Reporting several financial years in the same table

[Michael Hendry]

On 7 Oct 2013, at 11:33, "Maf. King" <maf at chilwell.net> wrote:

> On Mon 7 October 13 10:28:53 Michael Hendry wrote:
>> I'd like to be able to compare (for example) this year's Balance Sheet with
>> last year's (and possibly earlier versions) on the same report.
>> 
>> I could resort to exporting the relevant years and cutting-and-pasting the
>> results, but would have to be careful not to suppress accounts that are
>> zero in one year and not in others.
>> 
>> Is there a built-in way of doing this properly, or am I going to have to
>> learn to code in Scheme?
>> 
>> Michael
> 
> Hi Michael,
> 
> The multi-column report may be your friend.
> 
> HTH,
> Maf

Thanks for the pointer, Maf.

I've managed to get a multi-column balance sheet for the last three years, which was my primary objective.

In case someone else comes up against the same problem, here's how I did it:

1. Create a Balance Sheet report using the standard method - Reports->Asset & Liabilities->Balance Sheet.
2. Change the Balance Sheet Date (Using Options, General Tab) to 31/03/2011.
3. Change the Report Name to "Balance Sheet 2011" (Using Options, General Tab).
4. Display this new Report by clicking "OK".
5. Click "Add Report" to save this new (Custom) report.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 for 2012 and for 2013.
7. Create a Multicolumn View (Reports->Sample & Custom->Custom Multicolumn Report).
8. Change the Options of this report to 3 columns (General Tab), and change its Report name to "Mulitcolumn Balance Sheet".
9. Add the three custom reports I've just created (Balance Sheet 2013, Balance Sheet 2012, Balance Sheet 2011) to the Selected Reports (in the Contents tab).
10. Display this new Report by clicking "OK".
11. Click "Add Report" to save this new report.

This produces a neat comparative report, quite legible when printed in landscape mode, and I can quickly see the effects of tidying up my Chart of Accounts.

Next year I'll have to create a "Balance Sheet 2014" Report, and adjust the Multicolumn Balance Sheet accordingly.

Ideally, there would only be one set of Row labels, with a set of columns for each financial year, but this serves my purpose.

Michael