auxiliary unit accounting system manual

Auxiliary Unit Accounting System Version 3.3b

“Proud Traditions – Worthy Missions”

You can’t change the direction of the wind, but you can adjust your sails to always reach your destination.

Jimmy Dean – singer, television host, actor and businessman

Auxiliary Unit Accounting System

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Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 1 2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS....................................................................................................................... 2 3 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 2 4 MAJOR FEATURES ................................................................................................................................. 3

4.1 Accounting ................................................................................................................................. 3 4.2 Budgeting .................................................................................................................................. 3 4.3 Auxiliary ANSC 7025 Compatibility ............................................................................................ 3 4.4 Public Education Funds Management ....................................................................................... 3 4.5 Color Coded Tabs....................................................................................................................... 4 4.6 Out of Balance Indicators .......................................................................................................... 4 4.7 Preformatted Reports ............................................................................................................... 5 4.8 Drop-down Lists......................................................................................................................... 6 4.9 In-cell Help (Comments) ............................................................................................................ 6 4.10 Linking to Documents and Webpages ....................................................................................... 6

5 WORKSHEET EDITING COMMANDS ...................................................................................................... 7 5.1 Commands ................................................................................................................................. 7

6 TOUR OF THE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM ................................................................................................. 10 6.1 Unit Financial Report (Light Blue tab) ..................................................................................... 10 6.2 Unit Inventory Record (Light Blue tab) .................................................................................... 10 6.3 YTD Summary (Yellow tab) ...................................................................................................... 11 6.4 Monthly Financial Report (Yellow tab) .................................................................................... 11 6.4.1 Monthly Information........................................................................................................... 12 6.4.2 Year-to-Date Information ................................................................................................... 13 6.4.3 Preparing your Financial Report for a Unit Meeting ........................................................... 16 6.5 The Ledger Tabs....................................................................................................................... 17 6.5.1 Cash Accounts Ledger (Green tab) ...................................................................................... 17 6.5.2 Cash Receipts Ledger (Black tab) ........................................................................................ 19 6.5.3 Cash Disbursements Ledger (Red tab) ................................................................................ 19 6.6 Type Codes (White tab) ........................................................................................................... 20 6.7 Help (White tab) ...................................................................................................................... 20

7 TOUR OF THE BUDGET PLANNER SYSTEM .......................................................................................... 22 7.1 Budget Report (Blue Tab) ........................................................................................................ 23 7.2 Budget Summary (Yellow Tab) ................................................................................................ 23 7.3 Budget Planner (Yellow Tab) ................................................................................................... 23 7.3.1 The New Year Budget Column ............................................................................................ 24 7.3.2 The Analysis Column ........................................................................................................... 25 7.3.3 The History Columns ........................................................................................................... 25 7.3.4 Adding a Column for a New Year ........................................................................................ 26


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7.3.5 Deleting the Oldest Year Column ........................................................................................ 26 7.4 Scratchpad Tabs – Documenting anticipated Income and Expenses ...................................... 27 7.4.1 Receipts Scratchpad (Black Tab) ......................................................................................... 27 7.4.2 Disbursements Scratchpad (Red Tab) ................................................................................. 28 7.4.3 A Word about Budget Descriptions .................................................................................... 28 7.5 Transaction Type Descriptions (White Tab) ............................................................................ 29 7.6 Help (White tab) ...................................................................................................................... 29

APPENDIX-A: ACCOUNTING SYSTEM SETUP .............................................................................................. 31 A.1. Setting up your Master Copy ................................................................................................... 31 A.2. Setting up your Working Copy ................................................................................................ 32

APPENDIX-B: BUDGET PLANNER SETUP ..................................................................................................... 35 B.1. Setting up your Master Copy ................................................................................................... 35 B.2. Setting up your Working Copy ................................................................................................ 35

APPENDIX-C: BACKING UP YOUR WORK .................................................................................................... 38 APPENDIX-D: AUDITING AND CLOSING THE BOOKS .................................................................................. 39 APPENDIX-E: PREPARING THE 7025 REPORT ............................................................................................. 40 APPENDIX-F: SAMPLE ANSC 7025 FORM ................................................................................................... 41 APPENDIX-G: TERMS, ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS .............................................................................. 43

G.1. Financial Terms ........................................................................................................................ 43 G.2. Abbreviations & Acronyms ...................................................................................................... 44

APPENDIX-H: CREATING A FOLDER SYSTEM .............................................................................................. 45 H.1. Creating your Hard Drive or Flash Drive Folders ..................................................................... 45

APPENDIX-I: DIGITIZING SOURCE DOCUMENTS ........................................................................................ 46 I.1. Overview.................................................................................................................................. 46 I.2. Retention of Source Documents ............................................................................................. 47


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1 INTRODUCTION The Auxiliary Unit Accounting System is a simple, easy to use accounting solution for both Division and Flotilla units. It has the “Auxiliary specific” features and capabilities a Finance Officer needs to establish and maintain a budget, enter day-to-day transactions, analyze the unit’s financial position, quickly produce the required monthly and annual reports, and more.

The Auxiliary Unit Accounting System’s key features include:

1. Designed in accordance with guidance and precepts of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla Procedures Manual, COMDTINST M16791 and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Manual COMDTINST M16790.

2. Automatically prepares a facsimile of the “Financial Report of Auxiliary Unit” form ANSC 7025 as you enter each transaction. It’s then a simple matter of transcribing the amounts onto the official ANSC 7025 form; sign it, and you’re done.

3. Automatically keeps track of PE versus non-PE income as required in “Section L. Public Education Course Fees” of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Manual.

4. All reports are pre-formatted.

5. Extremely simple to use—only requires the ability to balance a checkbook.

6. Uses Microsoft Excel, the industry standard spreadsheet software.

7. Has a very small file size—approximately 375K for an entire year’s worth of financial data. You can store decades of accounting data on a single flash drive.

8. Is highly portable—take it to a meeting or email it to your unit commander.

9. Package includes the Accounting System, Budget Planner and User’s Guide.

10. Is free, including future updates and enhancements.


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2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Operating System versions: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7; Mac OS X

Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2003, 2007, 2010

Special Note:

When opening either the Accounting System or Budget Planner for the first time, a warning message will appear, either in the Window banner area or as a dialog box:

• Mac OS X

“This file contains Excel 4.0 (XLM) macros” or similar wording.

• Windows

“Protected View This file originated as an e-mail attachment and might be unsafe.” or similar wording.

This message appears because files from the Internet and from other potentially unsafe locations can contain viruses, worms, or other kinds of malware, which can harm your computer. To help protect your computer, files from these potentially unsafe locations are opened in Protected View. By using Protected View, you can read a file and inspect its contents while reducing the risks that can occur.

Click “Open” or “Enable Editing” to open both Accounting workbooks. The operating system will then flag them as trusted documents and you can begin using the two accounting system products.

C A U T I O N Disabling or selecting the choice to remove macros will cause the Auxiliary Unit Accounting System and Auxiliary Unit Budget Planner to malfunction. If this occurs, you will need to re-download these two products again.

3 REFERENCES • Auxiliary Manual COMDTINST M16790.1G, Chapter 5, Section N. Finances

• Auxiliary Flotilla Procedures Manual, COMDTINST M16791.5

• Auxiliary Division Procedures Guide, COMDTPUB P16791.3

• District Records Retention Policy


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4 MAJOR FEATURES

4.1 Accounting The Auxiliary Unit Accounting System is patterned after a standard checkbook register while still using the double entry method of bookkeeping. Double-entry is a set of generally accepted procedures for recording financial information in an accounting system in which every transaction change two balancing or off-setting ledgers:

• An entry in either the Cash Receipts or Cash Disbursements ledger, and a • Corresponding entry in the Cash Accounts ledger as a Withdrawal or Deposit.

The three ledgers provide all of the financial information used on all of the other worksheets in the system, except the Unit Inventory record which is handled separately.

Negative Numbers

This system follows the standard accounting practice of displaying all negative numbers within parentheses.

4.2 Budgeting The Auxiliary Unit Budget Planner is a tool designed to assist the Budget Committee in preparing the annual unit budget from start to finish. No matter what size your unit is or the level of experience the committee has in preparing budgets, the Budget Planner will make the budgeting process easier and more effective. You’ll know exactly where you stand as you enter your planned income and expenses, quickly determine what your Net Gain or Loss will be, how much out of each dollar that you bring in you’ll actually get to keep, as well as compare the budget to past unit performance helping you to further refine the overall budget.

