Change Liability and Net Assets Account Range

[ellenmykkanen]

Long ago (before my time) we set up Powerchurch without a range for Equity Accounts. Liabilities go from 2000-2999 and our income accounts start at 3000. Our real equity accounts are in the Liabilities range of account numbers from 2835-2999 and I want to be able to change the ranges and the account types from Liability to Equity so my reports will be correct. Do I have to restart Accounting to do this?

Thanks, Ellen

[NeilZ]

Long ago (before my time) we set up Powerchurch without a range for Equity Accounts. Liabilities go from 2000-2999 and our income accounts start at 3000. Our real equity accounts are in the Liabilities range of account numbers from 2835-2999 and I want to be able to change the ranges and the account types from Liability to Equity so my reports will be correct. Do I have to restart Accounting to do this?

Thanks, Ellen

Ouch .. the basic install of PCPlus accounting uses the standard set of account numbers, someone took pains to deviate from that as it completely screws up many of the standard reports.

There is so much you need to do .. move income to 4000-4999, then the equity/assets to 3000-3999. You can't just change an account from liability to equity, I don't think the program allows it. It may be easier to restart. You would need to take a backup of the accounting files before you start so you would be able to access prior year data, but it would be correct from this point forward.

[ellenmykkanen]

Thanks Neil, I was afraid of that and will share your answer with the Finance committee. We have a number of other changes to make so it will probably have to be done at the same time and probably at the end of the year.

[ellenmykkanen]

Hi Neil,
Now that it's time to close the year and start fresh, I want to make sure that we can't just restart but set up accounts 2000-2799 as Liability and 2800-2999 as Equity accounts in the set up. If not, will we need to change all of our income and expense accounts to higher numbers so we can squeeze the Equity Accounts into the 3000s?
And is the reason why that the reports are all coded to the standard ranges for accounting codes?

I need to report back to my Finance committee with this. Thanks so much for your help.

Ellen

[NeilZ]

Hi Neil,
Now that it's time to close the year and start fresh, I want to make sure that we can't just restart but set up accounts 2000-2799 as Liability and 2800-2999 as Equity accounts in the set up. If not, will we need to change all of our income and expense accounts to higher numbers so we can squeeze the Equity Accounts into the 3000s?
And is the reason why that the reports are all coded to the standard ranges for accounting codes?

I need to report back to my Finance committee with this. Thanks so much for your help.

Ellen

Ellen,

as I mentioned previously, the system defaults to definite number ranges. You can change those ranges in the Accounting Setup under the Fund Accounting tab, but once you create an actual account, you can't just switch from liability to equity or vice versa. The program will not do this, the only way to get around this is to restart or renumber accounts beginning with the current highest numbered account.

Here's a link that shows you what is the standard account numbering scheme:

https://strategiccfo.com/standard-chart-of-accounts/

Renumbering expense accounts to fall in the 5000 to 8999 range is easy. They're still expense accounts. Same with renumbering income to the 4000 - 4999 range. You don't have to change the type of accounts.

Equity/Fund Balance accounts are the same way, as you're not trying to change the type of account, just putting them in the correct number range. Liabilities and assets do not need to be touched.

In reality, I'd do the renumbering to get the accounts in the proper ranges. If you ever had to be audited by an outside accounting firm, they'd be somewhat confused to find equity accounts in a 2000 number series, and income in 3000.

[ellenmykkanen]

Thank you Neil,

Your reply came in time for my Finance Committee meeting tomorrow morning. What you are recommending makes sense to me, but of course we always want to check to see if there's an easier way out.

Ellen Mykkanen