Overview of client consolidation

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Product support for the Creative Solutions Accounting platform ended on September 30, 2020.

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Creating the consolidation client

For consolidation to work, you must first create a new client and mark the Consolidation Client checkbox in the General Information tab of the File > Client Properties dialog to define it as the parent client.

In the File > Consolidate Clients dialog, if you mark the Current period only checkbox, only the current-period transactions and Chart of Accounts balances and all payroll information (for employees and vendors) will be combined. Other amounts will remain intact.

Note: Consolidated clients for which password protection has been enabled will not be included in the list of clients to consolidate. However, you may temporarily remove the password protection for a client in order to consolidate and then re-enable the password protection at a later point.

For a GL client: The first time you consolidate (using the File > Consolidate Clients dialog), the program automatically marks the Use separate journals in transaction data entry checkbox in the General Ledger tab of the File > Client Properties dialog. In addition, the program automatically creates the Consolidation Adjustments journal, which is a special journal for any adjusting entries that need to be saved during subsequent consolidations.

Requirements for subsidiary clients

Prior to the actual consolidation, the program must do some checking to verify that the clients to be consolidated are compatible. All the subsidiary clients must match the parent client exactly in the following fields of the File > Client Properties dialog:

  • Current GL period ending date (Not applicable for a Trial Balance CS-only client.)
  • Current fiscal year end date
  • Period type - Monthly, Quarterly, Annual, etc. (Not applicable for a Trial Balance CS-only client.)
  • Period end dates for all years
  • Current payroll period ending date (Not applicable for a GL-only client or a Trial Balance CS-only client.)
  • Latest payroll period ending date; must be in the same year (Not applicable for a GL-only client or a Trial Balance CS-only client.)

If any of the clients selected for consolidation have nonmatching dates, the program stops the consolidation and displays an output log specifying which fields do not match the parent (Consolidation Client).

For the Chart of Accounts, compatibility is more conditional.

  • The Chart of Accounts mask for the parent client and the subsidiary clients must match exactly.
  • If the parent client's COA mask and those of the subsidiaries contain only Cs, the mask of the parent client is set to the maximum number of Cs > As > #s needed before and after the decimal.

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Information that consolidates

Some information that consolidates need not be identical in all of the subsidiary clients. However, in certain instances as defined below, the first subsidiary client selected for consolidation determines the information carried into the parent client.

GL information

Chart of Accounts with balances

  • The Chart of Accounts from the subsidiary clients are merged together and balances for matching account numbers are combined - replacing any existing accounts and balances in the parent client.
  • If duplicate account numbers differ in type, description, or tax code, the program uses the first-client-wins rule to complete the Chart of Accounts in the parent client.

Journals

  • The Consolidation Adjustments journal is created during the first consolidation, and all other Journals are combined based on description.
  • The Balancing Account field in the parent client is determined by the first-client-wins rule.

Transactions

  • Checks entered in the Tasks > Transactions window are consolidated into the parent client from the subsidiary clients. Checks entered in Payroll Check Entry dialog are not consolidated, however the payroll journal entry, as it appears in the Transactions window is consolidated as a regular check or journal entry, depending on the option setting for either Detailed or Summary payroll journal entry in the subsidiary client. It is advisable to make the Automatic Payroll Journal Entries in the subsidiary clients using the Detailed (not Summary) format. During the Bank Reconciliation process in the parent client, be sure to run the Rebuild Uncleared Transactions command to include the checks from the subsidiary clients.
  • Transactions in any journal other than the Consolidation Adjustments journal in the parent client are deleted and replaced by transactions from the subsidiary clients. Transactions that should remain in the parent company must either be entered in the Consolidation Adjustments journal or transferred from the other journals to the Consolidation Adjustments journal (by choosing the F3 commandTransfer Transactions between Journals from the Tasks > Transactions window).

Payroll information

Checkbooks

  • Checkbook information is removed and replaced with each consolidation into the parent client. If the checkbook descriptions, routing numbers, and bank account numbers are identical for subsidiary clients, the checkbook information is combined into a single checkbook in the parent client. Other checkbook information follows the first-client-wins rule.

Departments

  • Department information is removed and replaced with each consolidation into the parent client.

Employees

  • Employee information is removed and replaced with each consolidation into the parent client.
  • Earnings history is consolidated into the parent client, but check history is not.
  • All employees from the subsidiary clients consolidate into the parent client. Employees with the same ID in subsidiary clients are renumbered in the parent client.

    Example: Subsidiary client 1 and subsidiary client 2 each has an employee 101. After consolidation, employee 101 from subsidiary client 1 is left unchanged in the parent client, but employee 101 from subsidiary client 2 has been given a new ID of 101~1.

    Note: Information for the same employee working for different subsidiary clients will combine if the Combine Employees checkbox is marked in the File > Client Consolidation dialog and the SSN is identical across clients. For details, seeCombining employee information during client consolidation.

Vendors

  • Vendor information is removed and replaced with each consolidation into the parent client.
  • Vendor records from different subsidiary clients are combined based on matching EINs.
  • All other vendor information is consolidated using the first-client-wins rule.

Trial Balance information

Chart of Accounts with balances

  • The Chart of Accounts from the subsidiary clients are merged together and balances for matching account numbers are combined - replacing any existing accounts and balances in the parent client.
  • If duplicate account numbers differ in type, description, or tax code, the program uses the first-client-wins rule to complete the Chart of Accounts in the parent client.

Adjusting journal entries

  • Adjusting journal entries in the parent client are deleted and replaced by journal entries from the subsidiary clients.

Other information

If the relevant checkboxes are marked at the bottom of the File > Consolidate Clients dialog, the following information consolidates into the parent client:

  • Account groups
  • Transmittal letters
  • Financial statements
  • Retain existing accounts

Related topics

Overview of client consolidation with account balances only (for a Trial Balance CS client)

Consolidating clients

Combining employee information during client consolidation

Consolidate Clients [File menu]

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