System Reports

Arbor Finance has been developed with a wealth of transactions and records based reports embedded within it to track and validate data recorded on the system, as well as to present key financial information to the school stakeholders: finance officers, bursars, governors, etc.

This article focuses on the most commonly used reports, drilling down on the search, sort and filtering capabilities available, as well as any exclusion criteria that are applied by default. The following reports are covered in detail in the sections below:

• The cash movement report.
• The bank balance report.
• The Value Added Tax (VAT) reimbursement (INC/EXP) report.
• The Budget versus Actual versus Committed (BvAvC) report.
• The budget analysis report.

Cash Movement report

Navigation path: Reporting > Transactions > Bank > Cash Movement.

Report synopsis: This is a transactions based report that can be used to endorse the figures shown on any of the individual financial summaries, provided they are set to the report figures inclusive of VAT. The following transactions are captured on this report (the transaction types being shown in brackets):

• Income (INC)
• Income Correction (I/C)
• Expenditure (ESP)
• Expenditure Correction/Credit Notes (ESC)
• Journal Transfers (JNL)

Searching & sorting options: Several selection fields are available to the end user when generating this report:

• Income sources/suppliers range filter.
• Transaction period range filter, i.e. the period number associated with each transaction.
• Transaction date range filter, i.e. the date recorded against the transaction (not the system date on which the transaction was posted).
• The financial fund - The list will be governed by the number of bank accounts in operation.

Note: By using the tick boxes provided, it's possible to display, on the report, the selection criteria applied and include any additional free text notes that will be useful to the recipients (both are displayed in the report header).

By using the SORT button, you can also specify both a primary and secondary sort for the report, e.g. sort the report first by field A and then by field B. The list of available sort fields are as follows:

• Voucher (Audit no.)
• Fund (Bank account)
• Reference (Cheque no.)
• Transaction type
• Date
• Period
• Supplier/Income source
• Analysis
• Invoice no.

Note: By using the tick box provided, it is possible to insert a separate subtotal each time the sort changes.

For information: The totals displayed at the end of the report are the summation of all transaction values inclusive of VAT.

Bank Balance Report

Navigation path: Reporting > Transactions > Bank > Bank Balance.

Report synopsis:This report is used to establish the projected reconciled total of each individual bank account or fund. The report starts off with the current reconciled balance and then combines any unpresented cheques, and unposted bankings to derive the cash book figure, known as the projected reconciled total. For a balancing system, the projected reconciled total would be equal to the carry forward balance, as shown on the corresponding financial summary.

Searching & sorting options: Apart from selecting the discreet financial fund (bank account) on which the report will be compiled, there are no options available to filter the output of this report.

Report field definitions: The following table summarises the derivation of each field displayed on the report:

Field Name	Description
Balance shown on actual statement	This represents the current reconciled balance for the individual fund, as reflected on the Reconciliation screen.
Add cash (if any) paid into the account, not recorded on statement	This is a calculated value, including all income (INC) and income correction (I/C) transaction types.
Deduct cheques/cash (if any) drawn, not recorded on statement	This is a calculated value, including all expenditure (ESP), credit notes (ESC) and expenditure correction (ESC) transaction types.
Journals/Adjustments	This is a calculated value, adding together all journal transactions (type: JNL) - in and out.
Cash Book Balance	This is the final projected reconciled total, combing all the figures above.

VAT Reimbursment (INC/EXP) Report

Navigation path: Reporting > Transactions > VAT > VAT Reimbursement (INC/EXP).

Report synopsis: The VAT Reimbursement (INC) and VAT Reimbursement (EXP) reports are identical in appearance and are designed to capture only those transactions where a VAT element has been posted. As the title suggests, the VAT Reimbursement (INC) report includes only those transactions that are of type Income (INC) or Income Correction (I/C). Similarly, the VAT Reimbursement (EXP) report includes only those transactions that are of type Expenditure (ESP), Credit Note (ESC) or Expenditure Correction (ESC). Any transaction that does not have a VAT element will be excluded from the report.

Searching & sorting options: When generating either report, it is possible to filter on just two criteria:

• The period range - The period in which the transaction was posted.
• The financial fund, e.g. the school bank, the central fund and the petty cash.

Note: It is also possible to include those transactions where a VAT only element has been entered, i.e. the VAT and gross values for the transaction are equal, and the net value is zero. Typically, this method of transaction recording would be reserved for VAT reimbursements (claims) or VAT claim adjustments.

General information: The reports are designed to show how much VAT is expected or owed in any specific financial period. Once a VAT claim is submitted, it is usual for end users to mark those VAT transactions as claimed, avoiding the possibility of further inclusion. Once a transaction has been marked in this way, it will be excluded from subsequent reprints of all VAT transaction reports for the same period and can not be unmarked as claimed.

Budget vs Actual vs Committed (BvAvC) Report

Navigation path: Reporting > Records > Budgets and Budget versus Actual versus Committed.

Report synopsis: This is by far and away the most commonly requested report held on RM Finance and is used typically to report a summary position of expenditure against budgets to the school governors and the senior management team.

The following columns are included as standard on the report:

• Budget account code.
• Budget description.
• Budget allocated - The combined total of all budget allocations and requirements linked to each budget account.
• Actual spent/received - The combined total of all income, expenditure and correction transactions posted against the budget account in the current year
• Committed - The total of all outstanding purchase orders posted against the budget account.
• Total - The combined total of columns, i.e. Actual spent/received plus Committed.
• Difference - The result of subtracting the overall total from the Budget allocated.

In addition, the following optional fields are available for inclusion on the report:

• With % budget spent - What percentage of budget has already been spent/committed.
• Show accruals instead of committed column.
• Show reconciled total column - The value of transactions that have already been reconciled against the associated financial fund.
• Show expected outturn - Equal to the Actual spent/received plus Committed subtotals plus the sum of all budget profile values for the remaining periods.
• Show actual spent for period - Show the current period to date figure only.
• Comparative budget vs actual vs committed - Includes the fixed budget as well as the current budget allocation figures.

Searching & sorting options: The following filter options are available when generating this report:

• Budget codes - Specifying a range of budgets to appear on the report.
• Budget Heading - Choosing to display only those budget codes that are linked to a specific budget heading.
• Budget Group - Choosing to display only those budget codes that are linked to a specific budget group.

Note: By using the tick boxes provided, it is possible to include on the report the selection criteria used and any additional free text notes that will be useful to the recipients (both are displayed in the report header).

Budget Analysis Report

Navigation path: Reporting > Records > Budgets > Budget Analysis.

Report synopsis: This report is ideal for the heads of the department, where the individual summary totals shown on the BvAvC (above) are expanded to include qualifying transactions. The budget summary report is divided into three sections:

• Cash transactions - Includes all income, expenditure and correction transactions types.
• Accrual transactions - Includes all accrual transaction types (CRT, DBT, ACR and PRE).
• Commitments - Includes all open purchase order lines.
• Allocation budget profile by period - Shows a breakdown of the actual expenditure recorded against each period and the variance against each profiled budget value.

Searching & sorting options: The following filter options are available when generating this report:

• Budget codes - Specifying a range of budgets to appear on the report.
• Budget Heading - Choosing to display only those budget codes that are linked to a specific budget heading.

Note: By using the tick boxes provided, it is possible to include on the report the selection criteria used and any additional free text notes that will be useful to the recipients (both are displayed in the report header).