How Accounts Software sorts and list account codes
HOW ACCOUNTS SOFTWARE SORTS AND LISTS ACCOUNT CODES
Normal Accounts Software
Sort Order Sort Order
ACC1 ACC1
ACC2 ACC10
ACC3 ACC2
ACC4 ACC21
ACC5 ACC3
ACC6 ACC4
ACC7 ACC5
ACC8 ACC6
ACC9 ACC7
ACC10 ACC8
ACC21 ACC9
Why does the software list ACC21 before ACC3?
EXPLANATION:
Accounts Software read from left to right
First character is A. Both codes have A as their first character
Second Character is C. Both codes have C as their second character
Third Character is C. Both codes have C as their second character
Fourth Character is 2 for ACC21
Fourth Character is 3 for ACC3
The software considers 2 comes before 3, and not that 21 comes before 3. The software looks at each character individually. It does not look at the whole code in one go.
To further confuse matters:
Lower case ‘a’ is different to upper case ‘A’
• So the best practice is not to mix upper case and lower case characters.
• Avoid using non-alphabet characters e.g. # ; @ > ? }
• Stick with A to Z and 0 to 9 and use a hyphen ‘-‘ as a separation character if required. The ‘_’ character should also be avoided if as it can be mistaken for a space on reports and on screens.
• Do not put spaces in codes e.g. A BC 123. This will further confuse which code comes before another code.
The same rules apply to:
• Stock Codes
• Customers Codes
• Nominal Codes
• Job Costing Codes
• Employee Numbers
With some thought you can plan your coding structure so that when listed on screen or on reports, the order in which they are shown will make sense.
Normal Accounts Software
Sort Order Sort Order
ACC1 ACC1
ACC2 ACC10
ACC3 ACC2
ACC4 ACC21
ACC5 ACC3
ACC6 ACC4
ACC7 ACC5
ACC8 ACC6
ACC9 ACC7
ACC10 ACC8
ACC21 ACC9
Why does the software list ACC21 before ACC3?
EXPLANATION:
Accounts Software read from left to right
First character is A. Both codes have A as their first character
Second Character is C. Both codes have C as their second character
Third Character is C. Both codes have C as their second character
Fourth Character is 2 for ACC21
Fourth Character is 3 for ACC3
The software considers 2 comes before 3, and not that 21 comes before 3. The software looks at each character individually. It does not look at the whole code in one go.
To further confuse matters:
Lower case ‘a’ is different to upper case ‘A’
• So the best practice is not to mix upper case and lower case characters.
• Avoid using non-alphabet characters e.g. # ; @ > ? }
• Stick with A to Z and 0 to 9 and use a hyphen ‘-‘ as a separation character if required. The ‘_’ character should also be avoided if as it can be mistaken for a space on reports and on screens.
• Do not put spaces in codes e.g. A BC 123. This will further confuse which code comes before another code.
The same rules apply to:
• Stock Codes
• Customers Codes
• Nominal Codes
• Job Costing Codes
• Employee Numbers
With some thought you can plan your coding structure so that when listed on screen or on reports, the order in which they are shown will make sense.