Total name

A total name is used to obtain account and accounting unit balances for use in compute statements or ratios. You define a total name to identify any combination of accounting unit, account, or subaccount balances for a company, company group, level group, accounting unit list, or total range as if they were one amount. Defining a total name is important because you cannot use account or accounting unit ranges in a compute statement. For example, you can assign the name SALES to group sales accounts so that the total value of sales can be used in a calculation.

Note: You must define a total name before using it in a compute statement.

TOT data dictionary names

You use a total name in a compute statement with a data dictionary name that has a TOT suffix. For example, if you create a SALES total name and you want to include the current period total for it in a compute statement, then the data dictionary name is CPTOT(SALES). CP identifies the current period, TOT identifies that a total name is specified, and SALES is the total name.

You have the option to select amount, unit, currency, budget, or Multi-Book Ledger values to create the total. A total name can be used for calculations in Report Writer, Project Accounting, Ratio Analysis, Lease Management, Allocations, or Budgeting.

By fiscal year

When you define a total name, you select the fiscal year in which you want to define the total name.

Note: Report Writer stores totals by fiscal year. When you define a total name, however, you do not need to create a new total name for each fiscal year. When you use a total name in a new fiscal year, the application automatically creates the total name for that new year and generates a new balance.

Calculating total names

You can calculate (refresh) the value of a total name one of three ways within Report Writer:

  • Click Calculate on Total Names (RW70.1)

  • Run Total Name Listing (RW270) with the update option

  • Generate a report referencing the total name using Report Generation (RW100)

Example

LGE Corporation would like to see year-to-date sales for each posting accounting unit in the hospitals and clinics compared to the total sales of the company. To calculate this, they need to be able to isolate the accounts that represent their total sales. They created a total name called %SALES-CO, which consolidates their gross sales accounts (41000 to 42999) and accounting units into a single amount.

This total name is used in the numerator and denominator of a compute statement to calculate the comparison they want to create. This is the compute statement that they created:

Form clip: Using a total name within a compute statement

The numerator for the compute statement is the sales amount for a posting accounting unit. It is calculated by using the CYDTOT data dictionary name with the %SALES-CO total name and applying the accounting unit from the row line.

Note: The @CUAU data dictionary name is an important tool in creating global computes that can be overridden when doing calculations in Report Writer, Allocations, and Budgeting. Without the data name, a separate total name and compute statement need to be created for each level definition.

The data name @CUAU (current accounting unit), following the total name, directs the application to use the level definition from the row line instead of the level definition from the total name. This example assumes that the accounting units for the hospitals and clinics were specified on the row lines of the report. The @CUAU data name is used strictly with total names in a compute. The denominator for the compute statement is used to calculate the total sales for the company by using the CYDTOT data name with the %SALES-CO total name.