Financial Statement Builder

Financial Statement Builder lets finance administrators define the structure of statements such as the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, and Statement of Changes in Equity.

Use it when the organization needs statement formats that match management reporting, statutory reporting, donor reporting, board reporting, or local accounting presentation requirements.

Workspace Reference

Workspace	How Users Reach It	What Users Usually Do There
Financial Statement Builder	Accounting or Reporting setup where financial statement templates are maintained	Create statement templates, line items, mappings, columns, notes, and manual amounts.
Chart Of Accounts	Accounting -> Setup -> Chart Of Accounts	Map approved GL accounts to statement lines.
Financial Reports	Accounting -> Operations -> Financial Reports	Run the configured statement and compare it with trial balance results.
Report Catalog	Reporting -> Setup -> Report Catalog	Expose approved statements for report users where catalog control is enabled.

What The Builder Controls

The builder controls:

• Statement templates.
• Statement line items.
• Which GL accounts feed each line.
• Column layouts such as current period, prior period, budget, or variance.
• Statement notes and manual disclosure amounts.
• How the statement appears when users run it from Reporting.

Statement Templates

A template is the overall statement format. It defines the statement type, name, active status, and presentation purpose.

Common template types include:

Template Type	Use
Balance Sheet	Shows financial position at a point in time.
Income Statement	Shows income and expenses for a period.
Cash Flow Statement	Shows cash movement by operating, investing, and financing activity.
Custom Statement	Supports management or special-purpose reporting.

Line Items

Line items are the rows users see on the statement.

Important line item attributes include:

• Label shown on the report.
• Display order.
• Line type such as header, detail, subtotal, or total.
• Balance source such as GL balance, profit and loss movement, manual amount, or special cash-flow logic.
• Sign behavior, which controls whether debit or credit balances display as positive or negative.
• Cash-flow section where applicable.

Line items should be named in language that finance users and report readers understand.

Account Mappings

Account mappings define which GL accounts feed a statement line.

For example:

• Cash and bank accounts feed Cash and Cash Equivalents.
• Customer receivables feed Trade Receivables.
• Interest income accounts feed Interest Income.
• Expense accounts feed the relevant expense categories.

Good mapping discipline is critical. If an account is mapped to the wrong line, the statement may still run but the result will be misleading.

Columns And Column Sets

Columns control what values appear across the statement.

Common columns include:

• Current period.
• Prior period.
• Budget.
• Variance.
• Year-to-date.
• Comparative period.

Column sets group columns for a specific presentation style, such as monthly, quarterly, annual, management, or statutory reporting.

Manual Amounts And Notes

Manual amounts are used for lines that cannot be derived directly from the ledger, such as selected disclosures or management-only adjustments.

Notes provide explanatory text for statement lines. Use notes to help readers understand significant balances, accounting policies, or unusual movements.

Build Workflow

1. Create the statement template.
2. Add line items in the order they should appear.
3. Map GL accounts to detail lines.
4. Add subtotal and total lines.
5. Define columns and column sets.
6. Add notes or manual amounts where needed.
7. Link the template to the report catalog where required.
8. Run the statement and compare results against a trial balance.

Review Checklist

Before publishing a statement:

• All expected accounts are mapped.
• No account is mapped to an incorrect line.
• Totals and subtotals calculate as expected.
• Sign behavior is correct for assets, liabilities, equity, income, and expenses.
• Comparative columns use the intended periods.
• Manual amounts and notes are reviewed.
• The final statement agrees with source accounting reports.

Common Problems

Problem	What To Check
Statement total does not agree to trial balance	Missing or duplicated account mapping.
Balance appears with the wrong sign	Sign behavior on the line item.
A line is blank	No mapped accounts, no manual amount, or no balance for the selected period.
Cash flow section looks wrong	Cash-flow section, line type, and account mapping.
Prior period is wrong	Column definition and selected reporting period.

Related Guides

• Financial Reports
• Financial Statements
• Report Catalog
• Chart of Accounts