Questions to Client

Replies / Comments UK

Replies / Comments US

How do you match purchase order information to AP

invoice information?

via goods inwards receipts and PO orderVendor invoice processed using APID screen.
Enter vendor #, invoice #, invoice date and PO
#. Correct PO located enter qty, unit price as
per invoice, details calculated, result invoice
matched to PO.

via goods inwards receipts and PO

order-Vendor invoice processed using
APID screen. Enter vendor #, invoice #,
invoice date and PO #. Correct PO
located enter qty, unit price as per
invoice, details calculated, result invoice
matched to PO.

How do you match vendor information to your fixed

assets systems when purchasing assets?

Fixed Assets are treated in the same way as

goods purchase. PO raised and vendor
invoice matched as above. Spreadsheet is
updated upon receipt of vendor invoice.

Fixed Assets are treated in the same

way as goods purchase. PO raised
and vendor invoice matched as above.
Spreadsheet is updated upon receipt of
vendor invoice.

Do you want to be able to update or change the

accounting distribution information for line items in your
purchase orders?
yes
grouped for deflation reporting into
electronics/EMD/indirect/metallic/metals/nonWhat is the basis for your vendor category breakdown? metallic/sourced product/internal
Are vendors categorized for reporting purposes?
yes
Are vendors categorized for financial tracking
purposes?
yes
What are the requirements for reporting tax payments
(e.g. company, rate or tax authority)?

K Rajini Rao:
Discuss in detail as to
the application of the
VATreturns
use monthly
tax

and business rates

annual invoice paid over 10 months.
System generated from AP and manual
journals - GL vat input a/c

How do you record taxes within the GL?

Is there a requirement to support multiple bank
accounts?
yes
Is there a requirement to support foreign currency bank
accounts?
yes
What disbursement (document) types are currently
processed through these bank accounts?
How are your current payment terms structured?
Do you use percentage due or amount due?
Are due dates calculated based on a specific day of the
month or on a number of days from the payment terms
date?
Is there a provision for discounts within the current
payment terms?
How are discount dates calculated - based on a specific
day of the month or on a number of days from the
payment terms date?
Is there a requirement to use multiple discount levels at
present or in the future?
How many checks do you write/produce per period?

Direct Debits, Standing Orders, BACS, TT

purchasing manager authorises terms ie:
30days- 60 days
amount due

yes
alphabetical by vendor name, numerical
by vendor ID no.
no
no
Sales tax is paid when billed. If no tax is
billed we accrue tax and pay a use tax
to the state
tax invoices posted to specific G/L
accounts
no
no
Vendor invoice, expense reports, debit
memos and vendor credit memos
2% 20 days, Net 75 days
amount due
K Rajini Rao:
If the due date is
calculated based on a

specific day of the month

number
specific of
daydays
of thefrom payment terms
month - how are
date

yes

yes

number of days from payment terms date

number of days from payment terms

date

yes
10-15 per month, payments made mainly via
BACS
request bank to place "stop", adjust ledger
accordingly
yes

What is your policy to cancel checks?

Is there a requirement to use Wire Transfers?
Is there a requirement to process Manual Payments? If
so, is a separate bank account used?
yes, but a separate bank account is not used

payment terms 30 -60

days

no
approx. 100 per week
no policy. request bank to place "stop",
adjust ledger accordingly
yes
no

Bullet Points / Notes

Gaps (Prima faci)

Is there a requirement to process Partial Payments?

Is there a requirement to process Pre-Payments?

