Overview
GL Accounting Variables are used for reporting designations like divisions, departments, geographies, cost centers, profit centers, or business units. If set up, these variables would be used on source transactions, such as Billings, and Payables. For example, if you elect to use a GL Account Variable to track departmental costs, you may set up GL Account Variable Type 1 to represent your Departments and set up values such as Sales, Marketing, Product Development, Services, etc. Then, when recording a Payable for the Sales department, you would populate GL Variable 1 as Sales for that particular Payable.
Accounting Seed allows for four General Ledger Variables. The GL Variable field name can be changed to reflect what it represents with the Translation Workbench Salesforce tool. For example, this would allow for the GL Variable 1 field name to be replaced with “Department” on all your source entries (Billings, Payables, Journal Entries, etc.). For more information, refer to Changing Labels for GL Variables.
Note: If you attempt to create a GL Accounting Variable after your GL Accounting Variable limit is reached, a message displays to indicate that the maximum limit has been reached. In this case, please contact Accounting Seed Support to purchase additional GL Account Variables. Please note that GL Account Variables that are set to “Inactive” do not count towards the limit.
Add GL Accounting Variable to Account and/or Product record
Note: Product information or adding a product is only applicable if you have the ERP package installed.
After you create a new GL Accounting Variable, it can be added to an Account record for a Customer/Vendor, as well as added to a product. If you add a GL Variable(s) to an Account record, when creating a Billing or Payable, it will automatically display in the appropriate GL Variable field, such as GL Variable 1. A GL Variable on an Account record will always take precedence. Therefore, if the Account record has a GL Variable(s), on the creation of Billings and Payables, it will automatically display whether there is no product on the line, the field is blank on the product, or even if this field is populated on the product. However, if the Account record does NOT include a GL Variable(s), and the product does, on the creation of Billings and Payables, the GL Variable(s) will automatically display from the product.
Note: The GL Variable(s) on a Billing and Payable can always be modified to display a different one.
Create a New GL Accounting Variable
- Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Setup tab. Then, under the Ledger menu, click Accounting Variables.
- Click New. The New Accounting Variable dialog box displays.
- Enter an Accounting Variable Name and select GL Account Variable 1, 2, 3 or 4 or Time Card Variable 1 or 2.
- Select the Active checkbox to indicate this is an active variable (allows for the variable to be selected in lookups).
- Click Save or Save & New to add another variable.
Comments
4 comments
Do you know of anyone who has made GLAV variables dependent on other GLAV? For example: The GLAV 3 values that are valid/available to be assigned to a transaction depend on which GLAV 2 value the user has selected? Do you have suggestions on the best way to accomplish this? TIA!
Hi Rebecca,
You can block certain combinations of GLAVs using validation rules, but we do not have dependent GLAVs like you would Dependent Picklists.
Do you see any issues with us creating validation rules that make the use of GL Variables 1 to 3 mandatory for our Billings and Payables and Journal Entries? Are there any background transactions / rules we need to be aware of if we make GL Variables mandatory for our transactions?
Hi Jackie,
I would recommend going to the Billing Line, Payable Line and JE Line page layouts and editing the fields to make them required rather than creating a validation rule. If not designed correctly, a custom validation rule can interfere with the creation and saving of Billing and Payable Aging History records during the Accounting Period close process.
Also goto the MassAddEditRows Field Set and make the GLAVs there required as well.
Thanks,
Bao
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