Having seen at first hand the trauma experienced by Credit Unions when completing monthly and quarterly financial returns for the Growth Fund, Kesho embarked on a development to integrate the said reporting into Curtains Too the SQL. The purpose of this project was to produce the spreadsheets by gathering all the required information as a by-product of day-to-day processing.
The first step in producing the return is to ensure that Growth Fund Management has been ticked in Credit Union Maintenance. To do this access:
Maintenance --> System --> Credit Union Maintenance --> Extras tab and check the bottom right box titled "Growth Fund Management Required?"
Hint! without this ticked Growth Fund Loans are not available
COST CENTRES
To avoid having to maintain seperate spreadsheets for a funding body, Curtains can provide a Cost Centre Analysis. This feature allows for a new entry in the posting screen which when enabled, will allow you to analyse your postings for the benefit of said funding body. To enable this analysis you must first navigate to:
Maintenance --> System --> Credit Union Maintenance --> Posting Tab and check the box marked "Cost Centres Required?"
The next step is to create specific cost centres to allow Nominal ledger entries to be analysed by the appropriate cost centre. This is achieved by selecting:
Maintenance --> Nominal --> Cost Centres Maintenance
From here you can now create cost centres of your choice.
Hint! Don't forget to create a cost centre for 'The Growth Fund'.
The next box to check is located at Maintenance --> System --> Product Maintenance
Once there, select the relevant product code and enter the appropriate code for Cost Centres. This will allow you to assign any number of products to your GF cost centre
Once these centres have been set up, you will be able to automatically complete the DWP Growth Fund Return.
HINT! Be sure to have created a new folder on your server drive (usually K:) called DWPFORMS, or something to that effect. Within this folder, you must create two sub folders called TEMPLATE and RETURN. This will make the process of completing your DWP returns considerabely easier.
Navigate from the Curtains main menu to DWP --> DWP Returns
This will bring up the DWP Growth Fund Screen
Here you will notice 6 shortcuts along the top row of the screen. These are: Set Parameters, Monthly Spreadsheet, Monthly Sub-merge, Quarterly Spreadsheet, Quarterly Sub-merge and E-mail Spreasheets.
Set Parameters: This feature is only relevant if your Credit Union has deviated from the standard Kesho nominal codes. It will allow you to ammnd a set nominal to one you have selected for a specific action. You can recreate the default parameters at any time by clicking "recreate default parameters using the wizard"
Monthly Spreadsheet: When this button is pressed, you will be presented with this screen
Entering your GF assigned Cost Centre code will automatically bring up and select all product types associated with this code. Once these have been selected, the date range for the spreadsheet must be specified. On the Source field click and navigate to and select the GF2M.xls spreadsheet (which should now be located at k:\dwpforms\template\GF2M.xls). On the "Save As" field change the directory to (k:\dwpforms\return\CUnameetc.) and click continue. Your report should now have been saved in the Returns folder.
Monthly Sub-Merge This feature allows you to consolidate your spreadsheet for the month with those of a sub contractor who may be adminstering Growth Fund loans on your behalf.
Note: If Cost Centres were not set up, on the monthly and quarterly spreadsheets screens there is a check box marked "Used for Loan Products Only" which can be checked if Growth Fund Loan products have been set up but not correlated with Nominal Ledger Codes.
The first box marked Contractor filename requires you to enter your own completed spreadsheet which can be accessed by clicking (eg. k:\dwpforms\returns\CUname0708.xls)
The next box entitled Sub-contracor 1 worsksheet title requires a title for your own records (for ease of locating it) and beneath this is where you would enter the destination of the 1st sub-contractor's spreadsheet by again clicking and selecting the appropriate spreadsheet from its existing location. This may be done up to 3 times if you have that many sub-contractors. The next step is to choose a name for your sub-merged spreadsheet in the "Save as" field at the bottom. Pressing will then save the sub-merged spreadsheet.
HINT! Remember to review the completed document to ensure that you have consolidated all you subcontractor spreadsheets. This exercise may be repeated without risk of duplication.
Quarterly Spreadsheet: This feature allows you to carry out a quarterly report.
Much the same as for the Monthly Spreadsheet, you must first enter you Cost Centre and ensure all relevant GF products are ticked. The next step is to enter the Credit Union Year End date, and select . After this, enter your forecast for number of loans made and underneath this, the forecast value of loans made. On the Source field click and navigate to the GF2Q.xls spreadsheet (which should now be located at k:\dwpforms\template\GF2Q.xls). At the "Save As" box, you again want to select the returns folder (as with the monthly return) so your save destination would look something like K:\dwpforms\return\spreadsheetname.xls. Clicking continue will then populate your Quarterly spreadsheet.
Hint! The template detailed above must only be used to provide the source document for the first quarter. In subsequent quarters, the source document will be the previous quarter's completed spreadsheet.
Note: This is a basic guide on how to set up your Curtains software for DWP returns. There are more extensive notes avaialable on the website in PDF format outlining things such as the specific Nominal coding plan, day to day processing etc.
Quarterly Sub-merge: This feature allows you to consolidate your spreadsheet for the quarter with those of a sub contractor who may be administering Growth Fund loans on your behalf.
The first box marked Contractor filename requires you to enter your own completed spreadsheet which can be accessed by clicking (eg. k:\dwpforms\return\CUname0708.xls)
The next box entitled Sub-contracor 1 worsksheet title requires a title for your own records (for ease of locating it) and beneath this is where you would enter the destination of the 1st sub-contractor's spreadsheet by again clicking and selecting the appropriate spreadsheet from its existing location. This may be done up to 3 times if you have that many sub-contractors. The next step is to choose a name for your sub-merged spreadsheet in the "Save as" field at the bottom. Pressing will then save the sub-merged spreadsheet.
HINT! Remember to review the completed document to ensure that you have consolidated all your subcontractor spreadsheets. This exercise may be repeated without risk of duplication.
Email Spreadsheets This feature allows you to email your monthly and quarterly spreadsheets to the Growth Fund.
Firstly, enter the email address of the Growth Fund in the designated field. Click and select the relevant spreadsheet which should be located in your k:\dwpforms\return folder. If you yourselves are a subcontractor, check the appropriate box at the bottom of the screen. and enter the email address of your provider. Finally, press
Note: If Cost Centres were not set up, on the monthly and quarterly spreadsheets screens there is a check box marked "Used for Loan Products Only" which can be checked if Growth Fund Loan products have been set up but not correlated with Nominal Ledger Codes.
Note 2: This is a basic guide on how to set up your Curtains software for DWP returns. There are more extensive notes avaialable on the website in PDF format outlining things such as the specific Nominal coding plan, day to day processing etc.