General Ledger (GL) Inquiries
Available Balances
Document Summary
Product Owner / Author
Antonet Müller
Editor Name
Chim oné Barends
Date
2014/12/01
Time
08:00 AM
Template
Verbose
Lesson Objectives
On completion of this lesson you should be able to:

Understand the definition and purpose of an Available Balances Inquiry

Run an Available Balances Inquiry

Understand and interpret the search results of the Available Balances Inquiry

Drilldown to an E-doc

Export search results to an Excel spreadsheet
Lesson Scenario

As an existing staff member of the NWU you are required to work through this lesson, make some
notes if necessary and print out the documentation as a guideline.

This lesson will show you how to do an Available Balances Inquiry, understand and interpret the
search results and be able to give correct information to those you report to.

The examples in this lesson display cumulative balances for an account by object code; comparing
budget, actual and encumbrances to display the variance in that object.

Please note: The exact examples in this manual might not exist anymore on the database at the
time you work through this lesson. This is only for demonstration purposes. It is recommended that
you work through the E-doc manuals first and use your own E-doc examples in the Inquiry manuals.
Lesson Prerequisites

You need to be a NWU staff member that is registered on KFS as a user.

You need to understand that you have a responsibility towards the financial reporting of your
department and the university to interpret, understand and report in a responsible manner on these
Available Balances Inquiry results.
Available Balances Inquiry
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Table of Contents
1. Definition and purpose of an Available Balances Inquiry
2. Navigation
3. Process overview
4. Lookup Criteria
5. Running an Available Balance Inquiry
6. Understanding and interpretation of the search results
6.1. Additional information
6.2. Sorting the inquiry results
6.3. Debit / Credit view
7. Drilldown to an E-doc
8. Export search results to an Excel spreadsheet
Available Balances Inquiry
Page: 3 of 25
1. Definition and purpose of an Available Balances Inquiry

The Available Balances inquiry displays the cumulative balances for an account by object code; comparing
budget, actual, and encumbrances to display the variance in that object.

Please note: The Available Balances Inquiry does not take the SOF rules into consideration. It only
indicates the variance between Budget, Actuals and Encumbrances.

The drilldown pattern of this inquiry is as follows:
o
General Ledger Balance
o
GL Entry Lookup
o
E-Doc
2. Navigation

KFS navigation: Main Menu > Balance Inquiries > General Ledger > Available Balance
Figure 1
Figure 2
Available Balances Inquiry
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3. Process overview
Figure 3
4. Lookup Criteria
Figure 4

A number of lookup criteria are displayed
Available Balances Inquiry
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Figure 5

Fill in at least
o
Fiscal Year, Chart Code and Organization Code / Account Number
o
Either Organization Code or Account Number must be specified, but not both. You can run the inquiry
either for your organization with all the accounts linked to it or for one specific account.

The lookup criteria default to
o
the current fiscal year
o
Consolidation
o
Pending entries not included

Use the lookup icon

Select the desired Consolidation Option that is, what level of detail you would like the report to present.
as necessary to select the criteria.
Consolidation produce a report aggregated at a high level while choosing Detail will result in very granular and
detailed results.

Select the desired Pending Ledger Entry Approved Indicator option. The Pending General Ledger inquiry offers
three alternatives:
o
The ability to exclude all pending entries by selecting No
o
only those pending entries that are fully approved by selecting Approved or
o
The ability to include all pending entries by selecting All.

Cancelled and disapproved pending entries are not pulled into the balance inquiry results.

Please note: Choosing to include all pending ledger entries in an inquiry can generate misleading results
because saved documents may contain incomplete or unbalanced accounting entries. Choosing to view all
pending ledger entries should be done with the understanding that unapproved entries may change drastically
prior to actually posting or they may not post at all.
Available Balances Inquiry
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5. Running an Available Balances Inquiry
Figure 6

Complete the lookup criteria

The Available Balances Inquiry would usually be run for an Account.

By using this method you get all the transactions for that account per object, comparing Budget, Actuals and
Encumbrances.
1.
Chart: Type P or
2.
Account: Type 1 A00005 or
3.
Consolidation Option: Consolidation
4.
Include Pending Ledger Entry: No
5.
Click
Available Balances Inquiry
P
1A00005
Page: 7 of 25
Figure 7

It is also possible to run the inquiry for accounts of a specific Source of Funds by using the wildcard *.

By using this method you get all the transactions for all the accounts associated with that source of funds within
a chart. You can enter the Chart and the Organization, or the Chart and the Account, but not the Organization
and Account in one inquiry.

Please note: This may result in a large number of transactions.
1.
Chart: Type P or
2.
Account: Type 1* for all source of funds 1 accounts.
3.
Consolidation Option: Consolidation
4.
Include Pending Ledger Entry: No
5.
Click
Available Balances Inquiry
P
Page: 8 of 25
Figure 8

You can also run the inquiry by completing the Organization Code.

