General Ledger questions.

[Xavier Olivella]

Hi everybody

I am setting up my own GL Chart of accounts with Spanish model and it's
working quite good (thanks to documentation!) except for the nightmare
of converting the defaults and accountTypes to its Spanish GL
equivalent :-(

Anyway I have a couple of questions.

1- I know how to set up all receivable and payable invoices to its
default GL account but, can I set up some specific GL account for some
customers and some providers? It's very usual here, so it would be
perfect for my accountant. The idea is that all invoices to (or from) a
particular PartyID may be posted to a GL account "linked" or associated
to that Party.

2- The second one is related to previous. If there's a parent GL account
that has several child accounts, how can I set up the parent balance to
be the sum of all child balances? You can figure it would be very useful
in above case among others.


I've been looking in docs and google lucklessly :-(

Thanks in advance!

[David E Jones]

Just a quick note: those both sound like things you could do after the fact in the reports and such that you write. In fact, the second one is already implied and part of what OFBiz does.

-David


Xavier Olivella wrote:

> Hi everybody
>
> I am setting up my own GL Chart of accounts with Spanish model and it's
> working quite good (thanks to documentation!) except for the nightmare
> of converting the defaults and accountTypes to its Spanish GL
> equivalent :-(
>
> Anyway I have a couple of questions.
>
> 1- I know how to set up all receivable and payable invoices to its
> default GL account but, can I set up some specific GL account for some
> customers and some providers? It's very usual here, so it would be
> perfect for my accountant. The idea is that all invoices to (or from) a
> particular PartyID may be posted to a GL account "linked" or associated
> to that Party.
>
> 2- The second one is related to previous. If there's a parent GL account
> that has several child accounts, how can I set up the parent balance to
> be the sum of all child balances? You can figure it would be very useful
> in above case among others.
>
>
> I've been looking in docs and google lucklessly :-(
>
> Thanks in advance!
>

[Xavier Olivella]

Ok, thanks for your note, but I would like ofbiz to POST to a specific
account, not to get the report (which is working fine by the way).

The second one is not working for me, but I don't know if there's
another thing to set up plus the parent-child relationship.

Thanks anyway.


El dt 17 de 07 del 2007 a les 12:52 -0600, en/na David E Jones va
escriure:

> Just a quick note: those both sound like things you could do after the fact in the reports and such that you write. In fact, the second one is already implied and part of what OFBiz does.
>
> -David
>
>
> Xavier Olivella wrote:
> > Hi everybody
> >
> > I am setting up my own GL Chart of accounts with Spanish model and it's
> > working quite good (thanks to documentation!) except for the nightmare
> > of converting the defaults and accountTypes to its Spanish GL
> > equivalent :-(
> >
> > Anyway I have a couple of questions.
> >
> > 1- I know how to set up all receivable and payable invoices to its
> > default GL account but, can I set up some specific GL account for some
> > customers and some providers? It's very usual here, so it would be
> > perfect for my accountant. The idea is that all invoices to (or from) a
> > particular PartyID may be posted to a GL account "linked" or associated
> > to that Party.
> >
> > 2- The second one is related to previous. If there's a parent GL account
> > that has several child accounts, how can I set up the parent balance to
> > be the sum of all child balances? You can figure it would be very useful
> > in above case among others.
> >
> >
> > I've been looking in docs and google lucklessly :-(
> >
> > Thanks in advance!
> >

[David E Jones]

Hmmm... if you are actually using any of these things it must be with the opentaps financials module or something as these aren't actually built into OFBiz.

There are some efforts coming to build all of this out in OFBiz itself, but that is really not close to done yet.

If you are using opentaps, the opentaps forums/lists/whatever might yield more helpful information.

