Accounting CS Write-Up Walkthrough

Getting StartedHelp and How-To CenterThe Help & How-To Center provides extensive information about using Accounting CS.You can use any of the following methods to access the Help & How-To Center. Enter a search term in the searchrelated to that term. Click the Help & How-Tobutton to open an article explaining the current screen or click thedown arrow to display a list of tasks and articles related to the screen. Press F1 to view help that is relevant to the current screen. Choose Help Help & How-To or press ALT Y to open the Browse subjects for Accounting CSarticle.field in the toolbar to search for articlesIn the Help & How-To Center, use the toolbar to find the information you need. Browse Subjects — Click this button to access a list of categories, then click a category to viewa list of related articles. Index — Click this button to view an alphabetical list of keywords. Click a keyword to view theassociated article. Search field — Enter a search term or phrase and press the ENTER key to see a list of relatedarticles. To view sample searches, click the Finding answers in the Help & How-To Center link inthe box on the right side of the screen.Note: Almost every article in the Help & How-To Center includes a box on the right thatprovides quick access to alerts and other timely information.6Accounting CS: Write-Up WalkThrough

FIRM AND STAFF SETUPBefore you can begin write-up work for your clients in Accounting CS, you must first complete some firm,staff, and client setup steps.Firm setupThe first step in setting up Accounting CS is to enter information about your firm and to select preferencesfor those in your firm who use the application to process data for your clients.Entering basic firm informationIn Accounting CS, you enter basic identification and contact information on the Main tab of the Firmscreen.1. Choose Setup Firm Information Firm.2. On the Main tab, the application automatically enters the firm name and EIN or SSN based on yourlicense. However, you can override this information as needed.3. By default, the application enters address information fromyour license as a business address. You can enteradditional addresses if needed. Click the down arrow nextto the Business field and select a different address type.The field name changes based on the type you select.Accounting CS: Write-Up WalkThrough7

Firm and Staff SetupNotes Accounting CS enables you to customize the options in the drop-down list for some of the dataentry fields in several of the setup screens (Firm, Staff, Clients, Vendors, and Customers).Custom fieldviews are indicated by a vertical green line to the right of the drop-down arrow.When you enter data in those fields and press CTRL S, the application saves that entry to thedrop-down list and makes it available in other data-entry screens throughout the application.For more information, see Custom Fieldview Editor in the Help & How-To Center. Accounting CS includes an address verification feature, which verifies that the addresses youenter are accurate and valid. For additional details, see Verifying client and employeeaddresses in the Help & How-To Center.4. Enter the other applicable firm information.Adding logo and signature imagesAccounting CS enables you to print a logo and/or signatures on checks, invoices, reports, financialstatements, and letters. Simply create the images in BMP, JPG, or PNG format, and then select them inthe Firm screen.Notes The dimensions of the image you’re adding should be the actual size that you want to use on thedocuments. For signature images, be sure that the signature is dark enough to display and print properly. If thesignature is not dark enough, it may not be legible.1. In the Firm screen, click the Images tab.2. Click the Ellipsisbutton next to the logo or signature field for which you want to select the image.3. In the Insert Image dialog, click the Insert button, browse to the appropriate image file, and then clickthe Open button.4. If the image is acceptable, click Done.Setting firm preferencesThe majority of settings that apply to the application at the global level are available in the Preferencestab of the Setup Firm Information Firm screen. These settings apply to all staff members who useAccounting CS and to all clients whose data you process in Accounting CS.For detailed information on each of the options, see Firm preferences, overview in the Help & How-ToCenter. In particular, you may want to enable firm security and event tracking.8Accounting CS: Write-Up WalkThrough

Firm and Staff SetupEnabling firm securityWe recommend that you enable firm-level security to require the use of staff logins that can be associatedwith security group permissions.1. Click the Preferences tab in the Firm screen.2. Mark the Enable firm security checkbox and then click Enter to save the firm record.3. Close Accounting CS and then re-open it to activate the security setting.Once you enable firm security in Accounting CS, you cannot disable it for your firm.Enabling event trackingAccounting CS gives you the ability to record and monitor activities that occur in the firm database, suchas adding, editing, and deleting client and employee records, GL accounts, and banks. The event trackingfeature even allows for transaction-level tracking.Event tracking is enabled by default. To disable it, mark the Disable event tracking checkbox in thePreferences tab of the Firm screen. If you disable it, the application stops tracking any new events,but it retains the history of events that have already been logged.Note: For detailed information on the events you can track, see Event tracking, overview in the Help &How-To Center.Setting up security groupsIn Accounting CS, you can set up an unlimited number of security groups to specify which features areavailable to the members of those groups.Notes The Security Groups screen is available only when firm security is enabled. By default, Accounting CS includes the Administrator security group, which has complete access toall areas of the application. You cannot change or delete this group. All firms must assign at leastone staff member to the Administrator security group to ensure that all areas of the application andall client records are accessible.Let’s add a security group for the staff members who will use Accounting CS. We recommend that youcreate security groups based on the roles of your staff, not on the individual staff members.1. Choose Setup Firm Information Security Groups.2. Click the Add button and enter Accounting staff as the description for the security group.3. In the General tab, mark the General checkbox. The application marks all checkboxes under thatheading, giving staff members in this security group access to those areas of the application.Accounting CS: Write-Up WalkThrough9

