Manage columns—Financial Report Writer

Use the Columns tab to specify the number of report columns, the type of value you want to in each column, and the reporting periods for which you want data.

The order in which the tabs appear in the Financial Report Writer can’t be changed.

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Company

Regional availability

All regions

User type Business
Permissions Reports: List, View, Add, Edit, Delete

Add, move, remove, or hide columns

You can add, move, or remove columns using the dropdown menu at the top of each column. To access the menu, select the down arrow next to the column number.

Column headings

The Financial Report Writer proposes default column headings, based on your column type and reporting period.

  • Column heading 1 and Column heading 2 provide several predefined options for the period name and date. You can also choose to omit a heading (No title) or create a custom header.
  • Column title is prefilled with the column type (for example, Actual or Budget), but you can enter a different title of your choice. If you want to remove the column title entirely, leave the field blank.

When defined, column heading appear in the following order:

Column heading 1
Column heading 2
Column title

How do I create a custom header?

When you choose Custom header for Column heading 1 or Column heading 2, you get a blank text box. In this box, you can enter your own text, or your own text before or after 1 of the following variables.

Custom header variables
Variable Definition

Period_In_Word

Displays the last day of the period with the date spelled out, as in December 31, 2013.

Date_Header_1

Displays the start of a date range, such as "12/01/2025 through".

Date_Header_2

Displays the current date (this is useful if you want to report on current month to date).

Period_Header_1

Displays the end of a reporting period in words, as in "Month Ending." or "Quarter Ending."

Period_Header_2

Displays the last date of the reporting period in MM/DD/YYYY format (for instance, "12/31/2025").

Column types

You can find out more information about each column type in the following.

Displays your account groups and accounts, with the account names listed with or without the account number. Names of account groups and accounts are generally displayed in the first column, but you can put the accounts in any column of the report.

Account columns
Column type Description

Account name

Account names, categorized into account groups.

Account number

Account numbers only, categorized into account groups.

Account name and number

Account names and numbers, categorized into account groups.
If the printed report is more than 1 page wide, you can repeat the accounts on every page using the "Repeat account name/number as 1st column on reports more than 1 page wide." option, located at the bottom of the Formatting tab.

Appears only for reports that display dimensions on rows.

Displays your dimension structures and members, with the dimension members listed with or without the ID. Names of dimensions are generally displayed in the first column, but you can put the dimensions in any column of the report.

Dimension columns
Column type Description

Dimension name

Dimension names only. 

For example, a location might be displayed as:
California

Dimension ID

Dimension IDs only.

For example, a location might be displayed as:
CA

Dimension ID and name

Dimension IDs and names. 

For example, a location might be displayed as:
CA, California

Appears only for reports that display dimensions on rows.

Displays the value of another field associated with the dimension. For example, you might want to display the Project Manager for projects, Bill-to contact and phone number for customers, or employee phone numbers.

The list of attributes that can be displayed depends on the dimension you select, and also includes any custom fields that you've created.

To display an attribute:

  1. Choose the dimension name from the Column type dropdown menu.
  2. Choose the Attribute you want to display in the column.

Displays the actual amount for the reporting period.

Actual amount column
Column type Description

Actual

Actual amount for the reporting period. This is the default.

Displays the results of a computation that you define.

There are 2 main ways to add a computation to a column.

  • Simple operation on existing columns (Summary on columns): In the example below, column 4 computes the average expenses over 2 years by averaging columns 2 and 3. Because this is a simple operation on existing columns, the calculation can be performed directly on the Columns tab.
  • Computation on actual or budget: For more complex calculations, you can use the Computations tab of the Financial Report Writer. For example, Column 5 below calculates the expenses per customer by dividing actual expenses by a statistical account group that tracks the number of customers.

