This guide covers the preparation of balance sheet specifications in Netvisor. You can find the balance sheet specification tool by navigating to Financial Management > Accounting > Financial Statements.
The balance sheet specification for the financial statement report is a ready-made report where the user can define the desired level of detail by drilling down. The balance sheet specification must be done at the latest in conjunction with the financial statements, but it is recommended to update it, for example, on a monthly basis. The balance sheet specification lists in detail the contents of each balance sheet account except for equity. You can edit the balance sheet specification from Financial Statements > Compilation of Financial Statements and the balance sheet specification section. Vouchers can also be marked as open items from accounting reports and from the account balance report. Open items are detailed in the balance sheet specification.
For the financial statements, the report must be completed and archived in the financial period archive before starting to make specifications for the new financial period. This is because the balance sheet specification tool retrieves the status of balance sheet items in real-time. For example, transactions made for the new financial period and updating open items also affect the previous financial period's balance sheet specification tool, which is why balance sheet specifications per the last day of the financial period should be 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.
1. Example of a follow-up object
2. Example of unspecified section.
3. Example of unallocated section
Balance sheet specification settings
You can access the balance sheet specification settings from the financial statement settings section. For balance sheet specifications, existing information can be changed, but there can only be one creator, reviewer, and approver in the balance sheet specification. The settings also address whether the opening balance and period change are shown in the balance sheet specification. The settings also address the visibility of zero balance rows.
If the setting "Show opening balance and period change" is selected, then the balance of each column on that row must be zero for the row to be interpreted as having a zero balance and the row is hidden according to the setting "Show zero balance rows." If, for example, the ending balance of the row is zero, but there was an opening balance, the row is not interpreted as having a zero balance and the row appears visible in the balance sheet specification. If the setting "Show opening balance and period change" is not used, then it is sufficient that the ending balance of the row is zero.
By default, the setting is that zero balance rows are not shown. The selection includes zero balance accounts and follow-up objects.
The balance sheet specification report is opened from the Financial Statement Compilation view by clicking the "Balance Sheet Specification" link.
The balance sheet specification opens in the view for the selected time period at the level of detail that was last used.
If transactions are detailed at the account level, the account balances are presented in the adjacent column. If the detailed account is detailed at the target or transaction level, the figures appear in their own section as indented transactions.
By clicking the row link at the transaction or target level, you can close the detail level and return to the account or group level.
The balance sheet specification can be viewed at the account level by clicking the header under which the accounts you want to see are located. This will show the accounts and their balances from which the sum is formed.
With the new balance sheet specification, it is possible to drill down from the links visible on the voucher rows directly to the vouchers. The detail level can be closed and opened by pressing the arrow keys next to the header.
The saved detail level for the financial period remains in the system's memory, and when reporting a new time period, the previous detail level is the default.
Specification at follow-up object level
During the financial period, 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.
Transactions can be allocated to follow-up objects directly during the transaction entry or in the accounting account transaction view, which opens from the Account Balance Report in Accounting Reports. If follow-up objects have been used, the follow-up object title appears under the account number in the balance sheet specification, and under this, the selected vouchers marked as open are detailed. Follow-up objects appear in alphabetical order in the balance sheet specification.
Specification at transaction level
The user can drill down to the transaction level in the desired balance group, where the account transaction view is opened for the "marked as open" transactions of the account and the transactions of the reporting period. The user can mark the transaction rows they want to include in the balance sheet specification.
Vouchers marked as open items are detailed in the balance sheet specification. The transaction can be either at the account or follow-up object level. If you want to remove a voucher from the specification, you need to uncheck the open item box. The transaction is detailed in the balance sheet specification even if the voucher is from a different financial period. In this case, you need to retrieve the desired financial period and uncheck the open item box for the specific row.
If the user wants to mark older transactions as open for the period being processed, they can drill down from the balance sheet specification links directly to account-specific entries and move to previous financial period transactions from the section shown in the image above. This is also possible, for example, through the account balance report, i.e., from the accounting report selection, open the "Account Balances" report for the desired time period from which you can drill down to the desired account transaction view. In the view's header section, there is a link "Switch to edit mode" and then "Mark transactions as open." From the opened view, transactions can be marked as open.
If the sum of the selected open transactions does not match the ending balance of the account, the system indicates the difference as its own row in the Balance Sheet Specification view "unspecified". From this link, the account transaction view opens if needed, showing the sum of unmarked transactions from previous periods as the opening balance, and the unmarked transactions of the reporting period as rows.
If there is a green check mark after the unspecified text, everything is okay. If there is an attention mark after the row, then the unspecified items should be reviewed. The unspecified text does not appear on the PDF file generated from 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. The balance sheet specification cannot calculate the remaining open amount of the voucher if other transactions have been allocated to it, but all vouchers related to the same transaction must be marked as open for the unspecified amount to match. More details on transaction allocation can be found in the account transaction balance tracking guide.
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. This can be determined by taking the account balance report for the specific account and showing the follow-up objects. Now, by clicking the unallocated section, the entry rows that have not been allocated to a follow-up object are displayed. The unallocated row appears on the PDF printout of the balance sheet specification. If the balance of the unallocated row is zero, then the row does not appear on the PDF printout.
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: Old transactions have been marked as open at some point, so they appear in the 2020 listing. Open transactions can be zeroed by opening the Balance Sheet Specification and drilling down to account-specific entries by clicking the account name. Find the desired vouchers by changing the financial period and unchecking the open item box.
Change and zeroing of follow-up objects
Q: How can an existing follow-up object be zeroed? Now the opening balances show the previous financial period's opening balance, not the current financial period's opening balance?
A: A follow-up object has been used for the account. It is advisable to do, for example, Follow-up Objects
Financial period opening balance 1.1
Financial period additions
Financial period deductions
Financial period write-offs 25% residual value
This needs to be corrected manually with a voucher. Create a voucher within the same account at the beginning of the financial period. In this example, bring the balances to the item Opening Balance 1.1
Account balance opening situation
Create a voucher for the same account, but just transfer balances with follow-up objects
Finally, the account balance is like this
Keywords: Balance sheet specification, follow-up objects, unspecified, unallocated
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