Every controller knows the challenge: reporting across multiple entities with different chart of accounts can be quite a challenge. Not to mention mapping accounts to the financial statements. Traditionally, this is where the bridge statement comes in. A monstrous Excel file that is supposed to help you, but often costs you more time than you would like. And what if your colleagues in those other companies also want to use Lucanet for their local reporting? Can that actually be done in a decent way?
In this blog, we discuss the various options you have when importing into and reporting from Lucanet.
When importing from a source system, audit file, or another type of file, you have access to the local account. In some cases, these are companies for which you are directly responsible. Logically, you recognize the chart of accounts and can easily link it to your reporting structure. For companies where you are not responsible for the bookkeeping, this is not so obvious, especially if the chart of accounts is set up in another language.
When importing the figures into Lucanet, you have to make a choice: do I give the local account a place in the P&L or balance sheet, or do I map it to an existing account? This question can really only be answered by looking at the reporting requirements and who is using Lucanet. Roughly speaking, there are four options to consider:
If the local controller also uses Lucanet, they often need to ‘recognize their own figures’. Seeing the local general ledger account certainly helps with that. In this case, the account can be added during import so that this level of detail remains available. In the allocation table, this can be seen afterwards because the columns ‘Description in source data’ and ‘Account’ are the same:
In the balance sheet, this then looks like this:
Do the local controllers not have access to Lucanet, or is reporting via RGS or another central chart of accounts sufficient for them? In that case, during the import you can choose to assign the source account to an existing account in Lucanet. This way, you have a tidy report in Lucanet and no ‘pollution’ because all local general ledger accounts would otherwise need to be given a place in your worksheets. In the allocation table, this can be recognized by the exclamation mark in front of each row where the source account and target account differ:
Do you want to retain the local account, but also need to report using a central chart of accounts? Then there is a hybrid method. This offers the local controller recognition of their own general ledger accounts, while giving you the possibility to report using centralized account numbers. During the import, you choose to add the local general ledger account. In the P&L and balance sheet, you then give the positions the name of your centralized general ledger account number. In this way, you retain the local general ledger account and can still perform overarching reporting as desired:
Besides the choice you make during import, you always have the possibility to work with alternative worksheets. These use the accounts and figures from the standard P&L and balance sheet worksheets, but group the data in a different way. If you use the standard worksheets for central reporting, then with an alternative worksheet you can, for example, report using IFRS or Dutch GAAP, the annual accounts structure, or your favorite management report. The great thing is that you can always make this choice afterwards, even if the figures have already been in Lucanet for years:
With these four options, we have outlined the possibilities when it comes to reporting through a bridge statement — or avoiding one altogether. As you can see, one option does not necessarily exclude the other. It is, however, important to think carefully about which choice you should make. If you choose too little detail during the import, that detail may not be possible to recreate afterwards.
If you make a well-founded choice, creating a separate bridge statement for your accountant or financial colleague will become a thing of the past!
Is your situation slightly different, or would you like to discuss the challenges in your reporting in more detail? We would be happy to think along with you. Contact us today and solve your reporting challenges!