Tuki

Merit Aktiva is a modern and easy-to-use accounting software for accountants and entrepreneurs. It can be accessed wherever and requires only a computer with an internet connection. Mobile application can be installed free of charge from AppStore or GooglePlay.

It is easy to start using Merit Aktiva by following these instructions. As soon as you have successfully updated certain basic settings, the normal daily work is really quick and easy. Our customer service is helping you from Monday to Friday at 9:00-17:00, phone +358 9 4259 7827 or by email: tuki@meritaktiva.fi.

Please note that Chrome is the preferred browser when using the program: https://aktiva.meritaktiva.fi.

After you have registered yourself as MeritAktiva user:

When you first time log in to MeritAktiva you should enter the company master data. You can prepare accounts for unlimited number of companies. You can add a new company by clicking the name of the company shown in the upper bar. You will get the list of all companies you have established. You can add a new one by pressing Add Company –button.

Add the name of a new company, select correct company type and give the starting date:

Company type defines the chart of accounts to be used for the company and it cannot be changed afterwards. The last option on the list “Universal template” is the largest set of accounts and it is applicable for all business forms e.g. limited liabilities, sole proprietorships, limited and general partnerships as well as for cooperatives.

MeritAktiva offers also shorter versions of charts of accounts for limited liabilities and cooperatives which is called “Business”. ”Self-employed” is applicable for sole proprietorships and partnerships. “Apartments union” version is designed for housing companies and “Non-Profit” for associations.

Note that the dates can be entered without dots. Starting date is the date when you start doing accounting for a company in MeritAktiva. If you start the bookkeeping from the beginning of the year, enter starting date e.g. 01.01.2019.

These basic settings, name and chosen chart of accounts, cannot be changed. If you anyhow want to change you must create a new company, select the type you wish and delete the wrong one. Company name can be changed in Settings / Company name.

Press Next–button.

Enter the company data: Registration number, VAT number and other information. Define also if the company is VAT liable or not and choose the filing period for VAT (month, quarter or year). Define here also amortization period (how often depreciations will be booked). If you choose cash basis for VAT filings remember to adjust it to accrual basis in the financial closing (cash basis allowed for companies having turnover less than 500 000€). In Pro and Premium versions you can utilize invoice approval feature which should be activated on this page.

You may add and modify this information later by choosing:

Settings > Company data > Company data.

Press Next -button.

Enter bank details of the company: Name of the bank, Description (e.g. the main purpose of this bank account), Currency, IBAN account number and SWIFT/BIC-code.

Payment reference is a code received from the bank if bank transfers are going to be used.

Press Save -button.

If the company has multiple bank accounts and petty cash those can be added via Payments function (menu bar): Payments > Banks or Payments > Cash

When you add a bank account or petty cash, the program adds automatically an account to chart of accounts. The first account number is 1910 (default) and it will be given to the first bank account added, and next will be 1911 and so forth. Cash accounts will start from number 1900, second cash 1901 and so forth. You may change these default account numbers later in chart of accounts if needed (Settings > Finance settings > Chart of Accounts). If you want that bank account number will be printed into sales invoice, please tick the box (Print on invoice) accordingly.

Save

Check that you have all necessary accounts in you chart of accounts

You can modify chart of accounts via: Settings > Finance settings > Chart of Accounts. Settings can be found by pressing a gear wheel icon on top menu bar.

In case you need e.g. multiple purchase accounts, you can add, modify or delete accounts based on your company’s needs.

You may also set an account as “Not active” if you do not need it right now (first left column). If this option has been chosen the account cannot be used and will not appear e.g. when entering opening balances. If you need the account later you just remove the tick and start using it.

Choose New account and enter the account information. Make sure that you add the new account under correct account category to maintain the category structure logical.

Code – Number of the account

Name – Name of the account

Balance sheet/Income statement row – Define the correct line item in the Balance sheet or Income Statement

VAT – Define the VAT rate for the account

Declaring VAT – Define the VAT type for the account (Not taxable / Sales turnover / Purchase turnover).

Used as payment type – Define if the account will be used as payment type for bills (purchase invoices) or invoices (sales) or for both bills and employee expense reports.

You can see the account in your dashboard if you choose option ”Show in dashboard”.

Department is required or Dimension required – You can set Departments and Dimension via: Settings > Dimensions. Select departmens or dimensios as mandatory when this account is used in entries.

