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Glossary

If the terms are not right, things lose their order. (Confucius)

The WINPACCS glossary provides helpful explanations on the WINPACCS technical terms that are used most frequently.

Glossar
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An account is part of the chart of accounts. As a key element of accounting, it serves to categorise transactions.

WINPACCS uses the double-entry accounting system. Each voucher is entered in two accounts, the assignment on the debit and credit side is supported by the selection of the transaction category and type.

Account groups are used to break down the account classes of the general chart of accounts. Account groups can be subdivided into accounts and sub-accounts.

The following account classes and groups are available in WINPACCS:

Account classesAccount groups
  
Balance (bank, cash)Bank
 Cash
  
Balance (receivables, payables)Receivables from third parties
 Receivables from partners
 Receivables national VAT
 Payables
 Withholding tax payables
  
Supply of fundsBranch office
 Currency exchange
 External project
 Local income
 VAT head office
 Input tax other countries
  
CostsGeneral
 Assets
 Non-recoverable VAT
 Costs from rounding differences
  
ProceedsGeneral
 Assets
 Income from rounding differences
  
RevenueGeneral
  
Clearing

Purchase of assets

 Sale of assets
 Balances carried forward
 Revaluation
An account is the central element in accounting for categorising transactions, while the account number enables an account to be clearly identified within a chart of accounts. The length of the account numbers is defined once only in WINPACCS in the organisational settings.

The accounting period includes all the postings of a certain month.

In Project accounting, the accounting period is finalised by a month-end closing. Postings from finalised accounting periods cannot be changed, since the posting data has already been forwarded to Project controlling and the interface to Company accounting. In the current accounting period, postings from accounting periods that have already been finalised, can be reversed and reposted.

Within an accounting period, dates from finalised months (not future months) can be used as the voucher date.

An accounting quarter is a quarter within an accounting year. In WINPACCS the first quarter always starts on 1 January. The accounting quarter can be used in Project controlling for evaluation purposes.

Entry software is the actual software product in which postings are made. If different versions of a software handle data differently, the version number is also indicated.

The data entry software is specified for journals of the Project accounting and Company accounting journal classes.

The accounting year includes all the accounting periods of a calendar year and can be used in Project controlling for evaluation purposes.
The acquisition amount is the cost of acquiring an asset. The monthly reduction in value of the asset is calculated on the basis of the acquisition amount and the useful life.
An "Acquisition by purchase" is a movement which is entered in WINPACCS Accounting when acquiring an asset. In doing so, an asset is acquired for an acquisition amount on a specific acquisition date. The asset is automatically transferred to the WINPACCS Inventory management and is available there for further editing.
The acquisition date is the day on which the asset was received by the organisation. It is usually the purchase or delivery date.

An asset is a tangible item of property which belongs to and is used in a project for a long period of time, e.g. a vehicle, a building or a laptop.

The asset number is the unique number given to an asset. It is automatically assigned in WINPACCS and stays the same, even when the asset is transferred to another project.

The asset type is used to assign uniform properties to a certain type of asset. Examples of asset types are "vehicles" or "construction machinery". In WINPACCS the asset type is assigned to an account and an account can have several asset types assigned to it.

An asset is assigned to just one asset type. Depending on the asset type, additional organisation-specific fields can be displayed for the asset. In the case of vehicles, for example, this can be the chassis number; for buildings – the address and the floor space. The useful life of an asset depends on the asset type. The pre-entered value in the "Useful life (in months)" field can be changed.

A limit for the balance of a cashbook can be entered in WINPACCS Cloud. The powers of the cashier can thus be limited within this area of responsibility. This limit can be printed out and signed as part of the Cash account agreement. If the balance is exceeded, the cashier receives a warning when the voucher is entered.
If a donor requires vouchers to be settled in a reporting currency, the voucher currency or the company currency can be used as the basis of conversion. The basis of conversion thus indicates the currency on which the conversion is based. The exchange rate of the reporting currency displayed in WINPACCS (RC rate) refers to the basis of conversion defined in the Reporting currency scheme.
A budget is a cost plan for a project.

In WINPACCS budgets can be created on the level of cost categories, cost category groups or budget structures for selected fundings and periods of time. They serve as a basis for target / actual comparisons when reporting to the donor and in internal project controlling.

A budget structure is a self-defined area of a project that can be used for budgeting and cost controlling. Donor requirements or the technical structure of a project are examples of budget structures.

