When you begin processing information in Vision, you enter transaction data through data entry and then post it to the database. For historical data, however, you bypass this process and enter data on special history loading forms that directly update the appropriate parts of the database and build the reports you will be using to monitor your firm.
You can begin using Vision before you have entered all history. However, the sooner you enter historical data, the sooner you can use Vision to generate up-to-date reports.
Some types of historical data are required to ensure your reports run properly while other types of historical data are optional. The amount of optional historical data you enter will impact the relevance of your project and accounting reports.
Determining the Level of Detail
The amount of history you enter depends on the level of detail you want to include on your reports. Reports are only as thorough as the history you provide. Depending on your reporting needs, you may decide to enter more history detail for certain projects than for others.
You may want to enter history at a level of detail that your existing records do not support. For example, assume your firm has always tracked reimbursable project expenses in a single general ledger account. Now, you want to start tracking expenses separately in Consultant, Reproduction, Travel, and Miscellaneous categories so that more detailed information appears on project reports and bills. You can approach this problem in one of three ways:
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Enter all historical expenses in the Miscellaneous account. If you choose this approach, the individual expense account balances on your Income Statement will be incorrect for the first year but total expenses will be correct. Expenses will not be broken out, for example, as Consultants or Reproductions on your project reports or invoices until you begin processing transactions through Vision.
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Assign a percentage of the total historical expense to each category. You might, for example, estimate that travel usually amounts to 10% of all project expense and assign 10% of each project's total expense to the Travel account. This method affects the meaningfulness of your balances.
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Research your project expenses to determine accurate balances for each expense account. This may be a time-consuming task, and the information that you obtain may be incomplete.