Press Add

Importing data

If you want to transfer data from your previous accounting system (e.g. customer, vendor, or product/article master data) to MeritAktiva, you can do it via Settings > Finance Settings > Data Import. Data can be transferred from another MeritAktiva version or from any other accounting program. Data should be in Excel spreadsheet form.

Further instructions can be found in menu: Settings > Finance Settings > Data Import. Please remove Verohallinto (Tax Administration) from the list of vendors since system has created it by default.

Once you have imported customer and vendor master data you can start using them for invoicing and billing purposes.

Product master data can be transferred only for stock keeping units, i.e. product type to be ”Stock item”. These type of products will be inventory tracked. Remove all unnecessary articles from the data before importing it. The headers in the Excel file should be in certain order (see more information Settings > Finance Settings > Data Import). Product master data import will not transfer the number of units data.

Financial Years

The default financial year is a calendar year. If company’s financial year is different you may change it in: Settings > Finance Settings > Financial Years.

Click the row you want to change and enter the correct start and end dates, and save. If the year has been ticked as ”Active” you can add transactions to the period. Once the financial year has been closed you should untick the box which prevents all changes to be made to the closed year, (choose the year by clicking it > Edit (or just double-click) > untick the box).

Save.

Remove all unnecessary years by clicking the row and choose Delete or by pressing the X in the end of the row.

You may also close the periods within a year by restricting updates for that specific month. “Saving in allowed period” should be defined accordingly. E.g. if accounting for January 2018 has been finalized you can add date 1.2.2018, and the program does not allow any changes to the periods prior to this date. You may change this once you have finalized the accounting for the next month.

Save.

Entering opening balances

In case you start doing accounting for a newly established company the opening balances are not applicable but you can start directly recording normal transactions (sales, purchases, payments, general ledger etc.).

In case the company has had business activity and accounting information available up to certain date, the opening balances should be entered to all accounts in: Settings > Finance Settings > Opening balances. You can issue sales invoice and record purchase invoices first and only later update the opening balances.

The date of the opening balances should be the last day of the prior financial year. For example if you start using MeritAktiva on 1st of January 2021, the date for the opening balances should be 31.12.2020.

Enter the opening balances for general ledger accounts (default option on the page) just updating debit or credit amounts. In the bottom of the page you may see the totals for debit and credit entries. You cannot save the balances if total debit does not equal total credit. The profit for the previous financial year should not be entered but the system calculates it automatically based on the income and expense account balances.

Because Accounts Receivable (account 1701) and Accounts Payable (account 2760) as well as Non-current assets (or Fixed assets) are presented only as totals in the opening balances, you should enter each open sales invoice and purchase invoice separately by customer/vendor by using menus Invoices and Bills. Same applies for the items belonging to non-current assets (option Fixed asset).

Accounts receivable:

Accounts payable:

The program controls and compares the total amount of invoices/bills recorded to the general ledger balance (A/R, A/P) and informs if there is a difference.

There are additional options to enter debts/claims from/to employees. Also advances received from customer and advances paid to vendors can be detailed under own options. Last option on the right is for non-current assets details.

VAT Payable balance should be entered to the account 2939 VAT payable, net,

and VAT Receivable balance to the account 1763 VAT receivable.

Opening balances of non-current assets (aka Fixed assets):

Before entering the details of opening fixed assets check the categories available for them in Fixed Asset Group option: Settings > Dimensions > Fixed Asset Group and categorize your assets accordingly into these classes.

Fixed asset accounts and groups should be same in GL chart of accounts and in the fixed asset groups. Fixed asset groups can be edited and new groups can be added.

Give the original total purchase cost and total accumulated depreciation values to all tangible and intangible assets in the opening balances, e.g. for Plant and Equipment and total purchase cost debit to account 1201 and accumulated depreciation credit to account 1202. The net book value will be then the net of these two accounts. In the picture below e.g. the net book value of Plant and Equipment is 40 000 € and Vehicles 3 000 €.

In order to be able to use MeritAktiva for the future depreciations (and because GL accounts carry only total asset and depreciation values) give also details for each separate asset by entering them in Settings > Finance Settings > Opening balances > option Fixed Asset.

Start by giving a name for the row (can be whatever since it will be updated in the next window) and in the field ”Tracking number” choose Add.

