Modify General Ledger in Automatic Accounting Spreadsheet

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Modify Your General Ledger by Adding Additional Businesses to the Automatic Accounting Spreadsheet

Okay...let's start out modifying the general ledger.

FYI....it is a lot easier to delete businesses than to add then; however, I realize that all small business owners are not he same. Some just have one primary business and others such as a internet entrepreneur may have a dozen...

So....if you have the time and patience....I have taken the time...and patience to write out a step-by-step guide for modifying your general ledger by adding additional business accounts.

First things first....

SAVE an original copy.
Look at the bottom tabs.
Click on the first tab named “GL-Jan”.

Adding Businesses to the General Ledger:

For each business account you want to add to the general ledger...you will need to insert 3 columns.
To insert multiple columns, select the columns immediately to the right of where you want to insert columns. Select the same number of columns as you want to insert. In this example, we are going to insert 1 new business so we need to select columns J-L.
You can either right click and click on Insert or…. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click the arrow next to Insert, and then click Insert Sheet Columns.
Then highlight (select) the columns G-I, click copy in your tool bar, select column J.and hit enter.
Rename new business.
Change the font and shading .
Set formulas: select the total cell for the beginning balances...Q6 in our example, hit F2, click the plus sign+, then click on cell L6, and hit enter to set formula.
Select the last cell in row 10....Q10 in our example,.., click F2, backspace twice, select cell L10, click -, then K10, click the plus sign, then click on cell Q6, and hit enter to set formula.
Select the last cell in row 11....Q11 in our example,.., click F2, backspace three times, select cell L11, click -, then K11, click the plus sign+, then click on cell Q10, and hit enter to set formula.
Select cell Q11 again, Notice the little white box on the bottom right corner of that cell. That is your “Fill Handle”. Put your mouse pointer over it. Notice how the pointer goes from a fat white plus sign to a skinny black plus sign. That means your fill handle is ready. Click and pull down to row 15 .
Okay....here’s the fun part ...all of these line accounts are set up with individual income and expense accounts...so you are going to have to reset each account’s balance column like you did above for the first income account ....sorry...but I did warn you modifying this general ledger in the Automatic accounting free spreadsheet would not be easy.
Or if you do not mind doing a little cosmetic reconstruction, I’ll tell you an easier way to so it: Just select the last two cells in rows 10 and 11 and click copy and select last cell in row 18 and hit enter.
Select the last cell in row 18 again, hit F2, Backspace once, type 5, and then enter.
Select the last cell in row 19 Pull the fill handle down to row 23. Only thing is it sometimes takes away the border line, so you will need to a little cosmetic reconstruction by...on the home tab, in the font group, click on the arrow on the border’s icon, go to Line Style and click on the 8th line style. Your pointer now looks like a pencil...just click on the line you want replaced. If you get a little crazy and put a border (line) where you didn’t really want one...just click on that border arrow again and go to Erase Border and click on line you want erased. Hit the border icon to turn your pointer back to normal.
Now select the last two cells in rows 18 and 19 and click copy and select last cell in row 26 and hit enter.(Don’t have to backspace and readjust formula in this and the remaining line accounts.)
Select the last cell in row 27 and pull the fill handle down to row 31.
Repeat for the rest of the accounts.
Last of all...select last cell in row 83 and correct formula by adding the new business account.
Whew! One worksheet done...only 11 more left! Repeat all steps for the rest of the 11 months' general ledger...remember what I said about time and patience?