Account Group Setup

Account groups are used to aggregate the values of one or more accounts into a single value, they are also used to drive the metrics on the dashboards.  Account groups are typically used to aggregate the totals of similar accounts.  For example, the system group Debt Balance contains all the individual loan general ledger accounts in the chart of accounts.  Rather than listing each individual loan account on a report to determine total debt, the account group can be used to display the total debt. 

An account group can also be used to perform basic accounting calculations such as computing Net Income. This group is an aggregation of all the income and expense accounts in the chart of accounts, resulting in Net Income. Note: Income values are stored as positive values while Expenses are stored as negative. The value of an account group is just the total of all the accounts within the group. 

To create or edit an Account Group 

1. Navigate to the System Setup panel and select the ‘Account Groups’ link to display the Account Group list. 

Account Groups are organized into two types; Standard and Custom.  A Standard Group is a system level group that cannot be deleted because they are used as metrics in the standard reports, dashboard widgets and Portfolio Explorer. Custom groups are created by an administrator and can be used for custom reports, dashboards and within Portfolio Explorer.    

1. Navigate to the Standard Groups tab to edit one of the predefined groups. Alternatively, select the Custom Groups tab to create or modify one of your own groups. Note that if a standard group exists this should always be used for that purpose, do not create duplicate groups.
2. Click the name of the Group to bring up the details of the group or select the “New…” button to create a new account group.  Note that you cannot create a new Standard Group

You must define the group if you are creating a new group.

1. Define the Account Group 
2. Name –The name for the account group 
3. Abbreviation – A unique code up to 8 characters.  Used when referencing the account group in calculations, dashboard configurations and other custom set up. 
4. Notes – A detailed description of the purpose and use of the account group 
5. G/L Account – Choose an account number that represents the group. 
6. G/L Account Type – Select an account type for the group.  The account type determines two properties: 
   1. The natural sign of the value.  Assets and income accounts show as positive numbers. 
   2. Display the value as a total balance or period activity.  Balance sheet accounts display total balance.  Income statement accounts display period activity 

Accounts can be attached to a group using multiple methods described below. 

Inherited Group 

Account Groups can be linked to other account groups.  

1. Select the Item/Account Group checkbox 
2. Select an existing account group from the dropdown list 

Group based on report format group 

The previous section described how to group accounts on a report format to summarize data on a financial report.  While those groups cannot be used anywhere outside the report format where they are defining, you can create an account groups that are linked to them.  Linking Account Groups to report format groups allows consistent definition between report format groups.  

1. Create a linked Account Group by selecting the Format Group checkbox and then  
2. Click the link below to open the Report Format Group selector  
3. Select the report format that contains the group to link 
4. Select one of the groups in the report format 
5. Click the ‘OK’ button to accept the selection 
6. Link to Narrative Item - Establishes a link between the group and a Narrative text item.  The item may be used by the system for recording comments related to the group, such as variance explanations. 

Group based on account range 

Account groups can be defined based on a range of account numbers.  If the chart of accounts contains logic in the numbering scheme, then ranges have the advantage of automatically updating if accounts are added to the chart.   Note that if the account group is not linked to the report format that newly added accounts within the range will not automatically be added to your report format, recommendation is to navigate to report format and ensure new accounts are included in the report format.

Create an account group based on a range by clicking the “Add a Range…” link 

1. In the From:  field, type the number representing the beginning of the range 
2. In the To: field, type the number representing the end of the range 

In the example, above, the accounts between 1000 and 1300 are Cash accounts.  If a new cash account is added to the chart, it will be automatically added to the Account Group. 

Groups based on account selection 

This is not a recommended workflow in most cases as a manual edit will be required each time the chart of accounts is changed.

Account Groups can be created using a list of user selected accounts.  This allows for complete flexibility when defining groups. 

To create a group from a list of accounts, do the following 

1. Choose all the accounts that should be included in the group by selecting the checkbox next to each account.   
2. The number between the parenthesis will update with the count of items selected.