Specifying Information for Columns of a Report
Most values in a financial report depend on both the row and the column that the value is in.
In the following example, the row defines the account, and the column defines the kind of information that is taken from the account.
|
|
Current |
|
Last Year |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Petty cash |
274.57 |
|
358.00 |
|
Bank account, US dollars |
8,437.54 |
|
5,932.90 |
|
Bank account, CAD dollars |
4,372.96 |
|
3,665.39 |
|
Accounts Receivable, US |
16,948.23 |
|
14,875.85 |
|
Accounts Receivable, CAD |
11,776.77 |
|
8,434.73 |
You could use ten functions to print the ten numbers shown above on a financial report. However, building statements cell by cell is time-consuming, and the resulting statements must be changed every time you modify your chart of accounts.
For this reason, the Financial Reporter has two separate mechanisms to make statement specifications more flexible and easier to design:
Default column specifications. Financial Reporter lets you define the default contents of a column, then use it for any rows you wish until you change the default.
Single specification lines that apply to ranges of accounts. Financial Reporter lets you define a report line that applies to a range of accounts. At print time, the single line will be expanded to as many lines as there are accounts in the range. In other words, a report that printed the current balances of all accounts in the general ledger can be defined by a single line that specifies the range of all accounts.
See also
Setting Default Column Specifications