G/L account summary

The Account Summary provides a listing of totals for each account,  and the budget / previous totals to be used for comparison.  The  listing displays the account number, title, year to date total,  current period (as selected), budget, percent of budget, and past  year.

The report is run by specifying the period for which the report is  to be run.  It is the amount that will be posted in the Current  column.

This report is particularly helpful in analyzing trends.  For  example, if a month is specified, than the budget amount shown is  for that month, as is the past year.  If a quarter is chosen, the  same rule applies.  The figures, then, are balanced by time period  for comparison.

The most important information will deal with the income and expense  accounts.  It will be desirable to see current totals for income  increase over the past year, while expenses should be decreased.  In  relation to the budget, income accounts would preferably be equal  to, or greater than, the budgeted amount, while the expense accounts would be less than the budgeted amount.  A caution flag should arise  in the mind of the financial analyst when income is down, or  expenses are on the rise.  Further investigation of the cause for such a situation is warranted.