no
yes

Is there a requirement to process Recurring Payments? yes

Advance payment is processed via APDS to
What is the current procedure for vendor advances?
the appropriate vendor a/c in AP
How are vendor advances reconciled when the invoice Invoice is processed to vendor a/c and
is submitted?
matched to advance payment via APPA.
Do you have a priority system for payments?
no
What is your current payment cycle? (How often do you Every 2 weeks 1 small ie: Expenses, Couriers
print checks?)
& 1 large Main Suppliers
If recurring payments are used, what is the normal
period cycle for these payments?
monthly
Are all invoices paid in local currency?
No. Paid in GB pounds, Euros & Dollars
Is/will there be a requirement to use multiple
currencies?
yes
Do you have a minimum or maximum payment amount
per check?
no
What is the policy/procedures for handling stop
payments?
What is the policy /procedures for handling void
payments if they have been recorded?
What is the policy /procedures for handling void
payments if they have not been recorded?
Do you pay any vendors on a priority basis according to
funds available?
Is there a requirement to prioritise payments?
Who enters invoices and how often?
Do you receive invoices at a central location?
How do you physically store invoices once entered into
the computer?
Are invoices billed to distinct companies, cost centers
or other?
How many invoices per period do you enter?
Do you have security requirements on who can enter
data (invoice processing, payment processing, and
check processing)?
How are invoices identified (numbered)? vendors
invoice number, date, or next allocated number?
How many liability accounts do you use?
Can you identify any frequently used expense
distributions within your current system (for example,
rent or telephone payments)?
Are these recurring expenses for fixed or varying
amounts?
Is there a requirement to match invoices to related
purchase orders?
How are you currently matching invoices to purchase
orders?
Will some invoices never have purchase orders?
Should invoices be matched completely, partially or
both?

Check with bank to ascertain cheque is not

cashed. Write cheque back to ledger.
Void payments are written back using APCV
screen reference to cheque and cash set
number.

no
COD shipments
no
n/a
n/a
no
once per week
n/a
yes
yes
no
no policy. Check with bank to ascertain
cheque is not cashed. Write cheque
back to ledger.
A/P voids in fourth shift (APCV), then
voids in Fleet windows

Void manual cheques are attached to

counterfoil in cheque book as physical
evidence.

no policy. A/P voids in fourth shift

(APCV), then voids in Fleet windows

no
no
Accounts Payable clerk - daily
yes

no
no
A/P - daily
yes

filed in vendor order in folders

file cabinet

yes
250/300 month

Billed to distinct companies

approx. 150 per week

yes

yes
vendors invoice number, then vendor
date if number not avail.
22

invoice number
2

yes
varying and fixed
Yes, but not with utility bills, although readings
are checked

rent, phone, operating leases

rent is fixed, phone varies, operating
leases fixed

See line 3 above

yes

yes
pack slip comes from stockroom,
matched to invoice, matched in fourth
shift to PO
yes

both

completely

Do you perform 2, 3, or 4 way matching of invoices?

3 way

Yes. For certain custom manfactured items ,

eg: cartons, labels, metal machine parts +/10%

yes

both
Matched against PO or signed off by a
Director.

both
proper department manager signs off
based on Matrix

yes

yes

Describe the approval process when invoices need to

be placed on hold and manually released?
Where an invoice needs to be placed on hold and then
manually released, can these invoices be "posted" to
the General Ledger?
How often do you "post" information to your General
ledger?
Do you use Cash or Accrual Based Accounting?
Do you post (or wish to post) in detail or in summary to
the general ledger?
When do you start your AP close?
Do you have any documentation on your AP close?

Manual held invoices would need to be

approved by the Purchasing Manager

A/P puts on hold in fourth shift, releases

from hold upon mgr. Approval

yes

yes

daily
Accrual based accounting

daily
Accrual

detail
3 days prior to GE fiscal month end
yes

detail
last Wednesday of the month
yes

Do you allow posting invoices back to prior periods?

Is there a requirement to track duplicate vendor
information within the Payables system?
What other audit requirements are needed?
Do you need to restrict access to certain functions?

no

no

yes
duplicate invoices/payments
yes
grouped for deflation reporting into
electronics/EMD/indirect/metallic/metals/nonmetallic/sourced product/internal

no

Do you currently have any tolerance levels for

matching? (Price Tolerance, Quantity Ordered
Tolerance, Quantity Received Tolerance, or Tax
Tolerance?)
Would you like to approve your invoices on-line, by
batch or have both options?
What is the internal approval process for an invoice in
your organization at present?
Are there situations where an invoice needs to be
placed on hold and then manually released?

Which vendors should be grouped and why?

For the purpose of Invoice Aging Reports, what aging
periods are currently in use?

Yes

current, 1-30, 31-60, 61-90. 90+

monthly aging, monthly unvouched

aging

Is there a need to define any additional aging periods?

Do you have to pay other businesses in different Set of
Books within the same GL
Will you need to make payments to businesses in
different GL set of books
Is there a requirement to process employee expense
reports?
Is there a standard employee expense claim form?

no

no

no

Yes

yes

Yes

yes
yes

What is the current process to generate expense

payments to employees?
How frequently are employee expense claims
processed?

expenses are picked up on the monthly

payment run

yes
yes
employee fills out form, gets mgr
approval, A/P cuts check. Plus GE
Online Expensing.

monthly

as needed, typically weekly

How many employee expense claims are processed?

