Reporting Tab of Advanced Accounting System Settings

Use the Reporting tab to enable or disable reporting features, such as cash-basis reporting, reporting at burdened rates, billing rates, or billing currency. You can also enable employee realization reporting and specify related settings.

Contents

This tab only displays if you have the Project Control, Accounting, and Billing applications all activated.

Field Description
Cash-basis Reporting You must select this option if you want to print your accounting reports with the cash-basis method of accounting. Cash-basis reporting is a method of financial accounting in which revenue is not earned until cash is received, and expenses are not incurred until cash is disbursed.

You can enable cash-basis reporting at any month start; you must map cash-basis accounts to your accrual accounts and enter your balances at that point. After you enable cash-basis reporting, DPS maintains cash-basis detail from that point forward. For this reason, it is important to enable cash-basis reporting only when you are ready to use the feature fully and you have determined your cut-off date.

After you enable this feature, it is enabled in all past and future periods. You must turn the feature off to make entries in a prior period. To avoid this, you can close all prior periods and set up security to not allow for processing in closed periods.

You must set up (map) a cash-basis account for any accrual-basis account that you want to post to a different account for cash-basis reporting. You can use existing accounts or set up accounts to use as cash-basis accounts.

DPS implements accrual-basis accounting by default. Under accrual-basis accounting, revenue is recognized when it is earned, and expenses are recorded when they are incurred rather than paid.

Reporting at Burdened Rates Select this check box to run project reports at burdened amounts. This effectively combines labor and overhead on a single detail line. When you combine labor and overhead, the overhead for each detail line is estimated using the same calculation that is used when reporting at cost and overhead allocation needs to be run.
Reporting at Billing Rates Select this check box to generate project reports based on billing and cost rates. If this option is selected, DPS includes Billing and Cost as options in the Options field in Project Reporting. You cannot print reports at billing rates unless the Billing application is installed.
Use Reporting Default Terms for All Projects Select this check box if you want reports that use billing amounts (for example Project reports, Employee reports, and posting logs) to use the billing terms and multiplier information in Settings > Billing > Report Default Terms.

When you select this check box, the Use as Project Reporting Default Terms Only check boxes on the Labor tab and the Expenses/Units tab in Settings > Billing > Default Terms and in Billing > Default Terms are not available.

If you are reporting billing in the project currency, there are issues with billing revenue methods and zero cost rates. When you report billing in the billing currency, however, this is not an issue.

Use Billing Currency not Project Currency Select this check box if you use multiple currencies and your enterprise decides to report project amounts in the billing currency, rather than the project currency. For example, you may want to make it easier to match invoice amounts to the corresponding amounts on project reports.

Currency and Billing Extensions

Billing and cost rates for project reporting are defined at the time of posting. When you post a transaction, DPS looks at the applicable billing terms to determine billing rates for project reporting purposes. If you later update the billing terms, your updates are not reflected on the project reports unless you refresh billing extensions.

To calculate billing extension values, DPS always first calculates them in the billing currency.
  • If you select the Use Billing Currency not Project Currency option, the amount DPS calculates is the billing extension used on project reports.
  • If do not select the Use Billing Currency not Project Currency option, the billing extension values need to be in the project currency.

Therefore, if the project currency is different from the billing currency, DPS makes an extra exchange to translate the billing extension from the billing currency to the project currency.

Currency and the Planning Application

If this option is selected and a plan's cost currency differs from its billing currency, the following occur:
  • Planning calculates cost amounts with the plan's cost currency. It calculates billing amounts with the plan's billing currency.
  • When projects are added to a plan, Planning filters the Project lookup to display only those projects whose project currency matches the plan's cost currency and whose billing currency matches the plan's billing currency.
If this option is cleared and your plan's cost currency is the project currency, then the following occur:
  • Planning calculates its own cost and billing amounts with a plan's cost currency as both its cost and its billing currency.
  • When projects are added to a plan, Planning filters the Project lookup to display only those projects whose project currency matches the plan's cost currency.
Reporting Realization by Employee Select this check box if you want to track realization amounts for employees.

When you select this check box, you must enter a calculation method, frequency, and allocation accounts in the remaining fields on this tab.

You can clear or select this check box at any time. When you clear it after it has been selected (and realization amounts have been allocated to employees), previously calculated realization amounts are not removed from records.

Calculation Method This setting applies only when you select the Reporting Realization by Employee check box.

From the drop-down list, select the Cost, Billing, or Hours method. This setting affects how revenue is prorated among employees who work on a project. This setting affects the calculation that determines the percentage of revenue to allocate as realization to each employee who has time records for the invoice (if you select the Invoice frequency for employee realization) or for a period (if you select the Period frequency for employee realization).

You can change the calculation method at any time. Changing it does not impact the realization amount for prior records. It impacts only future calculations.

