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Consolidations (Cloud) ​

What it is: A built-in feature that combines the trial balances of a holding company and its subsidiaries into a single set of consolidated financial statements, complete with intercompany eliminations and optional foreign currency translation.

What it's for ​

When a firm needs to produce group financial statements across multiple related entities, Consolidations handles the combination automatically. It merges each entity's trial balance, applies intercompany eliminations through journals, and can translate subsidiary balances from a foreign currency into the reporting currency — all without manual spreadsheet work.

How to do it ​

Setting up the group structure ​

Before you consolidate, each entity must have its own client engagement file. For four-column group financials (Group Current Year/Prior Year, Company Current Year/Prior Year), create a new client engagement using a Consolidation template.

Importing a consolidated trial balance from Excel ​

When the group trial balance lives in Excel:

  1. In the Consolidation Client Engagement, select Import Excel.
  2. Ensure your Excel file has a column for the Client Name. Map that column in the import dialog.
  3. After import, the system identifies all Client Names. Assign each entity a Company Structure role (Holding Company, Subsidiary, etc.) and select Confirm.
  4. Once the trial balance is imported and linked, proceed with drafting the consolidated AFS.

Consolidating via the Working Trial Balance ​

Alternatively, when entity files already exist in the system:

  1. Open the group engagement's Working Trial Balance and select Consolidation from the top navigation.
  2. Filter to select the entities to include and set each entity's role (Holding Company or Subsidiary — both are treated equivalently for consolidation purposes).
  3. Choose any configuration options:
    • Include Prior Year / Prior Year 2 — useful for first-year engagements that need historical comparatives.
    • Monthly Management Accounts — for compiled consolidated monthly statements.
  4. The Working Trial Balance gains two extra columns: Client (individual entity balances) and h/s (Holding Company or Subsidiary indicator).
  5. Adjust link codes on any items you need to disclose differently at group level.
  6. Run the financial statements — output shows four columns segmented between Group and Holding Company figures.
  7. Process intercompany elimination journals to remove internal transactions.

Refreshing consolidated data ​

If any entity file changes after you have already consolidated:

  1. Select Consolidations in the group engagement.
  2. Select Refresh Opening Balances — balances update to reflect the latest entity figures.

Foreign Currency Translation Reserve (FCTR) in consolidations ​

When subsidiaries report in a different currency from the group reporting currency:

  1. During the consolidation setup, toggle Add Foreign Currency Translation Rates to active.
  2. Select Next.
  3. Enter the Spot Rate (Balance Sheet — end-of-year rate) and Average Rate (Income Statement — average for the year) for each entity that needs translation. Select Next.
  4. Enter Foreign Currency Interim Rates if you use interim trial balances.
  5. Select Consolidate.
  6. The translated values are imported into the group trial balance, and an FCTR Reserve entry is automatically added to the trial balance to balance the rate difference.

Source ​

Walkthrough ​