4.3 Auxiliary ANSC 7025 Compatibility The “Unit Financial Report” and “Unit Inventory Report” worksheets are designed to look exactly like their official counterparts on the ANSC 7025 PDF form, the “Financial Report of an Auxiliary Unit” and Unit Inventory Record”. This one-to-one look and feel makes it extremely easy to transcribe those balances onto the 7025 report form at year’s end. The ANSC 7025 form is available from the Auxiliary National forms’ webpage http://forms.cgaux.org/forms1.php

4.4 Public Education Funds Management If your unit receives income from Public Education (PE) activities, that income must be utilized for the Public Education Program and not redirected to other uses. The Auxiliary Unit Accounting Systems helps you monitor those funds on the “Monthly Financial Report” by telling you exactly how much money your unit has available for PE expenditures. It also allows you to carry over any balance (which is required) from one year to the next.

http://forms.cgaux.org/forms1.php

http://forms.cgaux.org/forms1.php


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4.5 Color Coded Tabs The most important use of color in information presentation is to distinguish one element from another, a function information visualization guru Edward Tufte calls “to label.” (Envisioning Information, Edward Tufte, Graphics Press, 1990)

The Auxiliary Unit Accounting System use color coded tabs (labels) to help you more quickly differentiate between worksheets with different purposes as illustrated in the following table.

Accounting System

Tab Color Purpose

Light Blue Unit Financial Reporting & Unit Inventory Report. These two tabs contain all of the information needed to prepare the Auxiliary’s 7025 form at the end of the year.

Yellow

Dashboard & Monthly Financial Report. These two tabs contain the information needed to “Render financial reports monthly at unit meetings and as otherwise required” as well as monitor how well the budget is comparing to the actual balances in the corresponding accounts.

Green Cash Accounts (ledger). This tab is used to enter beginning balances and post transactions to Checking, Savings & CDs, Trust Funds, and “Other cash items” accounts.

Black Cash Receipts (ledger). This tab is used to post cash receipt transactions and refunds.

Red Cash Disbursements (ledger). This tab is used to post cash disbursement transactions.

White

Transaction Type Codes & Help. The Transaction Type Code tab contains the type codes used in the Transaction Type column of the Cash Accounts, Receipts and Disbursements worksheets. The Help tab explains the system’s Debit and Credit rules with examples as well as Best Practices.


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The Auxiliary Unit Budget Planner also uses color coding in a similar fashion.

Budget Planner

Tab Color Purpose

Light Blue Budget Report – A formal report for presenting your finalized budget to your membership.

Yellow Budget Summary & Budget Planner – Graphical representations illustrating proportion of the various amounts shown on the Budget Planner tab.

Black Receipts Scratchpad – Where you document your anticipated fixed and variable income.

Red Disbursements Scratchpad – Where you document your anticipated fixed and variable expenses.

White

Staff Office Codes, Type Codes & Help – A reference page to help you identify which account a particular income or expense item should be applied to. The Help tab identifies budget committee due dates, reference materials, and the system’s Debit and Credit rules with examples.

4.6 Out of Balance Indicators To assist financial officers in ensuring that transactions balance, “Out of balance” indicators will display when applicable. For example, when an entry is posted in one of the supporting worksheets (Cash Accounts, Receipts, or Disbursements) that action initially results in an out of balance condition and the message “Out of balance” is displayed. Then, when the corresponding contra / reversing entry or entries are posted, the bookkeeping system is in balance and, the “Out of balance” indicators disappear.

Location of Indicators

The Out of Balance indicators are located on two worksheets: 1) on the Unit Financial Report worksheet, the indicator is located at the top and bottom of the “totals” column (column E); and 2) on the Cash Accounts worksheet, above the “Subtotal” row.

4.7 Preformatted Reports All worksheets in the accounting system and budget planner have been pre-formatted for printing on 8.5” x 11” stock and are designed to accommodate 3-hole punching. So, whether monthly or on-demand, it is a simple matter to print a copy of any worksheet for review or presentation.

NOTE: You will need to add your Unit Number, City, and State to the heading of each worksheet. See the section 8.1 Setting up your Master Copy for instructions.


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4.8 Drop-down Lists A feature that is available at critical points on some worksheets is drop-down lists. Drop-down lists are used to provide you with specific choices and ensure continuity of entry, regardless of who is inputting the data.

When you tab to (or click in) a cell that contains a drop-down list, a small drop-down list button will appear on the right side of the cell. To display the list of available choices, simply click on the button and a window will appear displaying your various choices. Use your mouse to make your selection. If there are more choices than will fit in the window a vertical scroll bar will displayed so you can view all of the available choices.

4.9 In-cell Help (Comments) Cell comments are notes that provide guidance or clarification of the data you should enter in a specific cell or column. You can easily spot a cell that has this information by the small red triangle () located in the upper right-hand corner of the cell. To view the information contained in a comment simply hover the mouse pointer over the cell with the triangle. If the cell containing the comment is near the bottom or side of the window, use the window’s vertical or horizontal scroll bar to position the cell higher or further to the left in the window to view the complete comment.

4.10 Linking to Documents and Webpages Occasionally it is beneficial to provide supplemental information about an accounting transaction or budget item. The Auxiliary Unit Accounting System and Budget Planner allow you to do just that. With Excel’s Hyperlink command you can link the item in question to either a webpage or a document on your computer that contains relevant details. The document can be one you’ve recreated or a PDF file.


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5 WORKSHEET EDITING COMMANDS The following information applies to all worksheets in both the Auxiliary Unit Accounting System and the Auxiliary Unit Budget Planner in cells where you can enter data. The ledger worksheets in the Accounting System have additional editing commands available which are identified in that section.

W A R N I N G DO NOT use the Cut command. Using the Cut command on cell or group of cells will cause a worksheet malfunction. If you inadvertently use the Cut command, immediately use the Undo command (Ctrl-Z) to reverse the command and restore the information back to its original location. Instead, use the Copy and Paste commands, followed by the Delete command to accomplish the same result.

NOTE: Because worksheet protection is used in varying degrees on each worksheet to ensure its integrity, Excel’s Spelling & Grammar checking is not available.

5.1 Commands You can use the following Excel commands safely on any cell or group of cells you can enter data into:

• Copy and Paste – to copy information from one cell to another within a specific column.

• Delete - to delete the contents of one or more cells in a row or column or, where allowed, delete and entire row or column.

• Sort– to sort any or all rows using Excel’s sort option with the criteria you specify. If there any blank rows included in your sort selection, they will float to the bottom when the sort is complete. You can click the “Undo” button (Ctrl-Z) immediately after the sort to revert back to the unsorted state.

• Delete - always use the delete key, instead of the Space Bar, to delete the contents of a field.

• Hyperlink – used on a budget item description to create a hyperlink to a webpage or document on your computer. This feature is a particularly useful way of providing supplemental or explanatory information regarding a budget item.

For example, if you had an expense item for a boat show you can create a hyperlink to the event’s website as a quick reference to exhibitor information. Linking to a National or District conference webpage would be another example.

To create a hyperlink for a description, do the following:

1. On a worksheet, right-click the cell where you want to create a hyperlink.

2. Right-click the cell and then click Hyperlink, or you can press CTRL+K.

3. Under Link to, click Existing File or Web Page.


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4. Do one of the following:

• To select a file, click Current Folder, and then click the file that you want to link to.

Tip: You can change the current folder by selecting a different folder in the Look in list.

• To select a Web page, click Browsed Pages and then click the Web page that you want to link to.

• To select a file that you recently used, click Recent Files, and then click the file that you want to link to.

• To enter the name and location of a known file or Web page that you want to link to, type that information in the Address box.

• To locate a Web page, click Browse the Web, open the Web page that you want to link to, and then switch back to Excel without closing your browser.

5. If you want to create a hyperlink to a specific location in the file or on the Web page, click Bookmark, and then double-click the bookmark that you want to use.

NOTE: The file or Web page that you are linking to must have a bookmark.

6. In the Text to display box, type the text that you want to use to represent the hyperlink.

7. To display helpful information when you rest the pointer on the hyperlink, click ScreenTip text button, type the text that you want in the ScreenTip text box, and then click OK. (If left blank, the URL will be displayed when you hover over the link.) And the click OK again to close the Insert Hyperlink dialog box.