In a new window give a specific name of the asset, tracking number you use, and choose the correct asset group, depreciation method and depreciation rate as well as other information if you like. Press Add.

Fill in now the remaining information to the previous window:

Purchase price – original purchase cost of the asset

Purchase date – original date of purchase of the asset

Depreciation start date – date from which MeritAktiva should start to calculate and record depreciation for the assets, e.g. 1.1.2018 (the interval for depreciation was given in the company settings).

Residual value – net book value of the asset at the time when it was added to MeritAktiva (purchase cost minus accumulated depreciation).

Save and add (press New Line) all fixed assets in the same way to the opening balance section.

Save

Note! During the ongoing year new fixed assets should be added to fixed asset register via Purchases > Bills > New bill and ticking the box “Asset purchase”. See more in section 12. Recording Purchase Invoices. Same applies to the sales of fixed assets – new invoice to be issued in Sales > Invoices > New invoice and option ”Asset sale” to be chosen.

Opening balances for Articles (stock-keeping units)

Since you can import the article master data directly from other system but not the unit information this should be entered manually to MeritAktiva (Stock > Stock Transactions, add New stock transaction). The date is the following date after the date of the opening balances. E.g. if opening balance date was 31.12.2020, the stock transaction will be entered on 1.1.2021. The type of the transaction is “Incoming”. Add all articles and their quantities one after another and choose the account 1531 Inventories.

These Incoming –transactions are creating entries which does not have any value effect:

D 1531 Inventories

C 1531 Inventories

since the value of the inventory was entered as an opening balance to GL account

1531 Inventories.

In PRO- and Premium-program versions there is a possibility to use various stock locations. You may add a new stock location in: Settings > Dimensions > Stock, add New stock. If there are articles in various locations the opening quantities should be entered to each locations separately.

Save

Check the settings for Sales invoices before issuing an invoice

The settings for Sales invoices can be found in Settings > General settings > Invoice settings. You can define e.g. rounding rule for the invoices, interest rate for delayed payments, number sequence and default payment terms (in days) as well as add logo and the name of the sender. Furthermore, you can choose if you want to print also delivery note or if the name of the contact person should be shown on the invoice.

Invoice design:

Save

Sales articles

Sales > Articles

Sales invoicing is done by adding sales articles to the sales invoice. Articles are the products or services that the company is selling. The program records the revenue/sales to those accounts that have been defined for each article in the article master data. The program has some default articles but you may add and change the list of articles according to the company’s needs in: Sales > Articles. You can add a new article by choosing New sales item.

Code should be a short one which is easy to recognize and be chosen to the sales invoice. Code can also be same as account number of the sales account (in case there are only few products).

Name is the full name of the article.

Choose Type (Stock item, Service or Item).

Active In defines if the item is used in sales invoices, bills (purchase invoice) or in both sales invoices and bills. You may also define the article as inactive which prevents its usage in the invoices or bills.

You may also add Unit, Sales price, Last Purchase Price and Discount per cent.

Choose the correct Sales Account (default is 3010 Sales 24 %.) and correct VAT rate.

Save

You can delete unnecessary items by choosing the applicable row and press Delete –button. (If the item has been used in an invoice, it cannot be removed but you can set it inactive). You can also change the details of an item by pressing Edit – button. Please note that the changes will be updated on the earlier issued invoices only if you open them again, press Edit and then save again.

Issuing sales invoices

All sales should be invoiced, also cash or bank card sales as well as sales of fixed assets (tick the box Asset sale). Once the sales invoice has been created the system records it to the accounts as follows:

D Accounts Receivable, C Sales or the chosen income account (and C VAT liability for sales, Output VAT).

Sales > Invoices

You can add a new invoice by choosing + New invoice. Choose the customer or add customer to customer master by choosing Add.

Fill in the details of the customer:

Note! It is important to choose the correct country of the customer in order to get correct information to the VAT returns (intra-community (EU) and export trade requirements!). If you cannot find the country in the list, you can add countries via: Settings > General settings > Countries. On the left table you can see the countries currently in use (Selected countries). On the right table you can find all countries from which you can choose those you need to the left table by pressing the plus icon.

The language of the invoice can be either Finnish, English, Swedish or Estonian. This should be defined in customer data.

