Chart Of Accounts?

[mohammadagul]

Simple Question...

how can i maintain chart of accounts in Ms Access?

 

[sfreeman@co.mer]

If you mean that you want to display account info in a chart, I would start with the chart wizard.

 

[razim]

No sir you did not understand my question.
If you have any chance of using any accounting system, their are certain chart of account to maintain accounting periods.
This is what i want to know is that how can i maintain those chart of acconts in access.

 

[Rich]

The question may be simple but the answer certainly isn't. Search on google to understand the complexities of what you're asking

 

[mohammadagul]

hi,

you are absolutely right Rich. The answere is no simple.

as far as the searching is concerned i had searched all i can. the best example whihc i could come up with is the Peachtree Accounting system. in this systems the developers had used the chart of accounts to construct a Trial Balance Report. Now getting value from all the tables even though they are not combined with relation ships is quite difficult.

i was wondering if Cross tab query could be used for this. i tried but no success.

i believe taht somone with accounting background can answer my question.

 

[KKilfoil]

I am usually guilty of thinking that ANYTHING can be done using Access, but...

Weren't speadsheets like 1-2-3 and Excel actually invented to help accounting-types with their chart-of-accounts, ledgers, etc. I thought the use of spreadsheets by the 'beancounters' was the first 'killer-app' that caused PCs to enter the business world in the first place.

I would respectfully suggest that you explore the use of speadsheet software (such as Excel) to help you with your accounting requirements, unless the scope and scale of your problem exceeds their capabilities. If THAT is the case, then I think you need to call in the professional experts and look at proprietary software.

Speadsheets lend themselves well to the flexibility required by accounting practices, which can be very 'unstructured' and awkward to implement in a RDMS such as Access.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Not so simple answer to your question...

You can do anything in Access that you could do in almost any other programming system that has data maintenance functionality. But here's the catch - Access is a SMALL BUSINESS database system. When you put too much into it (thus breaking the small-business paradigm), you can find Access to be incredibly unkind to you.

The first step in any business design venture is to realize in explicit terms what you are trying to do. One of my favorite rules here is, "If you can't do it on paper, you won't do it in Access." More specifically, the issue is whether you fully grasp the system you are trying to program. Do you know all the business rules? Do you have full information on what is required to be maintained for the chart you are building? Do you know the business model inside and out?

If you don't understand the business model, you won't build ANYTHING. Because in cases as extensive as you describe, building such a system is building a computerized MODEL of that business. Classes of entities in the business model usually become tables in the model. Entities in the model become records in the table. There are normalization rules that complicate that simplified viewpoint, but it remains generally true.

So it doesn't matter if WE know accounting. We aren't going to write your system. What matters is that the person writing your system must know accounting well enough to hear the name of what you want and NEVER have to ask you "what IS the thing you just asked for." I.e. the programmer who wants to build the system has to know the application rules so well that no questions need to be asked.

 

[mohammadagul]

hi,

thankyou very much for the reponses.

this is for you KKilfoil.

I am too usually guilty of thinking that ANYTHING can be done using Access, but...

speadsheets like 1-2-3 and Excel were actually invented to help accounting-types with their chart-of-accounts, ledgers, etc. but if have to use excel and lotus then i would go designing whole accounting package in it whihc of course i would never do.

as you said that Speadsheets lend themselves well to the flexibility required by accounting practices, i would say the same for access. the only thing is that one should know how to mold it accordingly for one's own benefits.

Now For The_Doc_Man
as you mentioned

"You can do anything in Access that you could do in almost any other programming system that has data maintenance functionality. But here's the catch - Access is a SMALL BUSINESS database system. When you put too much into it (thus breaking the small-business paradigm), you can find Access to be incredibly unkind to you."

Please forgive me if i am wrong.

what if i am using a client server model , using access with some server, even then access would be considered as a small business database system?

Now the second thing.
i have fully understood the business design venture in its explicit terms and i am fuly aware of what you are trying to do.
in addition to this i would say that you have clearly read my mind and given the excet theme of the business model described in you answere. but unfortunately all the answeres had a lack to understand my question.

my question Simply was that what approach shouldi use in designing a Chart of Accounts. Wether Queries or Separate Tables.?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

what if i am using a client server model , using access with some server, even then access would be considered as a small business database system?

Depends on the server. MySQL, MS SQL Server, some other small systems - still oriented towards small business solutions. ORACLE - can take you a long way.

BUT... if you only use Access as the front end, you won't be fully able to exercise the power of the back end. Because the paradigm for the Access part is still "small business."

Case in point: Even if the server in question supports data triggers, Access does not - so really doesn't understand them. You have to work from the server to define your trigger events and responses.

i would say that you have clearly read my mind and given the excet theme of the business model described in you answere. but unfortunately all the answeres had a lack to understand my question.

Because building a business's chart of accounts requires US to understand your business model in order to know whether many tables or just a few queries are adequate. My GUESS is that you probably want a many-table situation with some relationships among them, plus appropriate JOIN queries, as the model you must build. But if your business is simple enough, you don't need to go that far (unless you are a purist and will ONLY design applications by strict rules even if they are miniscule applications.)

 

[mohammadagul]

hi,

Thanks a Lot Doc

You Certainly are some Guru....
My GUESS is that you probably want a many-table situation with some relationships among them, plus appropriate JOIN queries, as the model you must build. But if your business is simple enough, you don't need to go that far (unless you are a purist and will ONLY design applications by strict rules even if they are miniscule applications.)

you have cleared my mind about designing this sytem. I was unnecessarly thinking about the chart of accounts where as after discusion with my employer it is cleared that some specifically desgined Ledger reports would be more than enough for there need.

Hence i think and belive that this thread ends here and i appretiate for all the reponses replied by all of you.

Thanks

Muhammad Atif Gul