Accounting Best Practices for Businesses and Startups - Accounting General Ledger Coding Schema

In the world of business, maintaining accurate financial records is essential for success. Whether you are a well-established company or a budding startup, having expert accounting solutions at your disposal can make all the difference. Below we will describe simple yet highly effective strategies to optimize your accounting coding schema.

At Calenzie Consulting, LLC, we understand the unique financial challenges that businesses face. Our team of experienced professionals offers a wide range of services designed to help companies streamline their accounting processes, improve financial transparency, and achieve their long-term goals. From conducting in-depth analyses of accounting infrastructure to providing recommendations on best practices for month-end close and controls, we are committed to delivering tailored solutions that drive results.

In this blog we will be discussing Accounting General Ledger ("GL") coding schema which is the most basic building block of your accounting and finance operations. Every financial report and instrument you build, report on, and analyze will be based off of not only your chart of accounts but also the required fields that need be entered when creating/importing bills, invoices, and journal entries. The sum of all of this is what Calenzie Consulting, LLC refers to as "accounting coding schema".

Already have an accounting ERP up and running? No problem, this does not mean that you cannot enhance the reporting capabilities by building on top of what you already have. In many cases, these simple updates provide invaluable business insight.

Tips on Creating or Enhancing your Accounting Coding Schema

1. First start with a blank slate. Outside of accounting reporting, think of what reporting your business needs now AND what you'll need in the future. For example, if you have a basic chart of accounts, but don't have the fields created and synced across your financial systems for department, division, service line, location, client, etc. then you'll likely want to figure out what drives the most bang for your buck. Word of caution is think of what will be needed to analyze and optimize your business (profitability by market, department spend for budget tracking, etc.). You do not want to include anything and everything as that will overwhelm your accounting department as each journal entry, expense, bill, etc. will have to have these fields.

2. Once you have a sense of what reporting you envision, take an inventory of what systems you have currently up and running and their capabilities. In some cases, to achieve the desired outcome and to really have the insight into your business you may need to update or deprecate some ancillary systems with more capable ones. In many cases, the dollar cost of switching these ancillary systems is very minimal - which means it is definitely worth the effort.

3. Create a simple roadmap of what systems will need to have custom fields added, what system(s) you may need to deprecate/add, and the timing of when you'd plan on starting. Best advice is to launch any new coding schemas at the beginning of a fiscal year so that year-over-year reporting is comparable. Also, ensure you give two or three weeks for the new coding schema to be in production and in use so that your accounting team has time to make any tweaks necessary before the month closes.

4. Once you have your first month-end close with the new coding schema, take a look at any process improvements that need to be made or updates to internal close checklists/processes. Our advice is to run with the new coding schema for a month or two before fully relying on it, as that will ensure any wrinkles are smoothed out.

5. Once you are comfortable that the accounting processes are up-to-date to account for the new coding schema you can begin syncing and updating this across any other non-accounting systems such as in Tableau, Microstrategy, other dashboards, etc. so that the new reporting capabilities are disseminated to any relevant parties.

6. Lastly, it is now time to analyze the financials in the slicing and dicing you envisioned with this new coding schema - you will be surprised at the cost saving, business insight, and profitability metrics uncovered!

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One of the key advantages of working with Calenzie Consulting, LLC is our team's hands-on experience in the field. We have a proven track record of helping businesses navigate complex financial landscapes and overcome challenges with practical, real-world solutions. Our clients can rest assured that they are receiving expert guidance backed by years of industry knowledge. Whether you are looking to gain insight into your financial performance, ensure compliance with regulations, or simply need advice on how to reach your financial objectives, Calenzie Consulting, LLC has you covered. Our dedicated team is here to support you every step of the way, empowering you to make informed decisions that benefit your bottom line.

In conclusion, when it comes to expert accounting solutions for businesses, Calenzie Consulting, LLC is the partner you can trust. With our personalized approach, unwavering commitment to excellence, and unmatched industry expertise, we are dedicated to helping your business thrive. Contact us today to learn more about how we can support your financial success.