Consolidate Clients screen

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Use the Consolidate Clients screen to combine account and balance data from multiple subsidiary client records into one master client record, while retaining data in the original client records. You can use the consolidated client data for reporting purposes and for making cross-company comparisons.

You can use the Actions > Enter Transactions screen to enter eliminating, tax adjustment, and potential journal entries for a consolidated master client.

Choose Actions > Consolidate Clients.

Notes

  • The consolidation process assigns each subsidiary a number and gathers total balances for each subsidiary's account for the selected basis. A segmented chart of accounts is then created in the consolidated master based on the selected grouping type where the first segment is the subsidiary number and the core segment is the grouping type. You can then create specific journal entries in the consolidated client, print reports based on consolidated or segmented numbers, and export pertinent data to your tax application.
  • Each client can be associated with only one master client.
  • After you create a client record, you cannot change the master client status of that client. All master clients remain master clients; all non-master clients remain non-master clients.
  • The option to create a master client is unavailable if other services are selected for the client.
  • You can remove subsidiaries from the master client data by unmarking subsidiaries in the Consolidate Clients screen and reconsolidating the master client.

Fields & buttons

The Clients list includes only those clients with the same fiscal year-end date and period frequency as the master client. Mark the checkbox for each subsidiary client to include in the master consolidation client.

You can verify a client's fiscal year-end date and period frequency on the Accounting Information tab on the Setup > Clients screen.

Note: If you unmark the checkbox for a subsidiary client that was originally included in the master client, the application does not remove the subsidiary client data from the master client data until you reconsolidate the client data.

  • Consolidate accounts by. Choose the method by which you want to consolidate data for the selected clients. The method you select here determines how the application will create accounts in the master client record.

    Notes

    • If you choose to consolidate by account number and the Allow leading zeroes checkbox is marked for one or more of the subsidiary clients (in the Account Mask tab of the Setup > Clients screen), the Allow leading zeroes checkbox is marked automatically for the master client. Duplicate accounts are merged with their balances during the consolidation. To avoid duplicate accounts, we recommend that all accounts fit the entire mask when the Allow leading zeroes checkbox is marked.
    • If you choose to consolidate by account grouping, the selected account grouping must be set up for each subsidiary client. The application will not create any accounts for subsidiary clients for which the selected account grouping is not set up.
    • If you choose to consolidate by account grouping and mark the Include subcode detail checkbox, accounts will be created in the consolidated master by the code and subcode separated by a decimal.
    • You cannot consolidate by any account groupings that contain special characters (# $ % & _ > /, etc.).
  • Include subcode detail. This checkbox is available for the Account Grouping method. Mark this checkbox to have the application create the accounts in the consolidated master client by the code and then subcode, separated by a decimal point. If you do not mark this checkbox, the application creates accounts in the master client by the selected account grouping code.
  • Retain existing accounts. This checkbox is not available the first time you consolidate data for the selected clients. After the initial consolidation, the checkbox is available for subsequent reconsolidations.

    Mark this checkbox to keep the existing Chart of Accounts as is. The application keeps all accounts and journal entries that were entered directly into the consolidated master client. You may want to leave this checkbox marked in the following situations.

    • You have added journal entries and/or accounts into the consolidated master client that you want to keep after reconsolidating.
    • You have created any custom account grouping or tax code assignments in the consolidated master client that you want to keep after reconsolidating.

    If you clear this checkbox, the application will delete the entire Chart of Accounts and all journal entries, and then create everything as if it were a brand new client. You may want to clear this checkbox if the account mask changed in the subsidiary clients and you need to recreate the consolidated accounts.

  • Consolidate balance by. Select the balance type by which to consolidate balances. Note that the application consolidates balances automatically for the selected years, regardless of the balance type selected.
  • Include budget balances. Mark this checkbox to consolidate all budget balances from each subsidiary client into the master client. The application consolidates budget amounts based on the order in which they appear in the Budgets dialog for each subsidiary client record (not by budget name). Because you can rename the budgets for each client, the budget names for each client may vary.

    For example, if the first budget for subsidiary client 1 is called Budget 1, and the first budget for subsidiary client 2 is called Current year, the application consolidates the budget amounts for Budget 1 and Current year into the first budget for the master client.

Select the date range for which to consolidate transaction balances. The drop-down lists include period end dates for the master client.

The first time you consolidate data for a master client, the application consolidates balances for the selected date range only. If you reconsolidate data for that master client, the application updates balances for the selected date range. It does not update or delete balances from prior periods in the master client.

To consolidate data for additional prior years, you must add the prior years to the master client by clicking the Add Prior Year button in the Period End Dates dialog.

Click the Preview diagnostics button to view a report that lists changes that were made since the last consolidation for all subsidiary clients.

Click the Sort Order button prior to consolidating the client to specify the order of the subsidiary clients to use when creating codes for the subsidiary segment.

Note: The ability to sort the list of subsidiary clients with the down and up arrow buttons is unavailable (grayed) after the client is consolidated.

Click the Consolidate Selected button to save the current options and initiate the consolidation.

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