A budget structure consists of several budget lines. Costs are assigned to a budget line on the voucher level. This is already performed in the Project accounting in WINPACCS Accounting, or it can even be pre-entered in WINPACCS Cashbook. In contrast to the account assignment of a voucher, changes can be performed to the assignment of a budget line in WINPACCS Accounting until the month-end closing without having to repost. In WINPACCS Project controlling the budget structure is available for extensive analysis in the area of controlling and reporting. The assignment of a voucher to a budget line can also be changed at a later date in Project Controlling.

Budget values are the pre-determined amounts for planned expenses in the currency set for the budget.

In WINPACCS, cashbooks are used for pre-entering vouchers. The vouchers are entered in WINPACCS Cashbook by a cashier and then transferred to the Project accounting (WINPACCS Accounting) where they are posted by an accountant. Even for untrained staff, it is very easy to pre-enter the vouchers in a cashbook.

Exactly one sub-account is assigned to each cashbook. Cashbooks of various types (types are shown in brackets) can be created, for example, to manage a petty cashbox (cash), a bank account (bank) or to manage advance payments to employees or partners (receivables).

Each cashbook is assigned to a journal and thus to a specific voucher currency. 

A cashbook can only be used on one WINPACCS Cashbook installation. The cashbook status indicates the availability of a cashbook, e.g. "Available" or "Accepted". The cashbook status of every cashbook can be viewed in WINPACCS Cloud. In WINPACCS Cashbook the cashbook status is displayed from the view of the respective installation.
Depending on the intended use, there are three different cashbook types available. Cashbooks of the "Cash" type record cash deposits and withdrawals in petty cash. Cashbooks of the "Bank" type record the turnover of a bank account. Cashbooks of the "Receivables" type record unsettled items and their settling. "Receivable" cashbooks are suitable, for example, for forwarding to a partner for pre-entering the vouchers.
Cheque numbers can be entered with postings as additional information.

Account classes are used to systematically structure the main chart of accounts. They are further subdivided into account groups, accounts and sub-accounts.

These account classes and groups are available in WINPACCS:

Account classesAccount groups
  
Balance (bank, cash)Bank
 Cash
  
Balance (receivables, payables)Third party receivables
 Receivables from partners
 Receivables national VAT
 Payables
 Withholding tax payables
  
Supply of fundsHead office
 Currency exchange
 External project
 Local income
 VAT Head office
 VAT other countries
  
CostsGeneral
 Assets
 Non-recoverable VAT
 Costs from rounding differences
  
IncomeGeneral
 Assets
 Income from rounding differences
  
RevenueGeneral
  
ClearingPurchase of assets
 Sale of assets
 Balances carried forward
 Revaluation
The comment on the posting in WINPACCS Accounting provides the accountant with extra space to explain the posting, if there are not enough characters available in the posting text.
The company currency is the currency used by the accounting department of the head office. As a rule, it is the currency of the respective country in which the organisation has its head office. In WINPACCS “CC” is used to abbreviate company currency.
A computer-generated posting describes a posting, which is automatically created when executing certain functions in WINPACCS. A revaluation is an example of a computer-generated posting, which is automatically produced when a month-end closing is performed.
In WINPACCS certain data can be marked as confidential. Only users who are authorised to view confidential data can view and work with this data. Company accounting journals, budgets and accounts can be marked as confidential. All postings in such journals, or on such an account, are also automatically marked as confidential.
Contract numbers can be entered with postings as additional information.
Cost categories represent the cost accounts available in an accounting system. They categorise the costs incurred in line with their purpose (personnel costs, travel expenses, interest, etc.). In WINPACCS, the accounts that concern costs and income are referred to as cost categories.
A cost category group is a classifying element of a cost category group structure. It combines several cost categories in order to budget and evaluate them together. For example, different cost categories in the “Personnel costs” area can be combined to form a “Personnel” cost category group.

A cost category group structure is used to enter a row structure based on cost category groups for budgeting and evaluating purposes. In WINPACCS a cost category group structure can be used, for example, to map the specifications of a donor.

Analyses such as budget reports can thus be generated according to donor requirements.

A cost reduction is a movement that is entered for an asset and reduces its residual value. Cost reductions are posted in WINPACCS Accounting and are always associated with a cash flow. An example of a cost reduction is a refund from a retailer after returning a substandard asset.
Refers to the country in which a project is performed. If a project is executed in several countries, it can be labelled as "supra-regional".
Normal journal backups can be performed at any time. In doing so, all the postings that were entered after the backup was created, are lost. The voucher numbers of these vouchers are reassigned. This can be performed easily, as long as the postings are not yet included in an uploaded closing. However, if the postings to be overwritten have already been uploaded to WINPACCS Cloud in a closing, this is a critical journal restore.

