Row definitions in Financial Reporting

Row definitions in financial reports provide a place for calculations that can't be made directly in the chart of accounts. For example, you can create subtotals for groups of accounts and then include that total in other totals. You can also calculate intermediate steps that aren't shown in the final report.

Create or edit a row definition

To create or edit a row definition, follow these steps:

1. On the Financial Reports page, select the relevant financial report, and then choose the Edit Row Definition action.

2. Choose the Insert G/L Accounts, Insert CF Accounts, and Insert Cost Types actions to create a row for each financial element you want to analyze. For example, you might have one row for current assets and another row for fixed assets. For inspiration, explore the financial reports in the CRONUS demonstration company.

   Note

   The Row No. field shows the first 10 characters of an identifier, such as an account number. You use these identifiers for calculated rows in the Totalling field. If needed, you can manually edit the identifiers after you insert the elements.

   Note

   The columns you define in a column definition represent columns three and up on the Financial Report page. The first two columns, Row No. and Description, are fixed.

3. To format the rows, choose the Bold, Italic, Underline, and Double Underline checkboxes. To learn more about formatting, go to Format your financial reporting.

Working with row formulas

A powerful feature in Financial Reporting is that you can use values computed in previous rows in row formulas defined in subsequent rows. Set the Totaling Type to Formula, and then write your calculation in the Totalling field on the same row.

The following excerpt of a row definition illustrates how row formulas work. Your chart of accounts structure might differ from the accounts shown.

Row No.	Description	Totaling Type	Totaling	...	Show
	## Revenue calculation start	Formula			No
R	Product Revenue	Posting Accounts	40000..40209		Yes
R	Discounts and Returns	Posting Accounts	40910..40919 | 40940..49999		Yes
F1	Total Revenue	Formula	R		Yes
	## Revenue calculation end	Formula			No
L	Total liabilities	Account Category	Liabilities		Yes
	Revenue to liabilities	Formula	F1 / L		Yes

The example illustrates some different tips and tricks:

• You can use a formula row as a code comment. Remember to set the Show option to No.
• The formula in row F1 summarizes all numbers from rows with R in the Row No. field (the Row No. setting doesn't have to be unique).
• You can use results from previous calculations in new row formulas.

Built-in row definitions

Business Central provides sample row definitions that can help you quickly get started setting up finance reports that suit your needs.

Note

The sample finance reports in Business Central aren't ready to use out of the box. Depending on how you set up your G/L accounts, dimensions, G/L account categories, and budgets, adjust the sample row and column definitions and the finance reports that use them to match your setup.

Format rows in your financial reports

On the Row Definition page, you can format the rows in a row definition to provide visual cues that make it easier to find key information quickly. For example, lines that calculate totals often use bold font.

The following table describes the different formatting options on a row:

Formatting property	How the row is displayed	On-screen	PDF/Print
Bold	The row header is formatted in bold.	Yes	Yes
Italic	The row header is formatted in italics.	No	Yes
Underline	The columns in the report are formatted with an underline. Typically used rows that display a subtotal.	No	Yes
Double Underline	The columns in the report are formatted with a double underline. Typically used for rows that display a total.	No	Yes
New Page	If you want to make a report with different sections separated by page breaks in the report output (for PDF or print), use this property on a row. This setting inserts a page break after the row.	No	Yes
Show Opposite Sign	The data in columns is formatted with the opposite sign from how they're calculated. Typically used to show debits in reports as negative amounts with a minus sign and credits as positive amounts.	Yes	Yes

Note

Some of the formatting options don't carry over to reports when you use the Export to Excel action. If you often export reports to Excel, you might just use the tools that Excel provides rather than row definitions.

Adding empty lines in your financial reports

If you want to add an empty line to a financial report, you can add a row and set the Totalling Type field.

The following table describes the different formatting options for a row that define an empty line:

Value of the Totalling Type property	How the row is displayed	On-screen	PDF/Print
Formula (with empty Totalling value)	The row is empty.	Yes	Yes
Underline	The columns on the row are empty and are formatted with an underline. Typically used for rows that display a section.	No	Yes
Double Underline	The columns on the row are empty and are formatted with a double underline. Typically used for rows that display the final part of a section.	No	Yes

Conditionally display rows in your financial reports

On the Row Definition page, the Show setting on rows defines whether they show in the report output for PDF or print.

The following table describes the different display options on a row:

Value of the Show setting	Whether the row displays
Yes	Row always shows.
No	Row never shows. Use this setting for rows that are only used in calculation steps.
If any column not zero	If any column in the report has a nonzero value, the row shows. Otherwise, it doesn't show.
When positive balance	If column data in the report has positive values, the row shows. Otherwise, it doesn't show.
When negative balance	If column data in the report has negative values, the row shows. Otherwise, it doesn't show.

Use G/L account categories to change the layout of your financial statements

You can use G/L account categories to change the layout of your financial statements. For example, after you set up your account categories on the G/L Account Categories page, you can choose the Generate Financial Reports action and update the underlying financial reports for the core financial reports. The next time you run one of these reports, such as the Balance Statement report, new totals, and subentries are added.

Another benefit of using G/L account categories over the G/L accounts in your row definitions is that a change in your chart of accounts structure doesn't affect your financial reports.

The following excerpt of a row definition illustrates how you can use account categories. Your chart of accounts structure and use of account categories might differ from the example.

Row No.	Description	Totaling Type	Totaling	...	Show
	// Worlds smallest balance sheet	Formula			No
A	Total assets	Account Category	Assets		Yes
L	Total liabilities	Account Category	Liabilities		Yes
		Underline			Yes
	Balance	Formula	A+L		Yes
		Double underline			Yes

Note

The top-level account categories, such as the Liabilities node, are fixed, and you can't add your own. However, you can delete and add account categories at lower levels and define how the related financial report displays.

You should create and structure your own lower-level G/L account categories from scratch, in a hierarchy if needed, rather than try to rearrange the existing ones. For example, you can restructure the Liabilities node to contain a new Equity node followed by the Current Liabilities and Long Term Liabilities nodes. Learn more at Mapping general ledger accounts to account categories.

Best practices for working with row definitions

Row definitions aren't versioned. When you change a row definition, the old version is replaced when your change saves to the database. The following list contains some best practices for working with row definitions:

• If you add row definitions, choose a good code and fill in the description field with a meaningful text while you still know what you use the row definition for. This information helps your coworkers (and your future self) to work with financial reporting and perhaps changing the row definition.
• Before you change a row definition, consider taking a copy of it as a backup, just in case your change doesn't work as expected. You can either just copy the definition (give it a good name), or export it. To learn more, go to Import or export row definitions.
• If you need a fresh copy of a definition that Business Central provides, an easy way to get one is to create a new company that only contains setup data. Then, export the definition and import it in the company where the definition needs a refresh.

Import or export financial reporting row definitions

You can import and export financial row definitions as RapidStart configuration packages. For example, configuration packages are useful for sharing information with other companies. The package is created in a RAPIDSTART file that compresses the contents.

Note

When you import row definitions, the records replace existing records with the same names. It doesn't overwrite existing row or column definitions that the report definition uses.

To import or export financial report row definitions, follow these steps:

1. Choose the icon, enter Row Definitions, then choose the related link.
2. Choose the row definition, then choose the Import Row Definition or Export Row Definition action, depending on what you want to do.

Related information

Column definitions in financial reporting
Prepare financial reporting
Financial analytics overview
Finance
Setting Up Finance
Work with Business Central

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