You can choose if the prices are entered as gross amounts (tick the box ”Sums incl. VAT”).

Once chosen the system calculates the VAT from the gross price. If you enter the prices as net amounts (no tick in the box) the system calculates the VAT from net price.

The items to be invoiced and their prices should be entered into the rows. One invoice can contain several product rows. You can choose items from the drop-down menu. You can also add new articles directly here by choosing Add. (If you use inventory tracking, please use stock items here).

Description column can be modified to describe better the item sold (if the item is e.g. too general e.g. “Service”.

Insert the Quantity (e.g. hours or no. of units or kilograms) and Unit price (header says Price incl. VAT but it should say Unit price (check always the price and VAT rate). Program defines the sales account automatically based on the product master data.

If you press Enter in the end of the row or New line, you will get new row for the next invoicing item.

Check always the VAT rates for each line item, total VAT and total amount of the invoice before saving the invoice. Program generates VAT filings based on the invoice data.

Save or Save&create new

“Set payment” –option in the sales invoice

[Note! We recommend that first all sales invoices and bills for the period will be created/entered and only after that the payments will be allocated via Payments –function to open invoices and bills as per bank statement. This makes the reconciliation of the account balances much easier and quicker.

Once before mentioned process has been chosen enter the settlement of the sales invoice in Payments –function: Payments > Payments. Add payment via +New payment (under correct Bank or Cash) and choose the type “Transaction with customers”.]

If you anyhow decide to set the invoice as paid directly on the invoice screen (e.g. if paid in cash, or with bank/credit card or settled immediately to the bank account), choose correct payment method. The system records the payment of the invoice accordingly in GL accounts (Bank, Cash, Credit card receivables). The payments do not need to be recorded anymore via Payments –function in this case.

Choose the correct Bank as the payment type if the invoice was settled to the bank account. Choose Cash if it was received as cash. Or choose Bank card receivables if the invoice was paid with bank card.

Chosen payment type records the payment directly to the corresponding account (Bank/Cash/Bank card receivables).

Additional information -button

Additional information -tab can be used for additional information to be printed on the invoice or adding e.g. remark about Triangular sales (in intra-community trade). Furthermore, the VAT liability information can be modified here.

The comment box on the left can be used for any additional information that needs to be shown on the invoice above the line items. The comments on the right box will be shown below the line items. If you a want a standard text to all invoices you can add this: Settings > General settings > Permanent comments.

Save

You may make a copy of the invoice by opening an invoice and pressing Copy.

You can modify invoices by choosing the invoice from the invoice list (Sales/ Invoices) and press Edit. Remember to save the invoice after you have changed it.

You can review all invoices by choosing from drop down menu on top: All invoices / Unpaid invoices / Paid invoices.

Purchased articles

When you record a bill you should enter articles to the rows of a bill. Articles can be products or services and they will be recorded to the accounts as per defined in the article master data. The program includes certain default articles but you can add and change the article list according to your needs in Purchases > Articles. Add an article by pressing New purchase item and fill in the details for the new item.

Give a short Code which is easy to be recognized when entering a bill to the system. The code can be same as account number.

Name is the full name of an article.

Choose Type (Stock item, Service or Item).

Active In defines if you use article in bills, invoices or in both bills and invoices. You may also set an article Inactive.

You can define also Unit, Sales price and Last purchase price.

Choose the correct Account (default is 4000 Raw materials and consumables 24 %) and correct VAT rate.

Save

You can delete unnecessary articles either by setting an article inactive or delete it by choosing Delete -option. (If the article has been used in a bill it cannot be deleted. Then the only option is to set it Inactive). All articles can be updated by Edit –option. Note that all changes will be updated to bills created prior to this only if you open the bill and press Edit and Save the bill again.

Recording Purchase invoices

Purchases > Bills

All purchases should be recorded as bills, also purchases paid by cash or credit card. All non-current asset purchases are also entered as bills (tick the box ”Asset purchase”). Once the bill has been created, the program makes an entry: D Inventories/Purchases or other chosen expense accounts (and D Input VAT), C Accounts payable.

You can enter a new bill by pressing + New bill. Choose the supplier or add a new supplier by choosing Add, and fill in the supplier information.

Save

Fill in the date of the purchase invoice, number and other details.

