ACFR Completion Checklist
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Upload Financial Data to Gravity
Update Fund Mapping File (if needed)
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Complete Fund Level Statements (Governmental, Proprietary, and Fiduciary)
Review Mapping & Map New Accounts
Post Required Journal Entries
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Review Cross-Checks in Pivot Tables
Post Rounding Adjustments
Roll-up Hypercubes
Refresh MDFM Imports
Check results in ACFR
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Reconcile Government wide statement to fund-level balances
Review Mapping & Map New Accounts in Government Wide Statements
Reconcile Government wide Statements with Fund Level Statements
Enter Conversion Entries
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Finalize Reconciliation Statements
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Review Cross-Checks in Pivot Tables
Post Rounding Adjustments
Roll-up Hypercubes
Refresh MDFM Imports
Check results in ACFR
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Finalize Government wide Statements
Review Mapping & Map New Journal Entries in Government Wide Statements in relation to posted Conversion Entries
Reconcile Government wide Statements with Fund Level Statements
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Review Cross-Checks in Pivot Tables
Post Rounding Adjustments
Roll-up Hypercubes
Refresh MDFM Imports
Check results in ACFR
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Check MD&A Tables in ACFR
Roll-up Hypercubes
Refresh MDFM Imports
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Prepare the Cash Flow Statements
Refresh Cash Flow Dataset
Review Mapping & Map New Accounts
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Post Adjustments for Non-Cash Entries
Post Rounding Adjustments
Roll-up Hypercubes
Refresh MDFM Imports
Check results in ACFR
Update and Refresh Variables
Update manual tables
Update narrative documents
Generate Snapshot
Review Formatting
Generate Report
Upload Financial Data to Gravity
To begin preparing your ACFR, you will need to upload your trial balance and any other necessary data you need to complete your financial disclosure. These files may just be your trial balance or budget information wrapped up as an ACFR Data File. To see the example files for you to upload, look inside the Administration folder in your ACFR and look for a folder titled “ETL” or “Data Integration Services”.
Note: In the Administration folder of your report, there will be specific templates and instructions on how to use Data Integration Services specific to your report.
What to Upload and When
Gravity’s Data Integration Services maintain a strict protocol that will protect your data from corruption while ensuring future automation.
What to Upload: You will have to follow the report specific instructions in the Administration folder to successfully upload any data. This will require you to ensure that file name, file extension, file structure, and file count are correct. All this information will be unique to your report.
Note: If you have reclassified a fund or added a new fund in the prior fiscal year, you will need to review the fund mapping file beforehand. Instructions on how to update the fund mapping file follow the data integration services instructions on page ##.
When: You can upload files with Data Integration Services at any time. This is useful if you want to update financial information throughout your reporting period. Other popular times to use Data Integration Services are when you roll forward or on a monthly/quarterly basis.
How to Upload Data
To upload data:
Click on “Data” in blue bar top center of the report.
Click on “Data Integration Services”.
Click on “Start Integration”.
Select the operation where you want to upload new data.
Select the “Datastore” Destination.
Upload the required files.
Click the blue “Start” button.
Tracking Upload Progress
After you have started Data Integration, click on the notification inbox icon in the top right corner of Gravity. A drop-down menu will appear with the most recent data upload. If everything has worked, your data upload will have a green checkmark beside it. If not, there will either be a yellow caution sign or a red circle.
Update Fund Mapping File (if needed)
If you are reclassifying a fund or adding a new fund, you will need to update the fund mapping file inside of your ACFR. This file will be found inside of your Administration folder.
To modify the fund mapping file, you will either need to add a new row with the fund number, name and its connection to the MDFM fund codes or modify a pre-existing row.
After you have done this, you will then have to upload your trial balance
Complete Fund Level Statements (Governmental, Proprietary, and Fiduciary)
Review Mapping & Map New Accounts
After validating your data, you can start mapping accounts to lines on your financial statement. Gravity mapping functionality will automate your financial statements. As you create accounts, you will have to map the new accounts to your financial statements.
It is imperative that you map all accounts in all statements including cash flow and government wide statements to maintain accuracy.
To map accounts to your financial statements:
Open the Mapping tab in the MDFM.
All local rules in the cash flow and cash flow reconciliation cubes must be linked to a statement line and a fiscal period. To create a local rule for either of these cubes, select the desired statement line.
Click here to select the desired fiscal period.
Select the desired period.
Click on the chevron on the far right of the screen.
Click on "Local Rules".
Once the statement line and the period have selected, click on the blue circle to add a local rule.
Click on the plus sign to add a row to the local rule. Each condition will narrow down which accounts will be mapped to this line.