The voucher date is the date specified on the voucher of a posting.

In WINPACCS the date format can be adjusted via the language settings when posting or pre-entering in cashbooks.

A digital voucher describes the scanned paper voucher which can be added to a posting.
A digital voucher can be uploaded to WINPACCS Cashbook during the pre-entering of a voucher, during the posting process in WINPACCS Accounting or directly to WINPACCS Cloud.
It is linked to a posting in the Cloud and can be viewed for auditing purposes.
WINPACCS Cloud offers an additional function for auditing digital vouchers.
An asset is disposed of when it is no longer available to the project, e.g. because it was sold or passed on.
The "Acquisition by donation in kind" movement is used to enter a new asset that has been donated to a project.  The movement can only be entered in WINPACCS Cloud, as it does not involve any cashflows.
A donor is the organisation that provides the financial means for the implementation of a project. However, projects can also be financed by more than one donor. In a project, a funding can be set up for the funds that are provided by this donor. The costs are clearly assigned to a funding in WINPACCS Accounting. This makes it possible to identify which donor funded each voucher.
“Entered by” indicates the user who pre-entered a voucher in a cashbook in WINPACCS Cashbook. Only users who are assigned to a cashbook as Responsible for cashbook or Cashbook deputies can enter vouchers.
Each voucher entered in WINPACCS Cashbook is assigned a consecutive entry number. The entry number clearly identifies the voucher within a cashbook and cannot be changed.
The entry text comprises a few words about the entry of a transaction in WINPACCS Cashbook. The entries in this text field help the accountant understand the entry in WINPACCS Accounting.

Expenses are cash outflows that reduce the balance of a financial account, i.e. bank or cash.

The opposite of expenses is income.

External invoice numbers can be entered with postings as additional information.
The "Forward to external project" movement describes the transferring of an asset (free of charge) to another project in the same organisation, for example, to a follow-up project. This movement means that the asset is marked as "disposed of" in the forwarding project. In the receiving project, the "Acquisition from external project" movement is entered, and the asset is now available in this project.
The head office is the main office at the headquarters of an organisation, which manages an organisation’s activities and supports staff working in a project.

Income arises from cash inflows that increase the balance of a financial account, i.e. bank or cash.

The opposite of income is an expense.

Income is revenue generated in a project, such as interest income or income from loaning vehicles to employees for private usage.
Internal invoice numbers can be entered with postings as additional information.
In accounting the rule applies: no posting without a voucher. However, there are expenses which do not produce vouchers, e.g. taxi rides or shopping at a market. To ensure the expense is billable, an employee of the organisation must create an internal voucher.
The inventory number is an identification number for an asset in the Inventory management. In contrast to the asset number, organisations can define their own formats for inventory numbers.

Journals are used to enter the postings of the transactions.

In WINPACCS a currency is assigned to each journal, i.e. if several currencies are used in a project, several journals have to be created. The moving average rate procedure is used for converting a journal’s voucher currency into the company currency.

Journals can also be assigned to fundings. Contractual agreements with the donor can also be shown in WINPACCS. If necessary, closed cash cycles can be used to keep funds from different donors apart. This requires the use of separate bank accounts and petty cashboxes for the funds of a donor or a funding.

The journal class is a basic property of a journal, which identifies the origin of the journal's postings. WINPACCS makes a distinction between the following journal classes:

“Project accounting” journal class

Identifies the journal class for postings, which have been entered as balance sheet effective in the Project accounting (WINPACCS Accounting). A special feature is the “Project accounting (costs from external projects)” journal class which contains the postings that were posted to your own project from other projects. This journal class is the only one that may contain postings in different currencies.

“Company accounting” journal class

Identifies the journal class for postings, which have been forwarded from Company accounting to WINPACCS via an interface.

“Partner Accounting” journal class

Identifies the journal class for postings that were received from a partner for information purposes via an interface.

The journal number is the unique identifier for a journal. A journal number consists of a maximum of three characters, which may be numbers or letters.

So that postings can be entered in a journal, the journal must be accepted by an authorised user at an installation. The journal status describes the status necessary for this in WINPACCS Cloud or WINPACCS Accounting. When the user accepts a journal, it is thus blocked for other Project accounting installations. Simultaneously working in the same journals in different locations is not conducive to good project accounting.

In WINPACCS Accounting the journal status indicates whether a journal has been accepted and can therefore be posted to or not. The following journal statuses are available:

  • "Available" (The journal can be accepted by the installation.)
  • "Accepted" (The journal is currently accepted by the installation.)
  • "Not available" (The journal cannot be accepted because another installation has accepted it.)
  • "Finalised" (Work in the journal has been completed and it can no longer be accepted.)

