Account Schedule Units
Dynamics NAV's account schedule functionality allows a company to obtain data from the chart of accounts. This data can be used in formulas and presented in other ways according to the account schedule's setup, giving the user the ability to perform advanced analytical activities.
Standard account schedules obtain financial values from general ledger and general ledger budget entries. Depending upon the type of analysis a company wishes to perform, it may be necessary to display inventory amounts. For example, when viewing an account schedule displaying sales revenue over a particular period of time, the user might also wish to know how many units were sold. Because quantity information is stored in the item ledger, rather than the general ledger, it is not possible to readily obtain this data. In order to include quantities as part of an account schedule, a company can employ Food Manufacturing & Distribution's account schedule unit feature.
Account Schedule Unit Codes
Account schedule unit codes contain instructions as to how item ledger entries should be displayed on account schedules. You can set up as many account schedule unit codes as are necessary. For every code, the type of ledger entry can be specified. In addition, one or more item categories must be defined for each code. Please note that the item category as well as its possible descendants are used, so the process also depends on the correct setting of hierarchy and category-levels. When the program uses an account schedule code to present information, only ledger entries for items that are contained within the defined item categories will be included. It is therefore important that all of the items within an item category share the same unit of measure. If the program copies ledger entry information from a number of items that are all recorded in terms of different units, the data becomes much less useful.
Some items are recorded by alternate quantities in addition to their base units, and an account schedule unit code can be set up to select either type of value from ledger entries. Finally, it is possible to define a scaling factor for account schedule units. If a scaling factor has been entered, it will be applied to the values that are obtained according to the account schedule unit code's other parameters. This is useful if you want to view unit data differently than the quantities in the original entries. For example, if you wanted to present activity that was recorded in quarts in terms of gallons, you could assign a scaling factor of 0.25 to the account schedule unit code.
Column Layouts
The columns that are present when viewing an account schedule are defined as part of a column layout. Columns can display data that is copied from records in the program or the results of a formula calculation. It is possible to set up multiple column layouts, then view the same account schedule according to these different layouts.
For each column you add to a column layout, you define a ledger entry type. If the column will contain financial data, it can be set up to use either G/L or G/L budget entries. When a column will display quantity information about inventory activity, its ledger entry type is set to use units. Columns that are configured to use units will be populated with data from the item ledger, rather than the G/L.
Account Schedules
On each account schedule line, you indicate the accounts from which information should be displayed. You can also instruct an account schedule line to present the total value of other lines, or the result of a user-defined formula.
It is possible to assign an account schedule unit code to a line. When an account schedule is viewed in conjunction with a column layout, any columns that have been set up with a ledger entry type of units will display item ledger entries according to the parameters of the account schedule unit code on the line.
Please note that there is no connection between an account schedule line's assigned G/L accounts and account schedule unit code. If an account schedule line is not set up properly, it may be that the financial amount and physical units it displays are not related.