Accounting Software Application
Accounting Software Application
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, the students will be able to:
Define a computerized accounting system.
Distinguish between a manual and computerized accounting.
List and discuss the advantage and limitations of computerized accounting system.
1.1 Introduction
Dear Distance Students! Welcome to the course Accounting Software Application. As you
know accounting is the process of identifying, measuring, recording, and communicating
economic information about an organization or other entity, in order to permit informed
judgments by users of the information.
Accounting systems collect and process data from transactions and events, organize them in
useful reports and communicate results to decision makers. Three main steps are involved in
processing business transaction. First, the financial information collected from source
documents (source document: an original document containing information about a
transaction), verified, and analyzed to determine how it will be recorded. Next, the transactions
are recorded (manually recorded in the journal or electronically in the computer). Finally,
reports are produced, analyzed and summarized the financial information.
In doing so, accounting systems consists of people, records, methods, and equipment. The
systems are designed to capture information about a company’s transactions and to provide
output including financial, managerial and tax reports. All accounting information systems have
these same goals, and thus share some basic components. These components apply whether or
not a system is heavily computerized, yet the components of computerized systems usually
provide more accuracy, speed, efficiency, and convenience than those of manual systems.
1.2 Comparison between Manual and Computerized Accounting
Accounting, by definition, is the process of identifying, recording, classifying and
summarizing financial transactions to produce the financial reports for their ultimate analysis.
Let us understand these activities in the context of manual and computerized accounting system.
Identifying: The identification of transactions, based on application of accounting principles
is, common to both manual and computerized accounting system.
Recording: The recording of financial transactions, in manual accounting system is through
books of original entries while the data content of such transactions is stored in a well-
designed accounting database in computerized accounting system.
Classification: In a manual accounting system, transactions recorded in the books of original
entry are further classified by posting into ledger accounts. This results in transaction data
duplicity. In computerized accounting, no such data duplication is made to cause
classification of transactions. In order to produce ledger accounts, the stored transaction data
is processed to appear as classified so that the same is presented in the form of a report.
Different forms of the same transaction data are made available for being presented in various
reports.
1. Exit all programs and disable virus-protection and screen saver programs on your computer.
This frees up memory and avoids interference with the Peachtree setup process.
It’s important to considerClickthe hereimportance
to of the following buttons,Click
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move forward
window move
willbackhave back,onenext,
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finish, cancel and help buttons. Thus, the buttons at the
your company
one step. settings when
bottom of each window let you go back, move forward, or cancel the setup process. The
Help button giv
The Peachtree Accounting Setup - Welcome window appears. It tells you what to expect when
you run the Setup program. Read the information and instructions on the window, and then select
Next. NB: To stop and exit setup at any time, select the Cancel button. For help on any window
in the Peachtree Setup program, select the Help button.
i. Read the Licensing Agreement, and if you accept the terms, select the Agree option.
Select
Next. (If you select Disagree, you will exit the setup program when you click Next.)
ii. Then, Peachtree will notify you to disable antiviruses by providing the following dialog box.
So, you have to temporally turn off any antiviruses and click ok.
Select Yes if this is the only computer that Peachtree will be installed on and click ‘Next’.
That is, your Peachtree company data will not be shared with other computers on a network.
If you will be installing Peachtree on another machine, for example, at home, you should still
select Yes as long as your Peachtree company data will not be shared on a network or by
multiple users at the same time.
Select No if you will be installing Peachtree on more than one computer and you will be
sharing your Peachtree company data with the other computers on a network and click
‘Next’.
vii. After creating the path of Peachtree program file locations, a window, i.e., Peachtree
Company Data Location will appear. If you specified that your Peachtree company data files
will be located on this computer, you will see this window. Ensure that the location listed is
correct and click ‘Next’. If the location is not correct, you can click the Browse button and
look for another location.
company data.
2. Click the Next button to continue. To stop and exit setup, click the Cancel button.
ix. The summary window will appear after clicking next on the component window. This window
simply tells you where you have installed your Peachtree program and Peachtree company data
files. This window also allows you to choose to Add the Peachtree desktop shortcuts to the
desktop, which include the Peachtree program icon, Checks and Forms, and Peachtree
Knowledge Base; and/or you can choose to Add an icon to the quick launch toolbar. If you need
to change anything, click Back. Otherwise, click Install to install Peachtree.
Self-Study Activity
1. List down the steps used to install the Peachtree Accounting Software.
2. Why antivirus software deactivated during Peachtree Accounting software installation?
2.3 Registering Peachtree
Please register your copy of Peachtree as soon as possible after installing the program.
Registration is very important because it ensures you of timely program updates and upgrade
offers.
xiii. Do one of the following:
After your initial sessions working with Peachtree, when you start the program, the Register
Peachtree Accounting window will appear,
OR, if Peachtree is already running, select Peachtree Registration from the Help menu.
3.1. Introduction
Dear Students! Now we have installed the Peachtree software, we are ready to get started
running the company’s business activities with Peachtree. Basically, the remaining tasks in
general will be:
1. Create the Company: Business Types, Chart of Accounts, Posting Method, Accounting
Method, etc.
2. Set Up the Company: Enter Beginning Balances (general ledger), Default and Record
information for Customers, Vendors, Employees
3. Run the Company: Record transactions and print reports (checks, invoices, financial
statements, etc.)
4. Analyze the Business: Print reports and financial statements
Here are some important terms that must be familiarized with them:
Default: computer preset option (an option that will be automatically be selected by a
computer)
Customer: a person or company who buys goods or services of the company
Vendors: a person or company who sells goods or services for the company
3.2. Starting the Program
There are several ways to open Peachtree:
1. From the Taskbar: Select Start on the taskbar and then Programs. Locate and select the
Peachtree group folder. Then select the Peachtree icon.
