Chart of Accounts Overview

The term general ledger (G/L) refers to the financial books of an organization. With few exceptions, all modules in the New World ERP suite feed the general ledger with financial transaction information. These transactions are accumulated so a series of management reports can be produced showing the financial position of the organization. To understand the pages, you must understand how the components that make up general ledger account numbers are created and maintained.

About General Ledger Account Numbers

The numbering system that classifies and organizes the entire accounting structure of the municipality is called the chart of accounts. General ledger account numbers are assigned, organized, and classified using the chart of accounts. A typical general ledger account number might look like this:

A general ledger account number has two main parts: the organization set and the account element. In the image above, the shaded portion of the account number represents the organization set, with the remaining numbers to the right representing the account element.

The Organization Set

The organization set has two main parts: the Organization 1 component (often called the Fund) and the Organization 2 through 6 components (which can represent items such as departments and sub-departments). In the figure below, the numbers in the shaded area up to the first delimiter (in this case, the first period) represent the Organization 1 or Fund component with the remaining numbers representing the Organization 2 through 6 components.

A general ledger account number must always have a Fund component. You can define how many additional components exist in the organization set. The set may have as many as five additional components (2 through 6). You can define both the size of the Fund component and the size of the Organization 2 through 6 components.

The Account Element

The account element (sometimes called the object code) has two parts: the base information and the detail information.

A general ledger account number must always have an account element. You can specify whether the account elements include only the base component or the base and detail components. If the account element includes the detail component, you can specify whether or not base and detail information are rolled up into one long number for reporting purposes.

Chart of Accounts Set Up

The following list is an outline of the process required to set up and enter the account data used in Chart of Accounts. Click on a link for detailed instructions.

  1. Set Up G/L Account Summary Codes
  2. Set Up Accounts
  3. Assign Default Offsetting Accounts
  4. Set Up Funds
  5. Set Up G/L Organization Components
  6. Set Up G/L Organization Sets
  7. Set Up Banks and Bank Accounts
  8. Set Up General Ledger Accounts