GL-O  Print/Post General Ledger Batches

Purpose of Program

All programs throughout the system that post General Ledger information first post the data to a temporary file named BKGLTEMP.  Use this program to review batch entries in the temporary file and to post individual batches or the entire file permanently to the General Ledger.  Before any batch can be posted to the GL, this program verifies that the batch is in balance and that all GL accounts are valid accounts.

The program serves two purposes.  One, it allows you to review discrete batches of GL information before permanently posting to the GL.  For example, you might want to compare a day's cash receipts with a bank deposit ticket to verify that receipts were entered properly.  Two, the program insures that the GL is always in balance by checking each batch beforehand and making sure the batch is in balance and all GL accounts are valid.  You can make all your corrections or additional entries before transferring the information to the permanent General Ledger.  Any bad entries, such as those that went to your Clearing Account (which the system posts to when it does not have a valid GL account to use) can be corrected through GL-P  Edit General Ledger Batch Entries.  

Batches can be printed or viewed for the following categories of GL information: cash receipts, cash disbursements, sales, purchases, payroll, other, work orders, general journal, year end, and all batches.  You can control what you consider to be a batch by entering from/thru posting date or entry date limits within these categories.

If the File is out of Balance

Each time you enter this program, current entries in the BKGLTEMP file are marked by the program to distinguish them from new entries that might occur while you are working in the program.  In a sense this freezes the file without it having to be locked so that other programs that post to the file do not have to wait or be interrupted while batches are printed or posted.  It is possible that when these records are marked an entry could occur at the same time in which part of the transaction gets marked and part doesn't, which would result in the marked entries being out of balance.

Any time the marked entries are out of balance you will receive a message that will tell you how far back one must go from the end of the file before it reaches a balanced condition.  If this is a very small number (10 or under) the odds are high that someone was processing a transaction at the time the file was being marked and the transaction was only partially marked, throwing the marked group out of balance.  You are prompted Do you wish to exclude these items and post them later? so that you can answer Y and work with a balanced set of transactions.  It is safe to exclude these few transactions because they will be processed in a later batch.

On the other hand, if the number of transactions listed is a big number, it indicates a problem with earlier transactions that will need to be corrected.  In this case you would answer N to Do you wish to exclude these items and post them later? so that you can work with the entire batch and find out where the problems are.

Batch Status Window

The bottom half of the selection screen displays the status of the various batch types.  The left hand portion is titled Available and shows the total number of marked records and total debits and credits within each batch type.  This lets you readily see what is available for selection for printing or posting, the total dollars involved, and whether transactions within batch types are in balance.

The right hand portion is titled Selected and shows the status of batches you have selected for printing or posting.  The Stat (status) column will display the following codes if there are problems with any batch: O-Out of Balance, C-Clearing Account Entries, B-Bad GL Account Entries.  A batch cannot be posted until it is fully in balance and all GL accounts are valid.  Batch transactions can be corrected through GL-P  Edit General Ledger Batch Entries.

This is a single user program, meaning that only one user will be allowed access at any given time in order to avoid posting conflicts.

NOTE: This program should be processed daily.  It is much easier to review daily batches than to allow them to accumulate.  Also be aware that there is no reason not to post entries in a new month even if the prior month has not been finalized and closed.

Fiscal year end

On the first day of your new fiscal year you should run AM-B  Fiscal Year End Routine.  This program moves the current year GL chart of accounts balances one year back, opens up balances for the new fiscal year, updates the beginning balances in all asset, liability and owners equity accounts, clears the beginning balances in all income and expense accounts, and creates year end entries in your Retained Earnings account.

Until you run AM-B  Fiscal Year End Routine, users can freely make GL-related transactions in the new fiscal year throughout the system, but you will not be able to post them into the permanent General Ledger.  If transactions have been made in the new fiscal year and you have not yet run AM-B, this program will give you the following message.

