See also: Creating an Expense Code Dictionary.
When you have set up the analysis sub-fields, the Customise ccent dictionary and Create ccent file programs must be run. This builds the analysis coding that has been defined into a file structure.
When these two programs have been run the master Management Accounts menu changes and the following two options are added:
In addition, the miscellaneous menu option Cost centre levels holds the hierarchy that has been defined in analysis sub-fields.
What do you want to do?
To customise CCENT dictionaries:
From the Rev. 8 Master menu select the Management accounts option and the company you require.
The MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS menu is displayed.
Select the System maintenance option.
The MA SYSTEM MAINTENANCE menu is displayed.
Select the Analysis sub-fields option.
The MA Analysis Sub-fields Menu is displayed.
Select the Customise ccent dictionary option.
The data dictionary file home/MA/dicts/00.MA.ccent.dd is recreated, and a new field, ANAL1, is added. It is equal to the number of bytes that have been allocated to each hierarchy in the sub-field analysis.
To create CCENT files:
From the Rev. 8 Master menu select the Management accounts option and the company you require.
The MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS menu is displayed.
Select the System maintenance option.
The MA SYSTEM MAINTENANCE menu is displayed.
Select the Analysis sub-fields option.
The MA Analysis Sub-fields Menu is displayed.
Select the Create ccent file option.
A data files for ccent is created. Ensure that the file is large enough to cope with the number of records it is expected to accommodate. For example, if there are 700 records in the Cost Centre spreadsheet, create the file ccent to contain more than 700 records.
This causes the data/MA/XX/XX.MA.ccent file to be created, where XX is the Management Accounts company number.
Consultants Note: If for any reason the MA.masub file has had to be initialized or removed, you should regenerate MA.iflds. A symptom of this not having been done is that it may not be possible to drill all the way into the Nominal ledger.
When this set-up procedure is complete then the Copy NL Actuals To MA and Generate drill-down programs should be run in the EOD procedure. When these options run in EOD mode and MA codes do not exist, the process will time out and no drill files are generated. The EOD log will identify the first code that cannot be found. This code and any others should be investigated and either opened or deleted using Autoline Utilities. The drill may then be regenerated at any time from the menu option.
For every new cost centre record created, default entries can be applied according to the initial record contents entered here. The entry against each field can either be blank, a prompt to the operator as to what should be entered at this point, or a valid entry. This third option can achieve a certain amount of time-saving when creating individual Cost centre records. Once defined the Cost centre default record is used as a template for all new Cost centre records created. It does not, however, have any effect on existing records.
Method 1: Use the SETUP option in Adding or Modifying MA Cost Centres, and key in the values directly.
Tip: It is possible to copy and paste from the spreadsheet.
Method 2: Use the DOS ASCII Import program and set up an import to extract data directly from the spreadsheet and write it to the ccent file.
Method 3: Use a dedicated overlay written specifically for this task. This must be done with the help of an Autoline consultant.
When the Analysis fields have been completed an AD-HOC inquiry must be run on the ccent file. This is to make sure that all MA cost centres have the correct codes in their ANAL1 - analysis code field.
WARNING: Before proceeding to copy data into the MA system a final review should be taken to ensure that all codes and descriptions have been set up.