2. From My Computer
i. Locate and double-click the My Computer icon on the Windows desktop. My Computer
window appears. Then select the hard drive where you installed Peachtree. (Drive C is the
default.)
ii. By default, Peachtree is installed in C:\Program Files\Sage Software\Peachtree.
Locate and double-click the Peachtree folder.
iii.Next, locate and double-click the ‘peachw.exe’ file.
3. From the Desktop: From the desktop, double-click the Peachtree icon.
Once you start Peachtree, the Start Screen appears, giving you options for proceeding. And it is
depicted on the following page. Peachtree displays the Start screen when you first open
Peachtree. Choose one of the following startup options:
Note that, before starting set up a new company in Peachtree, it is important to make some
initial decisions based on how you work and the legal regulations that apply to the business,
those are:
1. Accounting Method
In setting up a new company in Peachtree, one of our first choices is between cash-basis and
accrual basis of accounting. The accounting method displayed in the Maintain Company
Information window determines how Peachtree handles general ledger, accounts receivable,
accounts payable, and payroll transactions.
Accrual Accounting: revenues are recorded as the company invoice its customers, and expenses
are recorded when the company receive bills from its vendors, regardless of when cash is actually
exchanged. This confirms the matching principle of revenues and expenses and most companies
use this method.
2. Posting Methods
Posting is the process of updating the General Ledger's chart of accounts to reflect all journal
entries that have been entered into the system. Posting also updates all general ledger and other
accounting reports (financial statements). Therefore, the posting method determines how
Peachtree processes transactions to journals and the general ledger. There are two options: batch
posting and real-time posting, hence there is one additional option in latest Peachtree
program, i.e. SmartPosting. This option available only on Peachtree 2010 and latest versions.
Real-Time Posting: Transactions are posted to the journals and the general ledger as they are
entered and saved.
Batch Posting: Transactions are saved by the program and then posted in a group. When you use
batch posting, you can print registers and check the batch of transactions before posting them to
the journals.
SmartPosting: Transactions are saved by the program and then automatically posted by the
SmartPosting service. This posting method helps improve performance by allowing you to save
transactions without waiting for them to post. Unlike batch posting where you have to manually
post transactions, the posting happens automatically when you use SmartPosting. In a network
environment, you can use a separate computer to post the transactions and get even better
performance. This method is the recommended one to use. You can switch posting methods at
any time.
ABC Inc (hypothetical example) is a merchandising company that trades electronic equipment
throughout the country. Even if ABC Inc has enormous reputation in trading electronic
equipment in the country, previously the company used a manual accounting systems which was
In a corporation, you cannot touch equity except to pay dividends or sell stock. You may need to
set up a Preferred Stock account if you differentiate between Common and Preferred. In addition,
you may require a Paid-in Capital account for stocks sold at temporarily higher prices.
S Corporation: This is a type of corporation that, for federal tax purposes (in most states of
USA), may be taxed as a partnership provided certain requirements are met. There are certain
limitations that restrict this election typically to small businesses. These are limits on the number
of shareholders, the types of shareholders, the classes of stock issued, and other restrictions.
When you select the S Corporation business type during New Company Setup, the following
equity accounts are automatically set up:
Common Stock (Equity - doesn't close)
Paid In Capital (Equity - doesn't close)
Retained Earnings (Equity - Retained Earnings)
Dividends Paid (Equity - gets closed)
Note that there is no account that gets set up for contributions. You usually do not contribute to
an S Corporation.
Partnership: This is a business owned by two or more persons associated as partners. The
partners have joint control over operations and the right to share in profits. When you select the
Partnership business type during New Company Setup, the following equity accounts are
automatically set up:
Retained Earnings (Equity - Retained Earnings)
Partner's Contribution (Equity - gets closed)
Partner's Draw (Equity - gets closed)
Note that all equity gets rolled into Retained Earnings at year-end. Everything you add increases
Partner's Contribution; withdrawals decrease Partner's Draw.
Sole Proprietorship: This is a business owned by a single individual and often managed by that
Jigdan college Accounting software application 19
same individual. A person who does business for himself or herself is engaged in the operation of
a sole proprietorship. Many small service businesses such as doctors, lawyers, barbers,
electricians, and small retail establishments are sole proprietorships. This is the simplest form of
business. The owner is the business operator. When you select the Sole Proprietorship business
type during New Company Setup, the following equity accounts are automatically set up:
Retained Earnings (Equity - Retained Earnings)
Owner's Contribution (Equity - gets closed)
Owner's Draw (Equity - gets closed)
Note that all equity gets rolled into Retained Earnings at year-end. Everything you add increases
Owners Contribution; withdrawals decrease Owners Draw.
iii. Enter your company’s Web site and e-mail address, if applicable and click next.
2. Select a Method to Create your Company
Chart of Accounts: is a complete list of all account names used in the General Ledger. Each
account is associated with an account ID to help locate it when recording data. Accounts are used
to classify transactions for reporting purposes.
Select a method for creating the company. This includes selecting a sample business type,
copying information from another Peachtree company, converting from another application,
Jigdan college Accounting software application 20
building your own company from scratch (particularly your chart of accounts), and creating a
consolidated company. For our example case, select ‘build your own chart of accounts’ and
click next. The following window will appear and click next.
This guide is designed to walk you through the process of completing new company setup.
Because the Setup Guide assists you in entering all the information you need to set up your
company, and in an orderly fashion. However, it will not be discussed here because different
tasks of it will be covered through other options.
