Setting up to do my accounts (very newbie!)

Having done my small business accounts for years in 'book' format I am
now moving towards the idea of doing them on the computer.

I am fairly new to the technicalities of spreadsheets.

It seems to me the neatest way to do my annual accounts is to have
each worksheet represent a different month - is that feasible? is it
possible? can I change the name from 'sheet 1' to 'January sheet 2 to
february etc?

My stubbling-block seems to be working out how to carry-forward
balances from one sheet to another. Is this possible or am I going
about the whole thing the wrong way?

Any help appreciated


Ron

Ron: Learn these features of Excel, and get yourself a couple of macros, and
I think you'll be much happier:
http://www.officearticles.com/excel/...soft_excel.htm
Then, you keep all your rows on one sheet, and create another sheet to
Summarize for you. You can summarize by Date or by expense/income type, etc.
************
Anne Troy
www.OfficeArticles.com

"Ron O'Brien" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Having done my small business accounts for years in 'book' format I am
> now moving towards the idea of doing them on the computer.
>
> I am fairly new to the technicalities of spreadsheets.
>
> It seems to me the neatest way to do my annual accounts is to have
> each worksheet represent a different month - is that feasible? is it
> possible? can I change the name from 'sheet 1' to 'January sheet 2 to
> february etc?
>
> My stubbling-block seems to be working out how to carry-forward
> balances from one sheet to another. Is this possible or am I going
> about the whole thing the wrong way?
>
> Any help appreciated
>
>
> Ron

Hi Ron

In my experience, keeping all the data on one sheet is the best approach.
Set up column headings for example

Date Trader Description Analysis Amount Tax

Have a standard set of codes for Analysis and then use a Pivot Table to
provide your summary by Month and by Analysis.

Take a look at Debra Dalgleish's site for information on Pivot Tables
especially the Getting Started tutorial, and whilst there also take a look
at Data Validation to see how you can have a drop down list for your
analysis codes.
http://www.contextures.com/tiptech.html

http://peltiertech.com/Excel/Pivots/pivotstart.htm



Regards

Roger Govier


Ron O'Brien wrote:
> Having done my small business accounts for years in 'book' format I am
> now moving towards the idea of doing them on the computer.
>
> I am fairly new to the technicalities of spreadsheets.
>
> It seems to me the neatest way to do my annual accounts is to have
> each worksheet represent a different month - is that feasible? is it
> possible? can I change the name from 'sheet 1' to 'January sheet 2 to
> february etc?
>
> My stubbling-block seems to be working out how to carry-forward
> balances from one sheet to another. Is this possible or am I going
> about the whole thing the wrong way?
>
> Any help appreciated
>
>
> Ron

Keeping your records month by month will affect your ability to draw out
information for analysis. For instance, consider that you would have to
make a new work sheet each month - including any analysis that you do.
Multiply that by the months and years that you expect to be in business and
you have a large administrative overhead.. It would be much more effective
to keep one 'day book' from which you can draw out information (possibly
using a pivot table) to your hearts content.

I would also suggest you have a word with your (or an) accountant. He has
the responsibility to advise you and, to do that, would expect some input
from you so it's as well to ensure that you can work together. He may be
able to suggest - from experience - a way to set up a spreadsheet or may
recommend specialist (inexpensive) software.
--

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions

"Ron O'Brien" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Having done my small business accounts for years in 'book' format I am
> now moving towards the idea of doing them on the computer.
>
> I am fairly new to the technicalities of spreadsheets.
>
> It seems to me the neatest way to do my annual accounts is to have
> each worksheet represent a different month - is that feasible? is it
> possible? can I change the name from 'sheet 1' to 'January sheet 2 to
> february etc?
>
> My stubbling-block seems to be working out how to carry-forward
> balances from one sheet to another. Is this possible or am I going
> about the whole thing the wrong way?
>
> Any help appreciated
>
>
> Ron