Sub-accounts
Conceptually sub-accounts are somewhat similar to funds in the investment ledger. Any nominal account can have sub-accounts added to it. A sub-account is indicated by a /’ in the account code. For instance an account code XXX could have two sub-accounts, XXX/01 and XXX/02. XXX itself is known as the main account. If XXX has sub-accounts it is no longer possible to post to XXX. Instead the specific sub-account must be specified. Although XXX has no transactions, its balance is the sum of all its sub-accounts.
Adding Sub-accounts
Sub-accounts can be added directly to a client. Unlike main accounts they do not need to exist in the Master Chart. However if the sub-account does exist in the Master Chart then you can use the special features of the Master Chart. For instance if XXX/01 is edited to XXX/02 in the master chart then this change affects all clients. In practice, subaccounts are not usually added to the Master Chart. However if a special feature of the Master Chart is required then they can be added at that time and possibly deleted again afterwards.
If a main account already has transactions it is still possible to add sub-accounts to it. As soon as the first sub-account is added all the transactions are transferred from the main account to the sub-account. Similarly any other references to the main account are changed to the first sub-account.
Deleting Sub-accounts
A sub-account cannot normally be deleted if it has transactions. However if the sub-account is the only sub-account of a main account then it can be deleted and all the transactions are automatically transferred back to the main account.
Using Sub-accounts for Beneficiaries
If an Income and Expenditure Account needs to be split by beneficiary then this can be done by adding a sub-account for each beneficiary to every Income and Expenditure Account. In this scenario, the Investment Defaults on each beneficiary’s fund would reference the sub-accounts for that beneficiary.
Setting up subaccounts for each beneficiary can be time consuming. A special option, Add Range of Sub/cs, is available to do the job. You specify a range of main accounts, the subaccount number and account description (usually the beneficiary name) and the sub-accounts are automatically added.
When subaccounts are used in this way it is normal to do all postings to the first sub-account. Then when the accounts come to be prepared at the year end, a journal is done for each main account splitting out the share that relates to each of the other beneficiaries.
Trial Balance
The Trial Balance has a Detailed checkbox to include sub-accounts. If a detailed Trial Balance is run then the sub-accounts are listed. Otherwise totals are just shown for the main accounts.