Generating a General Ledger Detail Report

You’re in a meeting, and someone asks for a detailed breakdown of last month’s financial activity. Instead of scrambling to pull information together, you can quickly generate a report with just a few clicks. 

That’s the beauty of General Ledger (GL) Detail reports—they offer a comprehensive view of your business’s transactions, giving you the insights you need without the hassle. 

In this blog, we’ll show you how to easily create, save, and categorize GL Detail reports, helping you stay organized and in control of your financial data. 

What are General Ledger Detail Reports?

Generating a GL Detail report isn’t just about pulling numbers; it’s about organizing data to give you actionable insights. Here’s how you can create, save, and run these reports efficiently:

• Creating the Report: Start by accessing the General Ledger system. You’ll typically find options to create a GL Detail report under the “Processing” section. Choose the relevant link, such as ‘Generate GL Trial Balance Detail,’ and you’re on your way to building a detailed financial overview.
• Viewing Reports: Once the report is generated, you can view it using the PDF generator. This tool formats the report for easy viewing or printing.
• Saving for Future Use: To save yourself time in the future, make sure to save your report specifications. By storing the settings, you can quickly regenerate the report without having to re-enter all the details.

With these steps, you’ll have everything you need to efficiently generate, view, and save your GL Detail reports, ensuring your financial data is always organized, accessible, and ready to provide the insights that drive better business decisions.

Creating Report Categories

To keep things organized, it’s essential to use report categories. You don’t want to waste time searching for reports or recreating them from scratch, right? Categories help you save and retrieve report specifications in an organized way.

1. Save and Retrieve with Categories: When saving your report, ensure you assign it to a relevant category. This could be based on the type of report, such as revenue or expenses, or the report’s purpose, such as for auditing or board review.
2. Querying Reports by Category: Later, you can query reports by the category you’ve assigned. This makes it easier to find exactly what you’re looking for without having to sift through unrelated reports.
3. Navigating GL Trial Balance Categories: Your system will likely have a designated place to navigate these categories. Take some time to explore this and make sure you know how to add new categories for future reports.

By using categories effectively, you’ll streamline your reporting process, save valuable time, and ensure that your financial reports are always well-organized and easy to retrieve whenever needed.

What Are the Types of Ledger?

The General Ledger serves as the backbone of a business’s accounting system, listing all the accounts found in the chart of accounts. Below are the main types of general ledger accounts:

1. Asset Accounts
   Asset accounts represent everything a business owns. This can include cash, inventory, property, equipment, and accounts receivable. These accounts increase with debits and decrease with credits.  
2. Liability Accounts
   Liability accounts track what the business owes. This includes loans, accounts payable, and accrued expenses. These accounts increase with credits and decrease with debits.  
3. Equity Accounts
   Equity accounts represent the ownership value of the business. This includes common stock, retained earnings, and shareholder equity. They reflect the difference between assets and liabilities.  
4. Revenue Accounts
   Revenue accounts capture all income generated from the company’s core business activities. These can include sales revenue, service revenue, and interest income. Revenues increase with credits and decrease with debits.  
5. Expense Accounts
   Expense accounts track the costs incurred in running the business, such as salaries, rent, utilities, and office supplies. Expenses increase with debits and decrease with credits.  

Operating vs. Non-Operating Revenues and Expenses

In addition to the basic revenue and expense accounts, transactions can also be divided into operating and non-operating categories.

• Operating Revenues and Expenses: These are directly related to the core operations of the business, such as sales of goods and services and cost of goods sold (COGS).  
• Non-Operating Revenues and Expenses: These relate to activities outside the primary business operations, like interest income or losses from the sale of assets.  

Throughout the year, these accounts are systematically debited and credited as transactions occur, providing an accurate, real-time picture of the company’s financial health. 

Each transaction is recorded in the appropriate ledger, ensuring proper financial tracking and helping businesses generate essential financial reports like balance sheets and income statements.

Examples of Report Categories

Organizing your GL Detail reports into categories saves time and ensures that you have the right data at your fingertips when you need it. 

Here are some key categories to consider for efficient report management:

• Ad Hoc Reports: These reports are generated on the fly to address specific, short-term queries or unexpected financial events. Whether you need to investigate a sudden spike in expenses or respond to a one-off inquiry from management, having a dedicated category for ad hoc reports helps you organize these irregular yet important reports.
• Revenue and Expense Reports: Tracking income and expenses is crucial for understanding profitability and cash flow. By categorizing these reports, you can easily monitor your company’s financial health, spot trends, and make data-driven decisions about where to cut costs or invest more resources.
• Balance Sheet Reports: Your balance sheet provides a snapshot of your company’s assets, liabilities, and equity at any given point. Grouping these reports together ensures quick access to critical data when assessing your business’s financial position, particularly for strategic planning or investor presentations.
• Departmental Reports: Different departments often have their own budgets and financial goals. Creating a category for departmental reports allows you to drill down into the financial performance of specific areas, such as marketing, operations, or R&D. This allows you to hold departments accountable for their spending and optimize resource allocation.
• Auditor Reports: When auditors come knocking, time is of the essence. A dedicated category for auditor reports ensures you’re always prepared with the necessary financial data, allowing you to comply with audit requests swiftly and accurately. This category might include reports focusing on transaction histories, reconciliations, and compliance records.
• Board Reports: Presenting financial data to your board of directors requires clarity and precision. Reports in this category should be tailored to highlight high-level insights such as overall performance, growth trends, and significant financial movements, ensuring that you provide the board with actionable and digestible information for decision-making.