Good luck!
-David


Xavier Olivella wrote:

> Ok, thanks for your note, but I would like ofbiz to POST to a specific
> account, not to get the report (which is working fine by the way).
>
> The second one is not working for me, but I don't know if there's
> another thing to set up plus the parent-child relationship.
>
> Thanks anyway.
>
>
> El dt 17 de 07 del 2007 a les 12:52 -0600, en/na David E Jones va
> escriure:
>
>> Just a quick note: those both sound like things you could do after the fact in the reports and such that you write. In fact, the second one is already implied and part of what OFBiz does.
>>
>> -David
>>
>>
>> Xavier Olivella wrote:
>>> Hi everybody
>>>
>>> I am setting up my own GL Chart of accounts with Spanish model and it's
>>> working quite good (thanks to documentation!) except for the nightmare
>>> of converting the defaults and accountTypes to its Spanish GL
>>> equivalent :-(
>>>
>>> Anyway I have a couple of questions.
>>>
>>> 1- I know how to set up all receivable and payable invoices to its
>>> default GL account but, can I set up some specific GL account for some
>>> customers and some providers? It's very usual here, so it would be
>>> perfect for my accountant. The idea is that all invoices to (or from) a
>>> particular PartyID may be posted to a GL account "linked" or associated
>>> to that Party.
>>>
>>> 2- The second one is related to previous. If there's a parent GL account
>>> that has several child accounts, how can I set up the parent balance to
>>> be the sum of all child balances? You can figure it would be very useful
>>> in above case among others.
>>>
>>>
>>> I've been looking in docs and google lucklessly :-(
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance!
>>>
>

[Vince Clark]

David

Speaking of OpenTaps, can you provide some clarification on where the
line is drawn between OFBiz functionality and the OpenTaps Financials
module?

For example, does OFBiz take transactions all the way to posting to the
GL? If so, is OpenTaps really just enhanced functionality and reporting?

I'm trying to understand when it makes sense to pull in that module or
just use OFBiz OOTB.

David E Jones wrote:

>
> Hmmm... if you are actually using any of these things it must be with
> the opentaps financials module or something as these aren't actually
> built into OFBiz.
>
> There are some efforts coming to build all of this out in OFBiz
> itself, but that is really not close to done yet.
>
> If you are using opentaps, the opentaps forums/lists/whatever might
> yield more helpful information.
>
> Good luck!
> -David
>
>
> Xavier Olivella wrote:
>> Ok, thanks for your note, but I would like ofbiz to POST to a specific
>> account, not to get the report (which is working fine by the way).
>>
>> The second one is not working for me, but I don't know if there's
>> another thing to set up plus the parent-child relationship.
>>
>> Thanks anyway.
>>
>>
>> El dt 17 de 07 del 2007 a les 12:52 -0600, en/na David E Jones va
>> escriure:
>>
>>> Just a quick note: those both sound like things you could do after
>>> the fact in the reports and such that you write. In fact, the second
>>> one is already implied and part of what OFBiz does.
>>>
>>> -David
>>>
>>>
>>> Xavier Olivella wrote:
>>>> Hi everybody
>>>>
>>>> I am setting up my own GL Chart of accounts with Spanish model and
>>>> it's
>>>> working quite good (thanks to documentation!) except for the nightmare
>>>> of converting the defaults and accountTypes to its Spanish GL
>>>> equivalent :-(
>>>>
>>>> Anyway I have a couple of questions.
>>>>
>>>> 1- I know how to set up all receivable and payable invoices to its
>>>> default GL account but, can I set up some specific GL account for some
>>>> customers and some providers? It's very usual here, so it would be
>>>> perfect for my accountant. The idea is that all invoices to (or
>>>> from) a
>>>> particular PartyID may be posted to a GL account "linked" or
>>>> associated
>>>> to that Party.
>>>>
>>>> 2- The second one is related to previous. If there's a parent GL
>>>> account
>>>> that has several child accounts, how can I set up the parent
>>>> balance to
>>>> be the sum of all child balances? You can figure it would be very
>>>> useful
>>>> in above case among others.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I've been looking in docs and google lucklessly :-(
>>>>
>>>> Thanks in advance!
>>>>
>>

--
Vince Clark
Global Era
The freedom of open source.
[phone]
[phone] fax
[hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]>
www.globalera.com

[David E Jones]

This line isn't easily drawn. Initially opentaps financials was just an add-on to OFBiz, but these days they are working on replacing functionality in OFBiz accounting, so the functional areas overlap quite a bit.

In general OFBiz has all of the data model, low level posting services, etc but we don't yet have automated posting services or financial reports and those are the big gaps that opentaps fills.