Tip: You can also create a hyperlink to an e-mail address in a cell by typing the address directly in the cell. For example, a hyperlink is created automatically when you type an e-mail address, such as “[email protected]” and the press enter.

To remove a hyperlink of any type, do the following:

• Right-click on the hyperlink, and then select the Remove Hyperlink command from the pop-up menu.

NOTE: Never simply select a cell and delete the contents. It will remove the link but not the formatting. To remove the formatting, you will have to create a link again on the text and then delete it properly as noted above.


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Workbook Protection Message

If the message “Workbook is protected and cannot be changed” (at right) appears, press the OK button and continue. This is an informational message only and not an indication of an error or malfunction. It is simply telling you that you cannot perform the action you were attempting on particular cell or group cells.


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6 TOUR OF THE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM

6.1 Unit Financial Report (Light Blue tab) This is the worksheet that is used to prepare the Auxiliary ANSC 7025 form at the end of the year, or whenever there is a change in Finance Officer. There are four entries that need to be made on this worksheet. Listed in the order that they appear on the worksheet, they are:

1. The name of the Finance Officer (row 3).

2. The accounting period starting date (row 7).

3. The accounting period ending date (row 43). The ending date is set to automatically display today’s date. On December 31st, this date must be manually set to lock-in the last day of the accounting year.

Similarly, if there is a change in Finance Officer, the date of the officer’s last day of service is manually entered here, and a new workbook started for the incoming staff officer or unit leader.

4. At the end of the year, or whenever an audit is performed, enter the date the audit was completed and the names of the Audit committee chair and audit committee members (row 1). Sample text is provided in this field. Replace any text with brackets (greater than and less than symbols) such as <date> or <name of committee member> with the information specified.

6.2 Unit Inventory Record (Light Blue tab) This worksheet contains all of the information needed to prepare the “Unit Inventory Record” portion of the ANSC 7025 form at year’s end.

The Unit Inventory Record worksheet provides an annual accounting of all property and equipment that is owned by (or in the custody of) your unit and should be completed in conjunction with an annual physical inventory, as well when an inventory item is sold, disposed of, or returned to its owner.


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It is subdivided into three sections:

1. Property purchased by the unit

2. Property donated or contributed to the unit

3. Property on loan to the unit

It is also used to document the transfer of responsibility and accountability of the unit's property upon change of Materials Officer. When a piece of property is sold, disposed of, or returned, the date of that occurrence is entered in the Date Sold/Returned field. The value of that property is then excluded from the total. This guarantees that your inventory valuation remains up-to-date when it is displayed on the YTD Summary and Monthly Financial Report worksheet.

At year’s end, this information is easily transcribed onto the ANSC 7025 form.

6.3 Dashboard (Yellow tab) This is a special worksheet that graphically illustrates the complete year-to-date financial position of the unit and is the companion to the Monthly Financial Report.

The bar charts show the dollar volume of each account including Inventory Valuation.

The Status indicator in the top left corner indicates whether the accounting system is in balance (OK) or out of balance.

No data entry is required on this worksheet. You can only view or print.

6.4 Monthly Financial Report (Yellow tab) This worksheet was designed to mirror the sample report illustrated in the Auxiliary Flotilla Procedures Manual COMDTINST M16791.5 with the addition of some special features that provide you with additional flexibility in reporting and analysis.

The special features on this worksheet include the ability to:

• Set the starting date for the monthly portion of the report.

• Set the number of months to be calculated for receipts and disbursements. You can choose to display anywhere from 1-12 months.

• See Actual vs. Budget status messages which call your attention to special financial conditions that currently exist, such as:


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o If you have incurred a balance in an account that you had not budgeted.

o If the unit’s Total Cash Receipts or Total Cash Disbursements are “Favorable” or “Unfavorable” compared to budget.

o If Net Gain/Loss is either “Better than expected”, “On budget” or “Worse than expected”.

6.4.1 Monthly Information The Monthly Financial Report is divided into two separate sections or areas:

1. Monthly

2. Year-to-Date

The Monthly section (Figure 1) provides the same information found on the sample “Monthly Financial Report” in the Auxiliary Flotilla Procedures Manual, with a special feature added to increase reporting flexibility.

The Monthly Period Feature

The “Period” and “Period Window” () features allow you to display account balances for either a single month or a range of months (1-12) depending on your needs at the time.

When used together, the Period Start date and Period Window allow you to view a wide spectrum of monthly data depending on your financial information needs at the moment. Normally, for a unit meeting, you would set the Period start date for the first day of the previous month and the Period Window to 1. This tells the accounting system to add and display the various transactions that were entered for the prior month for all accounts.

However, let's say the Unit Commander calls and would like to know what was spent during the last quarter. To satisfy this request you would need to do two things:

1. Set the Period start date to the first day of the requested quarter

2. Set the Period Window to 3 (for three months)

In a few seconds you can give the Unit Commander requested information by phone, or if you have Adobe Reader installed, you can quickly print the Monthly Financial Report to a PDF file and email it as an attachment. It’s that easy and that fast.

You can use the Period Start date and Period Window in two different ways. For example, you can enter a specific Period Start date and by changing the number of months in the Period Window. It will then show you the unit’s accumulated financial performance based on the period you specified (e.g., a one-month period, a two-month period, and so on, up to a full 12

Figure 1


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months). On the other hand, if you would like to view quarterly information about the unit, set the Period Window to 3 and change the Period Start date to beginning of whatever quarter you’d like to see. Every time you change the Period Start date you will get a quarterly summary based on that date.

Cash Receipts and Cash Disbursements are shown by percentage and dollar amount. The percentage for a particular account is the percent of the respective total. People typically visualize and comprehend percentages more easily than the actual dollars and cents.

The “Net Gain/Loss” row

The Net Gain/Loss amount (figure 2) tells you what the current gain or loss of the unit is in dollars. If, you are receiving more money than you are spending the amount will be a positive number. If on the other hand, you are spending more than you are receiving, the amount will be a negative number.

The “Net Margin” row

The Net Margin (figure 2) is expressed as a percentage and is an indicator of your unit's pricing strategies and how well it controls costs. It is calculated by dividing Net Gain/Loss by Total Cash Receipts. It indicates how much out of every dollar the unit is able to keep after expenses for the “period” have been paid.

For example, if the Net Margin is 30% then your unit would be keeping 30 cents out of every dollar of Receipts after all expenses are paid. Or to look at it a different way, your unit is spending 70 cents of every dollar received on expenses. The percentage will vary from month to month. By using the history portion of the Budget Planner (see Section 6.2) you can get a good feel for what your Net Margin typically is and use that knowledge to establish a minimum threshold percentage for your unit that would alert you when the unit is getting heavy on its expenses and allow you to seek ways to minimize those expenses if possible before the unit runs out of cash.

How to use the Net Margin

The net margin percentage is the ratio of profits to net receipts. It reveals the remaining profits after all expenses have been deducted from income. As such, it is one of the best measures of the overall results of a unit, especially when combined with an evaluation of how well it is using its cash. The measure is commonly reported on a trend line, to judge performance over time. It is also used to compare the results of a unit with others.

Use the Net Margin as a rough indicator of the money you bring in, and how much of it you are going to be able to retain at the end of the year so you can perpetuate your missions.

6.4.2 Year-to-Date Information This section provides the same information found on the year-to-date section of the sample “Monthly Financial Report” in the Auxiliary Flotilla Procedures Manual.

Figure 2


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Actual column

The “Actual” column provides totals for all of your Receipts and Disbursements, the unit’s Net Gain/Loss and Net Worth. The Net Worth shows you how the unit is doing over all. It is the amount you’d have if the unit were to be completely dissolved today. Net Worth = Net Gain/Loss + Current Inventory Valuation + all Cash Accounts.

Budget column

This is where you enter the budget approved by the Budget Committee for the year. You can easily compare and contrast actual amounts incurred by the unit to your planned budget to assess how your unit is doing financially. However, budgets are not static. At any time throughout the year you can adjust your budget amount for a particular account. Be certain to document the amount of adjustment you made to each account (up or down) and why, so you can include that information in your monthly Finance Officer’s staff report.

NOTE: For information on how to work with a budget after it is formulated see: 8 Ways to make a budget work Jeff Wuorio.