Are these expense claims assigned a special pay
priority - high or low? (Before/after other vendor
payments for example.)

10

3-4 per month

high

no

What is the current procedure for employee advances? n/a

no advances

How are these reconciled when the expense claim is

submitted?
Do your employees have company credit cards?
How are company credit cards handled?

n/a
no
n/a

Approved by manager and Finance

yes
Through standard GE processes

Questions to Client

Replies / Comments UK

Replies / Comments US

What types of customers do you have?

Cash and credit customers

Distributors, end users and other GE companies

How do you group your customers for credit limits/credit checks? we dont group them

N/A

How do you group your customers for statements?

N/A

alphabetical

How do you group your customers for interest charges for late
payments?
don't charge currently

We do not charge interest charges

How do you group your customers for payment rules?

as per our credit terms

N/A

How many customers do you have?

300/340

3500

What type of payment terms do you provide?

Payment of the price and VAT shall be be due on or

before delivery unless otherwise agreed when it shall be
within thirty days of the date of the invoice
Varies

Do you provide split term payment terms?

no

No

Do you provide discount payment terms?

no

No

Do you automatically number new customers as they are

created?
yes but this is done manually

Yes

Do you automatically number customer business purposes as

they are created?
no

No

Do you create reciprocal customer relationships whenever you

create a relationship between customers for tracking purposes? no

Yes

Do you send customers statements?

yes

Yes, Charlotte send statements

Do you have multiple "remit tos"?

yes

Yes

How are multiple "remit tos" determined for each customer?

amount is split between cust accounts

Checks to one remit to, wire each to another

What credit information is tracked for each customer?

trade references

D&B rating, credit limit, days to pay

Do you have a prospect system separate from the receivables

customers?
yes, but maintained on Microsoft Word

Yes

Who has access to your customer database?

Sales, Customer Service, Finance

sales office personnel

the process IVMC is run within 4th shift after the item
has been shipped, this notifies 4thshift that an invoice
How do you receive notice to create/generate an invoice to bill a needs to be raised. The invoice is then printed when an
customer?
invoice run is performed.

the process IVMC is run within 4th shift after the item has
been shipped, this notifies 4thshift that an invoice needs to
be raised. The invoice is then printed when an invoice run
is performed.

Do you regularly invoice customers for the same items?

yes

Yes

Do you use standard invoice lines with default pricing and default
accounting information?
yes

Yes

Do you ever use invoice forms and/or the invoice entry process yes, invoices and credits are also used to move
for transactions other than billing customers?
cash/credit notes between customer accounts

No. Use preprinted invoice

Do you use Debit Memos?

no

No

How are Debit Memos accounted for?

n/a

N/A

Why are Debit Memos used?

n/a

N/A

What items appear on Debit Memos?

n/a

N/A

Do you use Customer Account Credit Memos?

yes

Yes

How are Customer Account Credit Memos used?

to represent returned items, price corr'n, discounts etc Customer Service issues Credit memo

Why are Customer Account Credit Memos used?

to correct invoices, move cash, to clear SIWO

What items appear on Customer Account Credit Memos?

amt, reason for raising credit, Credit note number, date, returned product, credit for price variance, freight, sales
tax, cust no., cust name and address
tax

Do you enter invoices in batches?

yes

Yes

How are batch invoices defined?

system generated batch no.

System defined

To credit returned material or correct errors on the

customers account

What are the units of measure you use when you bill customers
for products and/or services?
each as standard

Qty and unit price

Do you require taxes to be established for use when preparing

invoices?
yes

Yes

Do you validate the tax rate against a Customers Ship To

address when preparing invoices?
yes

No, defaults to sold to

Do you bill customers in a foreign currency?

Yes

yes

Are there any other foreign currency issues regarding invoice

generation?
no

euro

How many invoice types do you have?

How frequently do you invoice your customers?

daily

daily

How do you track sales revenue on invoices? How is it reported? arir report/sale & orders report

Revenue is tracked by product line

What different shipping methods do you use?

