Perform a consolidation

You can consolidate multiple entities into your Working Papers file by performing a consolidation.

Before consolidating files, create a blank file to ensure that there is no client data present. Ensure that the blank file is open before processing the consolidation. Any entries posted to a sub-company's accounts are automatically reflected in the combination account.

Internal (real-time) consolidation

You can prepare a consolidation engagement by importing all the relevant accounting records into one Working Papers file. This is called an Internal Consolidation. An internal consolidation is optimal for a company with a divisional organizational structure.

To prepare an internal consolidation:

  1. Import the relevant accounting records into the Working Papers file.
  2. Set up a Trial Balance or leadsheet automatic document to organize account balances, totals, and other information by entity.
  3. On the ribbon, click Engagement | Consolidate.
  4. In the Consolidation dialog, click New to add an entity.
  5. In the Consolidation dialog, select an entity, then click Properties.
  6. In the External Source for Entity Detail group, click None.
  7. In the Fractional Contribution to Parent Entity group, enter the percentage contributed to the consolidation. This is the percentage of the accounting records that will affect the parent entity's records.
  8. Repeat the previous steps to add more entities if required.
  9. When finished, click OK. In the Consolidation dialog, click Apply.

The internal entity has been consolidated. Internally maintained entity files will be updated in a real-time as data is changed.

External (batch) consolidation

You can prepare a consolidation engagement with the accounting records of entities that already have Working Papers files. You can import these accounting records into the engagement file by linking to the entities' files. This is called an external consolidation.

To prepare an external consolidation:

  1. On the ribbon, click Engagement | Consolidate.
  2. In the Consolidation dialog, click New to add an entity.
  3. In the Entity Identification group, enter a name and abbreviation for your entity.

  4. In the External Source for Entity Detail group, click Existing file. Browse to the entity's Working Papers file, select it, then click OK.

    Notes:

    • Select Include prior balances only when you start the consolidation engagement. If you're importing an entity's accounting records in the following year, ensure that this check box is cleared.
    • Select Apply foreign exchange to import the foreign exchange rate and the accounting records of an entity where the currency is different than the consolidation's currency.
    • Select Enable account synchronization if you want changes to the account properties of the entity's Working Papers file to flow through to the consolidation engagement.
    • Select Unmap new external accounts to exclude the map numbers of the entity's accounts from the import.
  5. In the Fractional Contribution to Parent Entity group, enter the percentage contributed to the consolidation. This is the percentage of the accounting records that will affect the parent entity's records.
  6. Repeat the previous steps to add more entities if required.
  7. When finished, click OK. In the Consolidation dialog, click Apply.

You have integrated the entity's accounting records into the consolidation engagement.

In the consolidation structure, a warning sign in the entity's icon indicates that you have not integrated the entity into the consolidation engagement. To complete this integration, click Apply.