3.4. System Basics
System basic is a term that means the method of moving around and completing activities in
Peachtree. Before you enter transactions, you will need to open the company files. You will need
to back up your files, etc. all of these activities are categorized as system basic. If we close the
Setup Guide we will get this window:
b. Navigation
c. Navigation
From this window, you can move around in Peachtree and perform your daily work. There are
four methods of navigating available from the desktop:
a. Menu Bar: The menu bar provides drop-down lists of options.
b. Navigation Bar: The Navigation Bar provides entry to the Navigation Centers. It also
features a group of Shortcuts, links to Peachtree functions that you use on a regular basis.
c. Navigation Centers: These provide useful, at-a-glance information about areas of Peachtree
such as Customers & Sales. They also let you access functions related to each of those areas
—for example, Sales/Invoicing.
d. Button Control Bar
a. The Menu Bar
At the top of the window is the menu bar.
a. Default information makes entering records easier by pre-filling certain fields. For
example, you can set your standard terms in Customer Defaults, and those terms are
automatically applied to all customers you enter. You can adjust the terms either at the
customer level or at the transaction level. Reports (like Aged Receivables) and forms
(like statements) will reflect these default parameters.
b. Records are lists of information, such as your customer list, vendor list, item list,
employee list, and so on. You access Records through the Maintain menu. These are
easy to set up and will make entering transactions easier for you. The more
information that you put in the record, the more that will be transferred automatically
to the transaction whenever you select the record on the transaction.
Let’s look at a typical Record window, first start Peachtree, open ABC Inc Company,
then from Menu Bar go to Maintain Menu and click ‘Customers/Prospects’. Below,
the most important features of Maintain Customers/Prospects window discussed.
Use the
header to
identify
the
customer
and enter
an ID and Each record window has several
tabs that contain the information
on this record. Each tab is
1: b, 2: b, 3: a, 4: b, 5: b, 6: a
The Chart of Accounts is nothing more than a list of places to enter transactions. It contains a
code (often called as account number), a description for each account, and a type code. Peachtree
allows us a great deal of flexibility in designing chart of accounts.
4.2.1. Steps to set up chart of accounts for the first time
If the company currently using a manual system for accounting, there are several things we need
to know when we set up a chart of accounts:
Determine a conversion date (Conversion Date is the date that we will use as a starting point.
This must be a date on which we know all accounting balances, for customers, vendors, and
employees as well as General Ledger accounts) , and gather balances as of that date. We will
use this information to enter beginning balances.
The columns where we enter amounts for accounts on this window are set up to give us a better
feel for how the different accounts in our chart of accounts affect the balance of company’s
finances. When we finish entering balances for all of accounts, the total of the amounts in the
Assets, Expenses column must equal the total of the amounts in the Liabilities, Equity, and
Income column. Notice that the Trial Balance keeps a running total, or trial balance, of entries.
In addition, totals for income and expenses are calculated.
Step 2: Enter an account ID and click ok or press enter; and enter description for the
account.
The account ID determines how the account is identified and sorted in the
chart of accounts list. Most charts of accounts are set up with specific
Jigdan college Accounting software application 34
account types grouped together.
Step 3: Select an account type from the drop-down list.
Step 4: Select Save.
Step 5: Select the Beginning Balances button on the General tab. Peachtree
displays the Select Period window. Select the period in which we want to
enter beginning balances. We can select from previous, current, or future
periods.
Step 6: Select OK. Peachtree displays the Chart of Accounts Beginning Balances
window. Click or tab to any of the white cells in the grid to add an
amount. (The gray cells are for viewing
purposes only.) Enter all the beginning balances for the accounts. Scroll
the list box to make sure the account amounts are correct. Note that for
each period, a running beginning balance is kept. Thus, if you change an
amount in Period 1, the amounts for subsequent periods are also changed.
However, if you change an amount in Period 2, the same account balance
in Period 1 is unchanged.
If we are just starting out with new company and have not posted any transactions, Peachtree
assumes that we are entering beginning balances for accounts when we select the Beginning
Balances button. If we have posted transactions, Peachtree assumes that we are entering
adjustments to accounts for a period in a prior year. If we enter a new account, Peachtree
assumes that this account has a zero balance. It is easier to add all necessary accounts and then
create one cumulative beginning-balance entry.
When entering beginning balances in the general ledger, make sure that customer, vendor, item
(inventory), and employee beginning balances total the amount shown in general ledger. In other
words, if we are using the accrual accounting method, the accounts receivable total in the general
ledger must match the total of outstanding invoices in customer beginning balances; likewise, the
accounts payable total in general ledger must equal all outstanding bills. The beginning balances
for customers and vendors are not connected to the general ledger beginning balances, so we
must check to make sure they match.
Step 7: Select the OK button when finished.
Step 8: Select Close.
Self-Study Questions
To set up or review customer defaults, select Default Information from the Maintain menu,
and choose Customers. The following window will appear:
G/L Sales Account: Enter or select the account ID you want to use as
the default sales (income) account when entering customers. You must
GL Accts/Costing Tab
Since Peachtree stores several different types of “inventory” items, including stock, service,
assembly, activity items, and so forth, there are several default values that should be set prior to
adding your inventory items. These defaults will carry over automatically to the different types
of items you create, saving you a great deal of time when you add your items. Depending on
which Peachtree product you own, your list of item types will vary. The GL accounts selected
will be used when these item types are bought, sold, or used during different tasks in Peachtree.
You also can choose your default costing method. Peachtree supports three costing types for
stock and assembly items, and a dedicated costing type called Specific for Serialized items.
Activity and Charge items are used with Peachtree’s time and billing features. You can select
from Average, FIFO, and LIFO costing methods. Average provides a weighted average costing,
while FIFO and LIFO track cost levels as items are purchased and sold. Finally, you should
select the account to which freight costs will be credited when you sell items.
Taxes/Shipping Tab
Use this tab to create up to ten ship methods that can be specified on customer and vendor
records, as well as on most customer and vendor transactions. Also, you can create up to 25
General Tab
On the General tab, you enter basic information on the customer, including billing address,
phone numbers, and account number. In addition, you can use the dynamic Customer Type field
to classify your customers. When you print Accounts Receivable reports, you will be able to
filter your reports using this field.