Variance and %Variance columns

Variance, whether as a dollar amount or percentage, is the difference between the budgeted or baseline amount of expense or income, and the actual amount. It helps gauge how close or far off you are on your budget. If an Actual amount is incurred in an account that you have not budget for, the word "Unbudgeted" will appear in the %Variance column to draw your attention to this condition. The following table identifies various conditions and suggests some of the possible actions you should consider. Additional action may be necessary.

Figure 3

http://www.ewonwhynes.com/how-to-make-your-budget-work-for-you/




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IF ACCOUNT IS: AND VARIANCE IS: THEN YOU HAVE: ACTION:

Cash Receipt

Positive Under budgeted You have exceeded your expectations. Consider revising budget amount up.

Negative Over budgeted Consider revising budget amount down.

Unbudgeted If this is truly unexpected, then celebrate! Do not adjust the budget for a windfall occurrence.

Cash Disbursement

Positive Under budgeted No action is necessary. But consider revising your budget down if the difference seems excessive.

Negative Over budgeted Determine why, reassess budget expectations and tighten control over expenditures.

Unbudgeted

Unexpected expenses directly affect discretionary (funds available after expected expenses are paid) spending levels. Re-examine budget and make necessary adjustments. Do not adjust the budget amount for the occurrence unless you need to reapportion funds.

Actual vs. Budget Status column

The Actual versus Budget Status column provides quick notification of the status of the different parts of your budget based on the variance.

• Total Cash Receipts. If the actual amount is less than what was budgeted (a negative variance) then the Budget Status is considered "Unfavorable". In other words, the actual amount has not yet met your budget expectations for the year.

• Total Cash Disbursements. If the actual amount is more than what was budgeted for (a negative variance) then the Budget Status is considered "Unfavorable".

• Net Gain/Loss. If "Actual" did not meet your budget expectations "Worse than expected" will be displayed. Likewise, if you exceeded your budget expectations "Better than expected" will be displayed. If the Actual was equal to your Budget, the phrase, "On budget" will be displayed.


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Net Worth

Net Worth is a key measure of how much a unit is worth. It is the amount by which assets exceed liabilities. In the business context, net worth is also known as “Book Value”.

Net Worth is the total of your Current Inventory Valuation plus the current value of all Cash Accounts less any expenditure(s).

Available PE Funds

The Available PE Funds amount reflects the total amount of public education money your unit currently has available for PE expenditures and including any carry over balance of these funds from the previous year. The carry over balance is specified on the Cash Accounts ledger. See section 6.5.2 “Public Education Carry over Balance”.

To further aid the Finance Officer, the Accounting System also lets you monitor how much money you have available for non-PE expenditures. The “Non-PE funds available” amount is the current total of all cash accounts (excluding the Trust Fund account) less any available PE funds.

6.4.3 Preparing your Financial Report for a Unit Meeting One of the responsibilities of a Finance Officer, as defined in the Auxiliary Flotilla Procedures Manual; COMDTINST M16791.5 is to “Render financial reports monthly at flotilla meetings”. The manual goes on to say “A monthly or at a minimum a quarterly report comparing the actual budget with the projected budget should be prepared for the Unit Leader and made available to members. The Finance Officer should also highlight any developing problem areas in time to work on solutions.”

With the Auxiliary Unit Accounting System, you can publish all of this information in a single report in a matter of seconds.

1. Specify the Start Date and Period for the month or quarter desired.

2. Produce the report(s) using one of the following methods:

a. Print

Print a copy of the Monthly Financial Report and YTD Summary for each member of the unit and present them at the meeting.

Figure 4

Figure 5


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b. Email

Email a PDF file of your report to all members of the unit:

1) Using Adobe Reader, print the Monthly Financial Report to a PDF file and the YTD Summary to a PDF file to your desktop.

2) Open an email and attach both PDF reports.

3) Enter your message for the recipients.

4) Send the email.

c. Copy

Copy the Auxiliary Unit Accounting System to a flash drive and display the Monthly Financial Report and YTD Summary on a PC projector at the meeting.

6.5 The Ledger Tabs The Ledger tabs are the heart of the accounting system. The three ledgers (Cash, Receipts and Disbursements) are where you enter all of your financial transactions, and from which all of the other worksheets draw data to display the various non-budget dollar amounts.

Additional Editing Features Available in the Ledgers

Each of the three ledgers described below serve a specific purpose. However, they all share the same additional data editing characteristics. You can:

• Insert rows between entries.

• Delete one or more rows within the editable area of the worksheet.

Also read section 5, “WORKSHEET EDITING & COMMANDS”

6.5.1 Cash Accounts Ledger (Green tab) This worksheet is used to maintain each of your cash accounts. The accounts are identical to those listed on the ANSC 7025 form.

The cash accounts are:

• Checking

• Savings and CD

• Trust Fund

• Other cash items, such as Cash on hand/Petty Cash, Projects, etc.

Each of the Cash Accounts has two transaction types available. The first type is used to indicate the beginning balance for an account, while the second type is used for posting transactions against that specific account.

Out of Balance


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Entering Transactions

Each transaction entry in the Cash Accounts ledger requires the following:

1. Date of the transaction

2. Account Number

3. Check number

NOTE: Refer to Unit Standing Rules, Article VIII FINANCE, section 8.10 for Divisions or section 8.11 for Flotillas.

4. Transaction Type (selected from a drop-down list)

5. Description of what the transaction was for (75 characters or less)

6. Amount of Withdrawal or Deposit

Transaction types are selected by making a choice from the drop-down list for that cell in the Transaction Type column of the worksheet.

To select a Transaction Type, click on the cell in that column, then click on the display list button (with the little down arrow on the side of the cell) to open the list. Select one of the transaction types by clicking on it, and then press the tab key or click on the next cell in that row to enter the remaining information for the transaction.

Public Education Carry over Balance

The “PE Funds – beginning balance” is a special memo transaction type used to identify the amount of any PE derived income you have left over from the previous year.

It’s called a “memo” transaction because the amount is for reference only and is not part of the accounting system’s ANSC 7025 calculations. It reflects how much of your cash supply is PE related and helps you comply with the Auxiliary requirement that PE income “must be utilized for the Public Education Program only” and not redirected for other uses. For more information, refer to section 6.4.2 “Available PE funds”.

Petty Cash or Cash-on-hand

For those units that maintain a Petty Cash account, simply enter “Petty Cash” for the account number and use the “Other Cash Item – Beginning balance” to establish the account’s balance for the beginning of the year. Use the “Other Cash Item – Transaction” for posting transactions against that account.

Out of balance indicator

This worksheet has an “Out of balance” indicator feature that lets you know immediately if your completed transaction is out of balance. An out of balance condition occurs when the amount entered on the Cash Accounts ledger does not equal the amount entered in either the Cash Receipts or Cash Disbursement ledgers, or when the transaction is entered incorrectly as a Withdrawal or Deposit.


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6.5.2 Cash Receipts Ledger (Black tab) This worksheet is used to record each cash receipt (income) received by the unit from:

• Member dues

• PE course fees

• Cash contributions, e.g., donations, etc.

• Uniforms, flags, insignia

• Conferences and meetings

• Other cash items received (specify)

Each transaction entry in the Receipts ledger requires the following:


2. Transaction Type (selected from drop-down list)


4. Amount (which is a Credit)

6.5.3 Cash Disbursements Ledger (Red tab) This worksheet is used to record each cash disbursement (expense) incurred by the unit for:

• District and Division dues

• PE course fees

• Cash contributions, e.g., donations, etc.

• Uniforms, flags, insignia

• Conferences and meetings

• Materials and equipment

• Building repairs and maintenance

• Utilities (for the unit’s building(s) including utility expenses incurred from a boat show booth, safety exhibit, etc.)

• Trophies and awards

• General disbursements (for items not covered by any of the other disbursement categories.)


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Each transaction entry in the Cash Disbursement ledger requires the following:


2. Check number

NOTE: Refer to Unit Standing Rules, Article VIII FINANCE, section 8.10 for Divisions or section 8.11 for Flotillas.

3. Transaction Type (select from drop-down list)


5. Amount (which is a Debit)

6.6 Type Codes (White tab) This worksheet lists all of the transaction type codes found in the drop-down lists in the “Cash Accounts”, “Receipts”, and “Disbursements” ledgers. To the right of each Type Code is a description of its purpose to guide you in using the correct type code when posting transactions.

