Add Some Flair to Income Statements

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Depending on who is requesting reports, we must tailor the way we present information. Within Financial Edge reports, there are a variety of settings that play into how a report looks. We have covered the chart templates in our previous posts; I would like to point out a few features that may be overlooked. Within each report parameter, there are additional tabs, like the Format tab, that house a variety of options we may use to modify our reports. It allows us to change smaller items such as how a report is sorted, color schemes as well as breaking down categories by specific characteristics.
 
I would like to focus on our Income Statement as this is one of the most utilized reports. Through our columns tab, we may add new columns depending on how much information we want on the report. If you have a column you want to copy, you may click Copy column to copy all settings and then modify anything you need to save time. For a new column, click New Column. A smaller window opens where we may review our options. We use the Column definition values to indicate what sort of data we want to include. For amount definitions, we have the option of Actual, Encumbrance, Actual + Encumbrance, Original Budget, Adjusted Budgets, or Budget Adjustment amounts. We also may use the values to create a calculation (e.g. {Actual}-{Budget}).Each column also may have its own filters. This is helpful if you wanted a different column for different classes, projects or funds.
 
On the same topic of columns, most of us have customized Income Statements where it is not uncommon to have several columns that relate to each other (e.g. Year To Date columns, current period columns, etc.). Using our Multiple Column Headings tab, you may add an additional heading grouping columns together by category to make the report easier to read. You define the start and end column, input your header text and choose your alignment. See screen shot below for an example:

On the Income Statement Format tab, the sort options allow us to change how amounts are divided. We may choose to print a separate statement for each fund, department, project, attribute or transaction code; it is like running multiple Income Statements at once. Many clients find this helpful if they need to distribute different reports for each fund. With that being said, it may increase reporting times as you are no longer requesting one report, but several.

Did you want a quick look at overall Revenues and Expenses separated by project like the image below?

From the General tab, you may choose to run your report on a lower level (in my example, I ran it at Level 1 as that is where my category headers are placed on my template) and choose to summarize statement body by project. To define what you are summarizing by, in my example it is project, click into your Income Statement’s Format tab and then into the Sort section. For the “Statement body format” section, choose to Show summary by characteristic for statement. You will then see a “Summarize by” drop down where you can choose by which characteristic you want to sort. If after changing this you see your project names are not fully displaying, it is the account number column that corresponds with where the projects are displayed. You may open the Account Number column and increase the column width as desired.
 
Be sure to explore other areas of our reports’ format tab when you have a moment. There are other features, some specific to the report type, which may be really beneficial or can be used to add a little flair to your presentation.
News ARCHIVED | Financial Edge® Tips and Tricks 06/09/2015 10:39am EDT

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