Account details (nominal account)

Find this screen

Open: Nominal Ledger > Nominal Accounts > New Nominal Account

Open: Nominal Ledger > Nominal Accounts > Amend Nominal Account

Open: Nominal Ledger > Nominal Enquiries > View Nominal Account

  • Use the Account tab to set details for your nominal account, such as the report category, SOFA category, account type, and consolidated account.

Account type

Choose the Account Type from the following:

  • Posting: Posting accounts are used for your transactions.
  • Memo: Memorandum accounts are used for additional analysis. Transactions posted to memorandum accounts are not included in financial statements or subject to double-entry rules.
  • Group: Group accounts are only used for budgeting and reporting.

More about account types

Posting accounts are the only account type that accounting transactions are applied to. These accounts are reflected in the Trial Balance and include accounts used in your Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet financial statements.

Memorandum accounts are provided for additional analysis. These accounts act in the same way as posting accounts except that postings to them are deemed to be outside any double-entry bookkeeping.

Whenever you are posting transactions to the Nominal Ledger using the journal entry, the total of all postings in the batch needs to balance to ensure accurate double-entry bookkeeping. However, any value associated with a memorandum account does not affect either the debit or credit total of the journal. This enables you to analyse values in more than one way without affecting the balance of accounts or the ledger as a whole. Memorandum accounts are used to enter supplementary information relating to account activities. These accounts are not included in the totals for financial statements by default. They may also be included in the account analysis reports.

Note: You must still enter a minimum of two items in a journal, even when using memorandum accounts.

Memorandum accounts must have their own unique category code, this category code must not be associated with any posting account types. Balances on memorandum accounts can be included in your financial statements if required, by amending the filter in Report Designer. However, they should be positioned independently in the main body of either the Profit and Loss or Balance Sheet (normally at the end of the layouts).

Group accounts are used for reporting purposes only. You can associate budgets to these accounts for budget comparison reporting, but you cannot make postings to them.

For budgetary control purposes, the nominal account number is used to associate group accounts and posting accounts. Group accounts can be a parent (higher in the hierarchy) and/or a child (lower in the hierarchy) of other group accounts.

When planning your nominal accounts structure you must consider the way the nominal account number is associated with other accounts, particularly if you intend to use budget reporting. Your Chart of Accounts must conform to the same pattern for group budgeting. We recommend you have a Chart of Accounts in one of the following arrangements:

  • With cost centres.
  • With cost centres and departments.
  • Without cost centres (and therefore no departments).

If you intend to use cost centres we strongly recommend using cost centres on all nominal accounts; not a mixture of cost centres for some accounts and not for others.

Example of group budgeting

This example illustrates group budgeting using a Chart of Accounts without cost centres or departments. The accounts are associated with the first account through the account reference 08. Account 09310 is not included.

Account number Account type

08

Group

081

Group

08101

Posting

08102

Posting

08103

Posting

08104

Posting

09310

Posting

Report category code

Report categories are used to group your nominal accounts on your financial statements. Each category determines whether an account is for income or expenditure (Profit and Loss), or for your assets and liabilities (Balance sheet).

Every nominal account must have a report category, as this determines which report the balance of the account is included on and how it's reported. Only posting and memo nominal account types require a report category.

You can change the Report category code for an account at any time.

Be careful when changing this may affect your where the balance is reported on your financial statements and CFR balances report. This could result in figures being reported incorrectly.

Choosing the report category

We've provided a set of report categories for you, depending on whether you're a maintained school or an academy.

CFR codes for Income and Expenditure
Code Name Type Category Type
CE00 De minimis levels for capitalising expenditure Profit and Loss Expense
CE01 Acquisition of land and existing buildings Profit and Loss Expense
CE02 New construction, conversion and renovation Profit and Loss Expense
CE03 Vehicles, plant, equipment and machinery Profit and Loss Expense
CE04 Information and communication technology Profit and Loss Expense
CI01 Capital income Profit and Loss Income
CI03 Voluntary or private income Profit and Loss Income
CI04 Direct revenue financing Profit and Loss Income
E01