Post, courier, air freight, sea freight

UPS, DHL, FedEx, Freight Forwarder or Customer

selected carrier

How do you number your invoices?

numerically, system generated

numemric

Do you have standard default line items that you use?

yes

No

Do you have standard default line items that you use or are most
lines free format?
both

No

What type of units of measure do you use?

qty and price

each as standard

Do you have different price schedules dependent on customer or

volumes?
yes

Yes

How often are sales orders invoiced?

3 times a day

daily

What is the criteria to invoice?

order must have been shipped

shipment

What items appear on your invoices (inventory? non-inventory?) both

both

Who maintains your valid payment terms? What are they?

Credit control, 30 days of the date of invoice

GEI and Charlotte varies

What paper stock is used to print the invoices?

pre printed continual 3 part

Preprinted invoice forms

Where are the invoices printed? How many printers and where on one dot matrix printer in same office, yes pre-printed GEI, 1 printer used and it located in Customer Service,
are they? Pre-printed forms?
forms
Yes we use preprinted forms

What remit to address is assigned for your invoices?

GE Protimeter Plc address

For payments by check: GE General Eastern Instruments

12126 Collections Center Drive Chicago, IL 60693

Do you assign shipping charges for your invoices?

yes

Yes

How are shipping charges calculated?

majority fixed

Calculated from shipping machine

How do you calculate your tax charges? What are the rates?

system generated

tax rates are enter into the system by customer

How do you keep your tax rate information up to date?

through 4th shift maintenance

Tax rates are changed when needed

Why are credit memos used?

to amend invoices, move cash or SIWO

To enter returns and correct errors on invoices

How are the revenue, receivable, freight and tax accounts

configured for each invoice type?
general ledger coding format of xx-xx-xx-xxxx

revenue is by product line, freight and tax go to the correct

freight or tax account

How are adjustments to closed periods handled?

Adjustments made in current period

processed in next period

Do you ever recognize revenue from a single transaction over

multiple periods?
no

Yes, these are service contracts

When do you recognize revenue?

at time of shipment to customer

% per month example if 12 month contract we recogize

1/12 per month

How many General Ledger accounts do you distribute to?

35

When do you create or recognize outstanding receivables?

create debtor at time of shipment/review daily until

cleared by payment

When product is shipped an invoice is generated

Do you distribute earned and unearned revenue? What are the

GL accounts?
only earned revenue/document sales revenue a/c nos.

Yes, service contracts

Do you have unbilled receivables?

vat/interest on GE cashpool

No

no

Yes

Do you assign non-revenue credit to sales people?

no

No

How do you maintain and assign salespeople to customers?

n/a

At the order line item level

Do you track Sales Territory Information?

weekly pole reports

Yes

Is revenue
information?

assignment

associated

with

sales

people

How is Sales Territory Information for tracking purposes derived?

(for example, customer, salesperson, and so on)
sales by country reports

Rep Code

Do you maintain mandatory and/or optional reviews in your

orders cycle for credit risk, legal compliance, and/or other
approvals?
yes, credit checks etc..

This is performed by Charlotte

Do you have sales representatives? How many?

yes, 3

15 external reps.

How do you breakup territory for sales?

n/a

By geographic region

How do you assign commissions?

we don't

by product and rep code

Do you automatically determine the general ledger accounts for

specific transactions (for example, receivables, freight, tax,
unearned revenue, unbilled receivables, and so on) during
Invoice Entry?
yes

Yes

How do you enter/manage a credit amount owed to the customer credit bal. shows on cust acc. and is refunded upon a
by your company?
request in writing

place against customer AR Balance if not used within 6

months it is moved to the Customer Advance account

How do you enter/manage a credit amount owed to your

company by the customer
request a refund in writing

N/A

Do you send customers statements?

yes

Yes

Do you ever adjust receivables?

no, except throught bad debt write off

Yes

How do you adjust receivables?

through bad debt write off

Credit memos, write-offs

Do you limit the amounts when adjusting receivables?

depends on write offs, the system will automatically

write off a debit balance less than .99p

Yes

What do your agings look like?

customers are placed into buckets depending on age of

debt
See attached

Do you have multiple "remit tos"?

yes

Yes

How are multiple "remit tos" determined for a customer?

amount is split between cust accounts

By payment method

What credit information is tracked for each customer?

aging

credit limit and payment history

Do you charge finance charges?

not at present

No

How do you charge finance charges?

n/a

N/A

Do you send dunning letters to customers?

yes

Yes

Do collectors actively call customers on delinquent items?

yes

Yes

What is the process for tracking actions to collect on delinquent

accounts?
a manual diary system is kept

Notes on item and or account

Is the process for tracking actions to collect on delinquent

accounts automated?
manual

Follow up flags can be set to automate process

Do terms and conditions of customer agreements and/or

payment terms change based upon the status of their accounts? no

Yes

Do you monitor your collectors performance?

yes

Yes

What metrics are used to monitor collections performance?

past dues as a % of total debt

Past due > 60 days, Total past due, collection effciency %

How do you monitor customer account status?

through the artb, exported into excel and data sorted.

