I work as an ordinary analyst and it so happened that in the summer of 2014, while participating in an e-commerce project, I did management accounting in MS Excel on my knees in 3 weeks. I've been planning it for a long time and finally decided to post it on Habr. I think it will be useful for small entrepreneurs who understand the importance of managing financial flows, but do not want to spend a significant amount of time and money on maintaining management accounting. I do not pretend to be the ultimate truth and will be glad to see other solutions proposed by community members.
The business I was involved with in the summer was an ordinary online clothing store in the premium and higher segment with a turnover of about 1 million rubles per month. The business worked, not to say very successfully, but it worked and continues to work. The owner understood the need for management accounting and, with this understanding, hired me as a financial director (analyst/manager...), since the previous one left the business 3 months before my arrival. Actually, there was a hole of the same duration in management accounting. Looking ahead, I will say that I did not eliminate the hole (we decided not to stir up the past), but created a system that works successfully with minimal labor to this day.
My predecessor led the administration in Fingrad, which turned out to be a very powerful tool. For example, it made it possible to automatically download information from 1C and statements of different bank clients, creating transactions according to pre-formulated rules. This is certainly a useful thing, however, if the double entry system was followed, it increased the work time significantly. To avoid increased work, this tool allowed the generation of “dependent transactions”. The dog was buried in the creation of these additional wiring. And then it turned out that behind all the power of Fingrad there was a uniqueness that determined the complete absence of expertise in the public domain. Ordinary users (who, by the way, paid 3,000 rubles a month for access to the system) had access only to the “User’s Guide” on the official website and 6 video lessons there. Youtube, which gave access to a couple dozen more video tutorials, also didn’t help much. There were basically no forums with “how to...” information. Support, in response to specific questions about the rules for creating “dependent postings” and requests for help specifically in my case, was frozen with the phrases “you and I do not have a support agreement, so we are not ready to answer such specific questions.” Although it would seem - what is specific about such requests, and even with screenshots on my part? It is clear that everything can be done with your hands, but the question is, why then pay at all for a tool that greatly increases the time required for management and does not provide any benefits for small businesses?
Having convinced the owner of the inexpediency of using Fingrad with such volumes of business and downloading all the information from the system, I set it to BIG and fatty cross. At the same time, the decision to go to MS Excel was not spontaneous. A good Google search on the topic of management accounting found monsters similar to Fingrad, or links to web applications for managing personal finances, while the main requirements for the system were:
Possibility of maintaining BDDS and BDR based on a changeable chart of accounts;
- simplicity in further management accounting (including by “financially illiterate” users);
- flexibility (the ability to expand/remove functionality on the go);
- no tool/interface overload.
First, let’s clarify the terms: being not a financier, by BDDS I mean “Balance of Cash Flows”, BDR - “Budget of Income and Expenses”. We consider the BDDS on the cash basis (the day of the transaction - the “Operation Date” column) and use it for operational day-to-day planning, and the BDDS on the accrual basis (the “Accrual Period” column) for strategic planning, within a year or more.
So, how everything works and how it works (ideally):
1. Management accounting is collected based on information entered by end users using a form in Google Docs. The field names and option encodings in the final management accounting file are marked in red - a kind of field mapping.
2. In the end, it looks like this (what was transferred to the final management file is filled with green).
3. Management accounting is built on the basis of .xls downloaded from Fingrad (hence the names that are strange for third-party users and, in general, an excessive number of columns). We kindly ask you not to take the meanings of the columns “Incoming” and “Expense” seriously - a lot has been changed randomly.
The filling mechanism is simple: carefully transfer it to the “General Ledger” tab from the Google Docs form and bank statements. The lines used to generate the BDR are highlighted in red, and the BDDS are highlighted in green, which are summary tables and are built on the basis of intermediate tabs with self-explanatory names. The only columns in which the information is not related to other sources are “Original ID” (unique row values) and “Creation Date” (=TDATE(), and then copy and paste as a value)
4. DDS (cash flow) items are located on a separate tab “PS_service” and may well be regularly revised depending on specific needs (do not forget to update the formulas on the sheets “Data_BDDS”, “Data_BDR”).
5. The picture shows a sample of the BDDS, in the default format, reduced to weekly “relevance”.
6. Sample BDS (monthly). Pay attention to the thesis already mentioned above about the use of lines from the “General Book”: Budget and Fact for BDR, Plan and Fact for BDDS.