You can decide if you want to enter gross amounts (tick the box ”Amounts incl. VAT”). If this has been chosen the program calculates the VAT from the gross price. If you want to enter net amounts, remove the tick from “Amounts incl. VAT. Now the program calculates VAT from the net prices.

Search the item from the drop down menu and choose the correct one; you can start typing the code and see option. (If you want to use program’s stock follow-up, use stock items here) You can also add new articles/items here by choosing Add.

Description field can be used for entry description. Enter quantity and unit price. Program defines the account automatically based on the article master data (note – it is important to define the account information in article master data properly).

By pressing Enter in the end of the row you can add next line to the bill.

Non-current asset (or Fixed asset) purchase

Fixed asset purchase are also entered in Bills –option. They should be defined by ticking the box “Asset purchase” above the line items and in Item/Service field choosing “Add new Asset”. Add the new item in the new window: give name, individual tracking number, choose the fixed asset group, depreciation method (linear or residual amount) and depreciation rate. You can also add other information like responsible employee or asset location and notes if you like. Press Add. Program creates an accounting entry: D Non-current asset account, D VAT receivable for purchases, Input VAT and C Accounts payable.

“Set payment” –option in bills

[Note! We recommend that first all sales invoices and bills for the period will be created/entered and only after that the payments will be allocated via Payments –function to open invoices and bills as per bank statement. This makes the reconciliation of the account balances much easier and quicker.

Once before mentioned process has been chosen enter the payment of the bill in Payments –function: Payments > Payments. Add payment via +New payment (under correct Bank or Cash) and choose the transaction type “Vendor transaction”.]

If you anyhow decide to set the bill as paid directly on the invoice screen (e.g. if paid in cash, or with bank/credit card or settled immediately from the bank account), choose correct payment method. The system records the payment of the bill accordingly in GL accounts (Bank, Cash, Credit card payables). The payments do not need to be recorded anymore via Payments –function in this case.

Choose the correct Bank as the payment type if the bill was paid from the bank account (bank transfer or with bank card). Choose Cash if it was paid with cash. Or choose Credit card payables if the bill was paid with credit card.

If an employee or owner has paid it from his/her own funds, choose “Kuluennakon saaja” (employee payable).

Chosen payment type records the payment directly from the corresponding account (Bank/Cash/Credit card payables).

Add the date of the payment and amount.

Save

You can change the bills by choosing the bill from the list (Purchase > Bills) and press Edit –button. Remember to save once you have done all changes.

You can review all bills via drop down menu and choose: Show invoices (all) / Unpaid invoices / Paid invoices.

Recording Bank and Cash payments

Recording of bank payments should reflect the bank statement details. Each transaction on the bank statement is recorded as a separate payment. When entering a new bank payment, choose Payments > Payments. Choose the button +New payment in relevant bank/cash section.

Choose Transaction type (Transaction with customers, Vendor transaction, Other incomes, Other expenses) in the new window. In case of an incoming payment choose either Transaction with customers or Other incomes. In case of an outgoing payment choose either Vendor transaction or Other expenses.

If you choose transaction type Transactions with customers, you may see all unpaid sales invoices and you can allocate the payment by ticking the box in “Select” -column on the invoice row. In case you cannot find the invoice (date of the invoice is a later date than payment date), you can record the payment as prepayment and allocate it later to the applicable invoice in the function “Net settlement of customers and vendors”. If customer settled only part of the invoice, enter the amount to field Amount on the invoice row and the program calculates the remaining open amount automatically to Unpaid –field.
By choosing transaction type Other incomes, you can record other than payments of sales invoices e.g. interest income paid by the bank, dividend income or addition to owner’s equity.
If you choose transaction type Vendor transactions, you may see all unpaid bills and you can allocate the payment by ticking the box in ”Select” –column on the bill row. In case you cannot find the bill (date of the bill is later than payment date), you can record payment as prepayment and allocate it later to the applicable invoice in the function “Net settlement of customers and vendors”. If you choose vendor Verohallinto (Tax Administration) here, you can see all unpaid items on MyTax account. Note! VAT payables and receivables are always settled with the Payments –option – General Ledger entry should not be used for this purpose!
By choosing transaction type Other expenses, you can record other than payments of the bills e.g. bank charges, tax prepayments (if not entered as a bill) or withdrawals of owner’s equity.

Insert always the correct Date of the payment.

