Financial statements that check themselves
If a balance sheet or profit and loss in your own layout doesn't add up, Kinnow says so at the top of the screen.
LiveWhat does Self-Checking Statements do? Nobody unknowingly presents a broken balance sheet or profit and loss in your own layout to the board; errors surface before a customer or auditor finds them.
How it works
When a balance sheet or profit and loss opens in your own grouped layout, Kinnow checks the rows before showing them: section totals match their columns, the sheet balances, and no line is counted twice. Any problem appears as the first notice above the report. Checks that need a second statement are shown as 'skipped', never 'passed'.
A problem shows on screen the moment it appears, instead of waiting for someone to find it.
Step by step
- Someone opens a statement. The finance head or accountant runs the balance sheet or the profit and loss, in your own grouped layout, for a date or period.
- Kinnow builds the rows. Each row is filled from your books, and groups are added up from the rows beneath them.
- Before showing the rows, Kinnow checks them. It checks that each subtotal equals the lines under it, that a total equals the lines printed above it, that a result is printed on one row only, and that no two rows under one heading share both a name and a value. It also checks that the two sides of the balance sheet agree.
- A problem becomes the first notice. If a check fails, a warning appears at the top of the report, above any other caveat, because it means some figure on screen is wrong.
- A clean statement shows no notice. Nothing is added when everything holds together, so a warning, when it appears, is worth reading.
- A person decides what to do. The accountant finds the row, corrects the cause in the books or the layout, and runs the statement again.
See a statement flag its own mistake on a sample balance sheet.
What you see on screen
There is no separate screen. The check shows up inside the statement.
| Screen or button | What it shows or does |
|---|---|
| Warning at the top of the report | A statement integrity notice that leads the list of notices, above every other note about the report. |
| The rows themselves | Particulars, indented by level, with the amount, as in the statement you already read. |
| No notice | A sound statement carries none. Absence of a notice is normal, not a hidden error. |
Who uses it
| Who | When |
|---|---|
| Finance head or accountant | Every time a balance sheet or profit and loss is run for management or the board. |
| Your CA or auditor | Before relying on a statement taken from the system. |
| Owner or board member | Reading the pack, with some comfort that a broken statement would have said so. |
Related
- Financial statements in your old system's format: the layout these checks run against.
- Journal entries screened for fraud and errors: the check on journals as they are approved.
- Month-end close that runs itself: the wider close routine.
Questions
What is Self-Checking Statements in Kinnow?
If a balance sheet or profit and loss in your own layout doesn't add up, Kinnow says so at the top of the screen.
What changes for the business?
Nobody unknowingly presents a broken balance sheet or profit and loss in your own layout to the board; errors surface before a customer or auditor finds them.
Is it available today?
Yes, it is live.
Does a statement with no warning mean the figures are correct?
No. It means the statement is consistent with itself: subtotals add up, nothing is printed twice and the result appears once. Whether the underlying entries are right is still for your accountant to confirm.
Why is the balance check called weak?
Kinnow puts each account on the side its balance sign implies, so assets and liabilities cannot disagree. The stronger checks are on subtotals, totals, duplicate rows and the single printed result.
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