There’s a hot new trend at Qvinci that makes for easier templating, sorting of account values in ascending or descending order, and even dynamically removing the parent account hierarchy from the list.

Replacing the chart of accounts with a macro ensures that the relative chart of accounts for each client or entity/location renders in the template when it is previewed or downloaded. The Account Sorter is brand new and for those of you using Qvinci for Franchises or Qvinci for Accountants (Enterprise), you now have this tool in your Qvinci toolbox. So, let’s jump right in!

Use Account Sorter to Drive the %%accounts%% Macro

Until now, clients using the %%accounts%% macro to drive the chart of accounts in a report knew that it had to be manually inserted in each section or subsection. The Account Sorter allows for a click/drop functionality of the macro into the chart of accounts. A user can still type the %%accounts%% macro into the report but this expedited method helps eliminate misspellings or user error.

Steps:

  1. Find the target cell for the insertion point. This is likely the first account under Income.
  2. Click that cell and choose the Account Sorter button on the top-right of the navigation bar.
  3. Bypass all options in the Account Sorter and click “Submit.”
  4. You’ll see the %%accounts%% macro appear in the selected cell.
  5. Delete all other accounts in that section keeping just the section header, the macro and the total rows.
  6. Repeat the above steps for the remaining sections in the report.
  7. Click Preview to what your report is going to look like.

Use Account Sorter to Arrange Accounts by Financial Value

The Account Sorter feature also allows users to order the chart of accounts based upon ascending or descending value in each section of the report. Additionally, each section of the report can be ordered in a different manner. For example, on a Profit & Loss report, Income accounts might need to be ordered in descending value while the Expense section of the same report may need to render in ascending value. In a multi-column report, the sorting is based upon the right-most financial column in the report.

Steps:

  1. Find the target cell for the insertion point. On a P&L, this is likely the first account under the Income section.
  2. Click that cell and choose the Account Sorter button on the top-right of the navigation bar.
  3. Inside Account Sorter, select “Sort these Accounts” and choose ascending or descending value based upon the column furthest to the right in the report. Remember that only the accounts in this section (i.e. Income) will sort in this manner. Submit the selection.
  4. You’ll see the %%accounts|valueasc%% (ascending) or %%accounts|valuedsc%% (descending) macro appear in the selected cell.
  5. Delete all other accounts in that section, keeping just the section header, the macro and the total rows.
  6. Repeat the above steps for the remaining sections in the report.
  7. Click Preview.

Examples:

Fig. 1: Notice that the Account Sorter is inserted at the top level (between the account type header and account type total). This means that all accounts comprising each account type section will be rendered in either ascending or descending order, based on the right-most column.

                                                            Fig. 1

Fig. 2: Another example for using the Account Sorter can be found at the subaccount level. Here the Account Sorter has been inserted at the subaccount level. This means that the accounts comprising each sub-section will be rendered in either ascending or descending order, based upon the right-most column.

                                                             Fig. 2

Use Account Sorter to Change the Hierarchy of the Chart of Accounts

The Account Sorter feature allows users to edit the hierarchy of the Chart of Accounts or Standard Chart of Accounts so that a flattened view of the accounts is created. This Flatten Accounts feature essentially removes the parent/subaccount relationship so that all accounts within a section are on the same level. The Flatten Accounts feature may be used on its own or in conjunction with the sorting of accounts in ascending or descending view.

Steps:

  1. Find the target cell for the insertion point. On a P&L, this is likely the first account under the Income section.
  2. Click that cell and choose the Account Sorter button on the top-right of the navigation bar.
  3. Inside Account Sorter select Flatten Accounts. Remember that only the accounts in this section (i.e. Income) will convert to a flattened hierarchy.
  4. If desired, also choose to display this section in “ascending” or “descending” view (based upon the right-most column which contains financial data). Submit the selection.
  5. If only a flattened selection was chosen, you’ll see the %%accounts|flat%% macro appear. If the ascending/descending option was also selected, then the macro will combine the two options e.g. %%accounts|valuedsc|flat%% (descending/flattened).
  6. Next, delete all other accounts in that section, keeping just the section header, the macro and the total rows.
  7. Repeat the above steps for the remaining sections in the report.
  8. Click Preview

Example:

Below (Fig. 3) are examples for using the Account Sorter in just the “flattened” view as well as “ascending/flattened” and “descending/flattened.” These Account Sorter macros may be inserted at either the Account Type level or at the sublevel. Notice in the example below that the Account Sorter has been inserted at the subaccount level for the Product Sales section, the Services Sales section and the Cost of Goods Sold section. This means that the Product Sales section will render accounts in a flattened, ascending hierarchy (even if Product Sales contained additional tiers of accounts). Service Sales will render accounts in a flattened, descending hierarchy and COGS will display all accounts in just a flattened hierarchy (based upon descending account names).

                                                            Fig. 3