue the job, a disposition screen will appear giving you two options for executing the job: Execute Now (in foreground) or Submit to Background. Executing in foreground is recommended to allow you to monitor the progress of the job. If executed in foreground, you will return to the application screen where you initiated this function when the job has completed; otherwise, you will return immediately.

Once the job has finished, you should check for an error log to see if any problems were encountered during the job. If no error or warning messages were generated, no error log will be produced.