ITrack/Enterprise/Accounting Configuration

Overview

Proper configuration of accounting in ITrack Enterprise is an essential step in any deployment where accounting activity is desired. This would be the case if ITrack would be used to track accounting activity, or (as is often the case) ITrack will export accounting transactions into a third-party accounting package.

This section aims to give the user a step-by step explanation of what is needed to properly configure their accounting in ITrack before going live. Examples are given in general terms whenever possible.

These steps should be completed before accounting is turned on in the system. Accounting can be turned on or off through ITrack by going to the Configure->Settings dialog and changing the setting Accounting->Use GL Accounting to True or False. This is the final step after accounting has been configured. While accounting is off in ITrack, many constraints and requirements are not enforced. Such constraints include:

1. Each inventory item must have a category assigned before it can be saved.
2. Every document requires valid categories to be specified for its items and appropriate accounts assigned to those categories for the contexts concerning that document. (For example, most Sales Orders won't be able to be finalized if the Sale context isn't fully configured for all categories appearing on that invoice)

Account List

The first step is to enter a company's chart of accounts into ITrack. This will form the basis of all activity generated in ITrack. The accounts page on the accounting screen allows the user to modify and view the current chart of accounts. This list can be brought into ITrack in one of many ways, the most common of which are listed below.

1. Manual entry. A user can enter the chart of accounts by pressing the add button on the screen and entering each account individually.
2. ITrack Import. If the chart of accounts already exists in a spreadsheet (or can be exported into one), this list can be imported through ITrack's data management screen.
3. ISoft Import. If the chart of accounts can be given to ISoft in a digital format (where all fields are available), it is often possible for ISoft to import this data into the database. Consult ISoft for more information on this option.

After this is done, several accounts must be set up in the Settings system (accessed through Configure->Settings dialog) for ITrack to generate accounting correctly.

1. Accounts Receivable. ITrack needs to know which account the user is using for AR in order to process sales properly. Configure this under Accounting->A/R GL Account ID.
2. Accounts Payable. ITrack needs to know which account the user is using for AP in order to process purchases correctly (only required if the setting Accounting->Use GL Accounting For Purchasing is set to True). Configure this under Accounting->A/P GL Account ID.
3. Invoice Interest. Used when assessing finance charges. Configure this under Accounting->Invoice Interest GL Account ID.
4. Payment Credit. This account is used on the payment entry screen when the user enters credits on an account (such as writing off bad debt). Configure this under Accounting->Payment Credit GL Account ID.
5. Payment Discounts. This account is used on the payment entry screen when the user enters discounts on an account (such as an early-pay discount). Configure this under Accounting->Payment Discount GL Account ID.

Category List

In ITrack, gl categories are a groups that inventory get assigned to. These categories allow the accountant to easily code all gl activity in the system without having to configure every item individually. How many or how few categories to create is up to a company and depends on how many special cases a company has in their accounting system.

Many companies have a category list in which there is an entry for each type of labor (often there is only one type) and at least one category for inventory. Other common categories follow:

1. Departmentalized labor (such as truck shop labor or gear shop labor) for tracking WO labor costs more specifically.
2. Inventory subcategories (such as dirty core inventory, trucks for sale, etc). These are usually assigned to different inventory items in order to track their COGS and Sales accounts in different sub-accounts (even if a company uses only one Inventory account).
3. Shop supplies (for accounting for all shop supplies on WOs)
4. EPA Charges (for accounting for EPA charge fees on WOs)

This list can be viewed, configured, and modified from the categories page on the accounting screen.

After these categories have been created, they can either be assigned by the user en-masse using the part modification screen, individually using the parts screen, or by ISoft during the inventory import process (if any inventory is being imported). If you wish to have ISoft mass-assign gl categories to your inventory, please contact your deployment or support consultant.

After categories have been created, several categories must be configured in the settings system for ITrack to generate accounting correctly in all situations. All these settings can be configured through the Configure->Settings dialog.

1. Accounting->EPA Charge GL Category. This setting controls the category used to generate gl accounts for all EPA fees on all work orders.
2. Accounting->Shop Fee GL Category. This setting controls the category used to generate gl accounts for all shop fees on all work orders.

Category Configuration

Once a category has been created in the system, it is ready to be configured for use. This configuration process encompasses the user specifying which accounts to credit/debit in various situations. These 'situations' are called "GL Contexts" and they correspond to operations that can be performed on different screens within ITrack. For detailed information on each context and what activity it generates, refer to the page about that specific screen.

Data Configuration

Once accounting data (such as account and category lists) has been entered (even if not all configuration is complete), many other items in the system require at least minor accounting configuration before the accounting system is turned on.

Tax Items

Every tax item in ITrack requires an account be specified for holding all activity on that tax item. These accounts can be viewed and modified through the Configure->Documents...->Tax Items dialog.

Whenever taxes are charged to a customer, gl entries are generated in the tax amount against the global AR account (specified in the global settings, see above) and the tax-specific account. Vendor tax items (payable taxes instead of receivable taxes) can have an account specified that would be balanced against the global AP account. However, currently ITrack Enterprise has no accounts payable subsystem, and such bills and payments are managed outside of ITrack.

Adjustment Types

Similar to tax items above, adjustment types can be configured in ITrack to have an account that will be used to balance activity against AR when those adjustments are used. This configuration can be done through the Configure->Documents...->Adjustments dialog.

Restricting/Locking historical document accounting

On the accounting settings tab of the accounting screen, a user can choose to set dates restricting and/or locking document periods in ITrack. When the bookkeeper or accountant exports, reconciles, and finalizes a period by pushing into the external accounting system (quickbooks/mas90/sage50/etc), they can use the "restricted" or "locked" document date to lock everything up to when the push happened. Some companies do this daily or weekly, others monthly or quarterly, whatever works for them.

Locking vs Restricting accounting periods

If a sales order's date is in the locked period, a user cannot do anything to it that would affect accounting (void, reopen, finalize, adjust) since that would cause a historical sales report to disagree with accounting in that period. However, in the restricted period, users are allowed to make such changes if they absolutely need to, but they are warned that what they are doing will affect historical sales, and they must type in their password to verify that they understand. All such overrides are logged. In the locked mode, the only person who can perform such an action is someone with special override permissions (such as a bookkeeper, AR person, sales manager, whoever a copmany decides). In such a case, the user can attempt to make the change (reopen/void/adjust/etc), but their manager will have to walk over and type in their username and password to approve the change.

Types of operations affected

Currently, only sales orders support locked periods, but eventually, WOs, POs, TOs, and payments will as well.

For sales orders, a finalized document whose date (generally the date it was finalized, but can be edited by the user) is in a restricted/locked period cannot be reopened, voided, or otherwise adjusted in a way that affects accounting. In addition, any open documents cannot be 'back dated' and finalized into the restricted/locked period without override.