This is done on a weekly basis, and customers are
chased on a daily basis

Check the system and pull reports

Do you have a separate aging for collectors?

no

We have separate portfolios and customers accounts can

be aged by portfolio

Do you use Debit Memos?

no

No

How are Debit Memos accounted for?

n/a

N/A

Why are Debit Memos used?

n/a

N/A

What items appear on Debit Memos?

n/a

N/A

Do you use Customer Account Credit Memos?

see line 29

Yes

How are Customer Account Credit Memos accounted for?

see line 30

Credit memo is applied against outstanding invoice or

invoices

Why are Customer Account Credit Memos used?

see line 31

To credit returns, price variances, freight or sales tax

What items appear on Customer Account Credit Memos?

see line 32

part number, description and amount

How are adjustments to closed periods handled?

see line 62

N/A

How do your customers generally pay invoices?single check -single invoicesingle check -- multiple invoicesmultiple checks -multiple invoices
all

Both

Do you use more than one bank account and/or cash account?

no

Yes

Do you have customers who pay other customers invoices?

no

Yes

Do you use lockboxes?

no

Yes

How many lockboxes do you use?

n/a

What types of payments are received and input? (for example,

check, cash, and so on)
cheque, cash, credit/debit cards, bacs, tt's

checks, credit cards, ach's, wires

How do you receive and input payments?

post, bank statement, c/c report. Items are manually

entered onto system

Checks received into bank lockbox. ACH/Wires into

differenct bank account, credit cards via ACH - checks are
keyed by bank and transmitted nightly to our system

Do you receive deposits and/or prepayments?

we receive pre payments

Yes

Do you receive non-customer related payments?

yes

Yes

How are non-customer related payments accounted for?

manually entered onto system

manual journal entry when check hits lockbox

How do you handle payments without remittance information?

refer to AR ledger

call the customer

How do you handle payments from unknown sources?

Barclays are notified and investigate the payment on

our behalf (for all bacs/or transfer payments) Cheques
that are received with no customer detail what so ever
are return to the bank on which they are drawn against,
with a covering letter explaining why

call the bank

What are your policies and procedures about adjusting

payments?
we don't adjust payments

N/A

What are your policies and procedures about reversing

payments?
duplicated entries are reversed after verification

Payments are only reversed if cash is misapplied

How often do you adjust payments?

n/a

N/A

How often do you reverse payments?

infrequently

Not often

How many payments do you receive in a month?

between 750 to 900

2000

How many checks are returned by the bank in a period?

none, 2 received in last year

1 every 3 to 4 months

What are the reasons for checks being returned by the bank?

insufficient funds

NSF

Who applies cash?

Credit controller

Cash app team

How is cash applied?

manually

Keyed by bank and file transmitted nightly, balance is

applied manually by cash team

Do you create chargebacks (Debit Items) for customer

deductions?
no

Yes

How do you enter/manage a credit amount owed to the customer

by your company?
see line 79

Credit remains on AR for 6 months then move to the

Customer Advance Account

How do you enter/manage a credit amount owed to your

company by the customer
see line 80

N/A

Do you send dunning letters to customers?

Yes

see line 91

Do you default other information (payment terms, shipping, tax)

at the Customer Level?
no

Yes, payment terms and sales tax

Can this information be changed and updated at the time of

order entry?
yes

Yes

Do you require hard copy of the customer purchase order prior to

order entry?
yes

Yes

Do you do check customer credit prior to entering an order?

system automatically checks

Yes

Do you take orders only from approved customers?

yes

Yes

Do you use the invoice as a ship confirmation to the customer?

yes

Yes

Do you allow partial payments of invoices?

no

Yes

When do you send the invoice. With each shipment?

yes

Yes

How many "bill-tos" do you maintain for each customer?

we only have the facility to have one billing address per

custome account although we are able to have a
number of ship to addresses

1 bill to

Do you use the invoice as a ship confirmation to the customer?

no we have a separate shipping note that is sent with

the goods, invoices are posted separate to the goods

Will credit memos be issued automatically upon return, or will

you have special procedures for credit memos?
credits are manually raised after approval

Credit memos are issued only after the returned product

has been evaluated by Quality

How does the credit department get the return goods goodsin return docket with customer correspondence is
information?
passed to customer service for the credit to be raised
From our RMA System
Is a hard copy credit memo issued?

yes

Yes

How do you group your customers for credit limits, credit checks? see line 4

N/A

How do you group your customers for statements?