Profit and loss: 2-year average

1 2 3 4 5
 

Year Ending

Dec 31 2020

Year Ending

Dec 31 2021

Two Year

2020-2021

Average

Year Ending

Dec 31 2021

Per Customer

Operating expenses

       

General and Administrative Expenses

       

Travel, Meals, and Entertainment

        

Travel Expenses

        

Travel & Entertainment: Transportation

Travel & Entertainment: Meals & Entertainment

Travel & Entertainment: Lodging

Travel & Entertainment: Tolls & Taxis

881.08

879.76

882.41

0.00

1721.96

1725.91

2600.36

1749.01

1301.52

1302.84

1741.39

874.51

17.62

17.60

17.65

0.00

Total Travel Expenses

2643.25 7797.24 5220.25 52.87

Column 1 in this example has the account name and other information.

Column 2 in this example has actual year-end information.

Column 3 in this example has actual year-end information.

Column 4 in this example is a calculation of the average expenses over two years, using column 2 and 3 as the basis for the calculation.

Column 5 in this example is a calculation of expenses per customer by dividing actual expenses by a statistical account group that tracks the number of customers.

Do not let the term "simple" mislead you. The prebuilt computations address many needs, so review what's available before spending time creating a custom computation. For more information, see Quick column computation: Columns tab—Financial Report Writer.
Column calculations
Calculation type Description Basic steps

Simple operation on existing columns

Use to apply a simple operation to 2 or more columns.

Column type = Summary on columns

Available operations include: Average, Minimum, Maximum, Median, Add, Subtract, Multiply, and Divide.

This type of calculation does not use the Computations tab. You do everything right on the Columns tab.
  1. On the Columns tab, find the columns that you're applying the operation to.
  2. Add a new column anywhere to the right of the columns identified above.
  3. For the new column, set the Column type to Computation: Summary on columns.
  4. Place your cursor in the Summary field, and define the computation.

For detailed instructions, see Columns tab: Quick column computations (Financial Report Writer).

Computation column

Use for more complex computations, including calculations that involve other account groups or constants. You can add up to 20 custom computations to a financial report.

Column type = Computation on actual or Computation on budget

Creating a computation column is a 2-step process.

  1. Create the computation on the Computations tab.
  2. Apply the computation on the Columns tab.
    1. Add a new column.
    2. Set the column type to Computation on actual or Computation on budget, depending on whether you want to apply the calculation to the actual or budgeted amount.
    3. Select the Calculation name that you previously added to the Computations tab and the Column to which it will be applied. Computation columns can include a column name and description to help explain what the calculation is used for.

For detailed instructions, see Create a computation—Financial Report Writer.
These column type are available only for reports that display account groups in rows.

Displays the amount for a reporting period as the difference or percentage difference from the amounts in the previous column.

Period comparison column
Column type Description

Period variance

Displays the percentage of difference between the previous column's reporting period and the current column's reporting period.

How positive and negative variances are shown

Variance is determined by subtracting period 2 from period 1.

When it’s a positive variance the percentages appear positive. If it’s a negative variance (for example, if period 1 is 50 and period 2 is 100 as in the following table), that appears as a negative percentage.

Positive and negative variances
Pd 1 Pd 2 Displays
50 0 100%
0 0 0%
100 50 100%
50 100 -50%

Period difference

Displays the difference between the previous column's report period and the current report period.

Lets you display budget amounts, show the difference between budget and actual amounts, and create forecasts. When you choose a budget type column, you'll be prompted to choose the budget that you want to use from a list.

Budget and budget forecast columns
Column type Description

Budget

This option displays the budget for the reporting period.

Learn more about budget to actual reports and why drill-down amounts can differ.

Budget variance
OR
Budget variance (normalized)

Variance is the difference between the planned budget and actuals.

Normalization considers when the parent account group's normal balance and the individual account's normal balance are different.

Displays the variance of actual to budget as a percentage. Example: Budget was R10,000, actual expenditure was 12,000 USD, Variance displays as "20%."

The normalized option uses the normal balance (credit or debit) of the parent-level account group to determine whether values should be presented as negative or positive.

So, for normalized budget variance:

  • When revenue exceeds budget, the normalized variance is presented as a negative number.
  • When expenses exceed budget, the normalized variance is presented as a positive number.

