Customize columns

Owned by Denise McGettigan
Last updated: Nov 07, 2023

If you have permission to customize statements, you can design your own version of a Profit and Loss statement and Balance Sheet statement by defining the columns that they contain, giving you much greater flexibility in the layout and analysis capabilities. You can use the custom measures option to insert additional columns into your financial statement, to enable the analysis of multiple measures from the same data stream within the financial statement. You can save your column configurations in the form of layouts, then when you switch to a different version of the Profit and Loss statement, you can apply the saved layout. So you can mix and match your column layouts to have lots of versions of each statement.

View the column configuration

Within a Profit and Loss or Balance Sheet statement, click the Columns > Customize Columns. The Customize Columns window displays a representation of the columns that are currently in the statement.

You can edit or delete the existing columns and add new columns, as outlined below.

Edit a column

In the Customize Columns window, you can change the name and setup of the existing columns. The available setup options depend on the type of column (expand the sections below) and might include a Measures setting if you opt to use custom measures (see the section below).

Use custom measures

In the Customize Columns window, select the Use custom measures checkbox in the top-left corner to enable the Measures setting for each of the Total columns, then proceed to select a measure from the list for each of those columns. See Use multiple measures in financial statements for more information.

Hide a column

In the Customize Columns window, select the Column is Hidden checkbox, if you want to hide the column in the statement. This option is useful if you are using a Variance column but do not want to display the two underlying columns.

Move a column

In the Customize Columns window, click and hold the column’s Move button on the left side of the name (a blue box displays around the row), then drag the item left or right to its new position.

Delete a column

In the Customize Columns window, click the column’s Delete button. The column is deleted immediately.

Add a new column

  1. In the Customize Columns window, click the New Column button and select one of the following column types: Total, Variance or Sum (expand the sections below for more information).

  2. Enter a name for the column.

  3. Set up the column as required (expand the sections below for more information).

  4. Move the column to another position (see above), if required.

  5. Click OK to view your changes in the statement.

  6. (Optional) Save your new column configuration as a layout.

The Total column format is used by the standard Current, Previous and Budget columns in the Columns menu.

  1. Select a stream (dataset) from the Column Contains list. The available streams are the same as those in the Current menu.

  2. Select a period from the Period list or click the Custom option and proceed to create your own period.

  3. Select a measure, if applicable (see the Use custom measures section above).

The Variance column format is used by the standard Variance column in the Columns menu. It displays the difference between the values in two other columns, such as the Current and Previous columns. Whereas the standard setup displays both the value and percentage of the variance, when customizing this column you have the option to display the value only or the percentage only. You can also select the columns on which to calculate the variance.

  1. Select the column you want to start with from the From list (this is the column from which you will subtract the other column).

  2. Select the column you want to subtract from the Subtract list.

  3. Select how you want to show the variance as: Value and percentage, Percentage only or Value only.

The Sum column type allows you to add the values in two columns and display the sum in a new column. You can add any two of the Total columns together, and you can add a column to itself.

  1. Select one of the columns you want to add from the Add list.

  2. Select the other column you want to add from the To list.

  3. Hide the other columns, if you only want to display the Sum column in the statement.