Setting up a Practice Template or Master

This support note applies to:

AO Classic General Ledger (AU)

Article ID: 23398

Practice Templates / Masters are customised ledgers and reports that the firm use instead of the MYOB standards. There are many reasons why a firm will prefer to customise an MYOB standard format report design. When Standard reports are customised to be used within the firm as their preferred design, instead of the MYOB Standard it is recommended that the firm implement their own Practice Template / Master ledgers.

Listed below are suggested steps to implement your own Practice Template and Master. If you would like an MYOB Consultant to review your Practice Template / Master setup please contact your Client Manager or submit a support request.

Differences between a Template and a Master

Master ledgers are used to house the report designs. Templates are used as a pre-defined set of information per entity type. For example Templates are setup to be entity specific to cater for different Chart of Account structures, Description File Maintenance and Report Lists.

Templates use a Report List as a short cut to point to a Report that exists within the Master. Reports are rarely stored within a Template, due to the fact when a report is in a Template it is customised, and when you create a new ledger based on the Template, it copies that customised report. If you need to change or edit that report for any reason, you would need to edit that report in each ledger that was based on that template. Whereas if you need to edit a report within a Master, you only need to edit it once, and all report lists that point to it are automatically updated.

Prepare Carefully: The secret behind every successful Practice Template and Master ledger is PREPARATION. Spending ten minutes preparing and setting up the naming conventions and being consistent in what your practice requirements are prior to setting up your first ledger can save you hours of time fixing/changing/amending your job and provides you and your client with meaningful management reports.

Summary of steps to setup a Practice Master and Template:

1. How to create a Practice Master

From within the Select General Ledger window, press F4. The Adding a New Ledger window is displayed.
Ensure the Create a new ledger option is selected. Create a new ledger is selected.

It is recommended to create a new ledger; however you can select to copy an existing MYOB standard master to save creating everything from the beginning.
Enter a name for your Practice Master in the New Name field, for example ZZ Practice Company Master. Where Practice refers to your firm name. A name is entered.

Select a naming convention for your practice that is able to be repeated for each entity type/style that is relevant for your firm.
Enter a name in the New Path field, for example ZZPracticeSCM. Where Practice refers to your firm name, SC refers to Small Company, and M refers to Master. A name is entered.

Select a naming convention for your practice that is able to be repeated for each entity type/style that is relevant for your firm.
Select Master Ledger from the Ledger Type field. Master Ledger is selected.
Click Add Ledger. The Ledger Configuration window is displayed.
Enter the Year End Date, Name for Financial Reports and other fields as required, then click on OK. A processing window appears then disappears and the Template Ledger window is displayed.

As a default when creating new ledgers, the account structure is set to 4 digits; it is recommended to change the account structure to 3 digits, with support for additional sub-code as 2. To change these settings click the Account Structure tab within the Ledger Configuration window.

2. How to create a Practice Report

In the Practice Master ledger, from the Reports menu, select Edit Customised Financial Report Definitions. The Edit Customised Financial Report Definitions window appears.
Press F4. The Adding a New Customised Report window appears.
Enter a unique report number in the Report ID field. A number is entered.

You can either select a specific ID number for the report you are copying or choose your own unique ID number. Report ID's determine in which order reports will print.
Select the Standard Report type from the Report Type drop-down list. The Standard Report type is selected.

You should use the Standard Report option when adding a report other than Notes to the Accounts, Fixed Assets or the Livestock Valuation report.
Enter a name for this report in the Report Description field. A name is entered.

This name will not appear when the report is printed. This is a reference for you to identify what the report will incorporate, for example Balance Sheet, Income Statement.

If you want to create a blank report design then select Do not copy an existing report at step 6 below and click OK. The report will be added and you can start entering your line details. You do not need to continue with the remaining steps.
Click the Copy an existing report radio button and select a client whose name begins with ZZAU, for example ZZAU15 Small Co, from the Copy from Ledger dropdown list.

The MYOB Master ledgers contain all the master reports for each entity. It is recommended to copy a Master report design if you want to only make a few changes, as this will save time depending on the report selected.

