Options (NL Settings)

This setting enables access to the Generate New Accounts and Account Summary and Breakdown features.

• Select Start with Account Number only if you want to use Generate New Accounts to create a set of nominal accounts with the same reference for existing cost centres and departments.

  This allows you to use Generate New Accounts to create your nominal accounts, and use the Account Summary and Breakdown nominal enquiry.

• Select Specify combination of account number, cost centre and department to create your nominal accounts manually.

  This means you cannot use the Generate New Accounts and Account Summary and Breakdown features.

• Select this to update the relevant nominal accounts as soon as you enter any transaction.
• Clear this to send transactions to the waiting postings file until you choose to Update Waiting Postings. This then updates the nominal ledger.

Use Update the Nominal Ledger immediately as journal entries are posted where you have few accounts or you make few journal postings.

If you frequently post a large number of transactions we recommend you use the waiting postings file.

If you enter a lot of transactions, you may find it easier to leave them in the postings file and update the accounts once a day or week. Updating immediately can reduce the speed of processing as each account has to be retrieved and updated there and then.

Enter the starting number for the first Nominal Ledger journal entry here.

Leave it blank for your journal entries to start from 1. The number is automatically incremented each time a journal is posted.

Each journal entry has its own reference number that is applied automatically by the Nominal Ledger. If you already have a system for allocating journal numbers, you can specify the entry number at which to start in the Next journal entry reference number box.

Use the reference number to trace transactions in reports or when viewing them on the screen. You must also use the journal reference number if you enter transactions in a previous year.

Select this to specify an additional code on your transactions. This allows you to link a set of transactions together that may be difficult or inappropriate to group using account numbers, cost centres and departments.

For example, if you want to group transactions together for a particular short-term campaign, you can use a transactional analysis code for the campaign. You can then analyse these related transactions.

A Transaction Analysis column appears when entering transactions or making transaction enquiries.

Note: To use transactional analysis, you must also select Allow additional transactional analysis in Accounting System Manager Transaction settings.

• Select Prior year only to only record and view budget values for the previous year.

• Select Last 5 years to record and view budget values for the previous 5 years.

You can view the nominal account budget history in the nominal Account Enquiry.

You can enter the label used for each year's budget heading on the Budget Headings tab.

When you enter a nominal payment, you can choose to print a cheque for it. You can choose whether this is selected by default here:

• If you want to print a cheque for most nominal payments, then select this. The option to print a cheque will be selected by default. When you don't want to print a cheque you can clear this option on the nominal payments screens.
• If you rarely need to print cheques for you cash payments, then don't select this. The option to print a cheque won't be selected by default. When you require a cheque you'll have to select it on the payments screen.

You can control how nominal accounts can be selected in Sage 200.

• If you choose to restrict account selection, you will only be able to select nominal accounts that have a valid nominal account code, cost centre, and department. You will not be able to enter invalid or blank nominal codes. This means that wherever you can select a nominal account list, you must select an account before you can continue.

  This setting is enabled by default.

  Note: This setting must be enabled if you want to hide nominal accounts (by setting their Active Status to Hidden).

  Note: This changes the way in which you select nominal accounts. See I have difficulty selecting nominal accounts.

• If you choose not to restrict account selection, you will be able to enter invalid or blank nominal account codes (this is only allowed in some screens).

  Note: You cannot disable this setting if you have set any nominal accounts to be hidden. You can find which nominal accounts are hidden by using the Accounts Not Active report. See Hide or show a nominal account. To stop a nominal account from being hidden, change its Active Status to Active.

Note: This setting only applies to the Sage 200 desktop app. In the Web Portal app, you can only select nominal accounts that have a valid nominal account code, cost centre, and department.