Overview: You can change how the account's swinging behaviour works. This determines whether the account will be displayed in a different location if it has a negative balance. An alternative name, account type and tax category can also be chosen when the account swings.
Please refer to the Glossary for definitions of key terms used in this article.
Note: If you are connecting a binder to a dataset in Active Ledger & Reporting, the binder will import the account swinging configuration from Active Ledger. Any further changes to the swinging properties will need to be configured in Active Ledger. For more information regarding configuring swinging properties in Active Ledger, see the knowledge article: How to work with accounts.
Account swinging initial setup
When you set up the binder, in the binder details window, choose how you want the accounts to swing.
These are the available options:
Do Not Swing (default behaviour): When you select to not swing accounts, the account will not swing if the balance is negative.
Swing Entire Row based on Primary Column Balance: When you select to swing the entire row based on the primary column's balance, the account, including the current year balance (primary column) and any prior year balances, will swing to the target parent account if the balance for the current year is in negative. This account will only be visible once in the trial balance.
Swing Each Column Balance Independently: When you select to swing each column's balance independently, it could result in a period's balance remaining where it was originally if it's positive, and any other period that has a negative balance will swing to the target parent account. Therefore, this behaviour may result in a pairing of the same account in different locations on the trial balance. When you link any records, notes or queries against one instance of this account, it will be linked to the other instance.
If you have selected to swing your accounts, find the individual account or header account you wish to configure, right-click on it and select Configure Swinging Properties.
In the new pop-up window, fill out the details as below.
FIELD | DESCRIPTION | VALIDATION |
When negative, swing this account into (dropdown menu) | Select the header you wish for the account to go to if it has a negative balance. | Required |
Account No | This is the number of the account that will appear in the trial balance. This defaults to the same no. as the original account. | Optional |
Account Name | This is the name of the account that will appear in the trial balance. This defaults to the same name as the original account. | Optional |
Account Type (dropdown menu) | Represents the system header from the standard chart which the account is allocated to. If left blank, the account will be created with the account type of the parent header. | Optional |
Taxonomy (dropdown menu) | The categorisation of accounts into specific sections of the tax return, e.g. for a bank account, the taxonomy is: asset, current asset, cash and cash equivalents. | Optional |
The below fields are only relevant if users have the 'External Reporting' feature enabled at a firm level. Proceed to the next step if this does not apply to you.
FIELD | DESCRIPTION | VALIDATION |
Mapping Code (dropdown menu) | This is the firm set of codes that are used to map accounts to the external reporting system. Unlike account types, it is customisable and can go to more levels of detail if required. | Optional |
Sub Code | Applicable if there is a variation to the mapping code. For example, to indicate the 'number' of a partner account. So if there one mapping code applicable to 2 partners, you could have a sub code of 1 for partner 1 and sub code 2 for partner 2. | Optional |
Export Code | This is the code to use when exporting to another reporting system (e.g. Xero or Accurri). For Xero, it will equate to their report codes. For Accurri, it equates to a standard mapping code they use for identifying accounts. | Optional |
Export Account No | This is the number of the account that will appear in the external reporting system. | Optional |
Export Account Name | This is the name of the account that will appear in the external reporting system. | Optional |
Once the above details have been completed, select Save and Apply.
Once an account has swung, a swinging icon will appear next to it. Visually, this will vary slightly depending on whether you chose to swing based on the primary column or independently.
If you have chosen to swing based on the primary column, the full account line will swing, showing the icon to the right of the account name.
If you have chosen to swing independently, the icon will appear against both accounts and you will be able to click on this icon to navigate to the related swinging account.
How does account swinging work
For a comprehensive explanation of how account swinging works, refer to the 'Account swinging initial setup' section above, where each swinging option is explained in depth.
Example of account swinging
An example of where this feature would be useful would be if the entity has a Directors Loan Account with a credit balance (liability) in 2023, but in the 2024 financial year it has a debit balance (asset). The Directors Loan Account will swing from being a liability in the 2023 financial year to being an asset in the 2024 financial year. As seen below, the same record will be attached to both instances, however the balances are split on the trial balance.
