Statement of Financial Activities - Receipts and Payments

The SOFA is made up of cash receipts and cash payments that show the surplus or deficit for a particular time period for the entities funds.

Receipts are recorded in income accounts for the entity. While payments for goods, services and other charges incurred in the day to day running of the entity are recorded to expense accounts

Receipts and Payments

This report produces a Receipts and Payments version of the SOFA. In essence only reporting cash movements in the accounting period.

Where the organisation is reporting using Receipts and Payments but have non-cash assets and/or liabilities the following comments may be useful Receipts and Payments reporting where there are non-cash assets and liabilities

The report will usually be produced with Funds summarised across Unrestricted, Restricted and Endowment. However if the user prefers to have each fund displayed in columns tick the 'All Funds by Column" box.

Charities with an annual income of below £250,000 may choose to report on an accruals basis or a Receipts and Payments basis. Charities that are companies may not use a receipts and payments basis. The user is strongly advised to discuss the choice with their advisor if uncertain.

Quick Date Selection (where relevant)

Where it is relevant the Quick Date Selection drop-down allows the user to rapidly select relevant key date ranges for the report.

A comparative version is available by setting the date range for the comparison. The SET DATES FOR COMPARATIVE PERIOD BELOW button will also quickly populate a comparative period related to the date range set above.

Select the number format for the report, either: -

• Whole Pounds, the default
• Exact Amount including pence
• Thousands to two decimal places

A pdf report subsequently created will use the same number format, but csv and xls downloads will be to the exact amount.

The report is prepared by clicking GENERATE button.

Level of Detail

Level of Detail

The level of detail can be set by the user clicking on the top left of the screen the EXPAND All/COLLAPSE All buttons or use the + or - buttons.

The amount of further detail is determined by the user by clicking symbol

Note the level of line item detail displayed on the screen will be reflected in any subsequent output.

Report Output

The report is presented to screen and the user may drill-down on individual lines to see the underlying transactions. The report can also be downloaded in PDF, XLS, or CSV format. Alternatively you may save a copy of the report on Liberty to be viewed from the menu option:

Reports - Saved Reports

Where the report has columns not immediately displayed on the screen the user may scroll with a mouse.

Drill-down

Click on the account you want to view and the system will open a new window showing all the transactions that make up the total in the for that account. By default only the transactions for the year you are reporting on will be presented but the user may extend the date range.

Re-assign Selected Items

Single or multiple transactions may be re-assigned to another account by selecting from the drop-down box an account to which the transactions need to be moved.

Note this is a powerful feature and must be used with care and understanding.

Select those transactions required to be moved by ticking the selection box for each. Note all items in the screen date window may be selected by ticking 'Re-assign All'

When ready, click the RE-ASSIGN SELECTED ITEMS button to move those transactions.

The action box symbol gives access to the following actions.

Analyse

to view/modify existing transaction.

Audit

to view the audit trial entry for the transaction.

delete

Delete is available if not reconciled, in a close period or linked to another transaction.

In using the analyse feature you need to think carefully about the impact of your change and whether it is acceptable based on the needs of your organisation, its accounting policies, and whether the change causes your accounts to differ from what you have already reported to statutory or tax bodies. Transactions can only be changed and saved if they are dated after the later of the last closed year end or any user configured "Transaction Lock Date" on the accounting options tab of the business profile.

Note that 'Re-assign Selected Items' function is also available from within the Analyse Screen. Please note the comments above.