By creating and maintaining these categories, you ensure your GL Detail reports are organized and easily accessible for any situation, whether it’s a routine review or a high-stakes presentation.

Generating a New General Ledger Detail Report with Bunker

Now, let’s talk about how to generate a new GL Detail report from scratch:

1.   Access the Report Generation Link: Head to the “Processing” section and click the ‘Generate GL Trial Balance Detail’ link.  
2.   Fill Out the Criteria Tab: This is where you input critical information such as the description, owner, and category. Make sure to fill these out carefully for easy retrieval later.  
3.   Set Date Range and Summarize Options: Choose the appropriate date range for the report. Select the’ Summarize Detail’ option if you want a summary instead of full details.  
4.   Sort Accounts for Display: Organize how you want accounts to appear in the report.  
5.   View the Report: Hit the ‘View Report’ button to see the finished product.  
6.   Refresh the Data: Before viewing the report, make sure the ‘Needs Refresh’ indicator is unchecked, and note the ‘Most Recent Refresh’ timestamp to ensure you’re working with the latest data.  

Too many steps, right?? Make it easier with Bunker. 

Extract GL from Bunker:

Extracting General Ledger (GL) data from Bunker is a straightforward process that gives you quick access to your financial details in just a few steps. 

Here’s how to do it:

1. Log into Bunker: Open the Bunker application by visiting app.bunkertech.io. Once logged in, navigate to the Navigation Bar on the left-hand side.

2. Access General Ledger Export: Under the Exports section, click on General Ledger. This will take you to the export settings, where you can customize the time frame for your data extraction.

3. Set the Date Range: In the General Ledger export section, you’ll see options to select the “From” and “To” months. Choose the start and end months for the period you want to export. For example, if you need data from January to March, simply select these months in the dropdown menus.

4. Initiate Export: Click the “Export GL” button once your date range is set. This will begin the process of generating the General Ledger report for the specified time frame.

5. Download the GL File: The system will automatically download the GL data in an Excel (.xlsx) format, making it easy to view, filter, and manipulate the data as needed.

By following these steps, you’ll have your GL data extracted and ready for further analysis, all within minutes. This ensures that you have the most accurate and up-to-date financial data at your fingertips whenever you need it.

Setting Up Input Grid Criteria

Setting up input criteria might seem complicated at first, but it’s a crucial step for ensuring your reports are accurate and tailored to your needs.

Use Logical Conjunctions: Utilize ‘And’/’Or’ conjunctions to combine multiple criteria and refine your results. For instance, if you want to see only expense accounts within a specific date range, you can set up your criteria to reflect this, pulling precise data from your General Ledger.

• Example Setup: Imagine you need a report on expense accounts for Q1. Simply enter the specific accounts and date range in the criteria tab, and the system will filter the data for you. This saves time and ensures you’re not overwhelmed by irrelevant information.
• Refresh Data for Accuracy: Once you’ve set your criteria, always hit the “Refresh Data” button. This step ensures that the report pulls the latest financial information, keeping your analysis up-to-date and accurate.

Finding Specific GL Detail Reports

Looking for a previously generated report? Here’s how to quickly locate and view it:

• Access from GL Home Page: Start by navigating to the “Processing” section on the General Ledger home page. This is where you’ll find options to view and manage your saved reports.
• Exclude Suppressed Reports: If you’re missing a report, check to see if it’s marked as ‘Suppress Reporting.’ If so, uncheck the filter to broaden your search.
• Sort by Category and Description: Use the sort options to filter reports by their assigned category and description. This allows you to quickly zero in on the report you need without having to manually sift through all your saved data.
• Refresh Before Viewing: Always refresh the data before opening a report. This ensures you’re seeing the most current version and prevents any outdated information from skewing your analysis.

By following these steps, you’ll be able to generate, save, and organize your GL Detail reports with ease. Make good use of categories and criteria to streamline your reporting process, and don’t forget to refresh your data regularly for accuracy. With these tools, you’ll have a clear and organized approach to managing your company’s financial information, making it easier to stay on top of your business’s health.

Take the hassle out of managing your General Ledger and let Bunker do the heavy lifting. Start extracting and organizing your financial data effortlessly. Visit Bunker now and experience seamless financial reporting at your fingertips!