Teaching staff -

Profit and Loss Expense
E02 Supply teaching staff Profit and Loss Expense
E03 Education support staff Profit and Loss Expense
E04 Premises staff Profit and Loss Expense
E05 Administrative and clerical staff Profit and Loss Expense
E06 Catering staff Profit and Loss Expense
E07 Cost of other staff Profit and Loss Expense
E08 Indirect employee expenses Profit and Loss Expense
E09 Staff development and training Profit and Loss Expense
E10 Supply teacher insurance Profit and Loss Expense
E11 Staff-related insurance Profit and Loss Expense
E12 Building maintenance and improvement Profit and Loss Expense
E13 Grounds maintenance and improvement Profit and Loss Expense
E14 Cleaning and caretaking Profit and Loss Expense
E15 Water and sewerage Profit and Loss Expense
E16 Energy Profit and Loss Expense
E17 Rates Profit and Loss Expense
E18 Other occupation costs Profit and Loss Expense
E19 Learning resources Profit and Loss Expense
E20 ICT learning resources Profit and Loss Expense
E21 Examination fees Profit and Loss Expense
E22 Administrative supplies Profit and Loss Expense
E23 Other insurance premiums Profit and Loss Expense
E24 Special facilities Profit and Loss Expense
E25 Catering supplies Profit and Loss Expense
E26 Agency supply teaching staff Profit and Loss Expense
E27 Bought-in professional services -curriculum Profit and Loss Expense
E28 Bought-in professional services - other Profit and Loss Expense
E29 Loan interest Profit and Loss Expense
E30 Direct revenue financing (revenue contributions to capital) Profit and Loss Expense
E31 Community-focused school staff Profit and Loss Expense
E32 Community-focused school costs Profit and Loss Expense
I01 Funds delegated by the local authority Profit and Loss Income
I02 Funding for sixth form students Profit and Loss Income
I03 High needs top-up funding Profit and Loss Income
I04 Funding for minority ethnic pupils Profit and Loss Income
I05 Pupil premium Profit and Loss Income
I06 Other government grants Profit and Loss Income
I07 Other grants and payments received Profit and Loss Income
I08 Income from facilities and services Profit and Loss Income
I09 Income from catering Profit and Loss Income
I10 Receipts from supply teacher insurance claims Profit and Loss Income
I11 Receipts from other insurance claims Profit and Loss Income
I12 Income from contributions to visits Profit and Loss Income
I13 Donations and/or voluntary funds Profit and Loss Income
I15 Pupil-focused extended school funding and or grants Profit and Loss Income
I16 Community focused school funding and or grants Profit and Loss Income
I17 Community-focused school facilities income Profit and Loss Income
I18 Additional grant for schools Profit and Loss Income
Additional report categories for the Balance Sheet and control accounts
Code Name Type Category Type
BS01 Property Balance Sheet Asset
BS02 Office Equipment Balance Sheet Asset
BS03 Furniture and Fixtures Balance Sheet Asset
BS04 Motor Vehicles Balance Sheet Asset
BS05 Stock Balance Sheet Asset
BS06 Debtors Balance Sheet Asset
BS07 Deposits and Cash Balance Sheet Asset
BS08 Creditors (Short Term) Balance Sheet Liability
BS09 VAT Liability Balance Sheet Liability
BS10 Taxation Balance Sheet Liability
BS11 Wages Balance Sheet Liability
BS12 Creditors (Long term) Balance Sheet Liability
BS13 P & L Account Balance Sheet Liability
M01 Bad Debt Profit and Loss Expense
M02 Suspense Profit and Loss Expense
Code Description Type Category Type
BS01 Freehold Property Balance Sheet Asset
BS02 Freehold Property Depreciation Balance Sheet Asset
BS03 Leasehold Property Balance Sheet Asset
BS04 Leasehold Property Depreciation Balance Sheet Asset
BS05 Office Equipment Balance Sheet Asset
BS06 Office Equipment Depreciation Balance Sheet Asset
BS07 Furniture and Fixtures Balance Sheet Asset
BS08 Furniture and Fixtures Depreciation Balance Sheet Asset
BS09 Motor Vehicles Balance Sheet Asset
BS10 Motor Vehicles Depreciation Balance Sheet Asset
BS11 Computer Equipment and Software Balance Sheet Asset
BS12 Computer Equipment and Software Depreciation Balance Sheet Asset
BS13 Stock Balance Sheet Asset
BS14 Debtors Balance Sheet Asset
BS15 Bank Account Balance Sheet Asset
BS16 Deposits and Cash Balance Sheet Asset
BS17 Creditors: Short Term Balance Sheet Liability
BS18 VAT Liability Balance Sheet Liability
BS19 Taxation Balance Sheet Liability
BS20 Wages Balance Sheet Liability
BS21 Pension Balance Sheet Liability
BS22 Creditors: Long Term Balance Sheet Liability
BS23 Reserves Balance Sheet Liability
E01 Curriculum Supplies Profit and Loss Income
E02 Library Services Profit and Loss Expense
E03 Assessment & Examination Profit and Loss Expense
E04 School Fabric Profit and Loss Expense
E05 School Office Profit and Loss Expense
E06 ICT Expenditure Profit and Loss Expense
E07 School Trips Profit and Loss Expense
E08 Headteacher's Contingency Profit and Loss Expense
E09 Governors' Provisions Profit and Loss Expense
E10 Student Bursary Payments Profit and Loss Expense
E11 Exclusion Costs Profit and Loss Expense
E12 After-School Club Expenditure Profit and Loss Expense
E13 Purchases Profit and Loss Expense
E14 Charitable Donations Profit and Loss Expense
E15 Other Expenditure Profit and Loss Expense
E16 Building Projects Profit and Loss Expense
E17 PFI Profit and Loss Expense
E18 Building & Grounds Profit and Loss Expense
E19 Staffing Costs Profit and Loss Expense
E20 Catering Costs Profit and Loss Expense
E21 Heat, Light and Power Profit and Loss Expense
E22 Rent and Rates Profit and Loss Expense
E23 Professional Fees Profit and Loss Expense
E24 Travel Expenses Profit and Loss Expense
E25 Motor Expenses Profit and Loss Expense
E26 Bank Charges and Interest Profit and Loss Expense
E27 Depreciation Profit and Loss Expense
E28 Non-Reclaimable VAT Profit and Loss Expense
E29 Bad Debts Profit and Loss Expense
I01 General Annual Grant (GAG) Profit and Loss Income
I02 Other Grant Income Profit and Loss Income
I03 Income Generated Profit and Loss Income
I04 Donations Profit and Loss Income
I05 Other Income Profit and Loss Income
I06 Sale of Assets Profit and Loss Income
I07 Investments Profit and Loss Income
M01 Suspense Profit and Loss Expense