NOTE: Since these Type Codes are tied to the 7025 form, they are not changeable. However, if national should add, change, or delete a Type Code, an update will be made available for the Auxiliary Unit Accounting System and Auxiliary Unit Budget Planner.

6.7 Help (White tab) This worksheet is divided into three sections providing guidance on:

1. System Information

2. ANSC 7025 Form Due dates

3. References

4. Accounting Rules

5. Best Practices

The System Information section identifies the product name and version number. Version numbers increase with each new release.

The ANSC 7025 Form Due Dates section identifies who the form must be submitted to and by what date.


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The References section identifies Auxiliary Manuals and guides that contain detailed information about unit finances and records retention.

The Accounting Rules section contains a decision table to assist you in identifying what types of transactions should be entered on each of the 3 ledgers. It also identifies whether they are a Debit or Credit for those that prefer to think in those terms.

The Best Practices section highlights methods or techniques that have consistently shown results superior to those achieved with other means.


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7 TOUR OF THE BUDGET PLANNER SYSTEM Creating a budget is an important part of sound financial management of an Auxiliary unit. It identifies initial expectations for Receipts and Disbursements for the year. A properly prepared annual budget with correct and complete information should allow the Flotilla to be financially secure and solvent, barring unforeseen events or circumstances.

NOTE: To learn more about the details of budgeting, refer to Appendix 1C, Auxiliary Flotilla Procedures Manual, COMDTINST M16791.5.

The Auxiliary Unit Budget Planner is a tool designed to assist the Unit Commander and Budget Committee throughout the budget formulation process. It gives you the ability to:

• Enter and revise your income and expense items.

• Specify whether an income or expense item is fixed or variable.

• Link an item to an external supporting document containing a detailed explanation of the income or expense.

• Determine if there is enough income to cover expenditures.

• Identify what your Net Margin will be (how much out of each dollar of income you will get to keep).

• Compare and analyze your new budget against your unit’s financial history.

• Print an Annual Budget report for presentation to your membership.

There are five tabs (worksheets) in the Budget Planner System used during the formulation your budget.

1. Budget Report – A formal report for presenting your finalized budget to your membership.

2. Budget Summary – Graphical representations illustrating proportion of the various amounts shown on the Budget Planner tab.

3. Budget Planner – Shows you what your budget will look like and allows you to compare and contrast it to 3 to 5 years of unit history.

4. Receipts Scratchpad – Where you document your anticipated fixed and variable income.

5. Disbursements Scratchpad – Where you document your anticipated fixed and variable expenses.

6. Type Codes – A reference page to help you identify which account a particular income or expense item should be applied to.

The purpose and function of these worksheets are explained below.


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7.1 Budget Report (Blue Tab) This worksheet displays the proposed or final budget report produced by the Budget Committee:

1. Identifies the date the budget was finalized.

2. Income and expense accounts are listed along with their respective subtotals.

3. Net Gain/Loss and Net Margin.

4. Budget Notes, used to justify any shortage in receipts and/or overage in expenditures. Documenting why your receipts are short and/or your expenditures are over is important aspect of budgeting, and is valuable information when preparing next year's budget.

No data entry is required on this worksheet (you can view or print only). All data is derived from the information you entered in the Receipts and Disbursements Scratchpads.

7.2 Budget Summary (Yellow Tab) This worksheet graphically illustrates the proposed or final budget.

There are three bar charts. The two bar charts on the left side of the report show the amounts of individual accounts for Receipts (income) and Disbursements (expenses), while the small bar chart on the upper-right side summarizes the budget’s total income and expenses respectively and shows the resulting Net Gain/Loss.

No data entry is required on this worksheet (you can view or print only). All data is derived from the information you entered in the Receipts and Disbursements Scratchpads.

7.3 Budget Planner (Yellow Tab) This is where you analyze your budget for the up-coming year as well as record your unit’s 3-5-year history using data from your annual ANSC 7025 forms. We recommend maintaining only the last 3-5 years because data any older than that becomes irrelevant due to inflation and can skew budget analysis numbers in the History Analysis column (Yellow).

This worksheet is divided into three sections, from left to right:

1

2

3

4


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1. The new year budget column

2. The analysis column

3. The history columns

7.3.1 The New Year Budget Column This is the column where your budget numbers from your Receipts and Disbursements Scratchpad accounts are displayed. A percentage is shown to the left of the budget amount representing that account’s portion of the total for either Receipts or Disbursements.

Net Gain/Loss

At the bottom of all columns are two rows of very special numbers.

The first is the Net Gain or Loss dollar amount. This indicates how much money you gained (a positive number) or lost (a negative number). A zero amount would mean you broke even.

Net Margin

The Net Margin, also known as Profit Margin, is an indicator of your unit's pricing strategies and how well it controls costs. It is calculated by dividing Net Gain/Loss by the Total Cash Receipts. The result shows what percent of each dollar taken in the unit retains after all expenses are paid.

Figure 6


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7.3.2 The Analysis Column The yellow column on the Budget Planner is the Analysis column. This is where you can look at the unit’s history in four distinct ways by selecting one of the following from the drop-down list:

1. The Average (or Mean) is simply the sum of all amounts, divided by the number years. The Average is a good choice if the amounts for a given account across all years didn’t vary dramatically.

2. The Median (a type of average) is the middle item of the data. It is closest to the value obtained when the extreme of the range of amounts is thrown out. The median tends to lessen the influence of an abnormally high or low year for a particular account. The median is a good choice to represent the center of a distribution when the distribution is skewed because of an extremely high or low amount for a particular account.

3. The High option identifies the highest amount for each account of all available years.

4. The Low option identifies the lowest amount for each account of all available years.

7.3.3 The History Columns The columns to the right of the yellow analysis column are available for you to enter your prior year’s annual history. This data is taken directly from the unit’s past ANSC 7025 forms, including the Beginning and Ending balances.

At the bottom of each year’s history is a warning indicator. If the balances you transcribe don’t add up correctly, a “Data entry error” message will display. Care should be taken when transcribing numbers. It is possible to have transposed any two amounts and still have the data for that year balance. So be careful.

NOTE 1: When transcribing your data from an ANSC 7025 form, care should be taken to enter data in the correct account rows. (The Total Beginning Cash Items row is one example.) The formulas in all “Total… “rows are not protected in the history area so you can insert a new column for a new year, and delete the column for the oldest year, thereby maintaining a 3-5 year of history. Entering data in one of the total row cells will cause a worksheet malfunction. If you do inadvertently overwrite or delete the cell contents you can use the Excel “Undo Typing” button (Ctrl-Z) to undo the mistake if caught right away. Otherwise, copy and paste the formula from the neighboring column on the same row into the malfunctioning cell.

Figure 7

Figure 8


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7.3.4 Adding a Column for a New Year After the books are closed for the previous year and the Audit is complete, transcribe the information on the “Unit Financial Report” tab in the Accounting System to the history section of the Budget Planner. But first you need to add a new column. To insert a new column for a new year of history, do the following:

1. Left click on column 'G' so the entire column is selected. Then right click on column ‘G’ to display the command list. Select "Copy". Then, with the column still selected, right click on it again and select "Insert Copied Cells". Excel will create a new column and paste all of the amounts and totals into the new column.

2. Starting at the top of new column 'G', change the Year to that of the new budget year. i.e. 2013.

3. Delete the amounts for each of the accounts in the new column, but DO NOT delete data on a total row. The total rows contain formulas. Deleting a formula will cause a worksheet malfunction.

4. Now, transcribe the balances for each account on the "Unit Financial Summary" tab in the Accounting System into column 'G' of the Budget Planner.

NOTE: The recommended number of years to maintain in the Budget Planner is 3-5 years.

7.3.5 Deleting the Oldest Year Column Once you have accumulated 6 years of ANSC 7025 history it’s time to delete the oldest year from the system in order to maintain the recommended maximum of 5 years. To delete the oldest year, do the following:

1. Click on column 'K' (the 6th year) so the entire column is selected.

2. Right click on column ‘K’ to display the command list. Select "Delete". Excel will delete the column. If you selected the wrong column, you can restore the column and its data by clicking on the UNDO DELETE button.

3. Click on the SAVE button to save your change.

That’s it.

NOTE 1: If you delete only the contents of the cells in the column instead of the column itself, the Yellow Analysis column will not provide accurate results. That’s because the Analysis column bases its calculations on the total number of available history columns.

