FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (AND ANSWERS)
Where can I find out which accounts to use to record GM New Vehicle sales by model lines?
Which transactions should be recorded in Account 026, Incentives – Supervisions?
Why do I need to have the most current TB (Trial Balance) Edit update?
Why is the Version number important?
After I made changes to my TB Edit, why am I still getting the same error message?
When should I save the TB Edit file?
Why can’t I change a number or why do I get asked for a password when I try?
Where can I find out which accounts to use to record GM New Vehicle sales by model lines?
The official source for GM New Vehicle model lines is this web based accounting manual. This manual will be updated from time to time and will have a table, which shows the proper accounts to use for each model. (Please see the next question also)
Please refer to the tables in Account 400 – 418, New Cars Retail and Account 423-438, New Trucks Retail. If a vehicle is listed in the New Car Table, then it should be put in Account 231, New Cars. Similarly, if a vehicle is shown in the New Truck Table, then it should be put in inventory using Account 235, Medium Duty Trucks or Account 237, New Trucks.
Proper handling of PEP units to GM Employees depends on whether the vehicle is brand new or a GM company car retired from service (“brass hat”). In general, the proper accounting follows the rules for New and Used Vehicles above.
The accounting entry that was made in the past is no longer required.
The parts sales on repair orders are now recorded only in the Parts Department. The gross profit is still split 50-50 between the Mechanical and Parts Departments, but now it’s just a matter of display, not an accounting entry.
Most DSP systems will do this automatically for in house generated statements. However, some DSP’s may ask you for the percentage split between Mechanical and Parts for your in-house statement. If unsure, you will need to check with your DSP to determine how this is handled.
If you are manually keypunching the data, you simply need to enter the sales and cost of sales information in accounts 467 through 478 on page 6 of the TB Edit Application and the transfer amounts on page 4, line 59 will automatically be recorded at a 50-50 split.
Which transactions should be recorded in Account 026, Incentives – Supervisions?
Account 026, Incentives – Supervision is established to record Incentives, spiffs and commissions paid to supervisors above and beyond regular salaries. Regular compensation such as salaries and wages are properly recorded in Account 021, Salaries – Supervision. Please refer to the Accounting Manual for complete details.
For most accounts, simply type in the Account Number. The exceptions are the Expense Accounts. Under the new system, all accounts have at least three (3) positions. When looking up an Expense Account, it is necessary to add a “leading zero”. For example if you do a search for an Account Number such as Account 13, Delivery Expense, be sure to put a “0” in front and enter “013”.
The GM Help Desk can be reached by dialing (888) 337-1010. Before calling the GM Help Desk, please check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) in this section. You may find the answer here. This section will be updated and revised from time to time so please check it often and look here before calling. Unfortunately accounting and business related questions cannot be answered directly by the helpdesk – please check with your DSP (Dealer Systems Provider) or your tax & accounting professional for advice related to handling accounting issues.
In general, questions about preparing the Trial Balance should be directed to your DSP. Once the Trial Balance is created, questions about submitting the TB Edit Sheet should be directed to the GM Help Desk. General accounting questions related to the procedures outlined in this manual should be directed to the DealerWorld Help Desk and responses will be posted in this section. In this way, answers to all questions can be shared with all dealers.
In order to best utilize the GM DealerWorld-FACTS 2.0 Help Desk, please limit your calls to reporting technical difficulties with DealerWorld's FACTS 2.0 website and the Trial Balance Edit file (TB Edit). Any business or GM accounting related question or concern should be communicated to the FACTS 2.0 business team directly via the Feedback Form in GM DealerWorld. Under the form's question #6 be sure to type FACTS 2.0 as the Application Name then type your concern in the Comments section below it before clicking Submit. Answers will be published through GM Messenger, usually as FAQ’s like this one.
The GM DealerWorld Help Desk will ask for your Email address. Most questions will be answered through GM Messenger FAQ’s like this one, however we will answer some questions individually if they only apply to your dealership. We do not have a staffed help desk for business and accounting questions and response times may vary.
Based on a suggestion from our Business Manager Advisory group, here is a quick list of the steps your need to remember for the TB Edit preparation, this is not a substitute for the training, just a quick checklist.
Why do I need to have the most current TB (Trial Balance) Edit update?
