open source basecamp

Camptocamp published a new module entitled ‘account_financial_report_Webkit‘ which provides the following basic legal financial reports:

• General ledger
• Partner ledger
• Trial balance
• Partner balance

…and smaller -but handy- reports which are accessible from the Journal entries menu or from the invoices list menu:

• print screen of selected entries
• print screen of selected invoices

Where to get this module?

You can download it from OpenERP Apps or from our launchpad branch : lp:c2c-financial-addons/6.0

Why a new module on financial reports?

Camptocamp Business Solutions team consists of technicians having both IT and/or finance backgrounds; we consequently had all the required internal competencies to develop such a module. Nevertheless, we also requested the validation of our work by two chartered accountants, both in France and in Switzerland.

In addition, we really have invested the necessary time to get reports with the following characteristics:

• Reliable: complex use cases tested over several fiscal years (closed or unclosed), partially paid invoices, multi-currency…

• Fast: 14min for 100′000 entry lines / 2′143 pages in pdf. This performance is reached with a simple PC (dual core; 4Gb RAM); getting the same report from a server is even better. We added that no extra dedicated server was necessary; a simple Webkit library (called ‘wkhtmltopdf’) added!

• Generic: these reports can be used in any country by any business

• Durable: Camptocamp would really like to see these reports become the most used reports in OpenERP because:
  - we have back-ported this module to v5
  - we will maintain these reports for all future OpenERP versions…unless OpenERP accept to use them as standard financial reports, which would be even better of course

A final question: why use Webkit?

At Camptocamp, we really do believe that Webkit is the best possible render engine for OpenERP for many reasons including these ones:

- It is Open Source
- It is already in the core of OpenERP
- It is used with success by well-known Web browsers such as Safari or Chrome
- it gives much more possibilities than RML: column auto-scaling, WYSIWYG, inheritance from others reports…
- it gives better performance without adding extra servers but a simple library.

General ledger

What can I now select from the wizard?

Tab 1 (click on the image to enlarge):

Tab 2 (click on the image to enlarge):

What does it look like?

Please click on the image to enlarge

What are the added functionalities?

• Filter by account: no need to go to the ‘Chart of account’ menu any longer. On top, you have the possibility to filter by view account, the report will then print all children accounts; hence, you can easily select only all P&L accounts at once.

• Only usefull accounts are listed: the report will now print only accounts with movements OR with a balance > 0. No more endless reports with accounts without data or with missing account because they were not used during the current fiscal year; now reports include accounts with a balance to carry forward (consequently, the field ‘display account’ is hidden on the wizard).

• Calculated opening balance: if you have not created your opening entries yet, the report will simply calculate the opening balance for you (it remains important to post opening entries if you do not want to loose performance over the years).

* You can filter, for example from 02/2011 to 06/2011 with an opening balance that will include not only previous years data but also data from the beginning of the fiscal year until the start period of your filter; so you will always match with your trial balance.

Note that no opening balance will be calculated when using the filter by date (correct balances are based on periods only).

• Account centralization: thanks to a new check-box in account set-up form, you have the possibility to centralize any accounts you like (for instance, you do not want to see all entries posted under the account ‘VAT on sales’); you will only see aggregated amounts by periods. This option can save hundreds of useless pages. See the screen shot below (click on the picture to enlarge):

• Layout improvement: with a better design and to ease your analysis, reports now show new columns such as Cumulative balances, Reconcile code, User name added on foot page (+ date, time, page), Counterpart accounts displayed for each transaction (3 accounts max.).

• Better wizard ergonomics: important information at the top, filters in the middle, options at the bottom, more specific filtering on a different tab. No more unique wizard layout for all financial reports (ex: we have removed the journal tab which was useless for the GL report).

• Better rendering technology: Webkit (used by Web browsers such as Safari or Chrome) allows an intelligent scalability of column size, WYSIWYG, and better performance.

• OpenERP reports existing functionalities remaining:
  - Filter on Chart of account (if you use several)
  - Filters on period or date (improved with opening balance)
  - Printing options: possibility to add currencies columns (improved with cumulative balance)

Partner ledger

What can I now select on the wizard?

1st Tab (click on the image to enlarge):

2nd Tab (click on the image to enlarge):

What does it look like?

Please click on the image to enlarge

What are the added functionalities?

This report is, if you look closer, a TRIPLE report :

- You can only print unreconciled entries (see ‘print open invoices list’ below)
- You can make forecast to a later date (see ‘report date’ below)
- You can simply print all entries

• Filter by partner: now possible

• Print open invoices list: at any date in the past; possibility to print only unreconciled transactions at any date in the past (thanks to the brand-new field: last_rec_date which calculated the last move line reconciled date).

• Subtotals by accounts: now you can see accounts then Partner with subtotals for each account, allowing you to check your data with trial balance and partner balance for instance. Also, accounts are ordered in the same way than in the Chart of account.

• Layout improvement: better design, column ‘period’ added, reconciliation code, cumulative balances, user name added on foot page (+ date, time, page)…

• Opening balance calculation: for each partner (will not be based on opening entry anymore due to a defective design) and whatever the filter by period.

* Note that if you print the report ‘excluding reconciled entries’, the opening balance will be decreased by the previous year reconciled entries (ordered); no doing so will lead to have an ending balance that does not match the trial balance (or partner balance).

* Note that no opening balance will be calculated when using the filter by date (correct balances are based on period only).

• Report date: a new field called ‘report date’ in the wizard gives now the possibility to print open invoices as if you were positioning yourself at a later date. Example: you can print 2011 open invoices considered as open on the 31/03/2012. This financial tool (which is unfortunately not that often provided) is usually used for the closing process (example: to estimate your provision on receivables).

• Only useful accounts/partners listed: the report will now print only account / partner ‘with movements OR with a balance not null’.

• Better wizard ergonomics: (similar approach to GL report)

• Better rendering technology: (see comments for GL report)

• OpenERP reports existing functionalities remaining:
  - Filter by type of partner (receivables, payables or both)
  - Filter on Chart of account (if you use several)
  - Filters on period or date
  - Printing options: possibility to add currencies columns (improved)

This module is already providing users with the two main (and complex) reports. We are currently developing the other ones…Our target is to develop all reports by the end of October 2011. Be patient and please send us you feedback (openerp@camptocamp.com)!

For Camptocamp,

Frédéric Clementi