-David


Vince Clark wrote:

> David
>
> Speaking of OpenTaps, can you provide some clarification on where the
> line is drawn between OFBiz functionality and the OpenTaps Financials
> module?
>
> For example, does OFBiz take transactions all the way to posting to the
> GL? If so, is OpenTaps really just enhanced functionality and reporting?
>
> I'm trying to understand when it makes sense to pull in that module or
> just use OFBiz OOTB.
>
> David E Jones wrote:
>> Hmmm... if you are actually using any of these things it must be with
>> the opentaps financials module or something as these aren't actually
>> built into OFBiz.
>>
>> There are some efforts coming to build all of this out in OFBiz
>> itself, but that is really not close to done yet.
>>
>> If you are using opentaps, the opentaps forums/lists/whatever might
>> yield more helpful information.
>>
>> Good luck!
>> -David
>>
>>
>> Xavier Olivella wrote:
>>> Ok, thanks for your note, but I would like ofbiz to POST to a specific
>>> account, not to get the report (which is working fine by the way).
>>>
>>> The second one is not working for me, but I don't know if there's
>>> another thing to set up plus the parent-child relationship.
>>>
>>> Thanks anyway.
>>>
>>>
>>> El dt 17 de 07 del 2007 a les 12:52 -0600, en/na David E Jones va
>>> escriure:
>>>
>>>> Just a quick note: those both sound like things you could do after
>>>> the fact in the reports and such that you write. In fact, the second
>>>> one is already implied and part of what OFBiz does.
>>>>
>>>> -David
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Xavier Olivella wrote:
>>>>> Hi everybody
>>>>>
>>>>> I am setting up my own GL Chart of accounts with Spanish model and
>>>>> it's
>>>>> working quite good (thanks to documentation!) except for the nightmare
>>>>> of converting the defaults and accountTypes to its Spanish GL
>>>>> equivalent :-(
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyway I have a couple of questions.
>>>>>
>>>>> 1- I know how to set up all receivable and payable invoices to its
>>>>> default GL account but, can I set up some specific GL account for some
>>>>> customers and some providers? It's very usual here, so it would be
>>>>> perfect for my accountant. The idea is that all invoices to (or
>>>>> from) a
>>>>> particular PartyID may be posted to a GL account "linked" or
>>>>> associated
>>>>> to that Party.
>>>>>
>>>>> 2- The second one is related to previous. If there's a parent GL
>>>>> account
>>>>> that has several child accounts, how can I set up the parent
>>>>> balance to
>>>>> be the sum of all child balances? You can figure it would be very
>>>>> useful
>>>>> in above case among others.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I've been looking in docs and google lucklessly :-(
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks in advance!
>>>>>
>

[Vince Clark]

That helps. Thanks for the clarification.

David E Jones wrote:

>
> This line isn't easily drawn. Initially opentaps financials was just
> an add-on to OFBiz, but these days they are working on replacing
> functionality in OFBiz accounting, so the functional areas overlap
> quite a bit.
>
> In general OFBiz has all of the data model, low level posting
> services, etc but we don't yet have automated posting services or
> financial reports and those are the big gaps that opentaps fills.
>
> -David
>
>
> Vince Clark wrote:
>> David
>>
>> Speaking of OpenTaps, can you provide some clarification on where the
>> line is drawn between OFBiz functionality and the OpenTaps Financials
>> module?
>>
>> For example, does OFBiz take transactions all the way to posting to the
>> GL? If so, is OpenTaps really just enhanced functionality and reporting?
>>
>> I'm trying to understand when it makes sense to pull in that module or
>> just use OFBiz OOTB.
>>
>> David E Jones wrote:
>>> Hmmm... if you are actually using any of these things it must be with
>>> the opentaps financials module or something as these aren't actually
>>> built into OFBiz.
>>>
>>> There are some efforts coming to build all of this out in OFBiz
>>> itself, but that is really not close to done yet.
>>>
>>> If you are using opentaps, the opentaps forums/lists/whatever might
>>> yield more helpful information.
>>>
>>> Good luck!
>>> -David
>>>
>>>
>>> Xavier Olivella wrote:
>>>> Ok, thanks for your note, but I would like ofbiz to POST to a specific
>>>> account, not to get the report (which is working fine by the way).
>>>>
>>>> The second one is not working for me, but I don't know if there's
>>>> another thing to set up plus the parent-child relationship.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks anyway.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> El dt 17 de 07 del 2007 a les 12:52 -0600, en/na David E Jones va
>>>> escriure:
>>>>
>>>>> Just a quick note: those both sound like things you could do after
>>>>> the fact in the reports and such that you write. In fact, the second
>>>>> one is already implied and part of what OFBiz does.
>>>>>
>>>>> -David
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Xavier Olivella wrote:
>>>>>> Hi everybody
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I am setting up my own GL Chart of accounts with Spanish model and
>>>>>> it's
>>>>>> working quite good (thanks to documentation!) except for the
>>>>>> nightmare
>>>>>> of converting the defaults and accountTypes to its Spanish GL
>>>>>> equivalent :-(
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyway I have a couple of questions.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1- I know how to set up all receivable and payable invoices to its
>>>>>> default GL account but, can I set up some specific GL account for
>>>>>> some
>>>>>> customers and some providers? It's very usual here, so it would be
>>>>>> perfect for my accountant. The idea is that all invoices to (or
>>>>>> from) a
>>>>>> particular PartyID may be posted to a GL account "linked" or
>>>>>> associated
>>>>>> to that Party.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2- The second one is related to previous. If there's a parent GL
>>>>>> account
>>>>>> that has several child accounts, how can I set up the parent
>>>>>> balance to
>>>>>> be the sum of all child balances? You can figure it would be very
>>>>>> useful
>>>>>> in above case among others.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I've been looking in docs and google lucklessly :-(
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks in advance!
>>>>>>
>>

