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General Ledger Checklist


General Ledger procedures must be completed in the order they are listed.  
ð Organize the information needed to enter the general ledger chart of accounts into the eTEK™ Accounting system 
Determine the length of your account numbers allowing for growth within the organization, the first month and day of your fiscal year and the number of accounting periods your company will be using.  Prepare a list of all general ledger account numbers and their descriptions.  Include the account type (i.e. asset, liability, revenue, cost of sales, expense) and control ranges.  Include any Divisions, Departments and Products that serve as Operating Statement account subdivisions. Also, determine the cut-off date for general ledger beginning balances.
ð Define your Account Structure
You begin by setting up the format of the general ledger account numbers for your chart of accounts and the beginning date for your fiscal year. A sample of your account number format will be shown on the screen. 
Note:  Once the account format and the beginning date of the fiscal year has been selected, it cannot be changed and all future fiscal years must use the same account format and beginning date.
ð Define your Job Cost Structure
Next you will setup up your job cost format. A sample of your job cost number format will be shown on the screen. 
Note:  Once the job cost format has been selected, it cannot be changed.
ð Accounting Periods Setup
New accounting periods will need to be built at the beginning of each fiscal year.  They can be set up according to Monthly, 4 Weeks, Daily or User Defined periods. 
Note:  Once the accounting periods have been selected, the number of accounting periods cannot be changed and all future fiscal years must use the same accounting period structure.
ð Account Control Specifications
This Module step records the beginning and ending account numbers for sections of general ledger accounts such as assets, liabilities, revenue, cost of sales, and expense accounts.  These account number ranges will be used for total and subtotal requirements when printing financial statements.  
Examples of common control specification divisions are Current Assets, Fixed Assets, Other Assets, Current Liabilities, Long-Term Liabilities, Equity, Revenue, Cost of Sales, General and Administrative Expenses, Other Income and Other Expenses.
ð Account Header Names
General Ledger Account numbers may be set up using any numbering system as long as the account falls within the range specified by the Account Control Specifications. 
ð Division, Department, Product Information
After the header names are set up, divisions, departments or products may be entered.  This feature gives you the opportunity to break account headers into smaller groupings on the Operating Statement.  These subgroups may be actual divisions, departments or products or they may be groups unique to your organization.  The system will default to zero if no divisions, departments or products are entered.  Use these defaults if you do not want any breakdown on your Operating Statements past the account header number.   
ð Account Information
Using the Account Header Names, along with Divisions, Departments and Products, enter account combinations to be used by the organization.  Only account combinations that have been entered into this table may be selected when entering transactions into the accounting system.  Once an account has been entered into this table it cannot be removed.  If you no longer want to use an account, its status can be changed from active to delete.    
ð Company Profile Records   
This Module step is used to enter information specific to your organization (i.e., name, address, and phone numbers). It also establishes the default general ledger accounts for primary accounts (i.e., bank accounts, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrual accounts).
The defaults entered in the company profile are important to the processing of the eTEK™ Accounting system. When you first enter the Company Profile Records the defaults are set to the first account entered into the Account Information form (generally a cash account).  If the defaults are not changed, all fields that use default accounts will continue to display the cash account.  In some cases, as with Current Earnings, there is no opportunity to override the general ledger number before it gets updated so make sure you have the correct account selected in the company profile.
NOTE: After the chart of accounts and the accounting periods have been setup you are ready to enter transactions.  You can enter information for any module, General Ledger Beginning Balances, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Job Cost or Payroll.  However, it is strongly recommended to complete the setup procedures for one module before starting setup on another module.