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Companies, branches and dimensions, and what each one decides · presentation 5 of 5 · for the whole-system operator — you run the books Read the transcript · Back to the series

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Companies, branches and dimensions, and what each one decides · presentation 5 of 5

Why your branch profit and loss does not foot

You can say what a set of books really is and why one can span two companies…

Step 1 — Know what a set of books actually is

You know what a report is a report of.

Where this step sits
    flowchart TD
  s1["1. Know what a set of books…"]
  s2["2. Check the binder is not empty"]
  s3["3. Know that the ad-hoc report shows…"]
  s4["4. Find the journal line with no…"]
  s5["5. Do not reconcile the cost of…"]
  s6["6. Run the thirty-second check"]
  s1 --> s2
  s2 --> s3
  s3 --> s4
  s4 --> s5
  s5 --> s6
  classDef here fill:#1e40af,stroke:#1e40af,color:#ffffff,font-weight:bold;
  class s1 here;
  

Step 2 — Check the binder is not empty

You have ruled out the failure that wastes an hour in the wrong place.

  • Open the set of books, look at its Ledgers tab…
Screen capture pending the demo tenant

Chart of Account applet, Set of Books, the Ledgers tab

Four differences, all by construction

Step 3 — Know that the ad-hoc report shows only what you ticked

The commonest false alarm goes away.

What this step names
  1. If the report is short against the trial balance
  2. The first thing to check is whether every branch is ticked
  3. Including the ones that closed
  4. The one somebody created last week

Step 4 — Find the journal line with no branch on it

You will usually have found your difference.

Where this step sits
    flowchart TD
  s1["1. Know what a set of books…"]
  s2["2. Check the binder is not empty"]
  s3["3. Know that the ad-hoc report shows…"]
  s4["4. Find the journal line with no…"]
  s5["5. Do not reconcile the cost of…"]
  s6["6. Run the thirty-second check"]
  s1 --> s2
  s2 --> s3
  s3 --> s4
  s4 --> s5
  s5 --> s6
  classDef here fill:#1e40af,stroke:#1e40af,color:#ffffff,font-weight:bold;
  class s4 here;
  

Step 5 — Do not reconcile the cost of sales line to the journal

You will stop trying to make two different measurements agree.

What this step names
  1. The cost of goods sold row does not — it is a…
  2. Summing whichever stored cost your Cost Type picker names
  3. Moving average
  4. First-in-first-out or one of the others

Step 6 — Run the thirty-second check

You can answer the question in the meeting.

What you do
  1. Open the report, set the date range to the month, choose Branch…
  2. Note the net result
  3. Open the trial balance for the same month and the same set of books

NarrationSlide 1 of 8

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