7. Working with the BDDS implies maintaining the “Plan” lines as up to date as possible. I am quite pedantic in working with primary information and the comments I made saved the entire history of changes. How will it be for you - a question for you. My approach allowed me to catch about 1 significant error per week, which threatened discrepancies of tens to hundreds of thousands of rubles. By the way, time was eaten up a little.
8. Actually himself
Hello dear reader!
This article will be of interest to representatives of such professions as economists, accountants and financiers of any industry and form of ownership. Actually, Excel for economists is practically the most important tool for effective work, since few tools have such enormous functionality, however, they are quite important for accountants. After all, every person really likes it when all the work is done quickly, accurately and easily, and also correctly. It is to fulfill such desires that the Microsoft product serves. With its help, you can greatly increase your efficiency, as well as get additional time to solve interesting problems and personal growth. Now let's get acquainted with the tools that will allow you to do this and with which you first need to learn how Excel works.
The following functions are so versatile and useful:
These MS Excel functions for economists and accountants are used in almost most Excel calculation operations and can significantly simplify any calculations and carry out data analysis, calculations or obtaining information.
It is difficult to overestimate the capabilities of these functions in work, and if you do not already know them and do not use them in your work, I would strongly recommend that you correct this gap in your knowledge. And also expanded them using all the knowledge from my “”.
Let's talk in more detail about why these functions are so useful for economic specialties:
Without this function, it is generally impossible to imagine any mathematical calculations by summing values. This is a cornerstone function of the very essence of financial professions, it allows you to summarize not only, but also individual arguments, and all this in one formula. You can familiarize yourself with the function in more detail.
This is the most common logical function of the MS Excel program; it allows you to operate with many values, comparing them and producing the correct result according to the specified conditions. It supports a variety of internal attachments and is very similar to a “matryoshka”, which still does not reduce its usefulness and versatility. This function is described in more detail.
But this function, in a sense, connects the two previous functions, but if the first one only summed, and the second worked with criteria and conditions, then this function sums the values by a given criterion in any provided range of values. You can read or watch the video for more details about how the function works.
In my articles, I described in great detail how to work with these functions; of course, I don’t want to repeat myself, but still, knowledge of Excel’s capabilities will help you significantly simplify your work and speed up the result. Study these 3 functions for economists and accountants very seriously and your productivity will increase significantly.
Check it out, study and let your work be joyful, easy and interesting! I would be very grateful for your comments, as this is an indicator of readability and inspires me to write new articles! Share what you read with your friends and like it!
See you on the pages! Don't forget to thank the author!
Inflation is when being poor costs 20 percent more.
The management of companies that have decided to begin implementing a management accounting system and budgeting itself, at the first steps, is forced to face several problems, namely:
- lack of financial capital to implement a specially developed platform;
- lack of a clear understanding of what needs to be done.
In such situations it comes to the rescue MS Excel, which, in addition to being free, is also a universal software option for full-fledged management accounting.
Any organization must maintain accounting records, regardless of what area it operates in, what its scale is, and so on. This is largely due to the fact that accounting must establish all the facts of the company’s life and display them on the appropriate accounts to achieve the maximum picture of the financial situation as a whole.
Accounting information is often the basis for determining an organization's tax obligations. For example, the tax base for property is determined based on accounting information.
Main purpose accounting and, in parallel, final accounting reporting is the provision of generalized information to interested users (external) regarding the results of labor activity for a certain reporting period.
Interested users may include:
- banking institutions;
- other creditors;
- investors and so on.
In other words, all persons without exception to whom the company has debt obligations are taken into account.
In turn, management accounting is used exclusively by enterprise management, and not by external users. It is often used not only by company managers to assess the current situation, but also allows them to provide reliable information for making the right management decisions, including the ability to instantly respond to various factors.
It is important to pay attention to the fact that the users to whom management reporting is primarily oriented can be very different: from the structural divisions themselves to presidents of organizations or managing partners.
In turn, the focus of management accounting on high-quality and instantaneous decision-making by management is explained by difference in formats direct representation of the values of the accounting in question in comparison with the accounting one.
In addition, management reports may differ in a high degree of detail or, more simply put, in the accounting methods used (for example, the current Tax Code of the Russian Federation, and not RAS or IFRS), the special accounts/sub-accounts used that cannot be used in accounting, as well as high regularity of formation and so on.