When finished, click "OK".
Click on the three lines to right of "Local Rules".
Then click "Re-Link All" to ensure all rules are correct.
Review Cross-Checks in Pivot Tables
After we have uploaded your trial balance onto Gravity, you will want to validate that your data is inside of Gravity.
The Pivot functionality will be highly useful to you later in your reporting process to determine if your subsequent mapping and journal entries accurately reflect your financial position.
Post Rounding Adjustments
If you do not plan on making journal entries inside of Gravity, you can skip this step.
Verify that fund balances reconcile and the balance sheet balances. If not, you need to post rounding adjustments.
To post journal entries such as rounding adjustments:
Select the hypercube where you need to make the adjustment.
Once you have opened the hypercube, click on the “Adjustments” tab.
On the top, you will see 2 different tabs: Cube or GL. Running a Cube adjustment will keep the adjustment and its effect within the hypercube – meaning the adjustment will not roll to other different hypercubes. Cube adjustments are useful in GASB adjustments and cash adjustments. Cube adjustments will only affect the statements that they are posted in. Posting a GL adjustment will affect other hypercubes and will be used most of the time.
In the adjustment's menu, you will see all posted and pending adjustments. Posted adjustments are adjustments that have been approved and have made changes in the hypercube.
To create a new pending adjustment:
Select the type of adjustment: adjustment or rounding. Adjustments are double-sided journal entries whereas rounding is a single-sided journal entry. In other words, adjustments must balance whereas rounding does not need to balance.
Then select the period in which the adjustment is to be made.
After selecting the fiscal period, select the fund that the adjustment originates from.
Then select the object that the adjustment moves to.
After filling out all the forms, click "Add Adjustment" or “Select Transaction”.
After clicking “Select Transaction”, you will be prompted to either use a template of a similar journal entry you have made in the past or a blank journal entry. The top row is the blank journal entry template.
Once your adjustment has been created, it will be moved into the “Pending Adjustments” tab. In the “Pending Adjustments” tab, you can add the numerical values that pertain to the adjustment.
Once completed, click on the floppy disc icon to save the changes that you have made.
Note: If you need to edit any pending adjustment, you can click on the pencil icon to edit the adjustment further. In the event you need to delete a pending adjustment, you can click on the trash can icon.
Since adjustments can create complex interactions between accounts, there will be many possible fields for you to fill out. To access all the fields, you can use the scroll bar on the bottom of the “Pending Adjustments” tab.
Once you have completed editing the pending adjustment, you can click on "Post Transactions".
If you need to unpost a journal entry or set of journal entries you have made:
Right-click on the row you wish to unpost.
Select “Edit Transaction” .
Note: posted adjutments will appear in the ‘mapping’ folder in the MDFM with a pink background, and they will be mapped to the different line items using local rules.
That is why it is very important, to fill out the different parameters accurately and take in consideration the local rules.
The GFOA ACFR award does not require that dollar amounts be rounded to the nearest ten. This being the case, you are not required to round dollar amounts to the nearest ten. If you choose to do so, always make such rounding entries as an “Adjustment by Cube” so that those adjustments do not flow into the Government Wide statements.
Roll up hypercubes
If it is the case that you think that a journal entry or mapped account is not making its way into the pivot tables inside of the MDFM, you will want to roll up the hypercubes. To roll up the hypercubes:
Right click on the hypercube.
Click “Rollup”
This process will rerun all the rules, formulas, and journal entries you have made.
Refresh MDFM Imports
To push the financial data from the MDFM to your report, you will have to
To refresh the MDFM imports:
Click on the three dots to right of the top-level report folder.
Select “Data”.
Click “Refresh MDFM Imports”.
If you want to force a particular MDFM import to refresh:
In the MDFM import, click on the three lines between the document tab.
Click “Refresh All Imports.”
Check results in ACFR
After you have updated the MDFM imports, please review the data inside of your ACFR to ensure that the correct information is moving from the MDFM to your fund-level statements.
Reconcile Government wide Statements to Fund-level Balances
Review Mapping & Map New Accounts in Government Wide Statements
After mapping and validating all fund-level and reconciliation statements, you will want to review the mapping and local rules in the government wide statements. If there are any new lines in any of the other statements, you will have to map those lines to the government wide using the same method to create and edit local rules.
To prepare your government wide statements, you will first have to complete all mapping in the fund level cubes (Governmental Funds, Proprietary Funds, Fiduciary Funds, and Reconciliation to Government Wide).
