Overview

Accounting Seed's Advanced Line Manager (ALM) provides a data grid on a record's detail page for viewing, adding, and editing line items without switching to a separate related list. It comes ready to use on Payable, Payment Proposal, Recurring Billing, Recurring Payable, and Recurring Journal Entry, and can be added to any other parent/child object pair, such as Journal Entry, Billing, Purchase Order, Sales Order, or a custom object.

In this article:

• Set Up ALM
  • Update the Lightning Record Page for an ALM-Ready Object
  • Add ALM to Any Other Object
• Using the ALM
  • Advanced Line Manager Functionality
  • Add a Row (line) using the Advanced Line Manager
  • Import a Template File
  • Export Lines into a File
  • Review Error Messages

Set Up ALM

Set up Advanced Line Manager using one of two paths: update the Lightning Record Page for an object that already has ALM configured, or add ALM to any other object with a parent/child relationship. Both paths require System Administrator (Customize Application) access.

Throughout this article, line refers to the underlying child record (for example, a Payable Line or Journal Entry Line), and row refers to that record's representation in the Advanced Line Manager grid.

Update the Lightning Record Page for an ALM-Ready Object

Five objects ship with Advanced Line Manager already configured. Use the table below to find the Lightning Record Page and field sets for your object, then follow the steps to activate the page.

Object	OOTB Lightning Record Page	Field Set (collapsed row)	Field Set (expanded row)
Payable	ALM Payable Record Home	Advanced Line Manager Columns	Advanced Line Manager Drawer
Recurring Billing	Recurring Billing Record Home*	Advanced Line Manager Columns	Advanced Line Manager Drawer
Recurring Payable	Recurring Payable Record Home*	Advanced Line Manager Columns	Advanced Line Manager Drawer
Recurring Journal Entry	Recurring Journal Entry Record Home*	Advanced Line Manager Columns	Advanced Line Manager Drawer
Payment Proposal	Payment Proposal Record Page	Aggregate Payment Proposal Lines	Detail Payment Proposal Lines

*The Lightning Record Page name may include a release-version suffix (for example, "– Summer '22") that changes as Accounting Seed ships new default pages. Confirm the exact name under Object Manager > [Object] > Lightning Record Pages before proceeding.

On Payment Proposal, the collapsed (parent) row uses the Aggregate Payment Proposal Lines field set. This is the view shown when Aggregate by Payee is selected. The expanded (child) row uses Detail Payment Proposal Lines. For more information, see Payment Proposals.

Use the steps below to add a Lightning Record page. The example uses Recurring Billing. Use similar steps for Payable, Payment Proposal, Recurring Payable, and Recurring Journal Entry.

1. Display a Recurring Billing record.
2. Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner and select Edit Object.
3. From the left navigation panel, select Lightning Record Pages.
4. Click the Recurring Billing Record Home hyperlink (confirm the exact name per the note above).
5. Click View, then click Activation.
6. Click Assign as Org Default.

Important: Assigning as Org Default replaces the current default Lightning Record Page for this object for all users, profiles, and apps immediately. To pilot with a subset of users first, choose App, Record Type, and Profile instead and assign only to specific profiles. If a customized page is already assigned as the default, note its name before proceeding so you can reassign it if needed.

7. Leave Desktop selected as the default form factor.
8. Click Next.
9. Click Save.

Add ALM to Any Other Object

You can add Advanced Line Manager to any object with a parent/child relationship, for example, Billing/Billing Line, Journal Entry/Journal Entry Line, Purchase Order, Sales Order, or a custom object. The steps below walk through two examples: Billing, and Journal Entry.

Important: Any field added to the ALM Columns or ALM Drawer field set must also have field-level security (Read, and Edit if it should be inline-editable) granted to every profile or permission set that will use Advanced Line Manager. A field with no FLS access will not display, even if it's in the field set.

