Allocation Rules

An allocation rule says: take the balance of these source accounts and spread it over these destination accounts, by fixed percentage, by weight, or in equal shares. Process Allocation applies the rule and posts.

Where

General Ledger › Allocation › Allocation Rules

Who uses it

The cost or management accountant

When

At setup, and when the sharing keys change

Needs first

A Transaction Journal with Allocation ticked; the accounts released to the company

What it is for

Shared costs such as rent, power or head-office salaries are booked to one account and later spread to departments, branches or products. The rule holds the sharing key once, so each month's allocation is one click.

Every field in plain words

Field	What it means	What to put
Allocation Rules	The code of the rule	Required. Must be unique
Name	The rule's name	Required. Must be unique
Allocation Method	How the destinations share	Required. Locked after Create. See below
Date From, Date To	Validity of the rule	Recorded only. Process Allocation does not read them
Transaction Journal	The journal the allocation vouchers are posted in	Only journals with Allocation ticked are offered. Locked after Create
Account (source line)	The account whose balance is spread	Required on each source line
Destination (source line)	The accounts that receive it	Opens a sub-grid: Account, Dimension, Allocation Value. At least one per source

Allocation Method

• FP Fixed percentage: each destination's Allocation Value is its percentage. The values of a source must add up to exactly 100.
• FW Fixed weight: the values are weights. Each destination gets its weight divided by the total of the weights. 3, 2 and 5 give 30%, 20% and 50%.
• EQ Equal: every destination gets the same share. The Allocation Value column is hidden.

How to configure it

One rule can carry several source accounts, each with its own destinations. Put a dimension on a destination line to land the cost on a cost centre or department.

Scenarios

• Rent shared by floor area. Method Fixed weight. Source: Rent expense. Destinations: the rent account with the cost centre of each department, weights equal to square metres.
• IT costs split equally between three branches. Method Equal, three destinations.

What it is connected to

• Process Allocation - runs the rule and posts.
• Transaction Journal - the Allocation tick decides which journals are offered.

If something looks wrong

• "The sum of Allocation Values must be 100" Method Fixed percentage and one source's destinations do not add to 100.
• "Source - Line ID: ... - Destination cannot be empty" A source line has no destination.
• "... - Allocation Value cannot be empty" A destination has zero or no value. Under Equal this is filled for you.
• "Already exists" / "Allocation Rules with the same name already exists" Use another code or name.