Dynamic account generation

Note: Use Dynamic Account Generation to create posting accounts if you are interfacing transactions from an old system.

Dynamic account generation is a General Ledger feature that you can use to automatically generate posting accounts. Use this as an alternative to manually assigning detail accounts for each posting accounting unit.

The system will add a posting account when a transaction is entered or converted. For the system to automatically generate posting accounts, these conditions must be true:

  • You must define detail accounts in your chart of accounts.

  • You must define posting accounting units in your company structure.

  • You must create accounting unit lists based on the groups of accounting units that will share the same accounts. See What is a List?.

  • You must assign the appropriate accounting unit list to summary or detail accounts that will use dynamic account generation.

The dynamic generation list automatically assigns accounts to an accounting unit rather than forcing you to manually assign accounts. This only assigns accounts during transaction entry or transaction conversion.

Planning for dynamic account generation

Using dynamic account generation requires some planning. Before specifying information for dynamic account generation, consider creating a matrix of the valid combinations of accounting units and accounts for a company. Then create lists for each group of accounting units that uses the same set of accounts.

Purpose of dynamic account generation

The purpose of dynamic account generation is to create new posting accounts, where appropriate. Dynamic account generation uses these logic to determine if a new posting account must be created:

  • You enter a transaction, such as entering an invoice in Accounts Payable.

  • The system checks to make sure the accounting unit and detail account exist in General Ledger.

  • If the accounting unit is included in an accounting unit list, then the system creates a relationship between the detail account and the accounting unit, resulting in a new posting account.

    Illustration: dynamic account generation logic

Example

The dynamic account generation feature simplifies setup for a growing organization. It eliminates assigning detail accounts to posting accounting units and copying accounts from one accounting unit to another.

For example, if you own a chain of restaurants, then you might be continually opening new restaurants. While a new restaurant will be a new accounting unit, it operates the same way the other restaurants do and will post to the same accounts.

You can simply add the new accounting unit (the restaurant) to an existing accounting unit list, rather than assigning detail accounts when you define the accounting unit. As an option, when you initially define the accounting unit list, you can define it for a range of accounting units that will accommodate future growth.