Contacts Tab
Use this tab to enter contacts for this customer. You can specify such information as the
contact’s name, title, address, phone number and E-mail address.
Addresses Tab
Use this tab to enter and store shipping addresses for this customer. Peachtree automatically
copies the Billing Address to this tab.
General Tab
General information includes the name of the contact person, your account number with the
vendor, mailing and remit-to addresses, and so forth. You enter this information on the General
tab. Besides name and addresses, on the General tab you can also specify a custom vendor type,
1099 information, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address, and Web site address.
Vendor Type lets you classify your vendors however you want. For
example, you might use SUPPLY or SERVICE as your different vendor
types. The field is case sensitive; that is, Supply and SUPPLY are treated
as two different words.
Peachtree does the rest, adjusting inventory levels each time when posting a purchase or sale of
an inventory item. In addition, the program will track the cost of each item on a daily basis,
based on the transaction date and item class. In addition to tracking costs and quantities, using
inventory items makes entering transactions easier. Through Maintain Inventory Items, we can
set up the goods and/or services we sell. We can set a unit price and the account to be adjusted
by the sale of commodity. Then, when we enter the sale, we need only select an inventory item
and enter a quantity ordered; Peachtree computes the total. Use this procedure to set up a new
inventory item record.
1. Do one of the following:
o From the Maintain menu, select Inventory Items. Or Click the Inventory
Items icon on the Inventory Items Navigation Aid. Peachtree displays the
following Maintain Inventory Items window.
You will set up your sales taxes by following the Sales Tax Wizard. Here, you will set up your
Sales Tax Agencies and your Sales Taxes. Sales Tax Agencies are the individual taxing bodies,
such as the state you do business in, a particular county or city, or a special tax (school tax,
building tax). Sales Taxes consist of a number of Sales Tax Agencies that make them up. For
instance, the county where you do business might impose a state tax, county tax, and special
school tax; all of these could be covered by a single Sales Tax. Or you could have a sales tax for
sales made in the city limits, in a county, or in an out-of-state location. You’ll assign a Sales Tax
to each customer.
Fields to be Filled in the Wizard Tax Type 1 (VAT) Turn Type 2 (TOT)
Total Rate……………………………... 15 2
Number of Total Rate…………………. 1 1
Sales Tax Agency ID.............................. FED RSA
Sales Tax Agency Name……………… Federal Revenue Authority Regional State of Amhara
Vender **..…..…………….................. FEDREVENUE REGREVENUE
Sales Tax Calculation………................. By Single Rate By Single Rate
Rate……………………………………. 15 2
Sales Tax Account ……………………. 2005 - VAT Payable 2002, Sales Tax Payable
Sales Tax ID………………................... VAT20 TOT20
Sales Tax Name…………….................. Value Added Tax Turn Over Tax
**Here you must have to maintain new vendor to receive VAT and TOT
collected from customers. Thus, set up a new vendor using the following data:
Jigdan college Accounting software application 55
For Tax Type 1 (VAT): Vendor ID: FEDREVENUE
Name: Federal Revenue Authority
Vendor Type: Tax
Expense Account: 2005, VAT Payable, Other Current
Liabilities
Dear Students! Peachtree requires that you first complete the Payroll Setup Wizard before you
access Employee Defaults. That's because the setup wizard will create most of the
default information for you. And, after setting up payroll defaults we must have to maintain
payroll formulas. Thus, the next section deals about setting up payroll formulas and then setting
up employees default information.
4.6.2. User-Maintained Payroll Formulas
There are two sets of payroll formulas in Peachtree: Peachtree-maintained and user-maintained.
Jigdan college Accounting software application 58
1. Peachtree-Maintained Payroll Formulas apply to all the companies you
have set up in Peachtree. They include predefined formulas containing
federal-, state-, and (some) local- regulated tax calculations maintained by
one of the payroll tax solutions for Peachtree. When you subscribe to the
tax service, you will receive tax updates periodically as dictated by
changes in tax laws. Installing these updates overwrites any changes you
may have made in Peachtree-Maintained Payroll Formulas.
2. User-Maintained Payroll Formulas are only used by the specific
company for which they are set up. They do not get overwritten by tax
updates, so this is where you would enter customized calculations for
employees’ income tax. If you do not subscribe to any of the payroll tax
solutions, you would set up your federal, state, and local tax calculations in
User-Maintained Formulas. We also use the User-Maintained Payroll
Formulas, because the first one only applies to USA.
To open User-Maintained Payroll Formulas window, from the File menu, select Payroll
Formulas, then User-Maintained. Peachtree displays the following User-Maintained Payroll
Formulas window.
Formula ID: If you plan to enter a new formula, enter an ID that is not already in
the Formula list box. You should follow the naming conventions of Peachtree and
start the ID with the two-letter postal abbreviation for your state.
calculation name: this is the name of the tax or plan--for example, income tax
payee (for certain formula types): EE (employee pays) or ER (employer pays)
payroll tax year: this is the last two digits of the calendar year to which this tax
formula applies. For example, if we are in the year 2020, we must have to enter
the last two digits of 20. Or if we are in the year 2012, we must have to enter the
last two digits of 21.
Effect on gross pay: A formula can either add to or subtract from gross pay. Most
taxes or benefits will subtract from gross pay. In some cases, the formula may
either add or subtract from the gross in payroll calculations. Use "Either subtracts
or adds" for a vacation or sick time field to allow the calculation of a deduction to
be positive, or the calculation of an addition to be negative.
How do you classify this formula?: You can select either a Tax (income tax), a
Deduction
(Pension), a Benefit (Insurance), or Reimbursement (positive adjustment).
Tax Agency: You select the type of government this tax applies to by selecting
one of the available options. If you select State or Local government, you must
specify the state or locality to which the tax applies. For State, enter the two-
character postal abbreviation; for locality, you can type in the name of the locality.
You can indicate that this tax applies to all states or all localities.
Note: The state or locality specified for the government entered here must also be
entered in State/Locality field of the Withholding Information table in the
Maintain Employees/Sales Reps window.
Use this formula as a filter on the Payroll Tax report: Select this check box to
have this calculation appear on the Payroll Tax Report menu or to have the payroll
field that uses this calculation appear on the Exception Report. The Taxable Gross
variable must be included in the formula when selecting this check box.
Formula: The Formula box contains the equations you use to actually calculate
taxes. If you subscribe to the Peachtree tax service, Peachtree supplies the
The new Ethiopian income tax proclamation required to calculate employees’ income tax
obligation based on the following schedule. For example, if one employee gets a monthly
salary of Birr 1,450, his/her monthly income tax will be ((1,450×10%)-60) = 85.
Furthermore, most organizations give allowances for employees. The allowance can be
predetermined house rent, transport cost allowance and so on. However, these allowance most of
the time taxable by adding them with the basic salary amount. So, we have to enter the
allowances formula to be calculated when preparing payroll.
General tab
This tab helps to set up basic default information for your employees, including
custom field names and how employee names display in lists.
Formula: If you chose to Calculate this field, enter the name of the formula to use
(not the Formula ID) without the payroll year. Type ? to display a list of the
currently set-up formulas. (If you choose to set up your own payroll formulas,
make sure each formula entered here corresponds to a formula in User-Maintained
Payroll Formulas.)
Amount: If you aren't using a calculation, enter a flat rate here. Positive numbers
are earnings and negative numbers are deductions.
Memo: Select this check box if the information in this field does not affect your
company general ledger or financial statements. An example of this would be tips.
Run: Select this check box to indicate that you don't want the balance to be set to
zero when you close the year.
Adjust: If this field can be calculated, select this button to display the Calculate
Adjusted Gross window where you can choose which payroll fields are
accumulated to determine the adjusted gross for this calculation.
Company Fields tab
To set up defaults for how Peachtree handles employer-paid taxes and
contributions, select the Company Fields tab in the Employee Defaults window.
These payroll fields do not impact the net amount of the employee paycheck.
Description: Enter the name of the payroll field, or use the defaults.
Liability Account: This is the number of the general ledger liability account you
want to use. Typically this is employer-paid payroll tax liability.
Expense Account: This is the number of the expense account you want to use.
Typically this is employer-paid payroll tax expense.
Calculate (Calc): Select this check box if you want Peachtree to automatically
calculate the payroll field amount when computing paychecks. If you select this
check box, you must also select a formula name to use when calculating the
amount.
Formula: If this field can be calculated, enter the name of the payroll formula to
In addition, from the Employee Field tab, select INCOMETAX row and
click the Adjust column, then from the Calculate Adjusted Gross window,
tick the field of Use on ALLOWANCE raw to include allowance amounts
in the taxable income amount.
4.6.4. Maintaining Employees
Setting up your company's employees involves three tasks: setting employee defaults (already
sated up above), setting up data records for your employees, and entering beginning balances
from any outstanding payroll amounts for employees. So before you begin the process, you
should assemble the names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, Social Security
numbers, and hire/termination dates for all your company's employees.
Use the Maintain Employees/Sales Reps window to enter, change, and store information about
your company employees and sales representatives (reps). Thus, from the Maintain menu, select
Employees/Sales Reps. Setting up an employee record involves the following:
Employee 1 2 3 4 5
Heading Fields
Employee ID TILA11 SOLO12 ALM13 SEID14 DAN15
Employee First Name Tilahun Solomon Almaz Seid Daniel
Employee Last Name Abebe Teka Tesfa Jemal Mekonnen
Type: Employee or Sales Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee
Rep
General Tab
Address Dessie Dessie Haik Kombolcha Kombolcha
Pay Info Tab
Pay Method Salary Salary Salary Salary Salary
Pay Frequency Monthly Monthly Monthly Monthly Monthly
Salary Pay Rate 500 1050 2500 1450 2100
Dear Students! After you entered these data, i.e., customers, vendors, inventories and
employees default, sales tax, tax formula, maintaining customers, vendors, inventories and
employees, you must have to change the accounting period to the current period.
Note: If you have security rights activated in Peachtree, a lock icon appears next to prior
accounting periods. You can restrict users from editing transactions in prior accounting periods
by giving them View Only access to Transactions in Prior Periods. This setting is made in the
Selected Access window, under the Company/Tasks program area; choose Company in the menu
at left, and then find the Tasks subarea.
Current Accounting Period: Identifies the accounting period number and dates Peachtree is
currently operating in. If the current system date is within the current accounting period date
range, Peachtree dates new transactions automatically based on your system date. It also displays
the current dates for the first and second fiscal years as well as the first and second open payroll
tax (calendar) years.
Open Fiscal Years: Identifies the two open fiscal years in which you can enter new or edit old
transactions. The first fiscal year is typically referred to as the current year, the second is referred
to as the next fiscal year. To change the dates, you must close a fiscal year using the Year-End
wizard.
Open Payroll Tax Years: Identifies the two open payroll (calendar) tax years used in payroll
transactions and reports. To change the dates, you must close a fiscal year using the Year-End
wizard. The toolbar at the top of the window contains the following buttons: OK, Cancel, and
Help. Note that, if you are using the batch posting method, you must post all your transactions
before Peachtree will let you continue.
Default information is used in Peachtree to reduce the time required to enter different types of
information or transaction. Because default information is common types of information that
shared by customers, vendors, inventory items, payroll and employees.
The other thing is when we are entering default information or detailed information we must
have to follow each and every steps to avoid the entrance of errors in the system.
4.9. Chapter End Questions
1. In maintaining chart of account, the UNIQUE IDENTIFIER is entered in:
a) In the description field
b) In the account type field
c) In account ID field
d) In the maintain account field
2. To enter the customers or vendors beginning balance, which tab must be clicked
a) General
b) Contact
c) History
d) Account Balances
3. In order to maintain payroll formula by ourselves which menu bar and option is
selected?
1: c, 2: c, 3: b, 4: b, 5: c
In this chapter, we will use Tasks Menu to enter transactions and other task- related information,
for instance, to enter invoices, pay vendors, receive payments from customers, enter bank
deposits, pay employees, and make adjustments to general journal. In addition, we can make
entries to the account register, reconcile bank account, void checks, to change the accounting
period, manage action items, and launch the Peachtree Year-End wizard.
5.2. Types of Journals
There are two types of Journals: Special Journal and General Journal. Special Journals are
used to record frequently occurring and similar types of transactions. On the other hand,
general Journal is used to record infrequent and dissimilar types of transactions. In general,
there are more than four types of special journals: Purchase special journal,
Payment/disbursement special Journal, Sales special Journal and Receipt Special Journal.
Purchase Special Journal: is used to record on account purchases of merchandises. As well this
special journal it is used to record purchases that are made by paying partial amount of cash at
the time of the purchase.
Sales Special Journal: is used to record on account sales of merchandises. As well this special
journal it is used to record sales that are made by receiving partial amount of cash at the time of
the sale.
Receipt Special Journal: is used to record in cash sales of merchandises. As well this special
journal it is used to record receipt of account receivable that arise from sales special journal. In
addition, it is also used to record partial receipt of cash of account receivable.
Depending on the business, we may or may not use all of these options. For instance, if the
company do not take orders and ship the order later, most likely the company would not use sales
orders, but it would invoice the customers directly. Similarly, if the company do not grant credit
for customers, but work on a cash basis only, the company would not need to create sales
invoices. Instead, we could enter items shipped and monies received using the Receipts task.
5.3.1. Entering Sales Invoices
Invoices are document that lists the goods shipped or services performed with their price, and the
terms of sale. Thus, sales invoices are documents that list goods and services that customers
receive from the business. Customer invoices are entered or maintained in the Sales/Invoicing
window. All entries made here are posted to General Ledger, customer records, and possibly job
and inventory records. We can use this window for a variety of customer billing functions,
including filling sales orders and proposals, invoicing customers, and billing and receiving
payments. The following steps are used to enter sales invoice.
Deposit Ticket ID: Cash deposit number can be entered if it is deposited when
cash is received
Reference: Enter the check number, credit card number, or the word cash in this
field. This is a required field.
Customer ID: This appears based on the customer selected on the invoice and
cannot be changed here.
Date: The date is the invoice date and cannot be changed here.
Name: The customer's name and billing address are displayed and cannot be
changed here. This information can be changed on the invoice, and any changes
made will be reflected.
Receipt Amount: Enter the amount the customer is paying at this time.
Payment Method: From the list, select the method of payment this customer is
using. The payment methods are entered on the Pay Methods tab of the Customer
Defaults window.
Cash Account: The account that appears here when you open the Receive
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Payment window is the last Cash Account that was used on the Receipts window.
You can select a different account or add a new one here. Note: If you want to
apply an alternate G/L account (an account that uses an account type other than
Cash) for this payment receipt, you must select the Journal button.
After entering the above information, the Net Amount Due field displays what the
customer currently owes for the sale.
15. At the bottom left corner of the window, the selected customer's balance, credit
limit, and credit status is displayed. You can click the arrow button to the right of
the customer balance to display the current Customer Ledgers report for this
customer.
16. Select the Print button if you want to print and save the invoice. Otherwise, click
the Save button.
5.3.2. Receipts
When customers’ pays for goods and services sold to them, we have to record the receipt. Most
receipts are applied to sales invoices. However, we can also enter cash sales (transactions in
which no invoice is entered or required), prepayments, and customer refunds. This allows us to
enter all checks, cash, and credit card slips we receive and deposit them in checking account. The
process of entering a receipt is different depending on whether the receipt is against an invoice or
a cash sale. If the sale is to a customer who is not in company’s database, we can enter the
customer's name without keeping a record on that customer. There are two ways you can account
for receipts in Peachtree:
If you sent an invoice to a customer, you apply the receipt to the invoice.
Invoices entered in the Sales/Invoicing window appear as distribution lines
when you enter the customer ID. You can check the Pay column beside
each invoice being paid in full by this receipt.
If you made a direct sale that didn't require an invoice, you use Receipts
and enter it on the Apply to Revenues tab. This requires you to specify a
check number and sales account.
5.3.2.1. Apply a Customer Payment to an Invoice
When a customer pays an invoice, enter the amount in the Receipts window. To enter customer
payment on an invoice, use the following steps:
1. From the Tasks menu, select Receipts. Peachtree displays the following Receipts
window.
2. Enter a deposit ticket ID that can easily represent the type and source of payment.
This will make account reconciliation easier to manage.
Peachtree automatically enters the deposit ticket ID as a numeric
representation of the current date. All receipts that use the same deposit
ticket ID will appear as one lump sum in Account Reconciliation. If you
want this transaction to be reconciled as a separate item, enter a unique
deposit ticket ID.
4. Enter a reference number that will help identify the receipt (for example, the
customer's check number).
5. If you are recording deposit tickets within the Receipts window, enter or
accept the suggested Deposit Ticket ID. Otherwise, leave this field blank. You can
record deposit ticket IDs in the Select for Deposit window.
6. Select a payment method (for example, Cash or Check). Payment methods are
set up in Customer Defaults; these are quite useful in reports when managing
receipts.
7. In the Cash Account list, enter or select the bank account in which the receipt is
deposited.
8. On the Apply to Invoices tab, select the Pay check box next to each invoice that
the customer is paying.
o If the customer has paid the invoice in full, place the cursor in the
Amount column for the invoice, and select the Pay check box.
Peachtree will fill in the Amount Paid field.
o If the customer has only paid a partial amount on the invoice, enter
that amount. Peachtree will automatically select the Pay check box.
2. Enter or select the vendor ID. To display a list of existing vendors, type ? in this
field, or select the Lookup button. To add a new vendor, type + or double-click
the field, which displays the Maintain Vendors window. When the vendor is
selected, Peachtree supplies the vendor default information, including name, remit
address, shipping method, and payment terms.
3. Enter the vendor's invoice number in the Invoice # field. This is a required field.
If you have not yet received a vendor invoice (bill) for this shipment, select the
3. If you want to print a check, leave the Check # field blank. If you paid cash
for the purchase, enter CASH01, CASH02, and so on.
4. If you chose a vendor with existing invoices, select the Apply to Expenses tab.
5. Enter the line items on the payment the same way as you do in
Purchases/Receive Inventory.
If the line item contains serialized inventory, you will need to either add or select serial numbers
for the item(s). Select the line item with the serialized inventory item, then select the Serial No
button to enter or select serial numbers. Either the Serial Number Entry or the Serial Number
Selection window appears, depending upon whether you entered a positive or negative quantity.
To find out which window will appear. Enter or select the serial numbers you need and select OK
when you're finished to return to the Payments window. However, if the transaction has more
1. From the Tasks menu, select Vendor Credit Memos. Peachtree displays the
Vendor Credit Memos window.
2. Enter or select the ID of the vendor who is issuing the credit.
3. In the Credit # field, enter the ID that you want to apply to the credit memo.
4. If the transaction date is different from the one displayed, enter or select a new
date.
5. In the Quantity column, enter the quantity of an item that you want to
credit or return. The quantity that you enter here will appear on the
completed credit memo; Peachtree will automatically remove this quantity
from your inventory item records.
6. Next, enter all information for the returned or credited item, including the
item's quantity, item ID, description, unit price, and job information (if
applicable). The default unit price is the last posted price for this item.
2. Select the employee you want to pay using the lookup. Once you select
an employee, Peachtree will enter that employee's address information,
as well as enter their default pay (based on settings on the Pay Info tab
of Maintain Employees). Deductions will be calculated and displayed
immediately.
3. Enter or select the paycheck date for this payroll period.
4. Select a cash account from which to write the paycheck (for example, Payroll
Checking).
5. Enter the Pay Period ending date.
6. Modify earnings information
If necessary, change the employee's hour or salary amounts for the
pay period. This would include adding overtime hours or bonus pay.
The default G/L payroll accounts that Peachtree uses for each
payroll field are based on the employee's defaults. To change the
account ID, click in the field to display the lookup; then click the
2. Select the pay frequencies, pay types, and the range of employees for whom you
want to print checks.
3. Click OK. Peachtree displays the following Select Employees to Pay window,
where you can edit individual paychecks for hours, amounts, and pay frequencies
(number of weeks).
You can enter the date you want on the checks, the pay period ending date, and the
enhancement number from which you want the checks to be paid.
To select all Pay check boxes, click the All (Select) button.
To clear all Pay check boxes, click the All (None) button.
Select the Detail button to edit the account and the amount for
salaried employees, as well as the amount and the hours worked for
hourly employees.
4. After making your selections, select the Print button. Otherwise, click Save.
Example (continued): Customers, Vendors, and Payroll Transactions
ABC Inc. has made the following transactions with its customers and vendors for
2. With the transaction displayed in the task window, select the Journal
button. This opens the Accounting Behind the Screens window and
displays the transaction's corresponding journal entries.
3. If Peachtree displays more than one journal tab, select the journal we want
to examine or edit. Depending on what type of task is open, the
Accounting Behind the Screens window displays the journal tab(s) that
correspond to the particular transaction.
4. To modify a journal entry distribution, select the line item and Account ID
field we want to edit. Then, enter or select an alternate account ID. When we
have finished editing the journal entry, select OK to return to the task window.
5.10. Summary
There are two types of journals: special journal and general journal. Special journal is used to
record transactions that are repetitive and similar in nature. On the other hand, general journal is
used to record non repetitive and dissimilar types of transaction. Thus based on this calcification,
Peachtree is use these journals. Purchase Special Journal in Peachtree is Purchase/receive
inventory; Payment/disbursement Special Journal in Peachtree is Payment; Sales Special Journal
in Peachtree is Sales/invoicing; Receipt Special Journal in Peachtree is Receipt. Payroll entry is
1: b, 2: a, 3: b, 4: b, 5: a, 6: a
Lists items available on both tabs are Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Payroll , General
Ledger, Financial Statements, Inventory, Jobs, Time/Expense, Account Reconciliation,
Company, Write Letters, Crystal Reports, Report Groups and many more are available.
Form Tab
Select the type of form that you want to use from the forms type list. Peachtree
displays a list of forms or letters of the selected type in the forms list. Once a form
or letter is selected in the list, Peachtree displays its description and a sample
image on the right side of the tab.
When a form is selected in the forms list, buttons appear below the sample image
that allow you to print, preview, and customize the selected form. A link
displays beneath the description which allows you to order Peachtree Checks
and Forms.
6.2.3. Financial statements
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A financial statements give a picture of how your business is doing. In one sense, the whole
point of an accounting system is to produce accurate financial statements. The financial
statement option is found under report tab. List of financial statements are the following: Balance
Sheet, Balance Sheet/Budgets, Cash Flow, GL Account Summary Report, Income/Budget,
Income Statement, Income Statement - 12 Period, Income Statement 2 Yrs, Statement of
Changes, Statement of Retained Earnings and many more statements are available. To display a
Financial Statement on the Screen
1. From the Reports & Forms menu, select Financial Statements.
Peachtree displays the Select a Report or Form window with the
Financial Statements report area selected.