This is how the calculation method is used to prorate revenue among employees:
  1. A value is calculated for each employee's total time records that are included on a billing invoice (if you select the Invoice frequency for employee realization) or included in the selected posting periods (if you select the Period frequency for employee realization). The value is a billing amount, cost amount, or hours, depending on which calculation method you choose.
  2. Each employee's time record value is divided by the total value of all employees' time records for an invoice (if you select the Invoice frequency) or for the selected posting periods (if you select the Period frequency). This determines the percentage of the realization that an employee will receive.

    Employee-specific unit transactions that are included on an invoice are not included in the total of all employees' time records that is used to calculate the percentage of realization that an employee receives. Employee-specific unit revenue is allocated directly to the specific employee.

  3. The realization that an employee receives is the percentage (determined in step 2) of the amount that is posted to the general ledger revenue accounts that are designated for the Employee Realization feature on this tab.
The possible settings for this option are:
  • Cost — With this method, the cost value of time records is used to determine the percentage of revenue to allocate to each employee who has time records for an invoice (if you select the Invoice frequency) or for the selected posting periods (if you select the Period frequency). The cost amount is calculated from posted timesheet transactions and billing edits made in Interactive Billing (items to be billed, written off, deleted, modified, or inserted).

    If you use labor burden rates, the cost amount does not include burden.

  • Billing — With this method, the billing extension is used to calculate a billing value that is used to determine the percentage of revenue to allocate to each employee who has time records on an invoice (if you select the Invoice frequency) or for the selected posting periods (if you select the Period frequency). You can select this option only if you also select the Reporting at Billing Rates check box on this tab.

    For fee-based invoices, the percentages for employee realization are based on the fee amounts entered in Billing Terms for a project.

  • Hours — With this method, the total hours for the labor transactions are used to determine the percentage of revenue to allocate to each employee who has labor transactions included on an invoice (if you select the Invoice frequency) or for the selected posting periods (if you select the Period frequency).
Frequency This setting applies only when you select the Reporting Realization by Employee check box. This setting affects how employee realization is calculated and whether or not realization is allocated automatically or manually. From the drop-down list, select the frequency for calculating employee realization. The options are:
  • Invoice — This option is available only if you use the Billing application. When you select this option, the revenue allocated to employees is based on revenue from posted invoices. The allocation occurs automatically when you process invoices in Interactive Billing and Batch Billing.

    After you click OK on the Invoice Accept dialog box in Interactive Billing, realization amounts are displayed by employee on the Employee Realization Allocation dialog box. This dialog box does not display in Batch Billing.

  • Period — When you select this option, the revenue allocated to employees is based on revenue posted in a specific accounting period or range of periods.

    You must manually run the Employee Realization Allocation program in Billing > Employee Realization to allocate realization. The allocation does not occur as part of Interactive Billing or Batch Billing. On the Employee Realization Allocation form in Employee Realization, you select the projects, a range of periods, and whether or not to include labor adjustments and Interactive Billing modifications in the realization calculation. Realization is calculated only when there is both an invoice and time records posted for a project in the period or periods that you selected for realization processing.

You can change the setting for this option at any time. Changing the frequency setting changes the calculation method going forward. It does not impact records that have already been calculated.

Allocation Accounts Grid

This grid prefills with the labor account (revenue account for labor billings) that is entered on the Accounts tab in Billing Configuration.

In this grid, enter:
  • Labor revenue accounts.
  • Unit revenue accounts that are entered for units (in the Units hub in the desktop application) if the units are designated as having employee-specific for revenue (the Employee specific Revenue check box has been selected in the Units hub in the desktop application).
If your firm uses multiple companies:
  • The labor account (from the Accounts tab in Billing Configuration) for each company prefills in this grid.
  • This grid displays columns for Company, Account, and Account Name.
  • A revenue account can be used only one time for each company.
Field Description
Allocation Accounts Drop-down

Click the drop-down arrow on a grid header to complete any of the following actions:

  • To print grid data, click Print. On the Print Preview form, click File > Print to send the grid data to your default printer.
  • To export grid data to an Excel spreadsheet, click Export to Excel. When Microsoft Excel opens, use its features to modify, print, or email the grid data, or to save the spreadsheet file locally.
  • To turn on grouping for a grid, click Enable Grouping. When a field displays with the instruction: "Drag a column header here to group by that column," drag and drop column headers into the field, in the sequence that you want them to display.

Not all options are available on all grids.

Insert Click this option to add a blank row to the grid. Enter a new revenue account for the realization calculation in the row.

If your firm uses multiple companies, click the drop-down arrow in the Company column to select a company from the list.

In the Account column, use the Account lookup to select a revenue account. The name of the account displays in the Account Name column.

Delete Select the row that you want to remove from the realization calculation and then click this option to delete it.

Deleting accounts affects future calculations but does not affect any realization calculations that have already been made.

If you try to delete a revenue account that is associated with units for a specific employee, you receive a warning message that if you proceed with the deletion, the unit will be changed to no longer be employee specific. This helps to ensure that employee-specific units are being credited to a revenue account defined as part of the realization.

Company If your firm uses multiple companies, click the drop-down arrow in this column and select a company from the list.
Account Use the Account lookup to select a revenue account for which realization will be allocated.
Account Name The name of the revenue account that you selected displays in this field.