Example: Add ALM to Billing

1. Create two new field sets on the child object. For Billing, create two field sets on the Billing Line object: one for the collapsed row (for example, "ALM Columns") and one for the expanded row (for example, "ALM Drawer"). See Edit a Field Set and this Salesforce article on creating field sets. Use a naming convention for the Field Label and API Name similar to the sample below.

2. Edit each field set to add the fields you want visible in the collapsed row (first field set) and the expanded row (second field set).
3. Display a Billing record that has Billing Lines.
4. Click the gear icon and select Edit Page.
5. Choose where to insert a component. For this example, insert it above the Billing Lines related list.
6. In the left navigation panel, scroll to the Custom – Managed section, then drag Advanced Line Manager onto the page.

7. In the right panel, in the Child Relationship field, type "line" to narrow the list, then select the relationship between the parent and child object. For Billing, this is AcctSeed__Billing_Line__c.AcctSeed__Billing__c (AcctSeed__Project_Billing_Lines__r). This API name doesn't always match the object's current label, since some relationship names are legacy from earlier package versions, so use the API name, not the label, to confirm you have the right one.
8. Enter the Column Fieldset (the first field set you created) and the Drawer Fieldset (the second field set you created).

9. Ensure the Save and Delete buttons are set to display.
10. (Optional) Select Enable Caching to allow new rows to be created more quickly. This is a good option if you notice slowness when adding rows.
11. Click Save, then click Activate.
12. Click Assign as Org Default and leave Desktop selected. Click Next, then Save. (The same Org Default caution above applies here.)
13. Return to the Billing record and refresh the page. The Advanced Line Manager grid should display with any existing Billing Lines.

Note: If the grid doesn't display, check that: the Lightning Record Page was activated and assigned as the org default; the Child Relationship field references the correct relationship; the Column Fieldset and Drawer Fieldset names were entered exactly as created; and your profile has field-level security access to the fields in both field sets.

14. Once your existing data displays correctly, remove the old related list (for example, Billing Lines) so the same data doesn't display twice.

Example: Add ALM to Journal Entry

The steps are the same as the Billing example above, with a few Journal Entry-specific settings.

1. Create two field sets on the Journal Entry Line object: one for the collapsed row (for example, "ALM Columns") and one for the expanded row (for example, "ALM Drawer").
2. Follow steps 3 through 11 in the Billing example above to add the Advanced Line Manager component to the Journal Entry Lightning Record Page, substituting Journal Entry and Journal Entry Line for Billing and Billing Line throughout, and using Journal Entry Line as the Child Relationship.

Important: Set Number of Initial Rows to 2 and deselect CSV Management. Journal Entries require a minimum of two lines to balance debits and credits, so leaving the default row count will prevent users from saving a balanced entry. CSV import doesn't enforce that minimum or the debit/credit balance, so leaving CSV Management selected risks an imported file creating an out-of-balance Journal Entry.

3. Test Advanced Line Manager: create a new Journal Entry, confirm the grid displays as expected, and adjust the field sets if needed.
4. Once tested, remove the old Journal Entry Lines related list.

Using the ALM

Everything below covers using Advanced Line Manager day to day, once it's set up.

Advanced Line Manager Functionality

The functionality below applies across every screen that uses Advanced Line Manager. Sample screens shown are from the Payable screen.

Images and hyperlinks in formula fields: To show an image in the grid, add a formula field that displays it, then add that field to the ALM Columns or ALM Drawer field set. Since images take up extra space, add image fields to the Drawer field set rather than Columns. To add a hyperlink to a document, create a text formula field (referencing a URL field's API name, for example HYPERLINK(URL_field__c, "my URL")) and the URL field itself, then add both fields to the same field set (Columns or Drawer); the hyperlink will not work unless both are in the same field set. See Use Images in Formula Fields and Edit a Field Set.

