Lesson 10.2: Using Control Account Register Reports
In accounting, “Books of Original Entry” or “Source Journals” are the detailed logs where transactions are first recorded before being summarized in the General Ledger. In FastFund Online, these are called Control Account Register Reports.
These reports are essential for auditing. They allow you to see the granular details of every transaction: the date, reference number, payee/payor, the specific accounts debited and credited (the distribution), and who entered the transaction.
This lesson covers the specific journals available, how to customize the columns to show audit data (like “Entered By”), and how to interpret “Link Back” information.
1. Types of Register Reports
FastFund organizes these reports by transaction type. You access them by navigating to Reports > Control Account Registers.
• Cash Disbursements Journal: Lists all checks written, payroll checks, bank fees, and online payments. It pulls data from accounts marked as “Bank” type.
• Cash Receipts Journal: Lists all money received before it is deposited. This report details activity in the “Undeposited Funds” account (e.g., client payments, donations).
• Cash Deposits Journal: Lists the grouped deposits made into your bank accounts.
• General Journal: Lists standard journal entries. You can choose to print regular Adjusting Entries or the system-generated Fund Balancing Entries.
• Vendor Invoices Journal: (Requires Accounts Payable module) Lists all bills entered for vendors.
• Revenue Journal: (Requires Accounts Receivable module) Lists all invoices/bills created for clients.
2. Generating a Register Report
While the parameters vary slightly by report, the process for generating a Cash Disbursements Journal (the most common report) is representative of the others.
Steps to Generate:
1. Navigate to Reports > Control Account Registers > Cash Disbursements Journal.
2. Date Range: Select the period. Use the “Three Horizontal Lines” icon to quickly select dynamic ranges like “Last Month” or “Fiscal YTD.”
3. Account Selection:
◦ Start/End Account: Select the specific bank account you want to review.
◦ Tip: If you want to see all bank accounts, click the Plus (+) sign to auto-fill the range with the first and last bank accounts in your system.
4. Sort By: Choose to organize the list by Date, Reference (Check Number), Entity Name, or Entity Number.
3. Customizing Columns (Audit Trail)
Standard reports show the Date, Reference, Name, and Amount. However, for internal control reviews, you often need more data. FastFund allows you to add specific columns to these registers.
The “Report Fields” Dropdown: Located in the report parameters window, this dropdown allows you to check or uncheck fields including:
• Entered By: Shows the username of the person who created the transaction.
• Date Entered/Modified: Shows the actual timestamp of entry or modification.
• Date Cleared: Shows the date the item cleared the bank (useful for reconciliation audits).
• Distribution Memo: Shows the specific line-item description rather than just the main check memo.
• Link Back Info: (See below).
Format Warning: The PDF report format has a fixed width. If you add too many custom columns, they may not fit on the page. If you need a report with many custom columns, select Excel or HTML as your output format.
4. Understanding Link Back Information
A unique feature in FastFund reports is the Link Back Info column. This tells you where a transaction went or where it came from, linking related accounting events.
• On a Vendor Invoice Journal: The Link Back Info shows the Date and Check Number that paid the bill.
• On a Cash Receipts Journal: The Link Back Info shows the Date and Reference of the Deposit that moved the funds to the bank.
• On a Revenue Journal: The Link Back Info shows the Date and Reference of the payment received from the client.
This feature allows you to trace the lifecycle of a transaction (Bill -> Payment -> Cleared) directly from the reports.
5. Exporting for Analysis
Once you generate the report:
• HTML: Use this for on-screen investigation. Blue text indicates hyperlinks that allow you to drill down to the original transaction entry screen.
• Excel/CSV: Use this if you need to filter data, sum specific columns, or perform forensic analysis.