The majority of the MYOB Standard reports such as Profit & Loss, Rental Income Statements etc are located within the Small Company master (ZZAU15 - Small Co's). The reports such as Balance Sheet, Operating Statement (Superfund) which relate to specific entity types due to the different account structures, are located within each entity specific Master. For example Departmental reports are stored within the Departmental masters, Members Statements are stored in the Superfund master.
Select a report from the Report to Copy drop-down list. A report is selected.
Click OK. The Modify Customised Report Details window is displayed, and the report will be added to the Edit Customised Financial Report Definitions window.
You can now customise the report design to suit your practice requirements.

3. How to create a Practice Template

From within the Select General Ledger window, press F4. The Adding a New Ledger window is displayed.
Ensure the button Copy an existing ledger option is selected. Copy an Existing ledger is selected.

It is recommended to copy an existing MYOB standard template to save creating everything from the beginning.
Enter a name for your Practice Template in the New Name field, for example 1 Practice Company Template. Where Practice refers to your firm name. A name is entered.

Select a naming convention for your practice that is able to be repeated for each entity type/style that is relevant for your firm.
Enter a name in the New Path field, for example ZZPracticeSCT. Where Practice refers to your firm name, SC refers to Small Company and T refers to Template. A name is entered.

Select a naming convention for your practice that is able to be repeated for each entity type/style that is relevant for your firm.
Select Template Ledger from the Ledger Type field. Template Ledger is selected.
Select an appropriate template to copy details, for example 15 Small Co. Template. A template ledger is selected.
Click Add Ledger. The Ledger Configuration window is displayed.
Change the Year End Date, Name for Financial Reports and other fields as required, then click on OK. A processing window appears then disappears and the Template Ledger window is displayed.

4. How to create a new Report List

You can either create a new report list or edit an existing report list. It depends on the number of reports that you have customised. There are steps below for both options.

Within the Practice template ledger, go to the Reports menu and select Print Financial Reports. The Print Financial Reports wizard appears.
Click Next. Step 2 - Select Report list is displayed.

If you prefer to delete any existing report lists at Step 2 - Select Report list, remove the listed items by selecting each item and then clicking the Remove button. A confirmation message appears, click Yes.
Click the Add / Copy button. The Add / Copy Report List window appears.
Select the Create a new Report List option then enter an appropriate name in the Report List Description field and click Add. The report list is added and Step 2 - Select Report list is displayed.
Select the Report List that you created, and click Next. Step 3 - Select Reports to Print is displayed.
Press F4. Adding a Report window is displayed.
Enter a Report ID number. A number is entered.

You can either select the ID number for the report or choose your own unique ID number. Report ID's determine in which order reports will print.
Click on Master as the Report Type. Master is selected, and drop down box is activated.
Select the appropriate Master from the drop down list, for example your Practice Master. A Master ledger is selected.
From the Name ofReport to Adddrop down list, select the appropriate report and click OK. A report is selected then added, Step 3 -Select Reports to Print is displayed.
How to update an existing Report List
You can also manually add the reports into your existing report lists by following the steps below. For more details refer to article .
1. Within the Practice template ledger, go to the Reports menu and select Print Financial Reports. The Print Financial Reports wizard appears.
2. Click Next. Step 2 - Select Report list is displayed.
3. Select the Report List that you normally use to print your financial reports, for example Year End Accounts, and click Next. Step 3 - Select Reports to Print is displayed.
4. Press F4. Adding a Report window is displayed.
5. Enter a Report ID number. A number is entered.
  
  You can either select the ID number for the report or choose your own unique ID number. Report ID's determine in which order reports will print, for more details refer to article 7639 How do I change the order that Financial Reports print in?
6. Click on Master as the Report Type. Master is selected, and drop down box is activated.
7. Select the appropriate Master from the drop down list, for example your Practice Master. A Master ledger is selected.
8. From the Name of Report to Adddrop down list, select the appropriate report and click OK. A report is selected then added, Step 3 - Select Reports to Print is displayed
9. Repeat the above steps 4 - 8 if you want to add additional reports. For more details refer to.
Repeat the above steps 6 - 10 if you want to add additional reports. For more details refer to article .

5. Create a new ledger based on your Template

Once the Practice Templates and Masters have been setup, you can now start to create your ledgers based on your practice templates. For more details, refer to At step 6 of this article select your new Practice template, instead of the MYOB standard templates.