Button	What it does
Add Row	Adds one or more new rows at the bottom of the grid.
Save	Saves changes made in the grid. Important: click Save before navigating away. Unsaved changes are lost.
Refresh	Reloads the grid with the latest data.
Import	Imports a CSV file of lines. See Import a Template File.
Export	Exports lines to a CSV file for review or bulk update. See Export Lines into a File.
Delete	Marks selected rows for deletion. This is a soft delete. Click Save to complete it.
Undo / Redo	Reverts or reapplies changes made since the last Save. After Save, history clears and shows "No recent updates."
Actions: Clone	Duplicates a row. Use the pencil icon to renumber the line; order adjusts automatically on Save.
Actions: Edit	Opens the Edit Record dialog. Click Save there, then click Save again on the grid to complete the change. Fields with a pencil icon can also be edited inline.
Actions: Delete	Deletes a single row. Same soft-delete behavior as the Delete button above.

Note: Import and Export aren't available on every Advanced Line Manager screen (for example, Payment Proposal). If you have AP Automation's Email to Payable feature, a vendor's emailed invoice automatically creates a Payable with its first Payable Line already in Advanced Line Manager. See Email to Payable.

Reordering line numbers requires the AS Full Admin, Accounting Manager, or Cash Out and Banking permission set. Without one of these, drag-to-reorder isn't available on the row.

Up to 10 rows display per page. With more than 10 rows, use pagination or the Go to page field to jump to a specific page.

This is helpful when Large Data Optimizer is enabled.

Column headings are sortable. Click the up or down arrow in the header to change sort order. The next sequential line number adjusts automatically after a change, once you click Save.

Add a Row (line) using the Advanced Line Manager

1. Navigate to Accounting Home > Create Entries > Payables (under Expenses), select a list view other than Recently Viewed, and open the Payable you want.
2. Click Add Row. A new row displays; the Date field auto-populates from the Payable's Issue Date. If you enter an amount in Total and click Save, Unit Cost auto-populates with that amount and Quantity defaults to 1; if Total is left blank, Unit Cost is required. Total = Unit Cost × Quantity + Tax Amount, so if the math matches, you can enter Unit Cost and Total at the same time. For accurate reporting, enter Quantity and Unit Cost directly rather than relying on Total alone, since entering only Total always sets Quantity to 1. If an Expense GL Account is set on the customer Account or Product, it auto-populates on the line; otherwise it's required.

3. Click the right arrow to expand the row, then complete any of the following optional fields: Product, Quantity, Total, Tax Amount (auto-populates on Save; editable with the pencil icon), Tax Group (available with Header Level Posting and AS Native Tax enabled; see Set up AS Native Tax), Project/Project Task (if Project is selected, Project Task is required), and GL Variable 1-4.

4. Click Save.
5. (Optional) Click Add Row to add another line.

Important: Click Save before navigating away from this page. Unsaved rows are lost.

Import a Template File

Use Import to add lines to an existing record from a CSV file. This is a quick way to bulk-add lines without re-mapping fields each time. Only CSV files are supported, up to 200 lines per file.

Important: Files exceeding 200 lines fail to import entirely. Split larger files into batches of 200 lines or fewer.

If you're using Excel 2019 or later, save as CSV UTF-8 to avoid issues with special characters. See this Microsoft Community article.

1. Navigate to Accounting Home > Create Entries > Payables, select a list view, and open the Payable.
2. Scroll to Advanced Line Manager and click Import.
3. Follow the steps in Upload File and Select/Create Template to complete the import.

Export Lines into a File

Export downloads all lines to a CSV file named <record name>_Export_<date-time>.csv (for example, AP-00012_Export_20231213_12_05.csv). This is useful for reviewing a large number of lines at once. Because the file includes each line's Salesforce Record ID, you can edit it and re-import the changes.

Important: The 200-line import limit still applies to re-imports. Split the file first if you plan to re-import more than 200 lines.

1. Navigate to Accounting Home > Create Entries > Payables, select a list view, and open the Payable.
2. Scroll to Payable Lines and click Export. The file downloads automatically to your Downloads folder.

3. Open the file and review or edit the data. See Update Lines on an Existing Record.

Review Error Messages

If a row has an error, an error icon displays on the grid. Hover over the icon to see the message. Validation-rule errors can take a few seconds longer to appear. Hover a little longer if nothing shows right away.

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