By using this method you get all the objects for all the Accounts in the Organization Code.

Please note: This may result in a large number of transactions.
1.
Chart: Type P or
2.
Organization Code: Type 1701 or
3.
Consolidation Option: Consolidation
4.
Include Pending Ledger Entry: No
5.
Click
Available Balances Inquiry
P
1701
Page: 9 of 25
Figure 9

You also could have run the inquiry by completing the Object Code.

When running the inquiry for an Object Code, also complete the specific Organization you request the
information for or a specific Account number or by using the wildcard * for all of the Accounts within a specific
chart.

By using this method you get all the Accounts within a Chart or Organization where this object code, for
example “Photocopying” was used.

Please note: This may result in a large number of transactions.
1.
Chart: Type P or
2.
Account Number: Type *
3.
Object Code: Type 2252 or
4.
Consolidation Option: Consolidation
5.
Include Pending Ledger Entry: No
6.
Click
Available Balances Inquiry
P
2252
Page: 10 of 25
Figure 10

All the Balance Types are included in the Available Balances’ inquiry results. Specific Balance Types alone,
for example Pre-encumbrances (PE) cannot be requested in this inquiry.

In the example a Pre-encumbrance of R700 is displayed in the Encumbrance column.
1.
Chart: Type I or
2.
Account Number: Type 1G00002 or
3.
Consolidation Option: Consolidation
4.
Include Pending Ledger Entry: No
5.
Click
Available Balances Inquiry
I
1G00002
Page: 11 of 25
Figure 11

The option also exists to include pending entries.

The Pending General Ledger inquiry offers two alternatives for including the pending ledger entries:
o
The ability to include all pending entries by selecting All or
o
Only those pending entries that are fully approved by selecting Approved.

Cancelled and disapproved pending entries are not pulled into the balance inquiry results.

Please note: Choosing to include all pending ledger entries in an inquiry can generate misleading results
because saved documents may contain incomplete or unbalanced accounting entries. Choosing to view all
pending ledger entries should be done with the understanding that unapproved entries may change drastically
prior to actually posting or they may not post at all.
1.
Chart: Type I or
2.
Account Number: Type *
3.
Consolidation Option: Consolidation
4.
Include Pending Ledger Entry: All
5.
Click
Available Balances Inquiry
I
Page: 12 of 25
Figure 12

When choosing to exclude pending entries, the number of items retrieved would be less. In Figure 11 there
was 11 items/transactions retrieved, while in Figure 12 there are only 5 when you exclude the pending entries.
1.
Chart: Type I or
2.
Account Number: Type *
3.
Consolidation Option: Consolidation
4.
Include Pending Ledger Entry: No
5.
Click
Available Balances Inquiry
I
Page: 13 of 25
Figure 13

The Consolidation Option allows you to select the level of detail you would like the report to present.

Consolidation produce a report aggregated at a high level while choosing Detail will result in very granular and
detailed results.

When choosing Consolidation the Sub-Account and Sub-Object would indicate *All*
1.
Chart: Type P or
2.
Account Number: Type *
3.
Consolidation Option: Consolidation
4.
Include Pending Ledger Entry: No
5.
Click
Available Balances Inquiry
P
Page: 14 of 25
Figure 14

When choosing Detail the Sub-Account and Sub-Object would be displayed if any exists. If not, instead of
*All*, only a dashed line --- would be displayed.
1.
Chart: Type P or
2.
Account Number: Type *
3.
Consolidation Option: Detail
4.
Include Pending Ledger Entry: No
5.
Click
Available Balances Inquiry
P
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6. Understanding and interpretation of the search results
Figure 15

Inquiry results columns
Column
Fiscal Year
Chart Code
Description




Account Number

Used for the purposes of financial reporting.
Indicates the fiscal year to which General Ledger entries were posted.
One character that indicates the campus / high-level structure of the KFS
Chart of Accounts that the Account are specific to.
An account identifies a pool of funds assigned to a specific university
organizational entry for a specific purpose.
Indicates to which Account the transaction was allocated to.
Certain transactions could have been allocated to an optional finer level
of detail within a particular account.
To classify the transaction as a specific income, expense, asset, liability
or fund balance transaction.
An optional element of the accounting string related to the object code
that allows you to create finer distinctions within a particular object code.
Sub-Account Number


Object Code

Sub-Object Code

Budget Amount

The current budget amount in this account for the selected fiscal year.
Actuals Amount

Encumbrance Amount

Variance

Organization Code

Account Group

The total of all actual activity for a given balance line of the selected
fiscal year.
The total of all encumbrance activity for a given account for the selected
fiscal year.
The difference between the available budget and the actual amounts,
plus encumbrances for an object code or category.
Represents a unique identifier assigned to units at many different levels
within the institution (for example, faculty, department, school etc.).
A smaller group of accounts within an organization to which the
transaction belongs to.
Please note: The variance column in this inquiry does not take the SOF in consideration. The variance
is calculated, but it does not reflect funds available for spending. For example: In a SOF 3 Account the
budget would be part of the variance calculation, but SOF 3 budget is not available funds, it is only a
guideline.

