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.

The balance sheet specification for the financial statement report is a ready-made report where you can define the desired level of detail by drilling down.

  • 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.
  • Make use of the balance sheet specification, where the contents of each balance sheet account, excluding equity, are listed in detail.

You can edit the balance sheet specification by selecting Financial statements > Compilation of financial statements > Balance sheet specification.

  • Mark vouchers as open items from Bookkeeping reports on the Account balance report.
  • Make use of the open items marking so that open items are shown as detailed in the balance sheet specification.

For the financial statements, complete the balance sheet specification report and archive it in the financial period archive before you start making specifications for the new financial period.

  • Note that the balance sheet specification tool retrieves the status of balance sheet items in real time.
  • 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.

1. Example of a follow-up object

2. Example of unspecified section.

3. Example of unallocated section

Balance sheet specification settings

Open the balance sheet specification settings by selecting Financial statements > Financial statements settings.

  • Change the existing information in the balance sheet specifications as needed.
  • 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 rows are shown.

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 closing balance of the row is zero so that the row is interpreted as having a zero balance.

By default, zero balance rows are not shown. The selection includes zero balance accounts and follow-up objects.

Open the balance sheet specification report by selecting Financial statements > Financial statement compilation > 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 new balance sheet specification by drilling down from the links visible on the voucher rows directly to the vouchers.

  • Open and close the detail level by pressing the arrow keys next to the header.

Make use of the fact that the detail level saved for the financial period remains in the system’s memory, and when reporting a new time period, the previous detail level is used as the default.

Specification at follow-up object level

During the financial period in rolling bookkeeping, proceed as follows if there are many transactions and there is a need for specification for the account balance:

Allocate transactions to follow-up objects as follows:

  • 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 there.
  • If follow-up objects have been used, the follow-up object title appears under the account number in the balance sheet specification.
  • Under the follow-up object, 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

Drill down to the transaction level in the balance sheet specification as follows:

  • Select the desired balance sheet group.
  • Drill down all the way to the transaction level.
  • Open the account transaction view, which shows the account’s transactions marked as "open" as well as the transactions of the reporting period.
  • Mark, transaction by transaction, the transaction rows you want to include in the balance sheet specification.

Process open item markings as follows:

  • Make use of the fact that vouchers marked as open items 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 tick from the open item box.
  • 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 tick from the open item box for the specific row.

If you want to mark transactions older than the period being processed as open, proceed as follows:

  1. Open the balance sheet specification.
  2. Drill down from the balance sheet specification links directly to account-specific entries.
  3. 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:

  1. Open Bookkeeping reports > Account balance for the desired time period.
  2. Drill down to the account transaction view for the desired account.
  3. In the header section of the view, select the "Switch to edit mode" link.
  4. Select "Mark transactions as open".
  5. 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:

  1. Open Bookkeeping reports > Account balance for the relevant account.
  2. Select "Show follow-up objects" on the report.
  3. Click the unallocated section.
  4. 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:

  1. Note that old transactions are visible because they have at some point been marked as open.
  2. Open the balance sheet specification.
  3. Drill down to account-specific entries by clicking the account name.
  4. Change the financial period until you find the desired vouchers.
  5. Remove the ticks from the open item box for those vouchers that you do not want in the balance sheet specification.

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: 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:
    • Follow-up objects financial period opening balance 1.1
    • Financial period allowances
    • Financial period deductions
    • Financial period write-offs 25% residual value

Correct the situation manually with a voucher as follows:

  1. Create a voucher within the same account at the beginning of the financial period.
  2. 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 and then Financial statement compilation > 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 remove the ticks from the open item box 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.

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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