SOFA category

  • Select a SOFA category if this nominal account is included on the SOFA report.

Note: You can only see the SOFA category if you're set as an Academy in your Company Details (in the Sage 200 desktop).

When to use a SOFA category

SOFA categories are only required if you're an academy. They're used to group your nominal accounts together to be included on the SOFA report.

An account balance will only be included on the SOFA report, if the nominal account has a Cost Centre and a SOFA category.

As a general rule, all nominal accounts with a Cost Centre and a Profit and Loss report category, will require a SOFA category. You'll also need some additional Balance Sheet nominal accounts for the transfer of funds, pensions benefits and funds brought forward from a previous year.

A predefined set of SOFA categories has been created for you. These are taken from SORP 2015.

If you need a different SOFA category, you can add new ones on the Report Categories screen (in the Sage 200 desktop).

Code Description Type Category Type
SE01 Raising funds SOFA Expense
SE02 Academy trust educational operations SOFA Expense
SE03 Provision on boarding activities SOFA Expense
SE04 Other SOFA Expense
SI01 Donations and capital grants SOFA Income
SI02 Transfer from local authority on conversion SOFA Income
SI03 Funding for the academy trusts educational operations SOFA Income
SI04 Provision of boarding activities SOFA Income
SI05 Other trading activities SOFA Income
SI06 Investments SOFA Income
SX97 Transfers between funds SOFA Asset
SX98 Actuarial (losses)/gains on defined pension schemes SOFA Asset
SX99 Funds brought forward SOFA Asset

This determines where the nominal account balance is included on the SOFA report. Essential for all income and expense (Profit and Loss) accounts with a cost centre (fund).

