Creating a Nominal

CUSTADMIN access only

Some Of the nominals and ledgers used in this topic may be different to those in your chart of accounts.

Once a new core nominal has been created, you can then create the nominal. You can also edit an existing nominal. For more information, please see Editing an Existing Nominal.

You must create a core nominal before a nominal can be created. For more information, please see Creating a Core Nominal.

1. Select Maintenance, then select Nominals from the menu.
   

2. The Nominal Maintenance window is displayed. Select ADD NEW, then select NOMINAL.
   If the new nominal has the same settings applied to an existing nominal, you can copy the existing nominal to create an account for the new nominal. On the Nominal Maintenance window, select the nominal you want to copy from the left-hand panel, select ADD NEW, then select NOMINAL (COPY).

   

3. A <New item> is displayed in the left-hand panel and automatically selected. Enter the code for the nominal (three letter location code plus the previously created core nominal code) in Nominal. In the following example, AST2999, has been entered.
   If you are creating a nominal to be copied to all locations, enter the master location code (which must have been previously set as described in Defining the Master Location for Creating Nominals).

   

4. Next, enter the Title for the nominal which should clearly identify it's purpose, e.g. Apprenticeship Levy .
   

You can now choose from the following options:

Specifying the Nominal Type

The type of nominal being created needs to be identified to determine how the nominal is used. Choose whether this is a Balance Sheet (appears on balance sheet reports and rolls over each year) or Trading (appears on surplus/deficit reports and starts afresh each year). Select the required option from the Type drop-down list.

Linking the Nominal to a Ledger

If required, the nominal can be linked to a ledger. If linked, an account from the specified ledger needs to be selected when posting. You could for example, link the nominal to an applicable cost centre ledger (e.g. AST_COSTCTR). When the nominal is selected, an applicable cost centre must also be chosen. You can only link a nominal to a ledger if the nominal has no exiting entries against it.

On the Nominal Maintenance window, select Drill (...) in Ledger, then double-select to select the required ledger (e.g. AST_COSTCTR) from the Select a ledger dialog.

Setting the Nominal Quantity Options

The Quantity field determines whether a quantity value is required when posting a document (such as a sales or purchase invoice) . The most common choice is Optional (the default option) but this can be set to None or Compulsory. Select the required option from the Quantity drop-down list.

Defining the initial State of Documents Posted to this Nominal

The Initial State field is used to set the initial state of a document posted to this nominal. Choose from the following options:

• Open - allows documents posted to the nominal to be available for allocation once posted (recommended option).

• Null - documents posted to the nominal are not available for allocation (we do not recommend this option is selected).

• Hold - posted documents are put on hold status and cannot be allocated or paid until the status is changed to open.

• Open External - only selected for bank nominals.

Selected the required option from the Initial state drop-down list.

Adding Comments to the Nominal

Comments can be added to a nominal to provide information on the setup of the nominal, which may be useful to anyone else who manages nominals. Enter the required comments in the Comments panel.

Selecting Nominal Indices

Nominal indices help to categorise each nominal code for reporting purposes, as well as being linked to other functions within the system, such as the search facility.

1. Select the Indices tab. Indices that can be linked to the nominal are listed in the Indices panel in the centre.
2. Select the index from the centre panel, then select the required options for the index from the Values panel (the options vary depending on how the index has been set up). For more information, please see Maintaining Indices.
   

Specifying Required Analysis Fields

Depending on your establishment / organisation settings, analysis fields require an applicable option to be selected if they are mandatory. The following example, selects an option for management reporting. Complete the same process for any other analysis fields that are mandatory.

To display the nominal on required reports, the management reporting code needs to be selected.

1. Select the Analysis tab. To set the management reporting code, select Drill (...) in Management Reporting.
   
2. Double-select to select the required code from the Select MGTGROUP key dialog.
   If you are unsure which code to select, check a similar nominal code and copy the settings, or use select ZZZ and edit when known.

Specifying Security for the Nominal

Security roles can be used to apply security restrictions to nominals. Without them, any user with the applicable access level can view and maintain the nominal and its associated data.

If no security roles are selected, then all users with appropriate access levels can carry out all the functions (view, modify post, etc.)Using the Security tab, you can determine which security role can view, modify, post, or add a ledger as follows:

ITEM	DESCRIPTION
View	Users with the selected security role can view any documents posted to this nominal.
Modify	Users with the selected security role can modify the properties of this nominal (i.e. edit the tabs on the Nominal Maintenance window).
Post	Users with the selected security role can post documents to this nominal.
Add Ledger	Users with the selected role can change the ledger to which the nominal is assigned.

Whichever role is shown in the drop-down list, the same role must be assigned to the applicable user group in order to give them access to that part of the system. For more information, please see Overview of Security Roles.

1. Select the Security tab. Select Drill (...) in the required security field.
   
2. Double-select to select the required security role from the Select a role for Nominal dialog .
   
3. Repeat for all the required functions.
   

Saving the Nominal Account

Once all of the required information has been added, select SAVE.

An Update complete message is displayed. Select OK to close the message and return to the previous window.