HELP- Finance question.

[amir_j]

Quick question- if I have a list of ledger account balances which are both positive and negative (thus assuming Credit and debits) and need to list the top 20% etc Should I ignore the negative sign or rank in an ordinary manner so ending up with only the positives? :help:

[Eric Mc]

First question I would ask - is the ledger listing showing the correct situation. By and large, negative balances should be rare. If there seems to be a preponderance of negative balances in the listing, you need to be sure that the negative balance shows the true situation.

What are you ranking and why are you ranking?

What type of ledger listing is it, a list of debtors or a list of creditors?

[amir_j]

Hi Eric,

It is a list of General ledger accounts directly out of a enterprise General Ledger, these are accounts which have not been used for a few years so deciding what to do with them,

The balances are the current position and I am interested in showing the largest balances- hence why seems logical to ignore the negative sign.

[Eric Mc]

Don't quite understand the terminiology you are using.

Are they customer or supplier balalnces?

Or are they basic nominal account balances?

[amir_j]

Hi Eric

Please ignore- managed to resolve. Were customer accounts and ended up using the absolute values.

Many Thanks

[Eric Mc]

amir_j said:

Hi Eric

Please ignore- managed to resolve. Were customer accounts and ended up using the absolute values.

Many Thanks

Check out those negative customer balances though. It could mean that some of your customers are overpaying or it could mean that the business is underinvoicing.

Either way, there are accounting, tax and VAT implications.

The negative balances could also be down to fundamental weaknesses in the financial control of the business.