N/A

see line 5

How do you group your customers for interest charges for late
payments?
no

Do not charge interest or finance charges

How do you group your customers for payment rules?

by age of debt

Signed Contracts or PO

Do you send customers statements?

see line15

Yes

Do you receive deposits and/or prepayments?

see line 116

Yes

Bullet Points / Notes

Gaps (Prima faci)

is it not by creation of the "ship" transaction in f/shift??

examples??

Autoinvoice to be scheduled ???

what are they?

International Sales Rep Balances

What are the adjustments

What are the adjustment and approval limits

reference line no.

reference line no.
reference line no.
reference line no.
reference line no.

What is ACH. Are the credit card payments also coming in through the bank transmission or Lockbox

reference line no.

reference line no.
reference line no.

reference line no.

reference line no.

reference line no.

reference line no.

Questions to Client

Replies / Comments UK

Replies / Comments US

How do you maintain your Fixed Asset Accounting

data?

asset details maintained on spreadsheet, accounted for in

summary level within 4th shift general ledger

Manually using Best Fixed Assets

Which operations/processes do you want to streamline manual interface between spreadsheet and computer
for Fixed Asset Accounting?
system

Need to understand what Oracle is capable of

handling

Which operations/processes do you want to eliminate

for Fixed Asset Accounting?

manual interface between spreadsheet and computer

system

Need to review current process to proposed process

Are there any time-intensive Fixed Asset Accounting

operations/processes that need to be addressed?

no

Yes

How do you close an accounting period for Fixed Asset

Accounting?
in line with our accounting proceedures

Add new Fixed assets to Best and perform monthly

depr. Reports

Is the schedule to close an accounting period for Fixed

Asset Accounting documented?
yes

No

How long does it take to close an accounting period for

Fixed Asset Accounting?
I/2 hour

30 minutes

How long should it take to close an accounting period

for Fixed Asset Accounting?

few minutes

Don't Know

Is closing an accounting period for Fixed Asset

Accounting a hard close or a soft close?

hard close

Soft

How are adjustments to closed periods for Fixed Asset

Accounting handled?
processed in the next period

N/A

How do you open an accounting period for Fixed Asset

Accounting?
in line with our accounting proceedures

N/A

Is the schedule to open an accounting period for Fixed

Asset Accounting documented?
yes

No

How long does it take to open an accounting period for

Fixed Asset Accounting?
?????????

N/A

Who performs the tasks associated with opening an

accounting period for Fixed Asset Accounting?

Finance Manager

Controller

Who performs the tasks associated with closing an

accounting period for Fixed Asset Accounting?

Finance Manager

Controller

Where in your accounting cycle do you run standard

reports and statements for Fixed Asset Accounting?

at month end

End

What business performance statistics do you monitor

for Fixed Asset Accounting?

none

None

What are your Fixed Asset Accounting reporting

requirements with respect to summary or detail
formats? Provide report listing.

asset purchases/disposals/depreciation

Detail Reporting of depr and asset value

What reports do you currently generate to meet your

Fixed Asset Accounting reporting requirements?
Provide examples of each. Include source (could be
manual), user, frequency, or number of copies.

asset purchases/disposals/depreciation

complete asset listing

Is there any Fixed Asset Accounting reporting

requirement that your current set of reports does not
meet?

no

No

Are your asset categories unique for each combination

of asset cost account in your general ledger,
depreciation method, useful life and prorate
convention?
yes
Are fixed assets which use the same asset account in
your general ledger, ever split into more than one
group for accounting or tax depreciation purposes?

no

Do you group fixed assets which use different asset

accounts for reporting purposes?

no

Yes

Yes

Do you have a special name (alias) for each category? no

Yes, Office Equip, Leasehold Impr., Production & Lab,

Tooling, Computer, CIP

How is your corporate and tax information stored now? ????????????

