General Ledger

 
(Optional)
 
The purpose of this section of Amsoft is to keep track of income & expense items that flow through your check book. From here you will be able to produce a general ledger & profit & loss reports.
 
 
Please do not confuse this section with policy accounting.  Policy accounting such as accounts receivable, account payable and commission receivable are handled in the client file section.  The amounts developed in the client section can then be posted to the general ledger.  We will review this later.
 
This portion of the program will allow you to print checks and at the same time keep track of your bank balance and all income and expenses.  The checks program will also allow you to balance your bank statement.
 
To run this program click on 'Checks' from the main menu.  The first thing you will need to do is enter your accounts.  To do this, click on 'Browse Check Books' from the menu bar, select a checkbook by highlighting it (click on it once) and click 'select'..  Click on 'Browse Accounts' from the menu bar that appears.  You will now be at the Accounts file browse box.  To begin click on 'Insert.'  Enter the account #, the description, click on the type, and then click on the 'Ok' button.  The information you entered will now be displayed.  Continue this process with each account.  We would suggest the following accounts:
 
Account #         Description                   Type
 
    1           Starting Balance                       Asset
4020           Premiums from Insured           Income
4025           Commission Received             Income
4030           Other Income                          Income
5010           Premiums to Companies          Expense
5020           Refunds                                   Expense
5030           Office Supplies                        Expense
5040           Rent                                        Expense
 
5050           Phones                                    Expense
5060           Advertising                              Expense
5070           Net Payroll                              Expense
5080           With Holding Tax                    Expense
 
These are only some examples,  you will certainly need to add more accounts to this list.   If you are already using a set of numbers you may use those instead of the ones we have suggested.  When you are finished, click on the 'Close' button.
 
After entering your accounts you will be able to enter checks and deposits.  We will start by entering your agency's starting balance.  This is done the same way as entering a check or deposit. You should be at the checks browse box which will now be empty.  Click on 'Insert' to enter a record.  The first thing you need to do is choose whether you want to enter a check, deposit or a journal entry.  This will always default to 'check'; to change it you simply click on the desired choice.  For now, we will click on 'Deposit'.  Most of the time much of this information will be automatically filled out. To change imported information just delete it and enter the desired information. 
 
To enter the amount of the check or deposit, or in this case to enter the starting balance, click on the 'Insert' button located to the right of the screen.  This will bring up an update screen.  Enter the starting balance in the appropriate box.  If you were entering a check, you would enter the amount of the check (the button next to this field is a calculator; click on it to do any figuring - when you exit the calculator, the amount is imported).  Now click on the button labeled 'Accounts.'  Highlight 'Starting Balance' and click on 'Select.'  If you were entering a check or deposit you would obviously choose the appropriate account.  The screen should now be filled in.  Click on 'Ok' to accept.  You will now see the starting balance displayed.  If you were entering a check or deposit, the amount would be displayed here.  The purpose of entering the amount this way is to allow you to split a check for your records.   You have now finished entering your starting balance - click on 'Ok'.  The rest of this section deals with entering a check.  You will now want to follow the same procedure as for entering the starting balance, but for a check to this point before going on.
 
To enter the payee, click on 'Payee' located next to 'Check' at the top left side of the screen.  Click on the button of the category of the payee.  For example: if the payee is an insured, click on the 'Insured' button.  Choose the payee desired from the browse box and click on 'Select.'  The payee information will fill in.  To go back to the check screen, click on 'Check.'  You will see that the payee has been transferred.  You will notice the 'Cleared' box at the bottom left of the screen.  This is used for balancing your checkbook.  Click on 'Ok' when you are finished entering information.  The check you entered will now be displayed in the browse box.
 
To see your running balance, and for access to General Ledger and Profit & Loss reports, click on the 'Check Book Balance & Reports' button.
 
You will notice at the bottom of the screen the print check button.  When you are ready to print a check, click on this button, and your check will be printed.  To order checks contact deluxe printers 1-800-336-4168.  You will need to order check number 091004. You may want to consider purchasing window envelopes for your checks. Please note you do not need to print checks to use the checking and general ledger program.  The program will still handle all accounting and keep balances.
 
 
 
 
order checks & other supplies from here
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We have gone over the procedure for entering a simple check or deposit; now let's get insured payments from the client files and post company paid items.  Start with the same procedure as a regular check or deposit until the amount update screen.  You will notice three buttons at the top of this screen: 'Get Insured Payments' , 'Get Payroll' and 'Post Company Paid'.  Click on 'Get Insured Payments.'  Enter the dates for which you want to import payments from insured that you have entered in the premium history screen and click on 'Ok.'  The insured payments that you have entered in the client files for the dates entered will be listed.  Click on 'Close' to accept.  You are now back at the amount update screen. Click on 'Accounts', highlight 'Premiums from Insured', and click on 'Select.'  Click on 'Ok' to enter this on the check screen.  The rest of the screen is filled out the same way as a regular check or deposit.
 
The procedure is the same for importing payroll information, except you click on the 'Get Payroll' button and choose the employee.
 
The General Ledger allows you to post company paid items into the checkbook and automatically enters them into the client files.  To do this, click on the 'Post Company Paid' button from the amount update screen.  From the browse box, click on 'Insert'.  This will bring you to an update screen that you will fill out.  To browse account #'s, click on the button with dots on it located next to that field.  Highlight the account you desire and click on 'Select.'  Tab through the rest of the form, filling out anything that is not automatically imported, and click on 'Ok'.  The information you entered will now be listed.  You can enter as many items for one company as you like by clicking on 'Insert'.  When you have finished, click on 'Close'.  You are now back at the amount update screen.  Click on 'Accounts', highlight 'Premiums to Companies', and click on 'Select'.  Click on 'Ok' to enter this information on the check screen.  The rest of the screen is filled out the same way as a regular check or deposit.
 
There are a number of reports that you can run from the checkbook program.  These are: Check Register, Deposit Register, General Ledger, Profit-Loss, and Accounts List.  To run a report, choose 'Reports' from the menu bar, and choose the report you desire.  Enter the starting and ending dates that you desire the report to reflect on the update screen, and click on 'Ok'.
 
   
The final step you may be interested in is reconciling your bank statement.  To do this click on the 'Reconcile' button from the check browse box.  After choosing this you will be asked to enter the balance on your checking statement and click on 'Ok'.  A screen will be displayed showing all uncleared checks and deposits.  At the bottom of the screen you will be told how far out of balance you are.  Now you will need to find on the screen each check in your bank statement.  To clear these checks, highlight the desired check and click on 'Change.'  Change the 'Cleared' status from 'No' to 'Yes' and click on 'Ok.'   When you do this the check or deposit will be removed from the screen and your out of balance figure will change.  You will need to do this for each check or deposit received back from your bank.  Please note that in order for the computer and your bank statement to balance you need to start out with the correct balance.
 
Other Related Items:
Payroll
Posting Accounts Receivable
 

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