How to compose
Many domestic companies today practice using management accounting in tables generated in MS Excel.
This has a lot to do with the fact that Excel is essentially a universal tool, which includes a huge set of mathematical formulas, algorithms, special accounting mechanisms, and so on, but does not require any significant costs (for example, as other accounting software requires).
Based on this, thanks to the use of MS Excel, qualified personnel have the right generate all reports necessary for making any decisions.
Standard management accounting must include several basic components:
- report regarding profit and financial costs;
- statement regarding the movement of financial capital;
- balance of the organization.
In the process of forming the necessary tables, it is initially necessary to pay attention to the isolation of the tables.
Each separate table (including information regarding one or another aspect of the organization’s labor activity) must be provided on a separate sheet. There is no need to try to fit everything on one sheet of paper (meaning all numerical indicators). Moreover, the length of the book can vary significantly depending on the level of detail required by management.
To solve this problem in practice, built-in Excel functions are often used, including drop-down lists, groupings, and so on.
All generated tables with initial information must be place on separate sheetsExcel(for example, a sheet for recording profits from the sale of building materials, and so on), and at the very beginning of this book you should create a pivot table in which, using drop-down lists, the final indicators are displayed relative to other sheets of the book.
Due to the fact that the grouping of “Business Items” remains the same (for example, cereals, drinks, and so on), and the accounting tables themselves in Excel require the formation of a huge number of tables (accounting for profits, direct financial costs, indirect monetary losses, accompanying cash costs and so on), companies need to remember one nuance.
It lies in the fact that the most optimal tool inExcelreference books are rightfully considered. In the process of their formation, organizations will be able to fully use them as auto-fill for all existing fields upon completion of the tables.
In addition to all the available advantages, the most important thing is the presence of a huge number of all the necessary formulas and various other mathematical mechanisms (for example, the possibility of autocorrelation, dispersion, mathematical expectation, and so on), which provides significant assistance in the process of analyzing final values, as well as planning future development .
This gives every right to ultimately accept effective management decisions.
Formation algorithm
The compilation algorithm is next:
- Conducting an analysis of the organization's monetary structure.
- Mandatory formation of management accounting classifiers.
- Creating a chart of accounts.
- Formation of the concept of management accounting.
- Creation of an appropriate list of management accounting formats.
- System implementation and automation.
In fact, in practice, many domestic organizations have already shown that developing accounting in Excel will not be difficult. It is enough just to monitor the accuracy of the information provided and strictly adhere to the existing algorithm.
For a better understanding, please refer to picture instructions:
Based on this image, you can see what the future model should presumably look like.
Implementation of the system in the organization
In the process of implementing management accounting in MS Excel, initially attention should be paid to automating the accounting of financial flows. This is a kind of information base for management accounting as a whole.
Financial movement, in fact, is a kind of reflection of all other operations of the organization.
The next stage is the introduction of profit accounting and financial costs. And only lastly should automation of assets and liabilities be carried out exclusively on those parts that are not related to financial flows and profits.
Existing rules
For today there is a few key rules, which must be adhered to in the process of implementing automated management accounting in MS Excel.
- Separation of functions regarding the indication of information and those that fall on the formation of various reports. At first glance, this may seem obvious, since often institutions draw, for example, a formula for a DDS report and subsequently enter all existing DDS transactions into this formula.
- Indication of information regarding various business transactions in the form of a register of similar entries.
- Indication of information on all existing legal entities and accounts that directly relate to the organization in a single register.
It is possible to enter information in Excel in different ways, since there are no restrictions.
The main thing is that this is the only register for business transactions, where in the future all information regarding the organization, without exception, will be displayed, regardless of which legal entity it belongs to and what current account it has.
Examples
An example of the financial structure of an organization in management accounting based on the developed tables in Excel will look something like this:
As for the classifier, it looks like this:
I would like to clarify the fact that the classifiers of the accounting under consideration can describe a variety of objects with the aim of their reliable interpretation by all participants in this system without exception.
Today there are the following most popular classifiers:
- type of profit;
- the type of product manufactured or the provision of any services (for example, construction);
- different types of clients;
- places where profits and financial costs are generated;
- types of financial losses;
- types of obligations;
- a type of own financial capital;
- category of hired staff and so on.
Based on all of the above, we can conclude that, in fact, there is nothing complicated in this version of accounting that was considered.
How to maintain management accounting in 1C - on video.