In your Government Wide Statements, in addition to the cash flow, you can filter for related dimensions. Related dimensions are the statement lines from other fund-level statements that are referenced in the government wide. Related dimensions add another layer of automation in the “Mapping” page in the government wide statements since you can explicate how lines in your fund-level statements relate to the government statements.
After completing the mapping in the government wide statements, you can create reclassification and rounding adjustments in the government wide statements using the Adjustments menu. You can utilize the knowledge you have from posted journal entries to create these entries in the government wide statements.
Reconcile Government Wide Statements with Fund Level Statements
After reviewing the mapping inside of the government wide statements, use the pivot tables of the government statements and the fund level statements to confirm that the amounts are the same between all the statements.
Note: It is advisable to collapse all rows in the pivots to review the totals. In this way, you save yourself the work of reviewing each line if the totals are already correct.
Enter Conversion Entries
After reconciling the government wide statements with the fund level statements, you will have to complete conversion entries inside of the adjustments menu in the government wide statements. In general, to enter conversion entries:
Copy prior year conversion entries if not carried forward during the roll-forward process.
Update current year figures.
Add any new conversion entries required for the current year.
Verify that all required attributes are completed in accordance with government wide local rules.
Post conversion entries.
Review mapping and map new accounts in the Reconciliation cube to ensure the reconciliation statement reports accurate amounts and balances with the Government wide statement.
Review Mapping & Map New Accounts in Government Wide Statements
After entering all conversion entries, it is advisable that you review the government wide statements’ mapping a second time to ensure that all lines are correctly mapped and that all conversion entries have made their way into the statements.
Review Cross-Checks in Pivot Tables
After all mapping and entries have been made, we advise that you validate data in the pivot tables and review pivot views. Simply click on the pivots and review that the numbers match your information.
Post Rounding Adjustments
Verify that fund balances reconcile and the Statement of Net Position balances. If not, post rounding adjustments. If you must make any rounding adjustments, go to the adjustments menu to create and post adjustments as described above.
Roll-up Hypercubes
If you have made any rounding adjustments, roll up the hypercubes where you have made those adjustments.
Refresh MDFM Imports
After rolling up the hypercubes, refresh MDFM imports again to review the automated tables inside of your report. Instructions on how to do so are listed above.
Check results in ACFR
Review the government wide statements inside your ACFR to ensure that the correct information from the MDFM is being imported into your report.
Finalize Reconciliation Statements
Review Cross-Checks in Pivot Tables
After you have completed your conversion entries, you will want to review the pivot tables in your government wide statements.
Post Rounding Adjustments
If there are any rounding issues present inside of your government wide statements, you should post any rounding adjustments now.
Roll-up Hypercubes
If you have made any rounding adjustments, roll up the hypercubes and revalidate your data in the pivot tables.
Refresh MDFM Imports
After you have completed any necessary rounding adjustments, refresh MDFM imports again to review the automated tables inside of your report.
Check Results in ACFR
After you have updated the MDFM imports, please review the data inside of your ACFR to ensure that the correct information is moving from the MDFM to your fund-level statements.
Finalize Government wide Statements
Reconcile Government wide Statements with Fund Level Statements
To begin finalizing the government wide statements, you must reconcile the government wide statements with all fund level statements to ensure that all mapping and journal entries are accounted for.
Review Cross-Checks in Pivot Tables
After you have reconciled government wide statements with fund level statements, we advise that you validate data in the pivot tables and review pivot views. Simply click on the pivots and review that the numbers match your information.
Post Rounding Adjustments
If there are any rounding issues present inside of your government wide statements, you should post any rounding adjustments now.
Roll-up Hypercubes
If you have made any rounding adjustments, roll up the hypercubes and revalidate your data in the pivot tables.
Refresh MDFM Imports
After you have completed any necessary rounding adjustments, refresh MDFM imports again to review the automated tables inside of your report.
Check results in ACFR
After you have updated the MDFM imports, please review the data inside of your ACFR to ensure that the correct information is moving from the MDFM to your fund-level statements.
Check MD&A Tables in ACFR
With the bulk of the work done, you can review the MD&A tables inside of the ACFR. The MD&A tables are completely automated, so after completing all audited financial sections, you can verify that the MD&A tables are correct and reconcile with the other financial statements.
Roll up hypercubes
The MD&A hypercubes are completely automated and require no work from you to maintain the information inside of them, but you will have to roll up the hypercubes to ensure that the most recent information is being presented. To roll up the hypercubes:
Roll up hypercubes
If it is the case that you think that a journal entry or mapped account is not making its way into the pivot tables inside of the MDFM, you will want to roll up the hypercubes. To roll up the hypercubes:
Right click on the hypercube.