We have made many changes to the TB Edit to modify some of the Edits. If you have experienced critical errors even though you feel your Trial Balance is correct, it is advisable to download a new TB Edit. We are changing the file whenever errors are discovered - generally once per day. Be sure to check the version number.
Why is the Version number important?
We have started to put version numbers at the bottom of the FACTS 2.0 page in DealerWorld. There were many changes so far as we relaxed restrictions and changed some edit ranges. We also put in some changes to work around some of the problems a few of the DSP’s had. Going forward we do not expect to change the TB Edit very often. However, if you are having a problem you may want to download the latest version before calling your DSP or the DealerWorld help desk. If the data is displayed differently in the TB Edit than in your DSP system you will need to call your DSP. There are 2 reasons for this. First, almost all the differences we have seen so far are do to incorrect mapping from the DSP to the TB Edit. Second, if we do need to change something in the TB Edit the DSP’s will be in the best position to tell us were the problem is.
There are many reasons for file rejections. Be sure you are trying to upload the XML file (Default name Tboutput.xml) that is created from the TB Edit spreadsheet. Many people are trying to upload the sheet TB Edit itself, this will not work. If you file rejects due to an incorrect version number, you need to download the latest version and use that. We are making changes if we think the ranges or critical errors are too tight, this results in a version number change.
After I made changes to my TB Edit, why am I still getting the same error message?
After you make changes to the TB Edit you will have to click the "Edit Data" button on page 1 again.
If you receive this error please be sure you are submitting the file created by the TB Edit named “Tboutput.xml”.
When should I save the TB Edit file?
Save the TB Edit sheet after you have uploaded your data to FACTS 2.0 on DealerWorld. The TB Edit acts like a filter. It should be fresh each time you bring in your data from the DSP system.
Excel will automatically select the type size to fill the page. If you click the "hide COS" button on the "hide gross % of sales" button on the pages there will be less data to display and excel will pick a larger font.
Why can’t I change a number or why do I get asked for a password when I try?
Except when using manual input many fields are locked in the TB Edit. You will need to go back into your DSP system to make the fixes. Only fields that are in blue text and not italicized can be changed.
If you enter data by keypunching, you must enter it in the YTD areas.
Some systems (DSP) will provide most of the statistical data on the Operating Report. The degree of automation will vary by DSP. Some DSPs may require you to keypunch some data.
This is a memo item that must be filled out manually on page 7 line 60 of the Operating Report (if not done automatically by your DSP). This represents all the cash sales for the dealership for the last month, not the cash that is shown on page 1 of the Operating Report.
Each employee should be pro-rated by the amount of work performed for each Department. For example a Technician typically works only for the Mechanical Department. Therefore, each Technician would count as one (1) employee – completely assigned to the Mechanical Department.
On the other hand, suppose a Sales Manager devotes 60% to the New Vehicle Department, 30% to the Used Vehicle Department and 10% to Leasing & Rentals. The Sales Manager would be split across Departments as follows: New 0.6, Used 0.3, L&R 0.1 = Total 1.0 person
If there are personnel expenses in any account, there must be at least one employee (or fraction) reported in the respective Department in the Dealership Personnel Count section on page 7 of the Operating Report.
The 2004 Operating Report no longer tracks body shop customer car and truck labor, it now tracks customer body and paint labor. In most cases, a customer body shop repair order will contain both paint and body labor. Consequently we now have only one body shop customer repair order count number. An edit check is performed to insure that a body shop customer repair order count is present if either paint or body labor Sales/C.O.S. are present. This means that if you only record paint labor (Account 470, Customer Paint Labor – Cars and Trucks) repair orders also need to be recorded in R.O. Account 471, Customer Body Labor.
If you have capital stock listed on your TB Edit you need to click on the capital stock field and select the type. When you get the TB Edit the next month it will be pre loaded for you. If you use the short cut method to directly download a blank TB Edit you will have to select the stock type again.
We have had requests for a list of the points and errors that could possibly be deducted. Since there are over 4000 edit checks and because of size and complexity we do not plan to publish them. Keep in mind that you should not transmit your data until you have had the opportunity to check the data and clear up all of the errors. The errors are explained in the TB Edit.
The screens for allowing 3rd party authorizations will be updated early next week. This screen will allow you to give 20 Groups access to your financial data.