Best FA System

What systems are you using to store asset, vendor,

employee and location information now?

Hard copy of invoices, Asset Tags

4th shift, excel, word

What is the current accuracy of your asset information? 100%

100%

What are your prorate conventions?

long leasehold land &buildings(over period of

lease)/plant&machinery(3 to 7 years)/fitting &equipment(4
to 8 years/ motor vehicles(5 years)

N/A

Do you have any depreciation ceilings? For luxury

items?

no

No

What are your Investment Tax Credit rates, recapture

rates and ceiling rates?
What are your depreciation methods?
What are your useful lives?

???????
straight line
see line 30

N/A
GE Policy
GE Policy

How do you account for prior period additions,

retirements or other transactions in your general
ledger?

prior period transactions form part of the brought balances No prior period adjustments

Do you depreciate leased items, or leasehold

improvements?

yes

Yes

How many fixed assets does your company own? How

are they numbered?
650

250 and the numbering seq. is 000XXX

Do you need to track fixed assets that are not

depreciated?

no

Yes

Do you track different information for different types of

fixed assets?

no

Yes

What basic information about each asset do you store? type, value, date of purchase, vendor

Description, serial #, asset location, date, depr

method, etc.

Are your fixed assets located in several countries?

How do you number your fixed assets?
Do you have physical tags on your fixed assets?
Do you track leased assets using Oracle Assets?

no
sequentially
yes
no

Yes
000XXX
Yes
No

What is your oldest date placed in service for your

fixed assets?

15 years

1990

Do you have standard depreciation for your fixed

assets?

yes

Yes

Do you associate your fixed assets with vendors?

yes

No

Do you use multiple currencies when purchasing,

depreciating, reporting or posting financial information
about you fixed assets?

yes

No

What system do you use presently to do your fixed

asset accounting?

see above

Best Fixed Assets

What systems do you use to track and inventory your

fixed assets?

4th shift, excel,

Best Fixed Assets

Does your current system track asset possession by

employee, department, or cost center?
What are your monthly reporting requirements?
Where are your fixed assets located?

cost center/dept
asset purchases/disposals/depreciation
in premises at Marlow and at subcontractors(tooling)

No
Original Amt, monthly Depr, total depr, NBV
Wilmington, UK, Hann

How do you report property values for tax purposes?

n/a

Yes

Do you have special names for each location

(aliases)?
Do you assign fixed assets to employees?
In what countries are your fixed assets located?

no
yes
United Kingdom

Yes
No
USA, UK, Germany

Explain the accounting structure and reporting methods each class of asset has a unique general ledger code for
used to consolidate your asset cost and depreciation
balance sheet cost and depreciation and for p&l a/c
expenses?
depreciation

Manually entered into system from CIP account

Do you post your asset financial information in

summary or detail to your general ledger?

in summary

Summary

How many corporate depreciation books do you

maintain? If more than one, why?

one

How many different tax depreciation books do you

maintain in each of your companies? How are they
used?
Do you adjust depreciation in your tax books?

one
no

1
Yes

Do you maintain any other types of depreciation or

asset valuation books?

no

No

How often do you calculate depreciation for corporate

accounting, tax, and capital budgeting purposes?

monthly

Every Quarter

How many fixed assets do you purchase each

accounting period?

between 1 and 5

Varies

How often do you transfer large numbers of fixed

assets from one person, cost center, or location to
another?

never

rarely

How often, and for what reasons, do you change fixed

asset depreciation method or life for a single asset?

never

If Corporate changes useful life or depr. Method

How often do you change the useful life, depreciation

method, or prorate convention of all fixed assets in a
category?
How many retirements do you do per period?

never
between 1 and 3

Rarely
Varies

Do you amortize adjustments made in the prior period

over the remaining useful life of the asset or do you
expense the catch- up depreciation in the current
period?

expense catch up in current period

Expense catch-up in current month

Do you want your fixed assets automatically added

from your feeder Accounts Payable system?
What Accounts Payable system do you use?

yes
4th shift

Yes
4th Shift

Do you ever retire fixed assets in the same period they

were purchased?
no

No

How often do you perform physical inventories of your

fixed assets?
Do you cycle count your assets?

Once every 5 years

No

annually
no

Bullet Points / Notes

Gaps (Prima faci)