1 Reply by xero

(10 replies, posted in Installation)

Ram,


As far as I am aware, FA is not included in any PPA/Repos.  (I am of course happy to stand corrected if some here knows different).

I know what you mean about using the "Repo system" generally (and particularly so when using a splendid OS like Mint) to keep things tidy, up to date, and compatible, but would have to say that the "repo-system", whilst on the a whole is really quite good,  is far from perfect and requires a very great deal of work on the part of the maintainers, as the nature of the beast tends to require different repos for each and every version of the operatying system. This is one of the reasons why we often find that many official repos have really quite old versions (and in some cases abandoned and no longer maintained versions) of some software packages still within them.

For my part, I'd love to think that at least one day I would be knowledgable enough to be able put together a Deb package which would include a combination of say Tasksel and FA, but this whole "monday to friday thing" does tend to rather get in the way of things..................


Xero

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2 Reply by xero

(9 replies, posted in Installation)

nnaemeka,

""Windows 7, IIS 7."" - - -  In that case I am going to be of little or no help to you, as personally I work exclusively with Linux.
That said, if it's a base package you are looking for, something like Bitnami or XAMPP might be worth investigating.
Hopefully there will be some people here on the forums with Windows/WAMP experience.

Xero

Go to forum: Installation

3 Reply by xero

(9 replies, posted in Installation)

Hi nnaemeka,

Hopefully the installation would be straight forward enough.

Can you tell the forum please which operating system you will be using for your proposed FA installation, and maybe we can give you some more specific information


Xero

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4 Reply by xero

(5 replies, posted in Banking and General Ledger)

anoopmb,

I cannot claim to be an authority of matters of taxation, and it must be said that I am new to FA as well.
However, I believe that my earlier notes about the setting-up of the General Ledger Control Account, Tax system and Items to simply follow a Sales tax (in your case at 5%) would allow you to report upon your sales transactions in both detail and summary forms.

As a further suggestion, personally I have created a separate "dummy company" in my FA system which allows me to try different things when I am trying to work-out how to set-up certain things, or when certain new products or procedures begin in the business, and as I am not working on live production data, it doesn't matter if I make a mistake, or if the FA system does not at first behave as I would expect or want it to.


Xero

Go to forum: Banking and General Ledger

5 Reply by xero

(5 replies, posted in Banking and General Ledger)

I am sure that there will be more wise and experienced people in this forum who can give you further advice about this.

However, in my experience, when using the Tax System in FA, it is crucial that the set-up is done in such a way as to properly and correctly record your transactions in accordance with the taxation laws and rules that apply to you. In my case, I have to follow VAT in the UK, which operates on the basis much as you have described in your above post (ie in simplest and most basic terms, you pay the net difference to the tax authorities, of what you have paid to your suppliers and collected from your customers).

If however (as you appear to suggest above) that you wish simply to record a tax on Sales only, then I suggest that you set-up a separate tax control account for Sales-Tax only in your General Ledger, Set-up the Tax in Tax module, and then set any Items appropriate for those Sales which attract the sales tax. You may of course if you wish, also separately follow Purchase taxes in the same way if desired, but this would IMHO ideally need to use a separate General Ledger control account, and further entries in the Tax Module, and relevant Item entries as well.
Once all the set-up is done in such a way (recommend that you try to follow the Wikki), then you will be able to accurately report on each of the taxes that you wish to follow with the tax reports and other relevant reports.

Perhaps if you can tell the forum where-abouts in the world you are, then there may well already be people here who have a more intimate knowledge of your local taxation requirements and how to set them up in FA.


Hope that helps


Xero

Go to forum: Banking and General Ledger

6 Reply by xero

(5 replies, posted in Banking and General Ledger)

Personally, I would simply enter a journal,

ie.  Debit Tax Control Account - Credit Bank Account

(this assumes that I owe the tax authorities monies rather than reclaiming tax from them, in which case the journal would be the opposite of the above)


Xero

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7 Reply by xero

(6 replies, posted in FA Modifications)

For what it's worth, the plan sounds OK to me too........

