Quick Start Tutorials > 3. Working with the Chart of Accounts

In this topic:

ManagePLUS maintains copies of certain QuickBooks lists, like the Chart of Accounts and Classes list, and lets you associate extra information with the items in those lists.

The Chart of Accounts list is handled a bit differently from other lists, in that ManagePLUS lets you associate units of measure—pound, bushel, ton, count, head, gallon, etc.—with individual accounts. This has two purposes:

It allows ManagePLUS to properly label quantities and amounts on reports, making them easier to read and understand. The following report fragment has quantities labeled "lbs." (pounds) and "head" (a livestock term meaning count or number of animals). Both of those labels came from the Chart of Accounts list in ManagePLUS, where "lbs." and "head" were associated with the Raised Livestock account.

It gives you control over ManagePLUS' advanced quantity handling features, which are described later in this lesson. If you have enabled advanced quantity handling (in ManagePLUS Preferences), associating a unit of measure with an account "turns on" advanced quantity handling for that account. It causes causes ManagePLUS to try to extract extra quantity information from Memo or Description field of transactions involving that account.

This lesson shows how to work with the Chart of Accounts and explains the basics of associating units of measure (UOMs) with accounts.

Opening the Chart of Accounts window

To open the Chart of Accounts window:

•	Click the Accounts button in the toolbar, or choose Lists > Chart of Accounts from the main menu.

The first time you open the Chart of Accounts window it will be empty, and ManagePLUS will ask you to allow refreshing the list from QuickBooks.

The window will open in a new tab. Or if it is already open, its tab will be selected.

Refreshing the Chart of Accounts list

Whenever you have changed anything in the Chart of Accounts in QuickBooks—maybe you have added or renamed an account—you should refresh (update) the list in ManagePLUS. Otherwise your reports in ManagePLUS won't be completely up to date. Like every list window, the Chart of Accounts window has a Refresh button for this purpose:

•	Click the Refresh button.

ManagePLUS will access QuickBooks, retrieve a new copy of the list, and update the window.

To refresh a list ManagePLUS must access QuickBooks, which will be much faster if QuickBooks is already running before you click on the Refresh button.

Choosing basic vs. advanced quantity handling

When you first open the Chart of Accounts window it will look something like the following, except that only one UOM column (Qty1 UOM) will be showing—which is appropriate, since QuickBooks transactions normally have just one quantity.

But ManagePLUS supports having two quantities per transaction if you want, as part of the advanced quantity handling features. (The report fragment at the beginning of this topic was produced from transactions with dual quantities.) If you enable advanced quantity handling in ManagePLUS, a second UOM column will appear in the Chart of Accounts window, as shown above.

Other columns may also be present, but don't be concerned with them for now. You'll learn about them in lesson 4.

The advanced quantity handling features let you:

•	Enter two quantities per transaction line in QuickBooks.

•	Enter quantities in the Memo or Description field of transactions, including those on QuickBooks forms which don't normally allow quantities, like the Deposits form.

•	Enter quantities as mathematical formulas which remain a permanent part of the transaction's detail.

Don't let the word "advanced" scare you: these features are easy to use. Lesson 5 shows how.

Not everyone needs advanced quantity handling, so ManagePLUS keeps those features hidden unless you enable them by turning on a Preferences setting.

Enabling advanced quantity handling

You may not yet have decided whether you'll use the advanced quantity handling features with your own accounting records, but for now we recommend that you enable them, because lesson 5 will assume that you have done so.

1.	Open the Preferences dialog by choosing Edit > Preferences from the main menu.

2.	In the Company group (at the left side of the Preferences dialog), click on Options to go to the Company Options page.

3.	Check mark the Enable advanced quantity handling item.

Being a company option means this setting is selectable on a per-company basis. If you work with multiple company files, you may enable it in some of them and leave it disabled in others.

4.	Click OK to close the Preferences window.

After completing these steps, some ManagePLUS windows and reports will have additional columns and/or customization options.

Associating units of measure with accounts

When you first begin using ManagePLUS the Chart of Accounts window has blank UOM columns, as shown earlier. And you don't have to enter any UOMs if you don't want to. But most users will want to enter some UOMs to have better-labeled reports, and using the advanced quantity handling features will require entering at least a few UOMs. (ManagePLUS only extracts Memo/Description field quantities from transactions involving accounts that ahve UOM entries.)

Because most transactions involve just one quantity, you'll most often enter a unit of measure in the Qty1 UOM column. And you will do that only for those accounts where having a unit of measure makes sense. (More on that later.)

To add units of measure:

1.	Click in a UOM column where you want to enter a unit of measure for an account.

2.	Type the unit of measure you want, or click the cell's down-arrow and select one from the drop-down list.

Whenever you type a new unit of measure (one that isn't already in the drop-down list), it is automatically added to the list. So the next time you want to use it you can select it from the list.

3.	Add UOMs for every account where a UOM makes sense.

For now (to save time) just enter a few UOMs, so you'll be able to see how having UOMs in the Chart of Accounts affects the detail on ManagePLUS reports. You can enter more of them later, at any time.

If you're working with a ManagePLUS sample company, the report examples will make more sense if you enter the units of measure recommended on the sample file's information page, which you can find here:

www.goflagship.com/products/mpsamples.htm

Only enter a unit of measure for accounts which represent things bought or sold in a specific unit of measure:

Examples:

•	Lumber may be sold in board-feet, grain in bushels, and pork loin roasts by the pound.

•	Fuel may be bought in gallons, electricity in kilowatt-hours, and livestock feed in tons or hundredweights.

•	But... Supplies, Repairs, etc. are not purchased in any particular units, so don't enter a unit of measure for accounts like these! If you do, your reports will include some nonsense quantity totals; nonsense because they add up quantities of unrelated things which have different units of measure.

4.	When do I use the Qty2 UOM column?

Use this column only for accounts which may be used in transactions where two quantities are appropriate.

ManagePLUS supports two quantities in QuickBooks transactions because for some items, having both a "count" and a "weight or volume" provides valuable management information.

Examples:

•	Farm livestock may be sold by the pound (weight) but knowing how many animals were sold yields additional management information about the selling price per pound and per animal.

•	Wholesale meats and seafoods—hams, whole pork loins, etc.—are likewise usually sold by weight, but the customer may order a specific number of items so the count is important too.

•	Decorative landscaping stones may be sold "by the pallet" (count), but because weights per pallet vary, the total weight may also be important to know, especially as it relates to freight costs.