Consolidation Tips
Planning for Consolidation
Flexing at the Consolidated Level (Version 4)?
What are Consolidations and Creating a New Consolidation?
Eliminations on Consolidation
Consolidated Actuals Vs Budget Variance Report
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Planning for Consolidated
Some preparatory planning of forecast dates, record names and type is recommended
before creating the forecasts that you will be consolidating.
- If you want the data from each of the forecasts to be added into a single record in the consolidation,
make sure (e.g. by use of a template) that the record has the same name and type in each forecast. This
includes any customised formulas you wish to include.
- If you want the data from each forecast shown separately on the consolidated reports,
ensure that the record has a different name in each forecast (e.g. "Co. A Expense", etc.).
This latter approach can result in very long reports.
- If you want to retain the information from each forecast,
but do not want it showing on all the reports, you can use sub-items.
Each forecast would have a sub-heading of the same name
(e.g. "Expense") with a differently named sub-item (e.g. "Co. A Expense", etc.).
Using this technique the totals would be printed on the standard reports
and the individual amounts would be accessible on the detail reports.
- For each forecast to consolidate, they must have the same start dates
and same number of years.
- If there are actuals in the forecast,
then they must be set to the same month in order to consolidate.
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Flexing at the Consolidated Level (Version 4)
Consolidations can be flexed in the same way as an individual forecast. You can flex the consolidation
as a whole or flex any one of the headings, sub-headings, sub-items or records at a consolidated level
rather than flexing them within the source forecasts. Flexing at a consolidated level, flexes all records
in the subsidiary forecasts.
How To Do It
From the consolidation forecast�s main toolbar, click the Consolidation Flex option. To flex a consolidation or any of its component records, from the flex list of records, select the relevant description. In the Flex% column enter the percentage you want to flex the record by.
Note: If you enter 0% the record will remain unchanged. If you enter 100% any previous flexes from the source forecasts are overridden, and the record in the consolidation is flexed by 100%.
To leave the consolidation and its records unchanged, set the flex to the 0% default.
This can be achieved for all descriptions by clicking Clear.
To set all the flex values to 100%, click Reset.
Note: This over-rides all previous flexes applied in the source forecasts. Similarly, any flex you apply at a consolidation level also overrides the section flexes applied to the records in the source forecasts.
Whilst entering your new flex percentages, you can view the flexes currently applied to the source records.
Select a record name or flex%.
The current flex appears in the Source Records-Current Flex box on the right of the Consolidation Flex window.
You can also apply colour to your tree view if you want to make your record types easier to distinguish.
In the Key section, click the box assigned to the record type you want to change.
Select the colour of your choice from the Colour palette.
Click OK to save the changes.
When Consolidations Cannot be Flexed
A consolidated forecast cannot be flexed using the Consolidation Flex option if the following criteria apply:
- At least one of the source forecasts for the consolidation is also a consolidated forecast.
- The Recalculate Bank Balance option is checked within the consolidation�s Bank Details section.
Note: If you do not want people to amend your reports in any way, you can export it out to
Excel and password protect to ensure the documents are read only.
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What are Consolidations and Creating a New Consolidation?
"Consolidation is an optional feature of WinForecast"
They are forecasts "added together" to produce a forecast for a larger business entity. For
example, you can consolidate departmental budget forecasts to produce a company budget consolidation,
and/or consolidate company budgets to produce a group budget consolidation.
- If the forecasts contain different records in their record lists, the lists are merged into a composite
record list.
- A currency can be specified for each forecast with exchange rates applied at consolidation.
- You can view, print and graph the consolidations in the same way as for forecasts.
How To Do It
- Click the New Consolidation option on the toolbar, or select File>New Consolidation from
the main window�s menu.
- Type in the Company Name and Sub Heading, select the consolidation's Start Month and Year
and provide the Currency symbol details.
- Click OK.
- On the form which now appears, click Add File and select files that you want included in the consolidation.
Note: The forecasts must have the same start date as of the consolidation
- Click OK when the list is as you want it.
- The consolidation will be created by merging and adding the files you have specified.
- Using a template (as discussed in last month's Tip) will ensure that like accounts will be merged/added together correctly.
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Eliminations on Consolidation
Eliminations represent internal transactions to the overall group being consolidated. They should always net exactly
to zero, however, when they do not, the net residual eliminations are shown on the relevant reports. �
How To Do It
- To select records for eliminations, while the consolidation is the active forecast from the Data menu, choose
Eliminations.
- Select the records you want to eliminate in the list.
To eliminate the in-built capital and/or dividend records of a file,
click Capital and Dividend Eliminations.
- Select the forecast whose capital and/or dividends you want to eliminate and then select the Eliminate
Selected File's Capital (as Goodwill) and/or Dividends check box.
- Once you have selected records for elimination, you can view or print the elimination
reports for profit & loss, cash flow and balance sheet.
These reports
are useful for audit and also for diagnostic purposes to isolate where residuals
are arising.
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Consolidated Actuals Vs Budget Variance Report
When you consolidate your actual files which also contains revised budgets into a new consolidation, you will not
be able to get a consolidated actuals vs orginal budget variance report. The variance report�generated compares�your actuals�
with your revised budget.
To view a consolidated actuals vs original budget variance report, you must create a special consolidation of the original
budget files.�This will be the consolidation against which the actuals will be compared. Then, you�add the forecast files containing the actuals into
this special�consolidation file.
How to do it
- Load up the consolidation of the original�budget forecasts and select Data>Actuals>Save for Actuals from the main
window's menu.
- Give this consolidation budget file a different file name from the main consolidation so that if necessary you can go
back and re-create it with different data. You will note that the special consolidation budget file
has all the records of the original file, but when you view the reports there is no data in them.
- Now add the forecast files containing the actual data you want�in this�consolidation.
- �With the (empty) budget consolidation active, select Files>Files in Consolidation and Add these forecast files.
- Click OK.
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