Go to forum: FA Modifications

8 Reply by xero

(20 replies, posted in Reporting)

Elax,

Many thanks for more of your comments and thoughts. The prospect of extending the functionality of FA in the way you describe sounds very interesting. I am of course resolved to be patient and look forward to seeing the fruits of your good work in the future.

tm,

Maybe I should try to make the time to learn more about the mysteries of PHP and SQL. I am reasonably happy with simple command scripts, but many of the concepts in programming languages that look so dynamic I do tend to find rather intimidating.

Once again - everyone - thank you so much for your help


Xero

Go to forum: Reporting

9 Reply by xero

(20 replies, posted in Reporting)

Alastair,

My comment from the point of view of UK VAT:-

Such a report and ability to create a payment journal 'on the fly' so to speak would be most helpful.
As a general comment, the way in which FA handles and reports on VAT is the only reason that has delayed our using it in our production environment. I am neither an accountant or a PHP programmer, and have had a great deal of trouble following the wiki, and getting the required information in a reliable and structured manner.

I'd be willing to pay for functionality of this sort



Xero

Go to forum: Reporting

10 Reply by xero

(20 replies, posted in Reporting)

Carmelo

Thank you so much for your thoughts and comments.
I must say that I have found the tax part of the FA Wiki somewhat hard to follow, and clearly, I had misunderstood some of the concepts expressed there. However, your words have thrown a new light upon it for me.

I guess that it's all about the setup, not just of the Tax itself, but also of the Items, Customers and Suppliers too.

Meanwhile, my testing and evaluation is now moving along nicely courtesy of your guidance.

Many thanks once again


Xero

Go to forum: Reporting

11 Reply by xero

(20 replies, posted in Reporting)

Can I firstly say that I am very new to FA. That said, I am very impressed with it, and would like take this opportunity to thank you for publishing this fantastic software.

I would like to add some comments about VAT of my own. (I should also say here that I am not as familiar as I would like to be with sql and/or php, and only understand it at a very basic level).

I am working in a small family-owned and run business in the UK. The business is fully registered for UK VAT, and as such has to account for it, quarterly on an accrual basis.
Further, the business deals with some customers and suppliers within other areas of the EU, which in turn means that Intrastat Reports need to filed as well as normal returns.

I am at this time only testing FA, with a view to putting into full use. I will shortly have a budget available to rollout a new system as part of our final migration to Linux platforms, and will certainly be making a payment to FA.

However, correct and convenient handling, recording and reporting of VAT is something of a key issue for us. It seems to me that there is an issue with the way that FA handles taxed items where the value of the tax is Zero % for whatever reason. This would include transactions (sales and/or purchases) perhaps because the supplier is not registered for VAT, or the transactions fall within the scope of the EU cross-boarder/Intrastat rules. It is therefore not a question of being able to have a tax figure, (which by it’s very nature will of course be Zero), but that of the turnover (sales and/or purchases) associated with those transactions. This in turn would render incorrect values being available for boxes 2, 7, 8 & 9.

So far, I am testing a ‘work-around’ using the Dimensions area. (with some apparent success at least). By setting-up Dimensions firstly for UK Zero Rated Supplies, plus a further for EU Supplies, plus a further for EU Sales, and then appending those to each Customer or Supplier as is relevant, I am then able to use the following reports to extract the additional information needed to supplement the Tax Enquiry and Tax Reports. (Specifically using the Dimension Summary, and the Sales Summary Report using the ‘Tax ID’ filter as a means of identifying customers that are outside of the UK). I have found that this report is of most use when exported to a spread-sheet and suitable filters applied. It would however be most useful if it were possible to apply date ranges to the Dimension Summary Report which it is not currently available as far as I can see.

I will continue with my own testing and learning processes, but I would be most interested to learn if anyone here has either comments on my own work-arounds to make, as well as any other suggestions or ideas or other ways of “skinning the VAT cat”


Thanks


Xero

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