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It is impossible to imagine a modern accountant without a computer. But to work confidently, you need to be able to use not only accounting programs, but also many others. Here you will find a lot of useful information, presented in easy and accessible language and supported by a large number of practical examples specific to the work of an accountant.
Excel for an accountant
In this chapter we will learn how to use the MS Excel spreadsheet editor for the professional activities of an accountant. Unlike the Word text editor, Excel can perform a lot of calculations of varying specificity and level of complexity. This allows you to generate accounting documents in which the results will be recalculated automatically whenever the source data changes (they can be located both in the current document and in external Excel files). In this case, it is possible to construct charts, graphs, and perform other calculation operations.
Features and basic functions of Excel in relation to accounting
Using the Excel spreadsheet editor allows you to generate and print documents that have a tabular representation, perform calculations based on source data, etc. The main tasks solved using the program can be formulated as follows.
Entering, editing and designing a variety of spreadsheet documents.
Performing calculations with source data using specially designed tools.
Saving the created document in various formats (Excel, web page, template, text document, etc.).
Entering and processing tabular data using built-in mechanisms for formulas, functions, macros, etc.
Data analysis and management (automatic calculation of final and intermediate data, structuring and consolidation of data, use of pivot tables and reports, etc.).
Inserting various objects into a document (drawing, function, note, object, etc.).
Performing operations on manual and automatic formatting of a document and its component elements; automatic spell checking of a document, prompt elimination of any inaccuracies using the autocorrect mechanism.
Import of necessary data from various sources (including OLAP databases) and their subsequent processing. XML format support.
Configuring spreadsheet document presentation parameters, as well as customizing the user interface.
Access to data in conjunction with other programs (for example, Word, Power Point, Access, etc.).
Generation of a wide variety of reports - analytical, summary, graphical, in the form of diagrams, etc.
Perform standard Microsoft Office functions - printing a document, searching for data and replacing it, checking for errors, etc.
Creating applications using the VBA programming language.
Protection of a spreadsheet document from unqualified and unauthorized access.
The specifics of using the Excel spreadsheet editor for accounting purposes may depend on the specifics of setting up accounting and management processes at a particular enterprise.
Terms and Definitions
An Excel user should know and understand the following key terms and definitions.
Autoshape– a ready-to-use figure of a given shape that can be added to a worksheet or diagram. Excel has a built-in set of AutoShapes.
Diagram – a visual way to represent numerical values. Excel supports working with various types of charts: histograms, pie charts, bubble charts, graphs, etc.
Name - an identifier that provides the ability to refer to an object (cell, range, formula, etc.).
Constant – constant (non-calculated) value. A constant can be, for example, a fixed number or some text.
Context menu - a menu containing a list of commands that are designed to work with a specific object. To call the context menu, you need to right-click on the object or press a key combination Shift+F10.
Array – a collection of cells or values that is used as a whole. In other words, an array is a group of elements of the same type that have a common name.
Settings– changing the current Excel operating parameters using standard tools, accessed from the MS Excel working interface. Program operation parameters can be divided into two main types:
- Common parameters– editing these parameters will lead to corresponding changes in all workbooks, including newly created ones;
– local parameters– editing these parameters will cause corresponding changes only in the current workbook.
Operand – calculation element (constant, function or reference).
Operator – a sign or symbol that determines the type of calculation in a formula over operands. The types of operators that Excel uses are mathematical operators, text operators, comparison operators, and reference operators.
Seal– output the contents of the workbook (in whole or in part) to paper using a printer. The following objects can be printed: a workbook, several workbooks, a worksheet, several worksheets, a range of cells in a worksheet, a range of cells in several worksheets, graphic objects, charts. In this case, it is possible to print several copies of an object in one session.
User interface - a means of user interaction with the program. The user interface includes menus, toolbars, dialog boxes, keyboard shortcuts, etc. Excel uses the standard Windows user interface.
Note – auxiliary information of an arbitrary nature related to a specific cell and stored regardless of the contents of this cell. To add a note to a cell, you need to select it with the cursor and execute the context menu command Add a note, then enter the required text from the keyboard.
Workbook– a file that is created, edited and saved using Excel. The main structural unit of the workbook is worksheet(see below).
Worksheet– the main element of a workbook, intended for entering, editing and storing data, as well as for performing calculations. By default, a workbook includes three worksheets. The basic structural unit of a worksheet is cell(see below).