2. From the report list, scroll down to select a financial statement you want
to appear on the screen.
3. There are two methods to displaying a financial statement on the screen:
Print Page Numbers: Checking this will print page numbers on the top
right corner of the page. Both the page number and the number of pages
are indicated. For example, if you are looking at page 2 of a 13-page
document, it will display on the report as "Page: 2 of 13."
Show Zero Amounts: Select this check box to show accounts with zero amounts.
Print All Words Capitalized: Select this check box if you want the report to
print in all capital letters.
Right Margin/Left Margin: Enter the size of the margins you want, in inches.
Center on Page: Select this check box if you want the printed statement to
be centered rather than left justified on the form.
Number of Copies: Enter the number of copies you want to print. You can
enter any number from 1 to 99.
6.3. User Security
The User Security feature is handled by a number of windows that let you create a company
administrator, who has the right to set up other company users, and then enter and grant rights to
those users.
Your first step is to add users in the User Security window. When you add a user here for the
first time, Peachtree automatically sets that user up as company administrator with access to all
parts of the Peachtree program. As with all users, the administrator assigns himself or herself a
user name and password and then saves the information.
6.3.1. Setting up the first user (administrator)
In order to use user/password security in a Peachtree company, you must first set up a single user
record. After that, all other users will need a user name and password to access the company.
The first user you set up must be an administrative user with full rights to each area of Peachtree
and the ability to set up and maintain user records and passwords. Once the administrator is set
up, he/she can then add other users to the system.
1. Select the New User button.
The User Rights window appears.
2. Enter a user name (for example, Admin) and its corresponding password.
Note: Passwords must be at least seven characters. They must contain both
numbers and letters. It's a good practice to include both upper- and lower-
case letters, although this is not required. An example of a strong
password: MLsmith707.
3. To give the user full access to the program plus the ability to create
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However, if you enter transactions daily, you may need to establish a daily backup routine. You
can choose to back up your data using a utility other than Peachtree’s, but you should ensure that
ALL Peachtree data files are backed up. If you use Peachtree’s internal system, all other users
must exit Peachtree before you can do so. To make a backup using Peachtree’s internal utility
➥ Select File, Back Up. This will open the Back Up Company window.
On the next window, specify the name of the backup file and the location of the file. What you
name your file depends on you, but if you work with multiple companies, you should include the
name of the company in the file name. Otherwise, you run the risk of overwriting one company
with data from another company data should you ever restore that backup. Also, it is
recommended that the file name include the date the backup was made so that you can quickly
determine if it is the one you want.
Next, Peachtree will notify you of the amount of data space the backup will take or the number
of disks it will need. Click OK to complete the process. The amount of time it takes to complete
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the backup depends on the size of the backup and the medium to which you are backing it up. If
the company data file is large, we recommend backing up at the end of the day so that other users
will not need to access the company data.
6.4.2. Restoring Your Data
When there is occasion to restore a backup, Peachtree provides a utility for restoring backups
that were made with its internal utility. When you do restore a backup, bear in mind that
Peachtree restores all files, overwriting all existing data. You cannot restore individual files since
the files are all interrelated. We recommend that you back up existing data before overwriting it
with a backup from a previous point in time. To restore a backup
1. Select File, Restore. This will open the Restore Wizard.
2. Click the Browse button and locate your Peachtree backup. These
files are identified with the extension: .ptb. and once you have
selected the file, click Next to continue.
3. On the next window, you can verify that the correct backup has been
selected.
4. On the Restore Wizard - Restore Options window, select the types
of data you want to restore and click Next.
5. Finally, click Finish on the Confirmation window. The length of
time it takes to restore depends on the size of the backup and the
type of medium on which it was stored.
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tells you the consequences of every action you might take.
Before you launch the wizard, there are a number of tasks you should perform. These include
Printing out any unprinted items such as invoices and payroll checks
Print Fiscal Year-End Reports: This window displays a list of the year-end reports
that you should print before completing the year-end process. For each listed
report there is a check box; each check box is preselected. You can click in the
check box of any reports you don't want to print.
Archive Company Data: When you archive your company data, you are saving
your data and financial statements so you can have access to that information
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when you need to refer to it for future use, such as providing your financial
information for a tax audit.
New Open Fiscal Years: Since Peachtree automatically adjusts the start and end
dates of fiscal year accounting periods, it is usually not necessary for you to do
this for your next open fiscal year. However, if you do want to change accounting
period dates for any reason, The New Open Fiscal Years window gives you the
opportunity.
Note: You will see this window only if you are closing a fiscal year or years.
Confirm Close: This window tells you the starting and ending dates of the open
fiscal and payroll tax years you are about to close. It also tells you what your two
open fiscal and payroll tax years will be after closing. Confirm that the
information is right; then click the Next button to proceed.
Begin Close-Year Process: At this point, you are ready to begin the close process.
To do so, click the Begin Close button.
Congratulations! The open fiscal and payroll tax years you selected have been
successfully closed.
6.5.2. Starting the Year-End Wizard
1. From the Tasks menu, select System and then Year-End Wizard. Or,
from the Company Administration Navigation Aid, select the Year-End
Wizard option.
The Welcome to the Peachtree Year-End Wizard window appears.
2. Read the introductory information, and note your company's two open
fiscal and payroll tax years.
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close the company’s opened year.
7. The financial statement that shows the accounting equation whether the account form
or report form is
a) balance sheet.
b) income statement.
c) trial balance.
d) Worksheet
8. To generate financial statements on Peachtree which menu bar option is used?
a) Reports and forms
b) Tasks
c) Maintain
d) File
9. To close the business activity which option of the task bar is used?
a) Year-end wizard
b) Restore
c) Backup
d) System setting
7: a, 8: a, 9: a
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REFERENCE
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