Click “Rollup”.
This process will rerun all the rules, formulas, and journal entries you have made.
Refresh MDFM Imports
To push the financial data from the MDFM to your report, you will have to
To refresh the MDFM imports:
Click on the three dots to right of the top-level report folder.
Select “Data”.
Click “Refresh MDFM Imports”.
If you want to force a particular MDFM import to refresh:
In the MDFM import, click on the three lines between the document tab.
Click “Refresh All Imports.”
Prepare the Cash Flow Statements
Refresh Cash Flow Dataset
These steps can be skipped if you are not managing your cash flow through Gravity.
Once you have mapped all accounts and posted all adjustments in your proprietary or enterprise fund-level statements, you will need to refresh your cashflow dataset.
Click on "Administration".
Click on "Data Sets".
To refresh the data, click on the refresh icon on the right of the dataset you want refreshed. This is a necessary step to push new data from the templates into the budget book.
Map Cash Flow
Once you have refreshed the Cash Flow dataset, you can begin to map any new statement lines from your proprietary funds to lines in the cash flow statement. This will be a nearly identical process to mapping the fund-level statements, except you will be mapping statement lines from the proprietary fund statement to statement lines in the cash flow statement.
Note: You will have to complete the mapping in both the cash flow statement and cash flow reconciliation statement.
Post Adjustments for Non-Cash Entries
In the case that you need to remove non-cash entries from the cash flow statements, you can complete these adjustments in both the cash flow statement and cash flow reconciliation statements. This is accomplished using Gravity’s adjustment functionality.
Post Rounding Adjustments
If you must make any rounding adjustments, go to the adjustments menu to create and post adjustments as described above.
Roll-up Hypercubes
If you have made any rounding adjustments, roll up the cash flow hypercubes.
Refresh MDFM Imports
After you have completed any necessary rounding adjustments, refresh MDFM imports again to review the automated tables inside of your report.
Check results in ACFR
Review the government wide statements inside your ACFR to ensure that the correct information from the MDFM is being imported into your report.
Update and Refresh Variables
While your financial statements will be automated for you through the MDFM, you will want to pull numbers from your financial statements to integrate into your financial narrative, such as in the MD&A. This is accomplished through variables.
Variables are a powerful source of automation in your report. While this guide will not explain how to use variables entirely, you will learn here how to edit and utilize the Period Report, which automates all dates in your narrative documents.
To edit the Period Report:
Open the Administration folder.
Double-click "Periods Report".
Click on the cell where you enter the period value.
Once complete, click on the three lines in the “Periods Report” tab.
Click "Submit".
To Refresh Variables:
Click on “Data” in the blue banner at the top of Gravity.
Select “Refresh Variables”.
If you are working with variables in your report, it is a good idea to refresh variables regularly to ensure that your work reflects your numbers accurately.
Regarding your MD&A:
While your MD&A will already be built for you, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the MDA Narrative Document inside of the Supporting Documents folder in your ACFR. As well, there are other learning opportunities provided by Gravity on developing and automating your MD&A.
Update manual tables
While your ACFR will have a plethora of automated tables, some of your tables will be manual entry. The Implementation signals which tables have manual entries with “[M]” in front of the name. All manual tables will have rows and columns denoted that you will have to fill out.
Update narrative documents
Throughout your ACFR, you will need to update all your narrative documents such as transmittal letters, your MD&A, descriptions, mission statements, organizational charts, and so on. These documents will be unique to you and your organization. These documents can be edited like word documents.
Generate Snapshot
Generating a snapshot is a crucial phase in your ACFR creation. Gravity’s Generate Snapshot
To generate a snapshot:
Click on the three dots at the top-level report folder.
Select “Generation”.
Click on “Create Snapshot”.
After clicking on “Create” Snapshot”, select the folder where you want to place the snapshot. Generally, there is a review folder at the bottom of the report tree on the left side.
Click “Create”.
Note: In the snapshot creation menu, you may want to enable the option “Overlay Object Links”. This will create icons in the opt left of the page in your snapshot that, when clicked, will warp you to that document inside of Gravity.
Review Formatting
While reviewing your ACFR, be sure to review the formatting as to ensure your report is as attractive as possible. The GFOA awards place much weight on the readability and attractiveness of your ACFR.
For any specific questions regarding formatting, please refer to the formatting pamphlets and videos provided during training.
Generate Report
When you are finished with the review phase of your ACFR, you will have to generate a high-quality version of your report to
Click on the three dots at the top-level report folder.
Select “Generation”.
This will create a high-quality version of your report to download and distribute to your constituents.
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