In WINPACCS Cloud the journal status history can be viewed for each journal across all the installations. The following journal statuses are available in the Cloud:

  • "Available" (The journal can be accepted by an installation.)
  • "Accepted" (The journal is currently accepted by an installation.)
  • "Finalised" (Work in the journal has been completed and it can no longer be accepted by any installation.)
Order numbers can be entered with postings as additional information.
The "Other disposals" movement indicates that an asset has been disposed of. It has either been donated to a third party or destroyed, lost or stolen. The movement is entered in WINPACCS Cloud.
In WINPACCS, partners are partner organisations with whom organisations work on a project level. Partners are entered into WINPACCS Cloud, assigned to projects and also to individual vouchers and postings.
The partner number is the unique identifier for a partner. Organisations can define whether the partner number is mandatory and whether it can be freely defined (using letters, numbers and symbols) or automatically incremented.
Personnel numbers can be entered with postings as additional information.
A posting is the electronic entry of a transaction in a journal based on a voucher.
The posting date is the date on which a voucher is posted. The posting date is automatically saved and cannot be changed.

The posting status in WINPACCS Accounting indicates what stage a posting is at, in being processed. Postings are first posted in Project accounting, then uploaded to WINPACCS Cloud in day-end or month-end closings, before being released there manually or automatically. After being released, the relevant posting items are transferred to Project controlling and forwarded to the Company accounting via an interface.

The following posting statuses reflect this process:

  • “Posted Project accounting” (not yet included in a closing, certain accounting data can still be changed),
  • “Forwarded” (included in a closing, it may be possible to change additional information),
  • “Released” (optionally, the posting was checked manually or automatically in WINPACCS Cloud, it may be possible to change additional information),
  • “Posted Company accounting” (optionally, the posting was posted in Company accounting, it may be possible to change additional information).
The posting text describes the transaction in a few words to explain the posting.
The term project is used in WINPACCS for a topic-related package of measures that are limited in geographical, monetary and time-based terms, and serve development cooperation or humanitarian emergency aid purposes by means of goal-oriented tasks. The master data and settings of a project are managed centrally in WINPACCS Cloud. Project numbers are used to uniquely identify projects.
The project number is the unique identifier for a project and accompanies a project throughout its entire term. The format of the project number (e.g. the length, the separators and the use of numbers and letters) can be adapted to organisational requirements.

A quantity can be used in the monitoring of quantities for specific expenses on a budget line. In addition to the posting amount, the quantity also indicates how much of a unit of quantity was consumed.

Example: USD 2,000.00 (amount) and four expert days (quantity and unit of quantity) were spent on the fee of an expert.

In addition to the amounts, the quantities can also be planned in a budget.

Reporting currency
This unique number is assigned organisation-wide and sequentially for all reporting currency schemes.

Every flow of funds takes place between a project and another party, e.g. a trader, a service provider, the head office of your own organisation, a partner or an external project. The field identifies this party. Depending on whether it is a payment or a deposit (WINPACCS Cashbook) or which transaction is involved (WINPACCS Accounting), the second party is either a recipient or a depositor.

As a rule: In the case of an expense, the name of the recipient is to be entered; in the case of income, the name of the depositor.

Reference numbers can be entered with postings as additional information.
Reporting currencies are used if donors require reporting in a currency that is not the voucher or company currency. Reporting currency schemes are used to convert amounts into the reporting currency in line with donor requirements.
Reporting currency schemes are used to perform settlements in a specific currency (required by the donor). In addition to the currency, the scheme includes the settings for the mode of conversion and the exchange rates. It allows vouchers to be quickly and automatically converted from voucher or company currency to the reporting currency.

Reporting currency schemes can be taken from a donor template and included in project financing or created individually.
The reporting period is the time period during which costs can be allocated for donor settlement.

Unlike the accounting period, the reporting period of a posting item can be changed in Project controlling. It makes sense to change the reporting period if the settlement for an expense is to be assigned to a period that is different to the accounting period.

Costs can be broken down into reporting periods in analyses.
Reporting positions are sub-items of posting items in Project controlling. They are used to distribute a posting item to several budget lines of a donor without using the more complex function for distribution during posting.

The prerequisite for this is that the Multiple selection possible setting is activated in the properties of a budget structure.
The reporting quarter is the calendar quarter which includes the reporting period of the respective posting item.

WINPACCS Project controlling can produce analyses that break down costs into reporting quarters.

The reporting year is the calendar year which includes the reporting period of the respective posting item.

WINPACCS Project controlling can produce analyses that break down costs into reporting years.

