RE: Financial Accounting System (Questions)

Nathan,
There was a project undertaken a few years ago by a number of people from
the midrange.com lists.
I think there was a list called OpenERP or WyattERP in existence which might
be able to offer some suggestions.
The name James Kilgore comes to mind.

Norm Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Nathan Andelin
Sent: Monday, 23 March 2009 11:12 PM
To: midrange list
Subject: Financial Accounting System (Questions)


I'm starting to build a financial accounting system, beginning with a new
database design. Some folks assert that accounting for profit-making
enterprises is substantially different than non-profit organizations - like
schools and government entities.

I see their point go a degree - mostly on a surface level in that some of
the terminology is different, the chart of accounts may be different, and
some of the financial statements may be different. But it appears to me
that many core table layouts and bookeeping procedures could be the same.

School districts and government entities normally refer to their type of
accounting as "fund accounting". A "fund" may have a different name and a
number of different objectives than a "corporation" but fund managers and
corporate managers still account for assets, liabilities, revenues, and
expenses using a system where debits and credits must balance.

I'd like to get some feedback on the design of a chart of accounts to serve
both types of entities. I'm aware that some organizations use a fairly
lengthy account number consisting of a number of concatenated segments. For
example, a church with a world-wide presence may have various segments to
represent congregations at various levels such as local, regional, country,
area, and world-wide (in hierarchical fashion) so that financial statements
can be delineated at each level, or consolidated from bottom to top.

One the other hand, an organization may concatenate a number of segments
into a larger account, but not in a hierarchical fashion, and not for
purposes for bottom-to-top consolidation. Would a few be willing to share
what criteria you use or may be aware that others may use for defining the
layout or segmentation of your accounts?

Thanks,

Nathan.