NOTE 2: The Auxiliary Unit Budget Planner is setup for 5 years of 7025 history by default. If you prefer to maintain the recommended minimum of 3 years, you will need to delete both columns ‘J’ and ‘K’ (years 4 and 5) the first time use the system. Thereafter, you will only need to delete the oldest year in column ‘J’.


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7.4 Scratchpad Tabs – Documenting anticipated Income and Expenses To establish the budget each year, it is necessary to determine the dollars expected to come in, the dollars that will go out, and the dollars left over.

The two Scratchpad tabs are where you enter your various anticipated Receipts (Black Tab) and Disbursements (Red Tab) for the upcoming year. There is no specific order you have to follow when entering these budget items. You can enter into each one alternately as budget items come to mind, switching back and forth between the two tabs, or work on all your income first then your expenses, or vice versa.

When you complete the entry for each budget item it is immediately posted to the corresponding account in the budget planner so you can see how your budget is shaping up. If you don’t like what you see, you can go back to either one of the Scratchpad tabs to fine tune your budget to have a more favorable outlook. Changing the quantity, cost, or even removing the budget item altogether is a snap.

Occasionally, it is important to provide supplemental information regarding a particular budget item. You can provide just such information in your budget by using Excel’s Hyperlink feature. This feature allows you to link your description to either: a) an explanatory document you have prepared on your computer, or b) to a specific webpage. How to use this feature is explained in the section 5, WORKSHEET EDITING & COMMANDS.

7.4.1 Receipts Scratchpad (Black Tab) Use this worksheet to identify each income related budget item for the upcoming year. Each income item requires the following information:

1. Transaction Type Code – assigns which 7025 account this item gets budgeted to.

2. Transaction Description – A concise description of what the budget item is for (75 characters or less).

3. Quantity – how many of this item do you anticipate you will receive or earn.

4. Amount – what you expect to charge/receive for the product or service you offer.

The “Extended Amount” column calculates the total cost automatically for you (Extended Amount = Quantity x Amount). That’s it. You can have up to 60 individual income related budget items on the Receipts Scratchpad worksheet.


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Tip: For visual clarity, you can leave a blank row between individual budget items or groups of budget items. However, if you sort your line items, then any blank lines in the sort group will automatically float to the bottom.

7.4.2 Disbursements Scratchpad (Red Tab) Use this worksheet to identify each expense related budget item for the upcoming year. Each expense item requires the following information:

1. Transaction Type Code – assigns which 7025 account this item gets budgeted to.

2. Transaction Description – A concise description of what the budget item is for (75 characters or less).

3. Quantity – how many of this item do you think you will need.

4. Amount – what you expect to pay for the product or service you need to carry out your duties.

Like the Receipts Scratchpad worksheet, the “Extended Cost” column in the Disbursements Scratchpad worksheet calculates the total cost for you (Extended Cost = Quantity x Cost).

That’s it. You can have up to 60 individual expense related budget items on the Disbursements Scratchpad worksheet.

Tip: For visual clarity, you can leave a blank row between individual budget items or groups of budget items. However, if you sort your line items, then any blank lines in the sort group will automatically float to the bottom.

7.4.3 A Word about Budget Descriptions Entering a concrete description for a budget item will help you better assess what the item is for and its true value, particularly when you revisit the Budget Planner at a later date. Below are some examples that illustrate the difference between vague and precise budget item descriptions.

Vague descriptions:

• Dinners

• Dues

• Fellowship

• Misc.

• Odds & ends


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Precise descriptions:

• Allowance for unplanned receipts

• Allowance for unplanned expenses

• Unit Commander’s discretion (Subject to Standing Rules)

• Dues payment by <member name> <check number>

• Member dues - <member name> <check number>

• Flotilla Annual Dues

• Division Dues

• Change of Watch Dinner Expense

• COW (Change of Watch) Dinner Guest Expense

• Division Recognition Dinner (February)

• Flotilla Recognition Dinner (August)

• Party favors for June Flotilla fellowship

Finally, if you have two or more of the same type of budget item, such as awards dinners for example, list each dinner separately rather than lumping them together. This makes it much easier if you need to eliminate one of the dinners due to funding limitations and gives a better accounting your budget overall.

7.5 Transaction Type Descriptions (White Tab) This worksheet serves as a handy reference in determining what type of account would be the most appropriate to use for a particular budget item entered in the Receipts or Disbursements Scratchpad tabs.

7.6 Help (White tab) This worksheet is divided into three sections providing guidance on:

1. System Information

2. Committee Due dates

3. References

4. Accounting Rules

5. Best Practices

The System Information section identifies the product name and version number. Version numbers increase with each new release.


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The Committee Due Dates section identifies critical dates regarding committee appointment, budget completion must be submitted to and by what date.

The References section identifies Auxiliary Manuals and guides that contain detailed information about unit finances and records retention.

The Accounting Rules section contains a decision table to assist you in identifying what types of transactions should be entered on each of the 3 ledgers. It also identifies whether they are a Debit or Credit for those that prefer to think in those terms.

The Best Practices section highlights methods or techniques that have consistently shown results superior to those achieved with other means.


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APPENDIX-A: ACCOUNTING SYSTEM SETUP

A.1. Setting up your Master Copy The Master Copy is an Excel workbook that you will use to create all of your annual working copies from. If there is an annual update you will replace your current master copy with the update and repeat this procedure again. The version numbering system is composed of the letter “v” followed by the version number (major release i.e. new functionality of feature is added to the product), followed by an alphabetic letter (minor releases which typically involve corrections or adjustments to existing functionality. For example: “v2a”.

When you download the Auxiliary Unit Accounting System it is already named “MASTER”. For example:

XXXX Auxiliary Unit Accounting System v2 – MASTER

To set up your master copy do the following:

1. Open the file: “XXXX Auxiliary Unit Accounting System v2 – MASTER”

2. Each of the color-coded tabs in the workbook has a preformatted report heading associated with it and each heading has a marker for your unit’s type, number, city and state on the left side of the heading. They are easy to spot because they are located on the left side of the header and identified with angle brackets (greater than and less than symbols) on each end of the text. For example:

<unit type> <unit number> <Unit city>, <state abbrev.>

3. Start with the “Unit Financial Report” tab by clicking on it.

4. Select Page Layout tab on the ribbon menu.

5. Select the Margins option.

6. On the drop-down menu, select the very last menu option called “Custom Margins…”.

7. On the Page Setup window select the tab labeled Header/Footer.

8. Next, select the “Custom Header…” button. The Header window will display as shown below:

Figure 9


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9. Click inside the area labeled “Left section:” outlined in red in the screenshot above.

10. Replace the following place holders:

Marker Example

<unit type> Division or Flotilla

<unit number> In the format of DDDddff, where DDD is the three-digit District number, dd is the two-digit Division number, and ff is the two-digit Flotilla number.

<city> Lincoln

<state abbrev.> NE

For example, your entry would look similar to the following:

Division 08533 Omaha, NE

or Flotilla 0853302 Lincoln, NE

NOTE: The “085” in the examples above is the number for the Eighth District – Western Rivers Region. You can find out what your district number is by logging onto to the AuxDirectory/AuxOfficer webpage (https://auxofficer.cgaux.org/auxoff/). The three-digit district numbers for all districts are located near the bottom of the page.

11. Highlight the text you just entered and press Ctrl-C to copy. You can then paste that information into the left side of the header on subsequent tabs.

12. Click on the OK button to save your entry.

13. Click on the OK button again.

14. Save your work by clicking on the diskette shaped icon () located in the upper-left most corner of the spreadsheet, above the word “File”.

15. Repeat steps 4 – 14 replacing the same markers for each of the remaining color coded tabs.

NOTE: The Type Codes and Help tabs do not require this information.

A.2. Setting up your Working Copy Now that your Master Copy is complete, you can use it to create each year’s Working Copy. The Working Copy is where you will enter your budget information and all of your day-to-day transactions to produce monthly reports for the flotilla or division and the annual 7025 report.

Create the working copy:

1. Open your Master Copy and then do a File, Save As.

2. Change the “XXXX” at the beginning of the file name with the Year of the accounting period. Then, change “MASTER” at the end of the file name and replace it with your unit name. For example, change from this:

https://auxofficer.cgaux.org/auxoff/



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XXXX Auxiliary Unit Accounting System v2 – MASTER

to this:

2013 Auxiliary Unit Accounting System v2 – Flotilla 0853302

3. Click on the Save button to save the new working copy.

Three tabs require some initial setup information. This is very easy and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. The following steps will guide you through the process of getting your working copy ready for business.

