A Build P&L, Balance Sheet, or Ledger is a customized statement with highly editable columns and data types. This article will explore how to create and when to use a Build statement. All Build statements have the same functionality, so we will use a Build P&L as a case.

Navigate to "Financials" > "Profit and Loss" and click on the "Build P&L" top tab.

To create a Build P&L, follow the steps below:

Builds offers a great deal of functionality and flexibility. Below is an explanation of each tool.

A Standard P&L has 5 standard columns that cannot be changed which are:

Whereas, a Build P&L's columns can be customized with no limits.

A Build P&L is used to customize the columns within your P&L where as a Layout is used to customize the rows within your P&L.

We recommend setting up your Layouts on Syft first and foremost as most features on Syft use the Layout that you set as default to generate reports. Use Layouts to set up your totals, group accounts or hide certain accounts.

After this you can then use Build to change or add columns within your P&L such as adding actuals, budgets, forecasts or equation columns where you can apply arithmetic operations to multiple columns. The Layout you choose will then be applied to your Build.

Click on the 🔨 toggle to view, change or edit your Layout. You can also set a certain Layout as your default by clicking the star icon. Alternatively, click on "Assign layout" within the "Build P&L" top tab to change your layout.

You are able to add a budget column to your Build P&Ls which will sum multiple budgets from different entities within a consolidation into one budget column. The underlying budget columns will automatically be hidden. This works the same for forecast columns.

You are also able to consolidate different budgets or forecasts for the same entity within one column (your entity does not have to be a consolidation).

Actuals represent your historic financials. Once you select actuals, you'll have the option to view the financial data using the standard Syft time periods (e.g. monthly, quarterly, annually, etc). You'll also be given the option to include multiple periods in a single column. For example, if you select monthly (as the time period) and 2 periods (as the number of periods), you'll see 2 months of actuals in a single column.

Lastly, you can set a time lag for the actuals vs. the date for the P&L. This is useful to compare different periods of data against one another. For example, if you select monthly (as the time period), the time period to lag vs. the date will also be monthly.

Budget represents budgets that you've created in Syft or imported via your accounting software. Similar to actuals, you'll have the option to view the financial data from your budget using the standard Syft time periods (e.g. monthly, quarterly, annually, etc). You'll also be given the option to include multiple periods in a single column. For example, if you select monthly (as the time period) and 2 periods (as the number of periods), you'll see 2 months of actuals in a single column.

An additional option for budgets vs. actuals is to show the historical or remaining portion of the budget. The historical or remaining portion of the budget will be based on the date you select for your P&L. For example, if your budget is for a calendar year (Jan to Dec), and you select "Historical" as your option along with June as the P&L date, the data for the budget column will include Jan to June (subject to the time period and number of columns you select).

Forecast represents 4-Way Forecasts that you've created in Syft across the P&L, balance sheet, cash flow statements, and KPIs. Similar to both actuals and budgets, you'll have the option to view the financial data from your budget using the standard Syft time periods (e.g. monthly, quarterly, annually, etc). You'll also be given the option to include multiple periods in a single column. For example, if you select monthly (as the time period) and 2 periods (as the number of periods), you'll see 2 months of a 4-Way Forecast's data in a single column.

We've also introduced forecasts vs. actuals (using the option to show the historic or remaining portion of the forecast). The historic or remaining portion of the forecast will be based on the date you select for your P&L. For example, if your forecast is for a calendar year (Jan to Dec), and you select "Historical" as your option along with June as the P&L date, the data for the forecast column will include Jan to June (subject to the time period and number of columns you select).
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Equations are formulae that can calculate variances, differences and changes between any data in any columns. Select "Equation" in the "Add Columns" pop-up. Select "Column equations" and click "Add column". In the equation editor, insert column variables and use the mathematical operators to finalize your equation. For example:

You can also create equations within in equations by adding an equation as a column in the equation builder.

You can add cells together from any column and any row. This feature makes Builds much more flexible and customizable! To do this, select "Equation" in the "Add Columns" pop-up. Then select "Cell equations" and click "Add column."

First, select a cell in the added blank equation column. Then, in the equation editor, insert different cells that you would like to use in your equation and use the mathematical operators to finalize your equation.

Add notes to any specific account within your P&L to explain what makes up certain totals and why.

Include a journal or multiple journals as a column in your Build.

With "Ledgers," you can add accounts (P&L and BS), connections, product, customer, and product data. You can add totals and import an entire P&L or BS layout to get your ledger started!

Navigate to "Analyze" > "Ledgers" to land on the ledger tools. Within "Ledgers," you will find the following top tabs, which work in the same way as the top tabs in "Financials" > "Profit and Loss" as well as "Financials" > "Balance Sheet":

Some things to note about Ledgers: