Copyright 2013, Globe Software Pty Ltd, All Rights Reserved

TRADEMARKS

Dynamics AX, IntelliMorph, and X++ have been registered as or are under registration as trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Office System 2010, Microsoft Office System 2007, Windows 2003 and Windows 2008 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

SOFTWARE RELEASE

This documentation accompanies Atlas version 5.0.3000 or higher and which is suitable for Microsoft Dynamics AX V4.0 SP2, Dynamics AX 2009 SP1 and Dynamics AX 2012 or higher and Microsoft Office 2007 or higher.

PUBLICATION DATE

10 June 2013

READER COMMENTS

Any comments or suggestions regarding this publication are welcomed and should be addressed to the attention of:

GENERAL LEDGER

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION 2

1.1 WELCOME 2

1.2 ABOUT THIS GUIDE 2

1.2.1 Outline 2

1.2.2 Audience 2

1.2.3 Objectives 2

2 GENERAL LEDGER 3

2.1 OUTLINE 3

2.2 SUPPORTING TEMPLATES 4

2.3 PRE-REQUISITES 4

2.3.1 Outline 4

2.3.2 Configurable items to be prepared before you start 4

2.3.3 Chart of account cross reference 5

2.4 MAIN TABLES 7

2.4.1 Outline 7

2.4.2 Currency exchange rates 7

2.4.3 Main accounts 9

2.4.4 Dimensions 12

2.5 TRANSACTIONS 17

2.5.1 Outline 17

2.5.2 Year start – Opening balances 17

2.5.3 Period Trial Balance upload using general journal 20

2.5.4 Transaction postings 20

2.5.5 Adjustments to balances and movements 21

2.5.6 Accruals 21

2.5.7 Budgets 23

2.6 VERIFICATION REPORTS 27

2.6.1 Outline 27

2.6.2 Trial balance 27

2.6.3 Budget spread 28

2.6.4 Balance sheet 29

2.6.5 Income Statement 29

2.7 AFTER POSTING ACTIVITIES 31

2.7.1 Outline 31

2.7.2 Blocking accounts from use in the general journal 31

2.7.3 Dimension sets 31

GENERAL LEDGER

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 WELCOME

Use this document and associated templates to assist with the migration of master and transactional data from your legacy system to Microsoft Dynamics AX. The document includes a section for General Ledger only.

1.2 ABOUT THIS GUIDE

1.2.1 OUTLINE

This document provides you with specific templates that will assist you with the migration of data from a legacy system to Microsoft Dynamics AX. These templates support the uploading of master and transactional data as well as reporting templates that can be used to verify the data loaded. A list of templates is provided for each functional area.

1.2.2 AUDIENCE

This guide is intended for functional specialists who are tasked with building and implementing Microsoft Dynamics AX where data from an existing system needs to be migrated. It is expected that students have a good understanding of Microsoft Excel and have excellent knowledge in relation to the Microsoft Dynamics AX domain of this document.

1.2.3 OBJECTIVES

· The objective of this course is to provide you with the ability to:

· Prepare Microsoft Dynamics AX modules for the data migration

· Understand the main master data elements to be loaded

· Understand the transactional elements to be loaded

· Understand cross-system reconciliation

· Use the templates to upload master data

· Use the templates to load transactional data

· Use the templates to verify the loaded data

· Undertake basic system reconciliation

GENERAL LEDGER

2 GENERAL LEDGER

2.1 OUTLINE

This document deals with the loading of reference (Main table) and transactional data for the General ledger module. Uploads include:

GENERAL LEDGER

· Chart of accounts

· Main accounts

· Dimensions

· Exchange rates

· Trial balance

· Period movements

GENERAL LEDGER

Once the upload is complete, verification is needed to ensure that the data loaded into Microsoft Dynamics AX reconciles to that provided by the legacy system. To this end, you can use Atlas to verify balances on an account, period and dimension basis. In this guide, the reconciliation reports to assist with this include:

· Main Account Trial Balance

· Dimension Trial Balance

The following demonstrates the flow of the data migration process as outlined in this document. At various stages in this flow, you will be required to build or configure elements inside Microsoft Dynamics AX. These are also included for your reference.

Finally, considerations around access to legacy system transaction histories are discussed.

2.2 SUPPORTING TEMPLATES

In addition to the step-by-step guide provided by this document, a set of supporting templates is available. Before you begin please check that you have the following:

· AX2012_GL_Chart_of_Accounts_cross_reference
· AX2012_GL_Upload_Append_MainAccount_with_CategoryRef
· AX2012_GL_Upload_Append_Exchange_Rates
· AX2012_GL_Upload_Append_CustomDimensions
· AX2012_GL_General_Journal_no_offset_with_debit_credit_amount_column_OB
· AX2012_GL_General_Journal_no_offset_with_single_amount_column_accrual
· AX2012_GL_Budget_12_Period_Spread
· AX2012_GL_Trail_Balance
· AX2012_GL_Budget_12_Period_Spread_Reconciliation
· AX2012_GL_Summary_Balance_Sheet_with_prior_year_and_ratios_cache
· AX2012_GL_Income_statement_with_Current_vs_Prior_Periods_with_cache

2.3 PRE-REQUISITES

2.3.1 OUTLINE

This document does not describe how to load each and every configurable item in Dynamics AX. It is assumed that a number of settings have been set up or are to be set up in due course. In addition, set up a cross reference between your legacy system general ledger and your proposed chart of accounts in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

This allows you to easily convert opening balances and period movements to a form that is readily uploaded into the general journal.

2.3.2 CONFIGURABLE ITEMS TO BE PREPARED BEFORE YOU START

The following is assumed to have been completed:

Configurable item / Action /
Legal entity / Create the company or entity in the Legal entities form. Set up any system number sequences as necessary. Change your default company accounts to reflect the legal entity you are loading into.
Currencies / Define Exchange rate type for this legal entity or use a pre-existing shared type. Use the currency combination and exchange rate workbook as required. See section x.x.x
Number sequences / Define number sequences for the basic elements of the module. Notably:
Journal batch number
Journal number
Voucher[1]
Transfer General Journal number[2]
Journal name / Define a general journal name for the opening balances and opening transactions only. E.g. OB.
General Ledger -> Setup -> Journals -> Journal names
Ledger parameters / Set up basic entries including base and reporting currencies, exchange rate type and calendars.
General Ledger -> Setup -> Ledger
Main account categories / These are used to classify the Main accounts into functional groups. Assume the default set or define your own. You should note that, these categories are used in the Main account upload.
General Ledger -> Setup -> Chart of accounts -> Main Account Categories
Calendars / Set up a financial calendar with financial years. Link this to the Ledger definition in the Setup menu.
General Ledger -> Setup -> Calendars
Account structures / Develop account structures to suit the company or companies you wish to load into. General Ledger -> Setup -> Chart of accounts -> Configure account structures
Budget parameters / Setup number sequence for register entries and other, basic module settings.
Budgeting -> Setup -> Parameters
Budget models / Setup models to group or organize transactions. These may be organized by entity, region, type etc. An example might be ORIG for Original Budget
Budgeting -> Setup -> Budget models
Budget codes / Use this form to define further classifications of budget entries. Each code must belong to a pre-defined type. E.g. Original Budget.
Budgeting -> Setup -> Budget codes
Budget dimensions / Use this form to define which financial dimensions can be recorded on budget transactions
Budgeting -> Setup -> Dimensions for budgeting

2.3.3 CHART OF ACCOUNT CROSS REFERENCE

If you are converting between a chart of accounts from a legacy system and a new chart to be used with Microsoft Dynamics AX then it is a good idea to maintain a cross reference between the two sets of codes. If possible, maintain the natural account cross-reference on the Main account table, perhaps as a custom field, otherwise use the template provided herein.

Cross-referencing helps with reconciliation. Below is an example of this, showing the old and new codes.

Figure 1 In the above, account 10-1005 is mapped to 401100 Sales in WA.

As described in later sections, use the legacy system account code in conjunction with the Main account whenever transactions or balances are being loaded. Complete this worksheet as follows:

Option / Here you… / Comment
Legacy system account / Paste a list of the legacy system’s general ledger account codes / The cross reference table is automatically extended
Name / Paste the name of each account into this column
Natural account / Using Excel text manipulation formula functions, extract the natural account / The natural account code is the most fundamental element of an account code structure. This element represents the primary purpose of the account (e.g., Sales or Telephone Expense)
Main account / Enter a corresponding Main account for each Natural account / This is the primary purpose of the account
Dimensions / Enter Financial dimensions to support the description of the Legacy system account / This will include structural elements like, Department, Cost Centre etc. In this example, Business Unit and Vehicle are being used.

Save this workbook for each combination of chart of accounts. In other words, save a copy for each set of legacy system charts and each set of accounts in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

GENERAL LEDGER

2.4 MAIN TABLES

2.4.1 OUTLINE

Loading reference or master data is an important first step. Not all configurable items are included in this guide and it is expected that those not included are configured as either pre-requisites or as required later. This document provides details on loading:

· Exchange rates

· Chart of accounts

· Main accounts (Natural accounts)

· Total account ranges

· Dimensions (Department, Cost center, Business Unit, Custom list)

2.4.2 CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES

2.4.2.1 OUTLINE

If you are not using an existing exchange rate type, and plan to create a new type for this and similar legal entities, then you will need to use the following workbook:

Figure 2 Currency pairs and exchange rates for type AUD

2.4.2.2 COMPLETING THE WORKBOOK

It is assumed that you have created, as part of the pre-requisites, the exchange rate type. Complete the table as follows:

Option / Here you… / Comment /
Type / Select from the list of defined exchange rate types / List is shown in the context task pane
Date / Enter the date of the rate
From / Enter the currency from which the exchange rate applies
To / Enter the base currency of the ledger
Rate / Enter an exchange rate / With respect to the Factor
Factor / Use 100 if you want the rate expressed if you had 100 units of the From currency / USD -> AUD 100USD = 97.2186 AUD

Use the tab key at the bottom right cell of the table to give you another line of the table.

2.4.2.3 UPLOADING THE EXCHANGE RATES

Upload by using either the Batch task Append exchange rates by currency combination or by individually loading the Table Append templates of Exchange rate currency pair followed by Exchange rate.

GENERAL LEDGER

By batch task:

Option / Here you… / Comment /
Atlas ribbon / Select Batch tasks / Ensure mode is Standard
List of recorded batch tasks / Tick to select Append exchange rates by currency combination / Loads the two Table Append templates in the correct sequence
Start Batch tab / Double-click to open
Start Batch tab / Select Run to start the process

This process loads the combinations and the rates into Microsoft Dynamics AX. A successful load will appear as follows:

Figure 3 Successful exchange rate upload

GENERAL LEDGER

By individual template:

Option / Here you… / Comment /
Atlas ribbon / Select Table -> Append / Ensure mode is Standard
Document template list / Tick to select Exchange rate currency pair / Loads the currency pair into Microsoft Dynamics AX
Confirmation tab / Double-click to open
Confirmation tab / Click to select Upload

Follow this by running the Exchange rate upload, but you need to refresh the workbook (Alt+Ctrl+F9) first, then:

Option / Here you… / Comment /
Atlas ribbon / Select Table -> Append / Ensure mode is Standard
Document template list / Tick to select Exchange rate / Loads the exchange rate per currency combination
Confirmation tab / Double-click to open
Confirmation tab / Click to select Upload

2.4.3 MAIN ACCOUNTS

2.4.3.1 OUTLINE

Typically, Main Accounts are natural accounts in that they represent the most fundamental element of the account code structure. This element represents the primary purpose of the account (e.g., Sales or Telephone Expense). Main account data migration involves loading these natural accounts into the general ledger. In doing this, accounts are assigned to a chart of accounts and each is assigned to a type (Profit and loss, Balance sheet, Total etc.) and a category. In this guide, Main accounts are loaded in a three step process:

· Identify Chart of accounts and Account structures

· Load Main Accounts

· Map Total accounts to Main Account ranges

2.4.3.2 IDENTIFICATION OF THE CHART OF ACCOUNTS

The workbook for loading Main Accounts has three tabs, the first of which allows you to identify the chart of accounts and select the Account Structures you will use with these Main Accounts:

Figure 4 Chart of Accounts identification

GENERAL LEDGER

Complete as follows:

Option / Here you… / Comment /
Chart of Accounts / Enter a name for the chart / E.g. Atlas Main Accounts
Description / Enter a full description of the chart / Optional
Main Account Mask / Enter a format or pattern that describes any positional structure in the Main Accounts / Optional. Use the Cell Comment to see formatting rules
Account structure table / Select from the list of active account structures / Ensure Standard mode is selected
Account structure table / Add rows to include as many structures as you need / In this example a structure for Balance sheet and Profit Loss accounts is included

Upload these details as follows:

Option / Here you… / Comment /
Atlas ribbon / Select Batch tasks / Ensure mode is Standard
List of recorded batch tasks / Tick to select New chart of accounts / Loads the two Table Append templates in the correct sequence
Start Batch tab / Double-click to open
Start Batch tab / Select Run to start the process

GENERAL LEDGER

2.4.3.3 LOADING MAIN ACCOUNTS