Accounts

Header and Detail accounts

Header Account

Header accounts specify the title of a group of accounts. Header accounts are used only to group detail accounts that have a similar purpose; that is, detail accounts are assigned to specific header accounts.

In the Accounts List window, header accounts appear in bold type, and their detail accounts appear below them in plain type.

Because header accounts are used only to group detail accounts, transaction amounts can't be assigned (posted) to them; transaction amounts can be assigned to only detail accounts.

Header accounts aren't required in MYOB AccountEdge, except for the eight Level 1 accounts -- Asset, Liability, Income, Expense, Equity, Cost of Sales, Other Income and Other Expense. The level of these eight accounts can't be changed. If you create other header accounts, they must be either Level 2 or Level 3. When you change an account's number, the Accounts List is reordered by account number. If a header is separated from its sub-accounts, the sub-accounts are moved up one level.

You may want to create a header account to combine the amounts of several detail accounts under it and display the total on reports. To display totals on reports, use the Details view of the Edit Accounts window to mark When Reporting, Generate a Subtotal for This Section.

Detail Account

Create a detail account if you intend to assign transactions to the account. (You can't assign transactions to header accounts.)

You can assign (post) transaction amounts to detail accounts when you enter transactions in MYOB AccountEdge. The amount of the transaction will then be included in the balance of the detail account.

Each detail account is assigned to the header account that appears directly above it in the Accounts List window. Detail accounts appear in plain type, and header accounts appear in bold type.

Note: The equity account named Current Year Earnings is a detail account, but it can't have transactions assigned to it.

If you're using AccountEdge's Multicurrency feature (the "I Deal in Multiple Currencies" option in the Preferences window), and you're creating an exchange account to track the effects of currency fluctuations on a foreign currency account, choose Detail Account. Your exchange accounts must be Detail accounts.

Step by step