Investigating Trial Balance Differences Between Users

If two different users are running the same Trial Balance criteria and seeing different figures, this will be down to the security settings for each user. This guide will outline how to identify the differences and where to make changes to the security settings.

Excluded Nominals

The excluded nominals section at the bottom of the TB will display the value of the 'hidden' details. This doesn't necessarily mean there is a nominal that the user can't access, but it could be a ledger account or a document type.

Log in as the Admin User

If in doubt as to which version of the TB is correct, log in using the PSFADMIN or CUSTADMIN credentials and then run the same TB. Because this user group bypasses all security, they will have full visibility of all transactions in the system. Then compare the balance of each nominal to the user's version and identify the difference(s).

Missing nominal

If the nominal is missing altogether, check the security restrictions in place for that nominal.

The security roles showing in the 'View' and 'Post' dropdowns are required to access the nominal. Take a note of the roles and then open the Financials Administrator module to enable the role for the relevant user group. Refer to Assign Security Roles to User Groups.

You can also check the Access level is set to a suitable level for the user.

Nominal shows a different balance

If the nominal is showing on the list but is showing a different value to the administrator TB, this indicates that although the user has access to that nominal, they don't have access to every transaction posted to it.

This could be down to the ledger account (cost centre) that has been used, or the document type.

On the Admin user version of the TB, right-click on the line and select 'Details'

Account Access

When the transactions are displayed, they can be grouped by the account column to separate out the subtotal for each account. Click and drag the column header into the dark grey area above.

Viewing the totals per account may help you identify if there is an account that the user doesn't have access to.

Account Security works on the same principle as the nominal security. Check in Accounts, select the ledger (e.g. LLL_COSTCTR) and then the relevant account. Click on the Security tab and take note of the roles showing in the View and Post dropdowns.

The security role will then need to be assigned to the usergroup within the Financials Administrator module. The user will need to log out and back in again for the settings to update.

Document Type Access

The difference could also be down to the document type used. Group the details in the same way, by dragging the 'Type' column header into the grey area above.

If you have identified a document type that the user doesn't have access to, this can be assigned via Admin, then Security

You will see a list of user groups on the left, and document types on the right. Select the user group and then tick the boxes to give access to the different document types. The user will need to log out and back in again for the settings to update.

Security roles are correct but user still unable to see the account/nominal

If you have confirmed that the user group has the relevant security roles assigned to them in Financials Administrator but they are still unable to view the data, check that the access level on the nominal or account is at a suitable level.

In the Account maintenance menu, the access level is shown in the 'General' tab.

An account set to level 3 access means that users with an access level of 3 or above will be able to view it.

The user group access level is assigned in the Financials Administrator module, under the 'Security' tab.

User can see nominal but no transactions

If the nominal is shown on the TB but no transactions are listed, then as well as the account security, you may need to check the security on the ledger that the nominal is linked to - if the user doesn't have access to the ledger, they will not be able to see any accounts within that ledger at all.

Check in Ledgers, select the ledger from the list and click on 'Security'. Again, here it will be the 'View' and 'Post' security roles that are required in order to access the ledger.