I am looking into whether or not it is possible to have a distribution code allocate a fixed percentage of an amount that will change on a monthly basis in A/P. We need a setup where we can take an invoice total and have it split accordingly based on a percentage determined by us.

We have utilized the cost reallocation function in G/L, which reallocates one lump sum to 8 different accounts, the down side to this is that the amount being split out has to be divided evenly and we are losing all of our description when doing this reallocation. Any suggestions?

Younare mistaken about the reallocation function in Ledger.

Having said that, do you know the percentage splits at the time of invoice entry in Payables?

Can you fill me in on how I am mistaken?

We do know the percentage of the split, it would be based on square footage of the building that the costs relate to.

In the reallocation tab of the Ledger master account, you may enter any percentage as long as the total of all the reallocations is 100%. Since the is based on building square footage, why does it vary every month?

Another approach would be to use the financial reporter to create a reallocation batch to be imported from Excel.

Or perhaps create an Excel spreadsheet that does all the match you need and creates an importable invce ath in Payabless.

The percentages will stay the same but the amount will change because we are dealing with variable amounts, not a fixed amounts.

For example, we want to take a Hydro bill that will change monthly, and charge 50% to program A, 20% to program B, 30% to program C. What would you suggest would be the best way to do this without having to manual break the amount out each month?

Regarding the reallocation function in Ledger, when we set up the reallocation the details sent with the transaction to the applicable accounts if very minimal. Is there a way to have the detail of the initial transaction carry forward with the reallocation transactions?

In response to your last question, the Reallocation process uses the balance in the account; it doesn't look at individual transactions.

For example, if the Utilties account had a balance of $1,000 composed of 10 AP invoices, it is the $1,000 that is reallocated in a single entry, not the 10 lines.

That's the way it works now. However allocating by individual transaction would be a nice enhancement in the future.

Taking Bruce's answer into account, an easy way to do this is to have a "Utilities" account with a blank (no) department to send the electricity bill to, then re-allocate the amounts posted at the end of the month to the individual departments. Since you are reallocating the balance in the account at the end of the month, there is no need to do each transaction. I understand the issue of the loss of the description detail, but since it is the balances that are being re-allocated, there isn't really any description to apply to the reallocation transaction.

Here's a tip I use when using the reallocation function...

When creating the list of accounts that determine where a balance in the reallocation account get distributed, I enter as the reference for each account the percentage being allocated, and as the description the phrase "reallocated from account 9999-100" where 9999-100 is the account/department of the reallocation account.

There is a second line of description, to be used however you see fit.

It makes it very easy to track back to the original detail.

A suggestion for Softrak - it would be great if the reallocation table could be exported and imported using the normal export/import function in the GL.

Returning to the original suggestion, I have had clients ask for the ability to add percentages to the Distribution Set. That would be a useful addition in the future.