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single: accounts; chart
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single: chart of accounts
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single: modules; l10n_
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single: module; l10n_fr
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On installation, the software is given a default chart of accounts that's the same regardless of
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your country. To install the chart of accounts and tax definitions for your own country install the
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module :mod:`l10n_XX` where XX represents your country code in two letters. For example to get the
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chart of accounts for France install the module :mod:`l10n_fr`.
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Some of these pre-built modules are comprehensive and accurate, others have rather more tentative
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status and are simply indicators of the possibilities. You can modify these, or build your own
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accounts onto the default chart, or replace it entirely with a custom chart.
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You view active charts of accounts using the menu :menuselection:`Financial Management --> Charts
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--> Charts of Accounts`, and :guilabel:`Open Charts` for the selected year and account moves.
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.. note:: Hierarchical charts
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Most accounting software packages represent their charts of accounts in the form of a list. You can
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do this in Open ERP as well if you want to, but its tree view offers several advantages:
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* it lets you show and calculate only the accounts that interest you,
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* it enables you to get a global view of accounts (when you show only summary accounts),
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* it simplifies searches semantically,
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* it's more intuitive, because you can search for accounts on the basis of their classification,
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* it's flexible because you can easily restructure them.
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The structure of the chart of accounts is hierarchical, with account subtotals called account views.
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You can develop a set of account views to contain only those elements that interest you.
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To get the detail of the account entries that are important to you, all you need to do is click the
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account's :guilabel:`Code` (if you have no codes, you can select the line, then click :guilabel:`Switch`
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to get the acount definition, then click the :guilabel:`Entries` in the :guilabel:`LINKS` part of the toolbar).
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Displaying the chart of accounts can take several seconds because Open ERP calculates the debits,
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credits and balance for each account in real time. If you just want to work with a chart of accounts
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that has structure but shows no totals, use the function :menuselection:`Financial Management -->
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Charts --> Charts of Accounts --> Fast Charts of Accounts`.
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Creating a chart of accounts
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----------------------------
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.. figure:: images/account_form.png
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*Definition of an account*
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To add, modify or delete existing accounts, use the menu :menuselection:`Financial Management -->
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Configuration --> Financial Accounting --> Financial Accounts --> List of Accounts`.
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.. tip:: Multi-lingual fields
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In Open ERP multi-lingual fields are marked by a small flag to their right.
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Click on the flag to get a translation of the value of the field in the different installed
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You can also edit the translation.
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This enables you to efficiently manage other languages as you need them.
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The field's value appears in the language of the logged-in user or, in the case of reports printed
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for a partner, that of the partner.
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The main account fields are:
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* :guilabel:`Name` : the name of the account is a multi-lingual field, which is why there's a
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little flag to the right. Give the field a name.
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* :guilabel:`Active` : if you deactivate an account (by unchecking the box) it will no longer be
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visible in the chart of accounts but can be reactivated later. Only accounts which aren't needed for
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account entries can be deactivated.
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* :guilabel:`Account Type` : account types determine an account's use in each journal.
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By default the following types are available:
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:guilabel:`View`,:guilabel:`Receivable`, :guilabel:`Payable`, :guilabel:`Income`,
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:guilabel:`Expense`, :guilabel:`Tax`, :guilabel:`Cash`, :guilabel:`Asset`, :guilabel:`Equity`.
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You can add new types through the menu
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:menuselection:`Financial Management -->
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Configuration --> Financial Accounting --> Financial Accounts --> Account Types`.
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Use the :guilabel:`View` type for accounts that make up the structure of the charts and have no
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account data inputs of their own.
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.. note:: Type of account
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The account types are mainly used as an informative title.
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The only two types that have any particular effect are :guilabel:`Receivables` and :guilabel:`Payables`.
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These two types are used by reports on partner credits and debits.
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They're calculated from the list of unreconciled entries in the accounts of one of these two types.
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* :guilabel:`Account Number` : the code length isn't limited to a specific number of digits. Use code 0 for
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* :guilabel:`Currency` : the default currency for that account.
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* :guilabel:`Deferral Method` : determines how to treat the account and its entries at the closing of the
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books at the end of the year. Four methods are available:
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- :guilabel:`Balance` : an entry is generated for the account balance and carried across to the new year
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(generally used for bank accounts),
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- :guilabel:`None` : no accounting entries are transferred across to the new financial year (generally for
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- :guilabel:`Detail` : all entries are kept for the new fiscal year,
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- :guilabel:`Unreconciled` : only unreconciled entries are carried over to the new fiscal year (usually used for
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third-party accounts).
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* :guilabel:`Reconcile` : determines if you can reconcile the entries in this account. Activate this field
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for partner accounts and for chequing (checking) accounts.
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* :guilabel:`Parents` : determines which account is the parent of this one, to create the tree structure of
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the chart of accounts.
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* :guilabel:`Default Taxes` : this is the default tax applied to purchases or sales using this account. It
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enables the system to generate tax entries automatically when entering data in a journal manually.
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The tree structure of the accounts can be altered as often and as much as you wish without
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recalculating any of the individual entries. So you can easily restructure your account during the
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year to reflect the reality of the company better.
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single: consolidation (accounting)
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pair: chart of accounts; virtual
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Using virtual charts of accounts
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--------------------------------
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The structure of a chart of accounts is imposed by the legislation in effect in the country of
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concern. Unfortunately that structure doesn't always correspond to the view that a company's CEO
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In Open ERP you can use the concept of virtual charts of accounts to manage several different
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representations of the same accounts simultaneously. These representations can be shown in real time
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with no additional data entry.
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So your general chart of accounts can be the one imposed by the statutes of your country, and your
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CEO can then have other virtual charts as necessary, based on the accounts in the general chart. For
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example the CEO can create a view per department, a cash-flow and liquidity view, or consolidated
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accounts for different companies.
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The most interesting thing about virtual charts of accounts is that they can be used in the same way
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as the default chart of accounts for the whole organization. For example you can establish budgets
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from your consolidated accounts or from the accounts from one of your companies.
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.. tip:: Virtual accounts
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Virtual accounts enable you to provide different representations of one or several existing charts
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Creating and restructuring virtual accounts has no impact on the accounting entries.
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You can then use the virtual charts with no risk of altering the general chart of accounts or
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future accounting entries.
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Because they're used only to get different representation of the same entries they're very useful
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* consolidating several companies in real time,
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* depreciation calculations,
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* getting more useful views than those imposed by statute,
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* presenting summary charts to other users that are appropriate to their general system rights.
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So there are good reasons for viewing the execution of financial transactions through virtual
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charts, such as budgets and financial indicators based on special views of the company.
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To create a new chart of accounts you should create a root account using the menu
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:menuselection:`Financial Management --> Configuration --> Financial Accounting --> Financial Accounts
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--> List of Accounts`. Your top level account should have :guilabel:`Code` \ ``0``\ and :guilabel:`Type` \ ``View``\ . Then
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you can choose your structure by creating other accounts of :guilabel:`Type` \ ``View``\ as necessary.
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Check your virtual structure using the menu :menuselection:`Financial Management --> Charts -->
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Finally, when you've got your structure, you must make the general accounts and virtual accounts
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match. For that search the general accounts and ensure that each non-\ ``View``\ account there
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also has a virtual account in the field :guilabel:`Parents`.
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You can then check through your general chart of accounts as well as your virtual charts which give
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you another representation of the company. All the actions and states in your general account are
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also available in the virtual accounts.
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Finally you can also make virtual charts of accounts from other virtual charts. That can give an
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additional dimension for financial analysis.
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.. resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
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.. Published by Open Object Press, Grand Rosière, Belgium