The inquiry results list the balances per object that meet your lookup criteria. From here you can drill down to
the General Ledger Entry Lookup and then to the E-doc that created the transaction.
Available Balances Inquiry
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6.1 Additional information
Figure 16

The underlined inquiry results will provide more information when you click on it.
1.
Click on
Figure 17
2.
Click on
Available Balances Inquiry
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Figure 18
Available Balances Inquiry
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6.2 Sorting the inquiry results
Figure 19

The inquiry results can be sorted by any of the columns’ values by clicking on the underlined column heading.
1.
Click on
for example. The results will be sorted according to the amounts . From
negatives to positives. For example -1, 0, 1.
Figure 20
Available Balances Inquiry
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6.3 Debit / Credit view
Figure 21

The Debit/Credit view, as in the General Ledger Entry inquiry, is not part of the Available Balances inquiry.

It means that you have to take the type of object into consideration to know if an amount is a debit or a credit.

If an amount is a positive amount, it acts according to the object type. If the object type is a credit, and the
amount is positive, then it is a credit amount.

If an amount is a negative amount, then it acts against the object type. If the object type is a credit, and the
amount is a negative, then it is a debit amount.

In the example in Figure 20:
o
Line 1 of the results: P.1A00008.2251 (Stationary): Stationary is an operating expense object which is
a debit object type. The Actual amount of R55.80 is a positive amount, which means it acts according
to the object type which is a debit. Therefor the R55.80 is a debit amount.
o
Line 2 of the results: P.1A00007.2251 (Stationary): Stationary is an operating expense object which is
a debit object type. The Actual amount of -R55.80 is a negative amount, which means it acts against
the object type which is a debit. Therefor the -R55.80 is a credit amount.
o
Line 6 of the results: P.1A00005.3151 (Internal Transfer – Operating Costs): This is an operating
expense object which is a debit object type. The Actual amount of R10 000 is a positive amount, which
means it acts according to the object type which is a debit. Therefor the R10 000 is a debit amount.
o
Line 8 of the results: P.1A00007.6151 (Internal Transfer – Operating Costs): This is the income side of
Internal Transfers and the object is a credit object type. The Actual amount of R10 000 is a positive
amount, which means it acts according to the object type which is a credit. Therefor the R10 000 is a
credit amount.
Available Balances Inquiry
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7. Drilldown to an E-doc
Figure 22

You may drill down into detail when there is the Drill Down link available, or if the amount or other attribute (edoc, for example) is a hyperlink.

The drilldown pattern for the Available Balances Inquiry is as follows:
o
1.
General Ledger Balance > GL Entry Lookup > E-Doc
Click on
in the Actuals Amount column.
Figure 23

When you drilldown on the Actual Amount in the Available Balances inquiry screen, the next screen is the
General Ledger Balance Lookup.
1.
If you want to do an inquir y for example on the R30 in February, click on
Available Balances Inquiry
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Figure 24

The next screen is the General Ledger Entry Lookup.

In the General Ledger Entry inquiry you may drill down to the actual e-doc from the document Number link.
1.
Click on the document num ber
2.
Click on
to open the document.
after reviewing the document.
Figure 25
Available Balances Inquiry
Page: 22 of 25
8. Export search results to an Excel spreadsheet
Figure 26

To export the entire result list in .csv, spreadsheet, or .xml format, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click a
link to choose from among these options:
1.
Click on
at the bottom of the inquiry results.
Figure 27
2.
Click on
Available Balances Inquiry
at the bottom of the screen.
Page: 23 of 25
Figure 28
3.
Click on
in the next screen in Excel .
Figure 29

Please note: to be able to do calculations in Excel, you will first have to insert columns to change the amounts
to a debit and credit view. In KFS all amounts are positive for debit or credit objects. You will have to change
the credits to negatives in order to do calculations in Excel. Please also refer to: 6.3 Debit / Credit view in
this manual.
4.
Save the docum ent on your com puter. You can now use Excel functions lik e sort, filter etc.
to process the data according to your reporting needs.
Available Balances Inquiry
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Lesson Summary
Having completed this lesson you should be able to:

Understand the definition and purpose of an Available Balances Inquiry

Run an Available Balances Inquiry

Understand and interpret the search results of the Available Balances Inquiry

Drilldown to an E-doc

Export search results to an Excel spreadsheet
Available Balances Inquiry
Page: 25 of 25