DFIC Error 76 - Retained Earnings Mismatch

Last reviewed: 10/21/2011
Article ID: R10980

The information in this article applies to:

Summary

A Data File Integrity Check (DFIC) error 76 indicates the balance for the Retained Earnings account (type "R" account) does not match the calculated retained earnings amount for a specific month. This error can occur as a result of the following:

Troubleshooting Steps

When a Data File Integrity Check is run, a comparison of the Retained Earnings Account on the Balance Sheet and Trial Balance reports takes place. If the Retained Earnings balance does not match between the two reports, an error 76 is reported. Although the software automatically changes the account balance on the Trial Balance to match the Balance Sheet, this potentially indicates a deeper issue. The following steps can be used to ensure the reports are truly in balance:

  1. If a DFIC error 52 (invalid date) occurs in conjunction with the DFIC error 76, fix the DFIC error 52 first. Then rerun the Data File Integrity Check. Correct any additional errors and continue with the following steps.
  2. Open the G5DFIC76.LOG file in the data directory (using Notepad or any other text editor). Information is appended to this log file each time the DFIC makes an adjustment.
    1. Determine which month was adjusted when the first DFIC error 52 and 76 errors were encountered.
  3. Run a Trial Balance for the oldest month specified in the log. Verify the debits and credits match.
    1. If the debits and credits do not match, address the issue.
    2. Verify that the debits and credits match for subsequent months through (and including) the current reporting month.
  4. If the debits and credits were in balance and no adjustments were made, verify no accounts have asterisks next to them on the Trial Balance report you just ran (an asterisk indicates an incorrect balance). If an adjustment was made to bring the debits and credits into balance, rerun a new Trial Balance Report.
    1. If asterisks exist, address the issue through (and including) the current reporting month. Refer to KB articles R10984, "Balance Sheet and Trial Balance Do Not Match" and R10985, "Income Statement and Trial Balance Do Not Match" for more information.
  5. Run the DFIC again. If the above steps were completed correctly, you will receive an error 76 for the first month adjusted, rolling forward to the current month. The reports should be in balance now and the DFIC will clear the error 76 correctly.

More Information

The calculated retained earnings amount is determined by taking the total of all asset account balances for the month and deducting the total of all liability account balances for the same month. The difference between these totals should always match the balance for the Retained Earnings account for that month.

This comparison is performed for every month up through the current month. If the figures do not match, an error 76 is reported. The error 76 will be reported for each month's balance that is incorrect.

When the Data File Integrity Check is run with the Read Only check box selected, it will only report the error 76.

When the Data File Integrity Check is run with the Read Only check box cleared, it will report the error 76 as well as automatically adjust the balance of the Retained Earnings account for that month to match the calculated balance. The old and new balances for the months that were changed will be written to a file named G5DFIC76.LOG.

GLS DFIC Error Report

The following is an example of the contents of a GLS Data File Integrity Check Error Report with an error 76:

Date: 09/27/2011          GLS Data File Integrity Check Error Report                Page: 1
                                  Burns, Jensen & Powers, P.C.

       Error
 Count Code Error Description          File Name   Field            Acct # Key<Ref#> Seq No

     1  76  Retained Earnings Mismatch  Account    Jan 2009 Balance 330.00             247
     1  76  Retained Earnings Mismatch  Account    Dec 2008 Balance 330.00             247
'Key<Ref#>' Legend.
Non-listed files and errors 55, 72, 73, and 74 cause this field to be blank.
Error 69 reports the index number in this field.

File                  Key represents
----                  --------------
Account               GLS Account
Journal Entry         Record Number
Department            Department Number
Journal Name          Journal Number
Recurring Entry       Record Number
Client                Client Number
Verification          User ID

--------------------------------------------------
DFIC was started at:    11:35 AM   on  09/27/2011
DFIC ended at:          11:35 AM   on  09/27/2011
    2 error(s) were found

G5DFIC76.LOG File

Anytime an automatic adjustment is made to the Retained Earnings account as a result of an error 76, detailed information regarding the adjustment is written to the end of the G5DFIC76.LOG file.

The following is an example of the contents of a G5DFIC76.LOG file:

GLS DFIC Retained Earnings Balance Adjustment
Started at: 11:35 AM on 09/27/2011 by (JULIE)
Client #1 Jensen, Martin & Anderson, P.C. (Location: )

Account    Month     Old Balance   New Balance
=======    =====     ===========   ===========
 330.00   Jan 2011      73452.80     149003.28
 330.00   Dec 2010      70076.80     145587.28

A new heading section is printed for each time the Data File Integrity Check is run with error 76s reported. The (Location:  ) label represents the GLS data path specified for the GLS client in the Edit GLS Client program. The same file is written to regardless of which GLS client the error was encountered in. A blank location simply indicates the data is in the same directory as the program files.

Checking Balances

Because there are a number of reasons for these discrepancies to exist, please refer to our Knowledge Base article R10984, "Balance Sheet and Trial Balance Do Not Match". This article provides detailed information on how to compare reports to help you identify if additional Balance Sheet account balances are out of balance and provides detailed instructions on how to correct the balances. If you want to verify that account balances from the Income Statement match account balances shown on the Trial Balance and General Ledger reports (e.g., the Chart of Account balances), refer also to R10985, "Income Statement and Trial Balance Do Not Match".

Note:  If you find that other account balances are not matching between the reports, you may be able to determine if the cause was due to editing of the Chart of Accounts by viewing the GLS Support Log. To access the Support Log, select View | Log Files | Support Log from the GLS menu. The first section of this file shows the last 30 account balances that were edited, who edited the balances and when they were edited.

References

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