Hi,
I have a very simple model that does not require all of the balance sheet categories that come with Generic Model COA 2 (I need cost of sales, but not inventory or debtors). E.g:
When I delete these rows in the opening balance sheet, the financial statements have #Ref errors. What is the correct method to get rid of unused categories?
When I try "delete categories" I get this error:
I assume there is a neat way to get rid of unused categories, but I can't see anything in the training documents?
Thanks
Lyndall
Hi Lyndall,
It's important to distinguish between categories and category blocks in this discussion - I'd recommend reading the Categories section of the Modano user guide.
Deleting categories from categories blocks is different from deleting entire category blocks, which you can delete by simply selecting all the rows in the category block you want to delete (including its total row if it has one) and deleting the entire rows. Deleting categories does not delete its category block, it just reduces the number of categories within its category block, which must always have at least one category...
If you don't want certain items in your financial statements, such as inventory and debtors as you've noted, you simply delete their entire category block rows the same way you'd delete rows that are not category-based. But you will then have to manage the flow-on effects of deleting this content, which is and always has been the most challenging thing about financial modelling, irrespective of whether or not you're using Modano.
By deleting parts of your financial statements from your financial model, you're effectively creating your own custom chart of accounts, which is absolutely fine (and one of the reasons Modano is so powerful) but you'll need to know what you're doing as each of these parts will flow throughout your model into multiple places.
If you're struggling to get your head around how to best do this, I'd recommend purchasing some support credits and asking one of our team to walk you through it. This is probably the most common thing we do on a support front, and you'll learn as we assist you.
Alternatively, a quick and dirty workaround / solution would be to simply hide the rows containing financial statement items you don't want to see, thereby preventing the need to manage the implications of deleting these rows... This isn't something we'd recommend as best practice, but the outcome should be the same if you leave all the assumptions in these areas as zero.
I hope this helps, it looks like you're getting your hands dirty, which is when things get fun with Modano. You've just got to persevere until you properly understand how all the pieces of each chart of accounts structure relate to each other. This is a financial modeling rite of passage!