Finances

A well managed company is the one whose managers have at any time access to current information about the company’s financial situation, the real sources of earned income, incurred costs or the balance of current receivables and payables.

Therefore, Comarch ALTUM system has been developed with the Finances component which purpose is not only simple registration of expenses and revenues. The Finances part of the system provides, among others, the following information:

       structure of cash flow in a company. The information provided refers both to the past – reports from already effected cash-bank transactions, and the future – analysis of planned revenues and expenses

       structure of the payment plan. Both planned due dates of receivables to be paid by our customers and our liabilities are registered in the payment plan. Hence, the payment plan enables to predict the revenues and expenses in the oncoming period and then take proper financial decisions

       sources of our profit, our investments, sources of costs -  each cash-bank transaction is assigned to a category the entry refers to. Each entry provides hence the information about the type of cost it refers to or a type of revenue which increases our profits. On the basis of this information it is possible to prepare very useful statements presenting the layout of costs and revenues in the company

Because the purpose of the Finances component of the system is to register all kind of issues connected with cash flow in the company, it means that this area of the system must gather also the information derived from other parts of the system. It other words, the Finances part must register each financial event that occurs in the company. Only then this part of the system will be able to administer the finances and generate thorough financial situation of the enterprise (past position, current position and forecasts). 

The information registered in the Finances area derives from the trade-warehouse part of the system and from VAT accounts. Each issued transaction with a customer/vendor is connected with payment. Such payment can be immediately effected in cash, by check or by credit card – appropriate entry will then be registered in a cash register, or it can be deferred – the information about the planned payment (e.g. by check) will then be registered in the payment plan.

List of elements

 [Cash/Bank Accounts] – displays a list of cash/bank accounts

 [C/B Transactions] – displays a list of cash/bank transactions

 [Checks] – displays a list of checks

 [Import] – imports the list of cash/bank transactions

 [Cash Reports] – displays a list of cash reports

 [Bank Reports] – displays a list of bank reports

 [Receivables] – displays a list of deposited payments (receivables) registered in the schedule

 [Payables] – displays a list of withdrawn payments (payables) registered in the schedule

 [Customer Payments] – displays a list of uncompleted payments of all customers

 [Vendor Payments] – displays a list of uncompleted payments of all vendors

 [Exchange Rate Differences] – displays a list of all exchange rate difference documents

 [Terms] – displays a list of granted terms

1)    Accounts – are divided into cash and bank accounts. They can be added to the system in the system currency of in a foreign currency.

2)    Cash Transactions– are divided into deposits and withdrawals. All cash transactions involving the completion of payments, as well as planned payments which are not combined with any transactions and which are registered in a cash register, are saved in the cash transactions list. This is a list of cash payment completions, a place dedicated to complete payments of  documents issued for the same customer or vendor and to compensate such documents.

The events in these transactions can be:

       entered by the user from the level of cash transactions. For example: planned revenues of financial resources not connected with effected transactions

       created automatically by the system while confirming a document which involves the completion of payment

3)    Bank Transactions– are divided into deposits and withdrawals. All bank transactions involving the completion of payments, as well as planned payments which are not combined with any transactions and which are registered on a bank account. This is a list of bank payment completions, a place dedicated to complete payments of documents issued for the same customer or vendor and to compensate such documents.

The events in these transactions can be:

       entered by the user from the level of bank transactions. For example: planned revenues of financial resources not connected with effected transactions

       created automatically by the system while confirming a document which involves the completion of payment

4)    Checks – this is a list of all checks of both types: deposits and withdrawals

5)    Import – this functionality allows the import of bank transactions

6)    Reports – are divided into cash reports and bank reports. Each company carrying out a business activity settles the accounts with its customers and vendors, employees and public institutions. The accounts can be settled in different forms – in cash, by checks, with charge cards or by bank transfers. A cash register is kept for cash settlements. A company bank accounts are kept for settlements effected through a bank. The purpose of the reports is to gather all kind of transactions in particular cash / bank accounts. A report may include entries registered on a given day, in a given week, decade, month or registered in any other period. Reports numeration can be constant within a calendar year, an accounting year or within particular months. Opening date and closing date must be determined for each of the reports. Each cash and bank account can be assigned to any number of cash or bank reports. Each report may, in turn, include any number of payment or receipt transactions which determine the revenues and expenses of financial resources in the company

7)    Payments (Receivables and Payables) – this is a list of all events connected with revenues and expenses of the financial resources in the company, both those from the past and those from the future

Payments can be:

         entered by the user from the level of receivables and payables list. For example: planned purchases of equipment for the company (no purchase document is registered yet, but a specified expense is already planned), planned receipts of financial resources not connected with effected transactions

         added automatically by the system while issuing a document which involves settling of payment. For example: confirmed sales or purchase invoice with payment.

Thanks to the events saved in the list of receivables and payables, the user may:

         precisely follow the current balance of payables and receivables

         easily complete the planned payments with entries confirming their realization – transactions

         compensate the events with each other

         forecast the future cash flow and balance of financial resources in the company

         estimate planned expenses divided into particular categories – forecasts for categories which will bring the highest profits and the highest costs

8)    Customer and Vendor Payments – the completion of customer and vendor payments is based on the list of planned payments and actual cash / bank transactions connected with the same cash flow direction (revenue or expense). If the list of planned financial transactions concerning a specified document is associated with actual cash or bank transactions, the operation of payment completion is then involved. Payment can be applied partially of entirely (depending on whether total planned transactions equal to total transactions actually effected). In this place, it is possible to complete all payments from cash-bank transactions registered for a given customer or vendor   

9)    Exchange Rate Differences – these documents are created as a result of completions and compensations of cash and bank transactions with the effected payments. They result from the changing exchange rates for these elements

10)Terms – this is a list of transactions involving granted early payment discounts or term payment discounts

The available functions and documents are available in tab Finances.  

Figure 1 Finances menu.