Formatting– changing the display of a cell (its “appearance”) or changing the presentation of the data contained in the cell. A cell's formatting options are independent of its contents, and vice versa. Don't forget that after you apply formatting, the displayed value in a cell may not match its actual value (the most common example is rounding: the cell stores the value 0.24, but according to the formatting parameters, the value displayed on the screen is 0.2).
Formula– a special Excel tool designed for calculations, calculations and data analysis. A formula can include a constant, an operator, a reference, a cell (range) name, and function. There are three types of operators:
– arithmetic operator– an operator designed to perform arithmetic operations and produce a numeric value as a result;
– comparison operator– this operator is used to compare data and produces the logical value TRUE or FALSE as a result;
– text operator– operator used to combine data.
Function– a ready-made Excel formula for calculations, calculations and data analysis. Each function can include a constant, an operator, a reference, a cell (range) name, and formula(see above). Custom function is a function written by the user in VBA.
Spreadsheet – an interactive program consisting of a set of rows and columns that are displayed on the screen in a separate window.
Cell– the smallest (elementary) part of a spreadsheet intended for entering and storing information. Each cell can contain text, number, or formula(see above). In addition, when working with cells, the following elements are used:
- address– this is the location (coordinates) of the cell; the address consists of the letter (number) of the column and the row number at the intersection of which this cell is located;
- link– indication of the cell address. References can be absolute (that is, they do not change when the cell is moved and copied), relative (these references change when the cell is moved and copied), or mixed. External reference is a link to a cell located in another workbook.
After getting acquainted with Excel terminology, let's look at the main elements and tools of the program.
Introduction to Excel: Basic Elements and Tools
The contents of this section are addressed to users who are not very familiar with the Excel spreadsheet editor. Here we will look at the basic concepts necessary to work with the program. Therefore, if you have practical skills in working with Excel, you can immediately proceed to study the section, which examines a practical example of creating an accounting document.
The user interface of the Excel editor is shown in Fig. 3.1.
Rice. 3.1. Excel spreadsheet editor
The main elements of the user interface are:
Menu File – located to the left of the tab home(in general, working with it follows the same rules as in the Word text editor);
Quick Access Toolbar – located above the menu File and tab home;
Excel Ribbon – located between the formula bar and the Quick Access Toolbar;
Workbook, worksheet, row, column, cell, formula bar - the main elements of Excel (a more detailed description of them is given below);
Context menu – called by right-clicking anywhere in the workspace (in general, working with it follows the same rules as in the Word text editor);
The work area is the central part of the interface in which work with spreadsheet documents is carried out;
The status bar is an information-functional element located along the bottom edge of the program window.
The user can independently configure some interface elements - this is done either in the program settings mode ( File → Options), or using the appropriate Excel ribbon controls.
Excel workspace: description, techniques and methods of work
Excel workspace is a user interface element that includes cells, rows, columns and sheets of the current workbook, as well as a formula bar. All basic actions for creating and editing accounting and reporting documents are performed in the Excel workspace.
One of the main structural elements of the workspace is a cell - the smallest (elementary) part of a spreadsheet, intended for entering and storing information and located at the intersection of a row and a column. The collection of several cells forms range.
Any cell has unique coordinates (they are also called the cell address). The cell address is determined using lines with letters and numbers, which are located at the top and left of the work area, respectively. For example, in Fig. 3.2 the cursor is placed in the cell with the address C4.
Rice. 3.2. Cell with coordinates C4
Data is entered into a cell in different ways: from the keyboard, by calculation (when the cell value is calculated using calculation formulas based on data from other cells), by importing from external files, using macros, from the clipboard, etc.
Information in cells can be presented in different formats - numeric, text, etc. The format is selected in the window Cell Format, which is called using the context menu command of the same name. This window can also be called up as follows: on the tab home Excel ribbon in panel Cells need to press a button Format, and select the command in the menu that opens Cell Format.
Note
Please note that when working with numeric data, the default separator is a comma, and when working with dates, a dot is used. When you enter numeric data and dates, they are by default aligned to the right edge of the cell, and the entered text is aligned to the left edge.
You can use your mouse to drag any cell to another location along with its contents. To do this, move the mouse pointer to any corner of the cell except the bottom right corner - a cross with arrows will appear. Now, after pressing the left mouse button, you can drag the cell with all its contents to the desired location. By the way, in this way you can transfer pre-selected ranges of cells from one place to another.
End of introductory fragment.