Select the “Unit Financial Report” tab:

1. On row 3, replace “<name of FSO-FN>” with the name of your Finance Officer followed by “FSO-FN” or “SO-FN”. For example: Jane Smith FSO-FN, or Steve Jones SO-FN.

2. On row 7, enter the date of the first day of the reporting year in the “BEGINNING BALANCE” date field. For example: 1/1/2012 or 1/1/12.

3. The “ENDING BALANCE” date field is set to automatically display today’s date, based on the date you enter in the date field on row 7, so you don’t need to set it. The “ENDING BALANCE” date is only changed (set) when an Audit is performed after year-end or if there is a mid-year change of unit leader or Finance Officer.

4. Click on the Save icon to save the work you’ve done so far.

Select the “Monthly Financial Report” tab:

On this tab you only need to enter the budget amounts established for the beginning of the year.

NOTE: If you are starting a new working copy because of a change in Finance Officer, then transcribe the budget amounts on the accounting system you just closed out to the new working copy.

Select the “Cash Accounts” tab:

Next you will enter the beginning balances for each Checking, Savings, CD, Trust or Other Cash Items account the unit has, and its’ balance as of the starting date you entered on the “Unit Financial Report”. There are four fields to enter data in for each account:

1. Date – Date of the account balance.

2. Account Number – this is an alphanumeric field so you can enter either an account number or a name.

NOTE: If your unit maintains a Petty Cash fund, you would enter “Petty Cash” in the “Account No.” cell along with a Transaction Type of “Other Cash Items”.

3. Transaction Type – this field contains a drop-down list that is accessible when you click on this field (cell). Select the appropriate “beginning balance” type from the list.


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4. Description – beginning balances do not generally need a description. The fact that it is a beginning balance for the first of the year is sufficient. However, if you are starting a new workbook during the middle of the year because of a change in Finance Officer or unit leader during the course of the year, you may want to indicate this in the description field for the new beginning balances.

5. Deposit amount – the balance as of December 31st of the previous year.

6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for each type of cash account you have.

7. Click on the Save icon to save the setup work you’ve done.

Ready for business

You are now ready to begin entering transactions in your new accounting system, monitor your unit’s financial performance and produce reports as needed.


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APPENDIX-B: BUDGET PLANNER SETUP

B.1. Setting up your Master Copy The Master Copy is an Excel workbook from which you will create all of your annual working copies. If there is an annual update you will replace your current master copy with the update and repeat this procedure again. The version numbering system is composed of the letter “v” followed by the version number (major release i.e. new functionality of feature is added to the product), followed by an alphabetic letter (minor releases which typically involve corrections or adjustments to existing functionality. For example: “v2a”.

When you download the Auxiliary Unit Budget Planner it is already named “MASTER” for you. For example:

XXXX Auxiliary Unit Budget Planner v2 – MASTER

To set up your master copy do the following:

1. Open the file: “XXXX Auxiliary Unit Budget Planner v2 – MASTER”

2. Each of the color-coded tabs in the workbook has a preformatted report heading associated with it and each heading has a marker to identify your unit’s type, number, city and state on the left side of the heading. They are easy to spot because they are located on the left side of the header and are identified with angle brackets (greater than and less than symbols) on each end of the text. For example:

<unit type> <unit number> <Unit city>, <state abbrev.>

3. Start with the “Budget Report” tab by clicking on it.

4. Select Page Layout tab on the ribbon menu.

5. Select the Margins option.

6. On the drop-down menu, select the very last menu option called “Custom Margins…”.

7. On the Page Setup window select the tab labeled Header/Footer.

8. Next, select the “Custom Header…” button. The Header window will display as shown below:

Figure 10


36

9. Click inside the area labeled “Left section:” outlined in red in the screenshot above.

10. Replace the following place holders:

Marker Example

<unit type> Division or Flotilla

<unit number> In the format of DDDddff, where DDD is the three-digit District number, dd is the two-digit Division number, and ff is the two-digit Flotilla number.

<city> Lincoln

<state abbrev.> NE

For example, your entry would look similar to the following:

Division 08533 Omaha, NE

or Flotilla 0853302 Lincoln, NE

NOTE: The “085” in the examples above is the number for the Eighth District – Western Rivers Region. You can find out what your district number is by logging onto to the AuxDirectory/AuxOfficer webpage (https://auxofficer.cgaux.org/auxoff/). The three-digit district numbers for all districts are located near the bottom of the page.

11. Highlight the text you just entered and press Ctrl-C to copy. You can then paste that information into the left side of the header on subsequent tabs.

12. Click on the OK button to save your entry.

13. Click on the OK button again.

14. Save your work by clicking on the diskette shaped icon () located in the upper-left most corner of the spreadsheet, above the word “File”.

15. Repeat steps 4 – 14 replacing the same markers for each of the remaining color coded tabs.

NOTE: The Type Codes and Help tabs do not require this information.

B.2. Setting up your Working Copy Now that your Master Copy is complete, you can use it to create each year’s Working Copy. The Working Copy is where you will enter all of your budget information and day-to-day transactions to produce a budget and history report at the beginning of the year for your unit.

Create the working copy:

1. Open your Master Copy and then do a File, Save As.




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2. Change the “XXXX” at the beginning of the file name with the Year of the account period. Then, delete “MASTER” from the end of the file name and replace it with your unit number. The file name should change from this:

XXXX Auxiliary Unit Budget Planner v2 – MASTER to this…

2013 Auxiliary Unit Budget Planner v2 – Flotilla 0853302

3. Click on the Save button to save the new working copy.

One tab requires some initial setup information. This is very easy and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. The following steps will guide you through the process of getting your working copy ready for business.

Select the “Budget Planner” tab

On row 1, verify the budget year is correct. If not, simply type in the current year.

Enter your unit’s history (ANSC 7025 information)

The history portion of the Budget Planner is located to the right side of the yellow multi-year Analysis column. Each column is used to record the corresponding data found on your ANSC 7025 forms.

1. Enter the Year of the 7025 on the year row.

2. Transcribe the information on the 7025 form into the corresponding row in that column.

3. Repeat this process in each successive column for the recommended 3 to 5 years of prior history.

If you do not have 5 years 7025 form data available to you then delete the remaining unused columns. You can work your way up to recommended maximum of 5 years of data, one year at a time. To delete unused columns:

1. Right click on the column heading, which will select the entire column and display the command menu.

2. Click on the DELETE command. Excel will delete the entire column.

NOTE: Never leave a column(s) empty if you are not going to use them. Doing so will cause the various Analysis modes (yellow column) to calculate results incorrectly. For example, let’s say you have 3 years of 7025 forms available. You enter the data in the first three history columns but you leave the remaining 2 columns empty (blank). The Analysis column will think you have 5 years of data instead of just 3 and perform its calculations based on 5 columns generating incorrect averages.

Save your work

Now click on the Save button to save the new working copy.

Ready for planning your budget

You are now ready to begin formulating your budget for the New Year.


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APPENDIX-C: BACKING UP YOUR WORK Anytime you enter transactions or revise the budget you should make a backup of your work when you are finished. Creating backups is a quick and simple process. It is recommended that you save these “quick” backups in the same directory file folder as the working copy.

NOTE: You should always back up your complete accounting system on a removable drive that can be store in a safe place so you can recover accounting system if you have a hard drive malfunction or system crash.

To create a backup copy, do the following:

1. Select File, Save As.

2. Change the filename by adding “BKUP” to the end of the file name. For example, from this:

2013 Auxiliary Unit Accounting System v1g – Flotilla 8WR3302

to this: 2013 Auxiliary Unit Accounting System v1g – Flotilla 8WR3302 BKUP

3. Click on the Save button to save the file. You now have a backup copy of your accounting system.

4. The copy of accounting system you are using now is the “BKUP” file, so you will need to close it and open the non-BKUP version of the file if you are going to continue entering transactions.

NOTE: On subsequent backups you will get a message telling you a file with same name already exists and ask you “Do you want to replace it?” Click on the “Yes” button to replace it.