Document – you may add a reference number, or any other clarification or description if you like.

Sole proprietorships and Partnerships: if any business expenses or income have been paid from/to the personal funds of the owner/partner, they should be recorded via General Journal entry (in Finance menu). Account to be used is then Private accounts under Equity section in the CoA.

Cash payments work in a similar way as bank payments.

Prepayments

In the Payment function you may enter Prepayment paid by a customer or paid to a vendor in case there has been no invoice issued or bill received yet i.e. the payment transaction will be keyed in prior to invoice or bill. The normal payment allocation to unpaid invoice/bill is not possible in such a case. The system records the payment as a prepayment in the customer’s and vendor’s account. In accounting the following entry will be created (payment received from a customer): D Bank, C Advances received, and for payment to vendor accordingly: D Advances paid, C Bank.

If the sales invoice will be issued during the same month as the payment was received, prepayment should be allocated in: Payments > Payments > Net settlement of customers and vendors > +New payment.

Vendor prepayments will be allocated to a bill in the same way in: Payments > Payments > Net settlement of customers and vendors > +New payment.

Insert the date of the settlement in the new window. You can give a document number and choose from the drop down menu a customer or vendor whose prepayment you want to allocate to the invoice or bill. Tick then the applicable prepayment and the invoice or bill.

Save

Program makes an entry: (Customer) D Advances received, C Accounts receivable or (Vendor) D Accounts payable, C Advances paid.

You can review cash and bank transactions in: Payments > Payments > List of payments

List of payments –option can be found also in the net settlement of payments and taxes tables.

Examples of recording bank transactions

Payment of bank charges

Choose Payments > Payments. Choose in the applicable bank table: +New payment.

Transaction type: Other expenses. Choose the correct account: 6831 Bank fees, insert unit price (total amount).

Save

Payment of prepayments of income taxes

Choose Payments > Payments. Choose in the applicable bank table: +New payment

Transaction type: Other expenses. Choose the correct account: 9960 Income taxes, insert unit price (total amount).

Save

VAT refund received from tax administration

Choose Payments > Payments. Choose in the applicable bank table: +New payment.

Transaction type: Vendor transactions

Choose from the “Supplier” drop down menu “Verohallinto” (=Tax administration)

Insert date and choose from the list applicable VAT return.

Save

Same applies when you have paid VAT to Tax administration: new payment, transaction type Vendor transactions, Supplier Verohallinto, date the VAT was paid, and tick the applicable VAT return.

Save

General Journal entry

In Finance > General Journals you can record all remaining type of transactions that cannot be handled in Sales, Purchases or Payments. Those can be e.g.

salary transactions
period end adjustments like deferrals and accruals
contract based provisions
other adjustments

Insert transaction date and choose in Amounts -field if VAT is applicable in the transaction and how it is recorded (amounts incl. or excl.). Account can be searched from drop down menu or typed directly. Memo – field can be used for description of the ttransaction.

Save

Preparing VAT filings for the period (called Tax declaration in MeritAktiva)

Choose Finance > TAX Declaration > +New VAT declaration

If this is the first VAT declaration: Insert the first day of the first tax period

Save

Program forms the VAT return for the period that was given in the company settings (month/quarter/yearly) based on company settings.

Save the declaration

You can run and print various reports by pressing Reports –button (after you have chosen one return from the list).

If you want to do the next month’s VAT return, press +New declaration.

Save

If you want to remove the declaration, choose it and press Delete.

You can review all created VAT returns by pressing List -button.

Note!

If you have made changes to transaction data in a month (e.g. changed or added a transaction that had VAT on it) and Tax declaration has already been created, you should edit the existing declaration: Choose the applicable tax declaration from the list and press Edit –button and then Save.

Reports

You can run and print various accounting reports which are helpful in controlling the performance of the company:

Sales > Sales Reports and Accounts receivable reports (Customer Debt, Aged Receivables, Payment Details etc.)

Purchases > Purchase Report, Accounts payable reports (Payable Report, Aged Payables, Vendor payments etc.)

Finance > General Ledger, Journal (Transactions Report), Trial Balance, Statement of financial position (Balance sheet), Statement of Profit and Loss, Project Reports and Cost Center reports.

www.meritaktiva.fi

tuki@meritaktiva.fi

09 4259 7827