The program has detected XXXX records with transaction dates beyond the current fiscal year and cannot post these until you run AM-B, Fiscal Year End Routine.  You can safely go ahead and post any transactions with dates in the current fiscal year.

AM-B moves existing chart of accounts balances to one year back, opens up balances for new fiscal year entries, and creates year end entries in your Retained Earnings account.  See the help documentation for details.

GL-O will let you go ahead and post any entries in what it considers to be the current fiscal year (which in reality is now your last fiscal year), but you will not be able to post any entries in the new fiscal year until you run AM-B  Fiscal Year End Routine.  Keep in mind that AM-B  Fiscal Year End Routine does NOT close the year and should be run on the first day of the new year. Do not wait for finalized accounting entries for the prior year.

General Program Operation

When you first start the program you will see a message that says Preparing unposted transactions [Esc to Cancel]. During this process the program is marking all the transactions that currently exist in the BKGLTEMP file in order to distinguish those entries from new ones that may occur while you are working in the program.  Any new entries will be processed in a later batch.

If the marked transactions are fully in balance, you will be taken to the main processing screen.  If not in balance, you will be advised how many transactions back one must go to find the file in a balanced condition.  If it's a very small number (10 or under) it's very likely that a transaction was in process while the file was being marked and that transaction got partially marked, which resulted in the marked group being out of balance.  If this is the case, answer Y to Do you wish to exclude these items and post them later? and these few transactions at the end of the file will be unmarked so that they can be processed in a later batch.

On the other hand, if the number of transactions backwards before the file is balanced is a big number, it indicates a problem with one of your earlier transactions that will need to be corrected.  In this case you would answer N to Do you wish to exclude these items and post them later? so that you can work with the entire batch and find out where the problem is.

IF YOU ARE OUT OF BALANCE: GL-O offers a useful report that helps identify out of balance items.  To run this report, click on the Out of Bal Report button.

When you get to the main screen you can select batches for printing or posting by entering an S in the (S)elect or (D)eselect field.  You can further narrow your batch by entering from/thru limits by Posting Date or Date Entered.

You can then select different batch types for printing or posting. Click the checkbox For All Batch Types? if you want to select them all.  If so, the remaining fields will be skipped and you will be asked if you wish to begin processing.  In you enter an N, you can go on to the next fields and select among the various batch types (Cash Receipts, Cash Disbursements, Sales, Purchases, Payroll, Other, Work Orders, General Journal, Year End).  When you have completed the last field you will be asked if you wish to begin processing.

The transactions within the selection ranges are then selected for printing or posting and are displayed in the Selected portion of the batch status window.  If there are no status codes displaying in the Stat column, the batches can be posted.  To do so, click on Post or press Alt-O.  You will be asked if you are ready to begin posting.  Answer Y and all selected transactions will post permanently into the General Ledger.  If you want to view or print the selected batches before posting, click on Print or press Alt-P.

If there are status codes displaying in the Stat column, the selected items can be printed for review, but cannot be posted.  A status code O means that the batch is out of balance; a status code C means that one or more transactions posted to your Clearing Account; and a status code B means that one or more transactions have non-valid GL account codes.

If the batch status codes are confined to one or two batch types, you can deselect those batch types and then post the remaining batches, make corrections to the batches through GL-P  Edit General Ledger Batch Entries, then return to this program and select and attempt to post them again.  To deselect entries, enter a D in the (S)elect or (D)eselect? field, press <Enter> through the four date range fields, enter N in For All Batch Types?, then enter an N against all batch types except for the ones being deselected, which should have a Y.  The previously selected entries will be processed once again and the batch types marked Y will be deselected and there should no longer be any status codes in the Stat column.  Now you can press F10 (or click on the Save button) and begin posting to the General Ledger.

Whenever you attempt to exit this program you are asked if you want to end this session.  If you indicate yes, be aware that you will lose all your selections and that the process of marking and selecting transactions will start over again each time you reenter the program.