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APPENDIX-D: AUDITING AND CLOSING THE BOOKS 1. Closing the books. On January 1st or as soon thereafter, do the following:

a. If you have any remaining transactions from last year that need to be entered, enter those now.

b. Select the “Unit Financial Report” tab.

c. On row 42 enter the date of the last day of the reporting year and press enter. Do not enter any more transactions into that year.

2. Auditing the books.

The Audit Committee can now begin the audit process. You can print any page in the Accounting System to split the auditing workload with other committee members.

Tip: The monthly Start Date along with the Period feature can be used to verify that all receipt and disbursement transaction dates are in the current year. Set the Period Start date to January 1st and then set the Period Window to 12. The Period amounts should equal the YTD Actual. If they do not, then the year on one of the transaction dates in that ledger (Receipts or Disbursements) was entered incorrectly. Locate the transaction in the corresponding ledger and re-enter the date with the correct year.

When auditing is complete:

a. Select the “Unit Financial Report” tab

b. Click on cell A1 (row 1)

c. In the formula bar, replace the text surrounded by the less than (<) and greater than (>) symbols, including the symbols themselves, and replace with the audit information indicated. An example is shown below.

Before…

Audited on <date> by <audit committee chair>, <audit committee member>, <audit committee member>, …

After…

Audited on 1/8/2013 by John Doe, Chair; Susan Doe (FSO-FN), Martha Doe, and Sam Doe.

d. Press Enter to save the information you just typed.

e. Select File, Save.

f. Close the workbook

g. Create a fresh working copy for the new year – see Appendix-A.


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APPENDIX-E: PREPARING THE 7025 REPORT With the audit completed, you are ready to prepare the Auxiliary’s “Financial Report of an Auxiliary Unit” ANSC 7025 form. Do the following:

1. Select the “Financial Report” tab, and transcribe the information from the worksheet onto the corresponding fields on the ANSC 7025 form.

2. On the reverse side of the 7025 form is the Unit Inventory Record. Select the “Unit Inventory” tab in the Accounting System and transcribe corresponding information onto the 7025 report.

3. Sign, date and follow routing instructions the ANSC 7025 form.

That’s it. You’re done!

NOTE: See APPENDIX-F: SAMPLE ANSC 7025 FORM for an example of this form.


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APPENDIX-F: SAMPLE ANSC 7025 FORM

Figure 11

ANSC 7025 form page 1 of 2


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Figure 12

ANSC 7025 form page 2 of 2


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APPENDIX-G: TERMS, ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS Source: “Dictionary of Small Business”, http://www.small-business-dictionary.org

G.1. Financial Terms Budget

A document that lists planned income and expense items along with the dollar value for each. A budget is most useful when, at a later date, actual transactions are compared to the budget for analysis and control of future decisions.

Cash

In accounting, an asset on the financial report comprising cash on hand, paper currency, coins, bank balances, negotiable money orders and checks; MONEY or MONEY EQUIVALENTS. To cash a negotiable instrument (as a check) is to convert it into money (paper currency and coins).

Cash on hand

Specifically, all money, cash and cash equivalents in the unit’s bank bag on the Finance Officer’s premises; as opposed to cash in the bank. This is the same as CASH.

Disbursements

An accounting term for the sum of all money paid out for goods and services during a given period of time; they are the cost of goods and services used up in the process of obtaining income. They are sometimes referred to as "the cost of doing business". Expenses deducted from INCOME result in a PROFIT or LOSS for the business during a given period. See INCOME STATEMENT. Sometimes used interchangeably with the portion of overall expenses entitled OPERATING EXPENSES (OVERHEAD), especially when determining percentage relationships to sales.

Expenditure

Money paid out for purchase of goods or services.

Funds

Funds are defined as monies received or disbursed as dues, course registration fees, sale of publications, public education fees, etc.

Gain

In a financial situation, a positive sum after expenses are deducted from income of a unit as shown on the financial statement; the monetary gain obtained from the use of CASH in a transaction; the proceeds from property or investment; the opposite of a LOSS.

http://www.small-business-dictionary.org/

http://www.small-business-dictionary.org/


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Money or Money Equivalents

In general, the standard medium of exchange as established by a government (i.e., United States) and the standard of value for describing the worth of other things. The media include: coins; paper money and any substance used as money, such as bank notes, checks or money orders. In business, this means any definite or indefinite sum of money.

Petty Cash

Amounts of money (paper money and coins) kept by the Finance Officer for payment of small incidental expenses. This is the same as CASH.

Receipts

An accounting term defining the money received by a business in a given period of time as a result of operating the business; the goods and services sold, also called INCOME or SALES. Sometimes used to mean PROFIT or EARNINGS as a shortened form of NET INCOME.

Windfall

A windfall gain (or windfall profit) is any type of income that is unexpected.

G.2. Abbreviations & Acronyms

ANSC Auxiliary National Supply Center

DCDR Division Commander

DIRAUX Director of the Auxiliary

FC Flotilla Commander

FN Finance

FSO Flotilla Staff Officer

SO Division Staff Officer

VCDR Vice Division Commander

VFC Vice Flotilla Commander


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APPENDIX-H: CREATING A FOLDER SYSTEM

H.1. Creating your Hard Drive or Flash Drive Folders Before using the Auxiliary Unit Accounting System for the first time, it is suggested that you create a set of folders on your hard drive or flash drive to store your complete accounting system and various financial documents.

TIP: Always have a copy of your data, documents, etc., stored on a drive other than what you use to work on. Because the Accounting and Budget Planner Systems consume so little space, they will easily fit on a flash drive. You could optionally backup your work onto two flash drives, giving one to your Vice Flotilla Commander (VFC). Then, trade flash drives with your VFC at each unit meeting, backing up your work when you get home on the traded flash drive.

The following is an example of a folder system that works very well.

Figure 13

The Accounting system folder (above) is the primary folder that holds all of your accounting system and accounting related source documents. Inside the “Flotilla Accounting System” folder are the annual folders, one for each accounting year. For example: 2013

Inside the 2013 annual folder is the Accounting System and Budget Planner, along with three additional folders for the various source documents: Bank Statements, Invoices and Receipts, and Other Documents.

This screen shot is from Windows Vista. Your view may be slightly


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APPENDIX-I: DIGITIZING SOURCE DOCUMENTS

I.1. Overview Paper documents fade over time, become soiled and worn from handling, and are vulnerable to moisture. Scanning documents into PDF files is an excellent means of backup and captures the document in its current or best possible condition.

NOTE: When you make a purchase online an invoice is presented in your browser for you print. Instead of printing it on paper you can print it into a PDF document if you have Adobe Reader installed, and save it to a folder on your computer. This saves you the extra steps (and paper) of printing it on your printer and then scanning it into an Adobe PDF file. You can always print the contents of a PDF file any time you need it.

Some additional benefits of scanning (imaging) documents include:

• Prevents lost records

• Saves storage space

• Manage records easily

• Find documents quickly

• You can hyperlink a PDF document to a transaction entry in the accounting system.

• Eliminates need for file cabinets

With the abundance of affordable All-In-One printers (Print, Scan and Copy) available on the market today, hardcopy documents (receipts, invoices, bank statements, etc.) can be easily scanned into Adobe PDF files for electronic storage and retrieval. For example, a sales receipt for the purchase of supplies needed for a PE class can be scanned into Adobe PDF format, and moved into the “Invoices and Receipts” folder, and the file renamed to reflect its contents.

If you scan your financial documents you will need to develop a standard naming convention so you can locate a specific document quickly. For example: you have a sales receipt for supplies used for PE classes. You scan the document and give it the name “20120614 PE Supplies.PDF”. Translated, the file name reads “2012 June 14 PE Supplies”. The file extension indicates that it is an Adobe PDF file. Having the date of the receipt as part of the file name and a simple description of what the items purchased were for would be extremely helpful should you need to locate that particular receipt at some point in the future. Whatever naming convention you decide on, be consistent in using it.

You should consult with your VFC when creating a file naming standard like this, to ensure all factors have been considered. Renaming files because of poor planning is an arduous task. However, a well thought out file naming convention will pay dividends for years to come.


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I.2. Retention of Source Documents The retention period for financial source documents is based on your District’s records retention policy. Because you have these source documents imaged, the paper documents can be eventually shredded when the retention requirements have been met. Digitized documents, because they consume so little space, can be kept with the accounting system indefinitely if you choose to do so.