--
Vince Clark
Global Era
The freedom of open source.
[phone]
[phone] fax
[hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]>
www.globalera.com

[Xavier Olivella]

Yes, I'm using Opentaps, but i thought all this stuff was Ofbiz
business...

Thanks for your patience, I'll try in Opentaps forum.


El dt 17 de 07 del 2007 a les 13:31 -0600, en/na David E Jones va
escriure:

> Hmmm... if you are actually using any of these things it must be with the opentaps financials module or something as these aren't actually built into OFBiz.
>
> There are some efforts coming to build all of this out in OFBiz itself, but that is really not close to done yet.
>
> If you are using opentaps, the opentaps forums/lists/whatever might yield more helpful information.
>
> Good luck!
> -David

[Cameron Smith-6]

Contributing to this discussion:

We originally looked into reselling OpenTAPS here in Mozambique at the end of 2006, but at that time came up against three significant issues:
 a. OpenTAPS Financials at that time was still fairly rough (I believe it has progressed a lot since then)
 b. The Mozambican accounting system has some significant differences, especially the chart of of accounts, from Anglo Saxon models, which meant that a lot of the automated stuff didn't really fit.
 c. Our target market (small businesses) found the UI too complicated.

So we ended up writing our own application on top of OFBiz Accounting.    We completely redid the UI (using a rich client framework) and some of the business logic, but I must point out that we found the core data model and services to be absolutely rock solid.  We did not find a single bug in them.  In particularly the absolutely crucial service of postGlAccount, which updates account balances depending on class, and updates GlAccountHistory, works fine.   The only change we made to it was to support explicit choosing of special accounting months (which may not be applicable in all jurisdictions).

The General Ledger module is now ready (we are also using it for our own accounting), and we are now working on the integration bit, with our existing Commercial Management app.  So if you are thinking of building on top of the ofbiz/applications/accounting module, in my opinion it is solid.   I do have the following recomendations:
 a. DO buy Volume I of the Data Model book, as mentioned on OFBiz home page - it is well worth it
 b. Respect the data model - when you learn how it is meant to work, you should not need to make a lot of changes to it.  If you do, beware that you are not getting something mixed up.
 c. Get the core reports working as soon as possible, and pay a qualified, experienced management accountant to act as an analyst and verify them regularly - this is the only way to be sure you can trust your application.

We are very much focussed on the domestic market at the moment, but if anyone was interested we could discuss the possibilities to localize it for another market.  At the level of General Ledger accounting there are really only two challenges involved here:
 a. Localizing UI and messages: easy since both OFBiz and the UI framework we use support this
 b. Localizing Chart of Acccounts: again not too difficult as it is basically entity data loading in OFBiz standard XML format. However there are a few special cases in the UI for certain groups of accounts (eg. Clients) but these could be parametrized fairly easily.

cameron
 






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