Budget variance examples

For example, if the budgeted expense is 80 and actuals expense is also 80, using the formula:

Actual minus Budget = 80 minus 80 *100

shows that there is no difference from the budgeted and actuals value, Because the percentage budget variance shows the percentage of difference between the budgeted and actuals, in this case it's 0%. A more likely scenario is that there is a difference, even if it's an actual value of 1.

Another example might be a case where the budgeted (expected) expense doesn't exist and actual expense is 80. In this case, there is a difference between the actual and budgeted value: the actual expense is 100% more than the budgeted value.

The percentage budget variance provides the percentage of budgeted values that differ from actuals (100%).

Get setup instructions and tips for creating budget to actual reports, including how to display the correct sign for expenses.

Actual: budget difference
OR
Actual: budget diff (normalized)

Displays the difference between the actuals and the budget in dollars. Example: Actual is 20,000 and Budget is 18,000, so the difference is 2,000.

When showing budget differences best practice is to choose the normalized option. The normalized option uses the normal balance (credit or debit) of the parent-level account group to determine whether values should be presented as negative or positive.

So, for normalized budget difference:

  • When actual revenue exceeds the budgeted revenue, the normalized difference is presented as a negative number.
  • When actual expenses exceed budgeted expenses, the normalized difference is presented as a positive number.
Get setup instructions and tips for creating budget to actual reports, including how to display the correct sign for expenses.

Budget: Actual difference

OR

Budget: Actual Difference (normalized)

 Displays the difference between the budget and the actuals in dollars. Example: Budget is 10,000 and Actual is 7,500, so the difference is 2,500.

Budget ratio

Displays the ratio of actual to budget, as a factor. Example: if the ratio of actual expenditures to budgeted expenditures was 2:1, Ratio displays as "2."

When showing budget differences best practice is to choose the normalized option. The normalized option uses the normal balance (credit or debit) of the parent-level account group to determine whether values should be presented as negative or positive.

So, for normalized budget difference:

  • When budgeted revenue exceeds the actual revenue, the normalized difference is presented as a negative number.
  • When budgeted expenses exceed actual expenses, the normalized difference is presented as a positive number.

Remaining budget

Calculates the amount remaining in a Year-to-Date budget.

This is used for Year-to-Date forecasting of the remaining budget capabilities, using Year to Date column type. It uses the Current Calendar Year Budget minus the Actual amount, as determined by the Period selected on the column.

To ensure that it's used correctly, you shouldn't use this option with Inception to Date.

We take the budget amount for the period and subtract the actual amount so far (up to the As of Date).

Remaining budget = Budget - Actual (period to date)

For example, suppose that the budget is 10000. As of the middle of the month, the actual amount is already 8000. In this case the remaining budget is 10000 - 8000 = 2000.

The Remaining Budget forecast was designed for year-to-date periods. Although other standard periods can be selected, the results might be affected by the selected period.

Forecast: Prorated

Calculates a mid-period budget forecast by adding the actual amount so far (up to the As of Date) and a prorated budget for the remainder of the period.

The prorated budget amount is calculated as follows:

(budget for the period ÷ number of days in the period) × days remaining in the period
Forecast: Full period

Calculates a full-period budget forecast.

This assumes the budget amount is entered on the first day of the reporting period. It doesn’t gather any actuals for the current month. Instead, it shows historical actuals through the last full prior budgeted period, then the budget for current and future periods.

Learn more about setting up a budget to actual report.

Reporting on consolidated budgets? Applies only to companies that subscribe to Global Consolidations. If you select a Consolidations book on the Filters tab, the budgets available on the Columns tab are restricted to those tagged as a Consolidated budget with the same currency as the consolidation book. Learn how to create consolidated budgets.

Computes an actual or budget amount as a percentage of another value. For example, you might want to show Current Assets as a percentage of Total Assets.To use a percentage calculation, you must first define the percentage calculation on the Rows tab.

This column type is available only for reports that display account groups in rows.
Percentage of amount columns
Column type Description

Percent on actual

Computes the actual value as a percentage of another value.

Percent on budget

Computes a budget value as a percentage of another value.

Next step: Other options