This help article covers the preparation of balance sheet specifications in Netvisor. Open the balance sheet specification tool by selecting Financial Management > Bookkeeping > Financial statements > Balance sheet specification.
The balance sheet specification for the Financial statements report is a ready-made report where you can define the desired level of detail. Note that the balance sheet specification tool retrieves the status of balance sheet items in real time, so complete the balance sheet specification report and archive it in the financial period archive before you start preparing balance sheet specifications for the new financial period.
Prepare the balance sheet specification at the latest in conjunction with the Financial statements.
It is recommended to update the balance sheet specification on a monthly basis.
The balance sheet specification lists in detail the contents of each balance sheet account, excluding equity.
You can edit the balance sheet specification by selecting > Financial Management > Bookkeeping > Financial statements > Balance sheet specification.
Mark vouchers as open items from Bookkeeping reports on the Account balance report.
Make use of the open item marking so that open items are shown as detailed in the balance sheet specification.
Take into account that transaction allocations and updates to open items made for the new financial period also affect the previous financial period’s balance sheet specification tool.
Make sure that the balance sheet specifications as at the last day of the financial period are archived before making modifications for the new financial period.
The specification can be made:
At the account group level
At the account level
At the account follow-up object level
Below is an example image of a balance sheet specification.
Example of a follow-up object
Example of unspecified section.
Example of unallocated section
Balance sheet specification settings
Open the balance sheet specification settings by selecting > Financial Management > Financial statements > Financial statements settings > Balance sheet specification settings
Note that there can only be one creator, one reviewer and one approver in the balance sheet specification.
Define whether the Opening balance and period change are shown in the balance sheet specification.
Define whether zero balance accounts and follow-up objects are shown in the balance sheet specification.
If the setting "Show Opening balance and period change" is selected:
Make sure that the balance of each column on that Row is zero so that the Row is interpreted as having a zero balance.
Note that the Row is hidden according to the setting "Show zero balance rows" only if all columns are zero.
If the closing balance of the Row is zero but there has been an Opening balance, the Row is not interpreted as having a zero balance and the Row is shown in the balance sheet specification.
If the setting "Show Opening balance and period change" is not used:
Make sure that the Row closing balance is zero so that the Row is interpreted as having a zero balance.
By default, zero balance rows and follow-up objects are not shown in the balance sheet specification settings.
Open the balance sheet specification report by selecting > Financial Management > Financial statements > Balance sheet specification.
The balance sheet specification opens in the view for the selected time period at the level of detail that was last used.
If you detail transactions at the account level, you will see the account balances in the adjacent column.
If you detail at the account target or transaction level, the figures appear in their own section as indented transactions.
Close the detail level and return to the account or group level by clicking the Row link at the transaction or target level.
Show the balance sheet specification at the account level as follows:
Click the header under which the accounts you want to see are located.
Review the accounts and their balances that form the total.
Make use of the balance sheet specification by drilling down from the links visible on the voucher rows directly to the vouchers.
Open and close the transaction detail level by pressing the arrow keys next to the header.
Make use of the fact that the level of detail saved for the financial period remains in the system’s memory, and when reporting a new time period, the previous level of detail is used as the default.
Specification at follow-up object level
During the financial period in rolling Bookkeeping, it is recommended to use the account’s internal follow-up object if there are many transactions and there is a need for specification for the account balance.
Allocate follow-up objects directly when posting the transaction, or open the account transaction view for the Bookkeeping account from Bookkeeping reports via the Account balance report and allocate the follow-up objects.
If follow-up objects have been used for the account, in the balance sheet specification the follow-up object title is shown under the account number, and under this the selected vouchers marked as open are shown as detailed.
Note that follow-up objects appear in alphabetical order in the balance sheet specification.
Specification at transaction level
Select the desired balance sheet group and drill down to the transaction level to account-specific entries, where the account’s transactions marked as "open" as well as the transactions of the reporting period are shown.
Mark, transaction by transaction, the transaction rows you want to include in the balance sheet specification. Transactions marked as Yes with the slider in the Mark as open column are shown in the balance sheet specifications.
Process Mark as open selected transactions as follows:
Make use of the fact that vouchers marked as open are shown as detailed in the balance sheet specification.
Note that the transaction can be either at the account or follow-up object level.
If you want to remove a voucher from the specification, remove the Yes selection in the Mark as open column.
Take into account that the transaction is shown as detailed in the balance sheet specification even if the voucher is from a different financial period.
In that case, retrieve the desired financial period and remove the Yes selection in the Mark as open field for the specific Row.
If you want to mark transactions older than the period being processed as open, proceed as follows:
Open the balance sheet specification.
Drill down from the balance sheet specification links directly to account-specific entries.
From the section shown in the image above, move to the previous financial period’s transactions.
You can do the same via the Account balance report:
Open Bookkeeping reports > Account balance for the desired time period.
Drill down to the account transaction view for the desired account.
In the header section of the view, select the "Switch to edit mode" link.
Select "Mark transactions as open".
In the view that opens, mark the desired transactions as open.
If the sum of the selected open transactions does not match the account’s closing balance, the system indicates the difference as its own Row in the balance sheet specification view "unspecified".
