Using the software

How do I create a backup of my company data?

This is done from the menu, File > Backup and Restore > Back Up Company Data.

Use the usual Windows and mouse navigation options to select one, some or all of you companies’ databases. A compressed “zip” file for each selected company will be created in your chosen destination folder.

The backup file(s) that the routines create will be named [email protected], where:
– NN is the company database number
– YYYYMMDD is the current system date, i.e. on your PC
– hhmm is the current system time, i.e. on your PC

You can then move or copy these zip files for you own purposes, e.g. off-site data backup, or to attach to a Comprehensive support ticket.

You can also restore data from a zip file to a new company or the original company using the menu, File > Backup and Restore > Restore Company Data.

Why are all the Data menu items disabled, grey or greyed out?

The Data menu can be different for each company as it depends on the parameters that are saved for each company database. The parameters determine the appropriate Data menu items to be enabled for a company.

The Data menu is disabled or “greyed out” for a company if the user has not entered all parameters.

Check and complete the parameters from the menu:
– View > Accountant Parameters
– View > Business Parameters

Why does my Trial Balance entry form include many duplicated rows?

A past release update introduced a bug whereby printing the Trial Balance would add blank duplicate records to the Trial balance data table in the underlying database.

This bug is now removed in the release 6.8.6 14/09/2011.

Please install the latest release of the software and then select menu, File > Reorganise Databases in each affected company in turn, which will remove the offending blank entries.

No other data will be affected.

Thank you for your patience.

How do I manage more than 100 companies?

For an unlimited licence only, the two-character company code is alphanumeric – i.e. ranges from 00 to ZZ – allowing up to 1,296 separate companies.

Technically, of course, this is not unlimited, so please contact us if your require more than 1,296 companies.

Why does the menu item say “not available in the free trial”?

Certain functions are disabled in the free trial. These include:

• Notes to the Accounts
• Preparing Final Accounts and iXBRL file production
• New Year routine and viewing past Final Accounts
• Licence Activation

We hope that use of the free trial for data input will give you enough confidence to purchase a licence, after which you can download, install and activate a licence for the full application and enjoy all these features.

Why am I told “the licensed number of users has been exceeded”?

The licence limits the number of sessions of Comprehensive you can have open concurrently at any time. Typically a trial and a single-user licence will limit you to one open session.

This message tells you that you already have the maximum allowed number of sessions open and cannot open any more.

The Comprehensive menu, Help > About will tell you how many concurrent sessions are allowed under your licence. This is the “No. of users”.

To see how many sessions you have already running, either check the Task Bar for existing Comprehensive icons or open the Task Manager and check for open Comprehensive Tasks in the Applications tab or running comprehensive.exe Image Names in the Processes tab.

From here, you can then close any open sessions you didn’t realise were running by selecting them from the Task Bar and selecting from the menu, File > Exit or by ending the running Task or Image Name in Task Manager.

How do I enter share capital details?

The balance sheet amount for share capital is entered in the “Share Capital” tab on the Trial Balance form.

Open the Trial Balance form from the menu, Data > Trial Balance.

The par value of a share is entered in the “Called up share capital” tab in the Notes to the Accounts form.

Open the Notes to the Accounts from from the menu, Data > Notes.

How do I enter accounts for a new year?

To enter accounts for a new accounting period for an existing company is started from the menu, Accounts > New Year.

Do this only when you have printed and submitted final accounts for the company for the current year.

A form will appear to prompt you to enter the date of the last day and the column heading for the new accounting period.

Comparative figures and all static data will be carried forward, requiring you only to enter data for the new accounting period and any changes to the static data.

Can I change, reverse or cancel the New Year routine?

The New Year routine simply creates a new data set within the current company to enable you to enter the data you require for the next accounting period, and so on each year into future accounting periods.It also saves you some time, for example:

• You are prompted to enter the end date and preferred column heading for the new accounting period
• The start date of the new accounting period is assumed to be the day after the end date of the old accounting period
• In the Trial Balance, current-period entries are copied to comparative period and the current-period entries are then cleared
• Directors’ details and Other Information are carried forward
• Approval and report dates for the new accounting period are cleared

Although this data is pre-populated in the new-year accounts, you are still free to edit all of these as well as the data that is not retained or carried forward.

So, if you have created a new year data set prematurely or with some wrong new data, you can simply edit the relevant data entries in the new data set. There is no need to cancel or reverse the New Year routine.

You can view all the data sets you have created from the menu, Accounts > History and select your chosen accounting period. The title bar contents will change accordingly to help you remember which accounting period you have chosen and you can edit data, print and prepare accounts as normal.

I cannot change the underlining from single to double, why?

The program is concentrating on the major requirement which is to produce Accounts in an acceptable format as well as a “tagged” iXBRL file.

In future releases we will be devoting more time and energy to providing the user with the ability to make output changes such as this.

However, for the time being we trust you will accept that our priorities are with other issues.

I am expecting to see a “Note to the Accounts” which is not being provided by the software?

When an expected “Note” is not forthcoming, firstly check the FRSSE to confirm if a disclosure is ACTUALLY required.

If it is not, Comprehensive Accounts will not permit the inclusion of such a note.

The program has been developed to adopt the minimum requirements, so it may be that a note is no longer required.

Do I make amendments to my Trial Balance entries by a journal?

No.

If you need to make an amendment or insertion to your Trial Balance, you simply overtype the incorrect entry or enter the missing value.

The Trial Balance is displayed in Debit and Credit format because it is familiar to us.

What if my Trial Balance doesn’t balance?

When you attempt to move away from the Trial Balance from, the program will recognise that your Accounts do not balance and warn you.

If you ignore the warnings and proceed, then obviously the final accounts produced will not balance.

Only you can investigate where the correction or balancing entry must be made.

Why can’t I enter a director’s appointment or retirement date?

For the purposes of filing statutory accounts, the date a director was appointed or retired is only relevant if it was during the reporting period up to the date on which the directors’ report was signed.

Therefore the software will not accept a date entered which is before or after this period.

Also, when a New Year is processed for a company, from the menu Accounts > New Year, any director appointment and retirement dates that occurred before the start date of the New Year’s accounting period are not included in the New Year’s data.