Examples of consolidated account balances

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Accounting CS consolidates balances using only the total balances (based on the balance type selected in the Actions > Consolidate Clients screen) for each subsidiary client. If you choose to consolidate by account grouping or tax code, you can combine multiple account balances to create the master client balance.

The unadjusted balance in the consolidated master is comprised of the consolidated balance from all of the subsidiaries. This balance is stored in the Actions > Enter Transactions screen as an activity journal entry.

An activity entry is a regular journal entry that is used to support balances that are not directly created from existing general ledger transactions such as checks, deposits, transfers, or regular journal entries.

The following examples demonstrate how the application calculates balances when consolidating two subsidiary clients, using the following selections in the Actions > Consolidate Clients screen.

  • Consolidate accounts by: Account grouping
  • Consolidate balances by: Report

Example 1: Subsidiary clients do not have existing beginning balances

If one or more of the subsidiary clients do not have an existing beginning balance, the program calculates the balances for a consolidated account by summing the balance of all accounts assigned to the selected account grouping for each subsidiary. For example, the balance for account 1-CA ($35,000) is the sum of the balances for accounts 100 ($10,000) and 105 ($25,000).

Subsidiary client name Account number Account grouping code Report balance (12/31/10) Consolidated account number (Mask=X-XX) Consolidated balance (12/31/10)
Subsidiary A 100 CA
10,000.00
1-CA
35,000.00
Subsidiary A 105 CA
25,000.00
Subsidiary A 200 CL
-15,000.00
1-CL
-20,000.00
Subsidiary A 250 CL
-5,000.00
Subsidiary A 300 EQ
-15,000.00
1-EQ
-15,000.00
Subsidiary A total
0.00
0.00
Subsidiary B 100 CA
15,000.00
2-CA
30,000.00
Subsidiary B 101 CA
10,000.00
Subsidiary B 110 CA
5,000.00
Subsidiary B 200 CL
-50,000.00
2-CL
-50,000.00
Subsidiary B 300 EQ
10,000.00
2-EQ
20,000.00
Subsidiary B 310 EQ
10,000.00
Subsidiary B total
0.00
0.00

Example 2: Subsidiary clients have existing beginning balances

If the subsidiary clients have an existing beginning balance, the program calculates the consolidated balances as follows.

  • The consolidated beginning balance is the sum of the beginning balance of all accounts assigned to the selected account grouping for each subsidiary. For example, the beginning balance for account 1-CA ($11,000) is the sum of the beginning balances for accounts 100 ($5,000) and 105 ($6,000).
  • The consolidated period balance is the sum of all report balances for the selected period for all accounts assigned to code CA. For example, the current period balance for account 1-CA ($35,000) is the sum of the current-period report balances for accounts 100 ($10,000) and 105 ($15,000).
Subsidiary client name Account number Account grouping code Beg. balance (2010) Report balance (CP, 12/31/10) Consolidated account number (Mask=X-XX) Consolidated beg. balance (2010) Consolidated balance (CP, 12/31/10)
Sub A 100 CA
5,000.00
10,000.00
1-CA
11,000.00
35,000.00
Sub A 105 CA
6,000.00
25,000.00
Sub A 200 CL
0.00
-15,000.00
1-CL
4,000.00
-20,000.00
Sub A 250 CL
4,000.00
-5,000.00
Sub A 300 EQ
-15,000.00
-15,000.00
1-EQ
-15,000.00
-15,000.00
Sub A total
0.00
0.00
0.00
Sub B 100 CA
0.00
15,000.00
2-CA
20,000.00
30,000.00
Sub B 101 CA
5,000.00
10,000.00
Sub B 110 CA
15,000.00
5,000.00
Sub B 200 CL
-37,000.00
-50,000.00
2-CL
-37,000.00
-50,000.00
Sub B 300 EQ
2,000.00
10,000.00
2-EQ
17,000.00
20,000.00
Sub B 310 EQ
15,000.00
10,000.00
Sub B total
0.00
0.00
0.00

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