If necessary, open the account transaction view from the unspecified link.
In the account transaction view, review as the Opening balance the sum of unmarked transactions from previous periods.
Review as rows the unmarked transactions of the reporting period.
Check the Status of the unspecified Row as follows:
If there is a green check mark after the unspecified text, everything is okay.
If there is an attention mark after the Row, review the unspecified transactions.
Note that the unspecified text does not appear on the PDF file generated from the balance sheet specification.
Note the handling of the amount of a voucher marked as open in the balance sheet specification:
The balance sheet specification always shows the total amount of the voucher marked as an open item, not the open amount.
Take into account that the balance sheet specification does not calculate the remaining open amount of the voucher if other transactions have been allocated to it.
Make sure that all vouchers related to the same transaction are marked as open so that the unspecified amount matches.
For more details on transaction allocation, see the account transaction balance tracking help article.
Unallocated section in the balance sheet specification
An unallocated Row appears in the balance sheet specification if a follow-up object is selected for the account and not all entry rows have a follow-up object set.
Identify unallocated entries as follows:
Open Bookkeeping reports > Account balance for the relevant account.
Select "Show follow-up objects" > Search on the report.
Click the unallocated section.
Review the entry rows that have not been allocated to a follow-up object.
Note that the unallocated Row appears on the PDF printout of the balance sheet specification.
If the balance of the unallocated Row is zero, the Row does not appear on the PDF printout.
If no voucher uses a follow-up object and there is no intention to use one, remove the unallocated selection from the balance sheet specification as follows:
Remove the follow-up object in question from the account in the follow-up object accounts.
Make the change in the Bookkeeping settings > Follow-up objects view.
Old transactions in the balance sheet specification
Q: I am preparing a balance sheet specification for the year 2020. However, the transactions from 2019 are visible there. How can they be removed from the balance sheet specification as they do not belong there?
A: Remove old transactions from the balance sheet specification as follows:
Note that old transactions are visible because they have at some point been marked as open.
Open the balance sheet specification.
Drill down to account-specific entries by clicking the account name.
Change the financial period until you find the desired vouchers.
Click the slider in the "Mark as open" column to the No selection for those vouchers that you do not want in the balance sheet specification. Vouchers marked as open in the "Mark as open" column are shown in the balance sheet specifications.
Change and zeroing of follow-up objects
Q: How can an existing follow-up object be zeroed? Now the Opening balance shows the previous financial period Opening balance, not the current financial period Opening balance?
A: Proceed as follows if a follow-up object has been used for the account and you want to zero the follow-up object:
For the account, make use of, for example, the following follow-up objects:
Financial period Opening balance 1.1
Financial period allowance
Financial period deductions
Financial period write-offs 25% residual value
Correct the situation manually with a voucher as follows:
Create a voucher within the same account at the beginning of the financial period.
Transfer the balances to the follow-up objects so that, in this example, you bring the balances to the object "Opening balance 1.1".
Account balance opening situation:
Create a voucher for the same account so that you transfer balances using follow-up objects:
Finally, the account balance is as follows:
Frequently asked questions
Q: Where can I find the balance sheet specification tool in Netvisor?
A: Open the balance sheet specification tool by selecting Financial Management > Bookkeeping > Financial statements > Balance sheet specification.
Q: When must the balance sheet specification be prepared?
A: Prepare the balance sheet specification at the latest in conjunction with the Financial statements. It is recommended to update the balance sheet specification, for example, on a monthly basis.
Q: Why does an unspecified Row appear in the balance sheet specification?
A: An unspecified Row appears if the sum of the selected open transactions does not match the account’s closing balance. From the Row, you can access the account transaction view to check the unmarked transactions.
Q: Why does an unallocated Row appear in the balance sheet specification?
A: An unallocated Row appears if a follow-up object is selected for the account but not all entry rows have a follow-up object set.
Q: How can I remove old financial period transactions from the balance sheet specification?
A: Open the balance sheet specification, drill down to account-specific entries, change the financial period and set the No selection from the slider for those vouchers that you do not want in the balance sheet specification.
Q: How do I zero a follow-up object if the Opening balance is shown from the wrong financial period?
A: Create a voucher within the same account at the beginning of the financial period and transfer the balances to the follow-up objects so that the balances are allocated to the desired follow-up object, for example "Opening balance 1.1".
Q: Are zero balance rows shown in the balance sheet specification?
A: By default, zero balance rows are not shown. You can change the setting in the Financial statements settings view and define whether zero balance accounts and follow-up objects are shown.
Q: Why does the balance sheet specification show the total amount of a voucher marked as open instead of the open amount?
A: The balance sheet specification always shows the total amount of the voucher marked as an open item. The balance sheet specification does not calculate the remaining open amount of the voucher if other transactions have been allocated to it.
Q: How are open sales invoices specified in the balance sheet specification?
A: It is not recommended to specify open sales invoices in the balance sheet specification. Receivables are specified in the Accounts receivable receivables list, which is included in the other Financial statements reports.
Keywords: Balance sheet specification, follow-up objects, unspecified, unallocated
*This article has been translated using an AI-based translation tool. The contents or wording of these instructions may differ from those in other instructions or in the software.
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