The finer points of Microsoft Dynamics NAV account schedules: One comptroller’s journey

Why does Kerry Rosvold use account schedules in Microsoft Dynamics NAV? It's a question with many good answers, some functional, others more philosophical. Rosvold, the Corporate Controller at Augsburg Fortress Publishers in Minneapolis, Minnesota has been busy enlightening readers of her blog, Dynamics NAV Financials, in a new series this spring.

"I use account schedules as the primary source of financial reporting at my company," she writes in Lesson 1. Why? To build custom financial statements that look exactly right. To tie directly to the general ledger. Because budgets integrate well with them. Because they make a powerful combination with dimensions. Because Excel export is easy, as is the subsequent upload to SharePoint for viewing by end users. And because they don't require help from IT.

Rosvold also raised an interesting question early on in the series - is the use of NAV account schedules really just a protest against financial reporting add-on solutions? She writes, "The answer is, ‘No, I'm not anti add-on, I'm just really pro account schedule.'"

Account schedules are not a cure-all for BI and analytics needs, she explains, but for her needs, and after working in some way with nearly every option out there she found that account schedules fulfilled the three principles her company set forth regarding financial reports: 1) the report must balance to the general ledger, 2) it must be consistently replicated in future periods, 3) it must be able to be maintained by someone in the company with the right skill set.

Account schedules are not a new construct - you can access them from either NAV 2013, NAV 2009 ...