Firm and Staff Setup4. In this example, we don’t want the accounting staff members to be able to change any firm settings,security groups, or staff information, so clear the the Firm Information checkbox under the SetupMenu checkbox.5. Clear all checkboxes in the Payroll, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Workpapers tabs.Notice that when you do this, the application clears any checkboxes in the General tab that arerelated to those services.6. Click the Reports tab. Mark the Accounting, Financial Statements, and Letters checkboxes. Theapplication marks all reports in those categories, giving accounting staff members access to thosereports.7. Click Enter to save the security group.Staff setupAfter you enter information about your firm, you can enter information about each of your firm's staffmembers who use Accounting CS. For this walkthrough, let’s add a staff record for Amy Simmons, one ofthe accountants at your firm.Entering basic staff information1. Choose Setup Firm Information Staff, and then click Add.2. In the Main tab, enter the following information in the Identification section.IDAJSSSN123-45-6789First, Middle, Last NameAmy J. SimmonsTitleAccountant3. We are going to use Amy’s home address as her mailing address. Click the down arrow next to theaddress type field (by default, Business is selected), select Home, and then enter the followingaddress.575 West Main StDexter, MI 48130Note: As with the firm addresses, you can use the address verification feature to verify that the staffaddress is valid. For details, see Verifying client and employee addresses in the Help & How-ToCenter.4. Mark the Mailing address checkbox.10Accounting CS: Write-Up WalkThrough

Firm and Staff SetupAssigning staff to security groupsWe need to assign Amy to applicable security groups to specify which security privileges she will have.1. In the Staff screen, click the Security tab.2. In the Member of groups pane, mark the Accounting staff checkbox.3. Click Enter to save the staff record.Notes The options available on the tabbed pages on the Security tab include the screens, dialogs, andfeatures available to members of the selected security group. You cannot change those settings inthis screen. You can reset Amy’s Accounting CS password by clicking the Reset Password button in the upperright corner. When you do, Amy will be prompted to change her password the next time she opensAccounting CS. This does not affect her Thomson Reuters ID or NetStaff CS login.Setting staff-level user preferencesEach staff member can specify user preferences that apply specifically to their login by following thesesteps.1. Choose Setup User Preferences.2. In each tabbed page, mark the checkbox for each desired option.Note: For a description of each option, see User Preferences dialog in the Help & How-To Center.3. By default, Accounting CS displays the Home Dashboard when you first open the application. Todisplay a different screen, select one from the drop-down list in the Favorite screen field on theSystem tab.4. Click OK to save the preferences.Accounting CS: Write-Up WalkThrough11

Firm and Staff Setup12Accounting CS: Write-Up WalkThrough

CLIENT SETUPBefore you can start processing data for your clients, you must first set up records for each client whosedata you will process, and then set up the information that will help you to track and process that data.Accounting CS enables you to set up clients from scratch or to create clients from a template.Client templatesIn Accounting CS, client templates help you to add new client records and information more efficientlyand accurately. Using templates, you can set up common firm-level policies such as staff assignments,check printing defaults, billing options and fee schedules, and custom fields.In addition, if you have a number of clients working in similar industries (for example, if you have anumber of restaurant clients), you can set up a client template with chart of accounts, bank account,vendor information, staff assignments, and billing information that are common between those clients.For more information about creating client templates, see Using templates for client and employee setupin the Help & How-To Center.Restoring client templatesAccounting CS includes a number of standard client templates that you can download from our website.For details, see Accounting CS client templates in the Help & How-To Center.For this walkthrough, we are going to restore one of those client templates. If you see the templates in theSetup Client Templates screen, you can skip these steps.1. Choose File Client Data Management Utility.2. In the Client Data Management Utility screen, select Restore from the Action field.3. Verify that the file location points to the X:\WinCSI\Accouting CS Data\Backup folder, where Xrepresents the drive on which the data is stored.Note: If you downloaded the client templates from our website and saved them in a differentlocation, you would browse to that location instead.4. Mark the checkbox for the ACSSER01, Service Business Template row and then click the RestoreSelected button.Accounting CS: Write-Up WalkThrough13