A report presents selected data in a clear and concise form in a certain format (usually PDF or Excel) and serves to document or evaluate this data. WINPACCS offers a variety of reports, some of which can be adjusted on screen before output using filter settings or by configuring the underlying table. An example of a report is the journal report of Project accounting, which, depending on the configuration, lists all or only certain postings of a journal.
A reposted posting is one that was posted to another account by a different posting (the reposting). This is necessary, for example, if an incorrect entry was made when selecting the cost account. In WINPACCS postings can be reposted to cost or income accounts. Reposted postings are marked as such, but their content is not changed.
A reposting posts a cost or income posting to another account. This is necessary, for example, if an incorrect entry was made when selecting the cost account. In WINPACCS the posting text is then automatically preceded by a note about the reposting and its voucher number.
The residual useful life of an asset describes the time in months remaining from the moment the asset is regarded to the end of its useful life.
The residual value development describes the changes in value of an asset over its useful life. It takes into account reductions in value, as well as write-up and cost reductions. The residual value development is linear and and is calculated using the acquisition amount and the useful life. At the end of the useful life, the residual value is always 0.00. Write-ups and cost reductions change the residual value and thus the monthly reductions in value. In WINPACCS the residual value development is calculated in company currency and in voucher currency.
A reverse posting is a special posting that neutralises the posting to be reversed. This is necessary, for example, if certain voucher data was entered incorrectly. The same amount is automatically posted in WINPACCS with the opposite  +/-sign and the same account assignment. The posting text is preceded by a note about the reversal and the voucher number of the reversed posting. Both postings remain visible so that it is easy to understand the transaction. It is possible to carry out a reverse posting with a correction posting that uses the average rate of the reversed posting.
A reversed posting is a posting that has been cancelled out in a comprehensible manner by a reverse posting. This is necessary, for example, if certain voucher data was entered incorrectly. Reversed postings are marked as such in WINPACCS, but the content of the postings is not changed.
In the project chart of accounts, sub-accounts can be created as well as main accounts. Sub-accounts allow a more detailed breakdown of finances e.g. costs and income. They also facilitate a clear assignment to balance accounts, for example by creating a receivables sub-account for each employee.
The sub-account number is the unique identifier for a sub-account. It is used to classify a sub-account in the project chart of accounts. Each organisation can specify the length of their sub-account numbers in WINPACCS.
A unit of quantity indicates the measured value used to enter an item, such as expert days or flights. Units of quantity can be assigned to budget lines and used in budget planning, project accounting and controlling. Units of quantity can be adapted to organisational requirements.
In WINPACCS, the useful life describes the defined period of time over which the residual value of an asset decreases in fixed instalments (linear) from the acquisition amount to 0. The useful life is specified in months and is defined by the asset type to which the asset is assigned.
Voucher currency
Vouchers are original invoices and receipts that are proof of transactions. They provide information about the type, quantity, price, date and the invoicing party or supplier of the service provided.

Quotations, pro-forma invoices, delivery notes, etc. as well as copies and carbon copies of invoices are not postable vouchers. Project managers are required to prove the use of project funds by providing original vouchers. The following principle applies: no posting without a voucher.

The voucher currency is the currency in which the amount on a voucher is shown.

In Project accounting, voucher currencies are separated into journals. Amounts are converted from voucher currency to company currency using the Moving Average Rate Procedure.

In WINPACCS each posting automatically receives a consecutive, non-changeable voucher number.

If a voucher is split into several postings, the “Subsequent posting” function allows several transactions to be given the same voucher number.
A voucher position describes a single posting item of data in WINPACCS. Each posting consists of at least two voucher positions, a debit and a credit voucher position. A split posting can consist of many voucher positions. Posting VAT or withholding tax also produces several voucher positions in a posting.

The voucher status indicates which processing step a voucher is at in a cashbook. Vouchers are firstly pre-entered, then locked and finally forwarded to Project accounting. The following voucher status reflects this process: "Entered today", "Entered", "Locked" and "Forwarded". The voucher status cannot be reset.

The options for changing a voucher in a cashbook depend on the voucher status.

In the "Entered today" status all the data of a voucher can be changed. This status is only used in cashbooks of the "cash" type.

In the "Entered" status, the "Amount in voucher currency" and "Select income / expense" fields can no longer be changed.

In the "Locked" and "Forwarded" status, no changes can be made to the data of a voucher.

A write-up is a movement that increases the value of an asset, for example, when a trailer hitch is fitted to a car. A write-up is posted in WINPACCS Accounting and always involves a cash flow. It has an impact on the residual value of the asset.