Be careful when changing this as it will affect the figures on your SOFA report.

Allow manual journal entries

You can choose whether or not nominal journals can be entered for this nominal account. This is only applicable to Posting and Memo accounts.

Journals are usually used for transactions that can't be entered using other Sage 200 processes or for making corrections when transactions have been posted to the wrong nominal account.

You may want to restrict the entry of nominal journals for some accounts, particularly when transactions are posted to an account automatically as part of a Sage 200 process, such as the Debtors Control account or Accumulated Profit account.

  • To allow journals to be entered for this nominal account, enable Allow manual journal entries.

Use batch postings

Whether to choose to use batch postings depends on whether you're using waiting postings Transactions that have not yet been posted to the Nominal Ledger. These can be updated by using the Nominal Ledger Update Waiting Postings routine. to update your nominal accounts or not. This is set by the Update the Nominal Ledger immediately journal entries are posted option in the Nominal Ledger Settings in the Sage 200 desktop.

  • If you've chosen to not to select Update the Nominal Ledger immediately journal entries are posted and to use waiting postings, then you can also choose to Use batch postings here.

    If Use batch postings is selected, transactions being posted to the same nominal accounts are posted as a single value, when Update waiting postings is run (in the Sage 200 desktop). When checking your nominal accounts, you won't be able to see a full history of individual transactions.

    For example, if you post a group of five invoices and then choose to update your waiting postings, a single transaction will be posted to your Debtors Control account for the value of all five invoices.

  • If you've chosen to select Update the Nominal Ledger immediately journal entries are posted, then individual transactions are always posted to your nominal accounts straight away. Don't select Use batch postings here.

Note: This setting is only applicable to Memo or Posting account types.

Changing this setting affects postings that are already in the waiting postings file as well as subsequent postings.

Show account balance in Nominal List

Use Display A/C balance to choose whether or not to show the Account balance for this account in the Nominal List.

You might want to do this for sensitive accounts where you don't want to display the account balance to all users, for example your retained profit or salary accounts.

Keep transactions

You can remove older data, which makes it easier to find relevant information, frees up disk space and optimises the system processing speed.

  • Months to keep transactions for: Enter the number of months (up to 36) you want to store transactions on this nominal account. After this time the transactions are archived or can be deleted.

    The default for this is set in the Nominal Ledger Settings in the Sage 200 desktop.

    This setting is only applicable to Memo or Posting account types.

Note: This setting is only applicable to Memo or Posting nominal account types.

Changing this setting affects transactions the next time a period is closed.

Consolidated account (with a parent company)

Using consolidation allows you to consolidate the balance of your nominal accounts from several subsidiary companies into a single holding parent company, so you can produce financial reports for the holding company.

You'll only see the Consolidated account setting here if a parent company has been set for this company and you have selected Enable consolidation in Nominal Ledger Settings (in the Sage 200 desktop).

For the education sector, you might have schools as the subsidiary companies, and these are consolidated to a parent reporting company for the academy trust.

  • Select the nominal account Code from the parent company that this account should be linked to.

All accounts should have a consolidated account Code.

If the account isn't linked, then the balance will post to the Suspense account in the parent company when you run the consolidation.

When consolidation takes place, the values in this subsidiary account are posted to the linked parent company ledger account.

Note: This setting is only applicable to Memo or Posting nominal account types.

  • If you've never run the consolidation and you've incorrectly linked your account, then changing it here is fine.

  • If you have run the consolidation, then changing this account will affect how transactions are reported in your parent company.

    The balance of the account in the subsidiary company will already be reported in the nominal account currently specified here. Once you change it, then the next time you run the consolidation, the updated balance will be reported in a different nominal account in your parent company, potentially making your financial reports incorrect.

    To resolve this you need to journal the balance from the old linked nominal account to the new linked nominal in the parent company.

See also

Steps in this task

Create, amend, and view a nominal account

Analysis codes (nominal account)

Budgets (nominal account)

Memos (nominal account)