Client Setup5. After the template has been restored, click OK at the prompt. The application displays a diagnosticreport that shows information about the restoration. After reviewing the information, you can close thepreview window.Adding a client recordFor this walkthrough, let’s assume that our accounting firm has just acquired a new client, Bay ShoreCommunications. Our firm will provide accounting services for the new client.1. Choose Setup Clients and click the Add button. For this procedure, we are going to set up this clientfrom scratch instead of using a template. If we had set up an appropriate template, we could select itin the Template field.2. In the Add Client dialog, enter the following information.IDBAYSHOREClient nameBay Shore CommunicationsStateMI3. In the Services section, mark the Accounting checkbox and then click the Add button. Accounting CScreates the client record and opens the Setup Clients screen.4. In the Main tab, enter the following information.Address (Business)150 Sunrise Highway, Dexter, MI 48130Phone (Business)734-414-9800Active date(today’s date)Industry code517110 Wired Telecommuncations CarriersPrimary processorAmy SimmonsNote: If you don’t know the specific code for a client’s industry, you can click the Ellipsisbuttonnext to the Industry code field and drill down to the appropriate code. In this case, to find theappropriate code for Bay Shore Communications, you would drill down as follows:51 Information 517 Telecommunications 5171 Wired Telecommunications Carriers 51711 Wired Telecommunications Carriers 517110 Wired Telecommunications Carriers14Accounting CS: Write-Up WalkThrough

Client Setup5. Click the Account Mask tab. Notice that Accounting CS assigned the default account mask(XXXXXXXXXX) for the client.Note: In Accounting CS, the account mask defines the alphanumeric format for all accounts in theclient’s chart of accounts. For details, see Setting up a client’s chart of accounts mask in the Help &How-To Center.6. Click the Accounting Information tab and review the default information. If necessary, update theinformation. In particular, be sure that the correct entity type, fiscal year end date, and periodfrequency are selected.For information on the fields on this tabbed page, see Accounting Information tab in the Help & HowTo Center.7. Click Enter to save the client record.Adding accounts to the client’s chart of accountsAfter you set up the client record, you can set up the chart of accounts. If you did not create the clientrecord from a client template that includes a chart of accounts, you can enter the accounts manually,transfer the information from another client, or import the information from a spreadsheet.Transferring accounts from another clientIf you have an existing client or client template set up in Accounting CS with a chart of accounts that issimilar to that of the client you are setting up, you can save time by transferring that information to thenew client. For this walkthrough, we are going to transfer the chart of accounts from the ACSSER01,Service Business Template client template that we restored earlier.1. Choose Setup Chart of Accounts.2. When you open this screen for the first time after setting up a new client record, the applicationdisplays a prompt asking if you want to enter data from scratch or transfer information from anotherclient. Click the Transfer button.Note: You can access the Transfer Client Information dialog at any time by choosing File Transfer Client Information.Accounting CS: Write-Up WalkThrough15

Client Setup3. In the Transfer Client Information dialog, select ACSSER01, Service Business Template in theSource client field.4. Select BAYSHORE, Bay Shore Communications in the Destination client field.5. Mark the Chart of Accounts checkbox in the Information to Transfer grid, and then click the Transferbutton.6. Click Yes at the prompt asking if you want to continue.7. Click Close in the preview window of the diagnostic report and notice that accounts are now includedin the Setup Chart of Accounts screen for the new client.For detailed information on transferring data from another client, see Transferring client information in theHelp & How-To Center.Importing a chart of accountsIf you don’t want to manually enter accounts or transfer a chart of accounts from another client,Accounting CS offers other options for adding accounts. If you have access to the client’s chart of accounts in a spreadsheet file (XLS or XLSX fileformat), you can import that data into the client record. For details and for basic samplespreadsheets that you can download and use for practice in Accounting CS, see Spreadsheetimport – chart of accounts in the Help & How-To Center. If your client uses QuickBooks for their business, you can import the client’s chart of accountsfrom QuickBooks. For details, see Importing client data from QuickBooks in the Help & How-ToCenter. If your client uses QuickBooks Online for their business, you can import the client’s chart ofaccounts from QuickBooks Online. For details, see Importing client data from QuickBooks Onlinein the Help & How-To Center.Modifying the client’s chart of accounts maskIn Accounting CS, the client’s chart of accounts mask can contain up to 60 characters, up to 20segments, and an unlimited number of codes for each segment. For this client, we need to use asegmented account structure to accommodate their two locations.Adding account segmentsBefore we can change the account format to use a segmented account mask, we first need to add thesegments.1. Choose Setup Account Segments.2. Enter Location in the Description field.16Accounting CS: Write-Up WalkThrough

Client Setup3. Enter XX in the Mask field.4. In the first row of the Codes grid, enter 1 in the Code column and Ann Arbor in the Descriptioncolumn.5. In the second row, enter 2 in the Code column and Dexter in the Description column.6. Click Enter to save the segment.Modifying the account maskNow that we’ve added the location segment, we can modify the account mask to include the segment.1. Choose Setup Clients and verify that BAYSHORE is selected.2. Click Edit, and then click the Account Mask tab.3. In the Account row of the grid, change the entry in the Mask column to XXXX, and then press theTAB key.4. Select Red in the Color column, and then press TAB. Notice that the application updated the maskkey (above the grid) and changed the color of the line under the corresponding segment.5. In the next row, select Location in the Segment column, and then click the Up Arrowbutton tomov

Accounting CS is a powerful accounting application that includes features for write-up, trial balance, accounts payable and accounts receivable processing, live and after-the-fact payroll processing, customizable reporting, and complete financ