Top questions

Do you have a question about Spotlight?  We've gathered together a few of the most frequently asked questions in a quick reference.  We'll update this page regularly - so why not add it to your bookmarks?

Something you'd like to see here?  Let us know.

Reducing payroll tax payments for an authorised credit

If you need to record a future credit against payroll tax payments, authorised by your local tax authorities, you can find details of this in our separate article.

Spotlight Display Names and the Profit and Loss pages

Previously, the only way to group accounts together on the profit and loss pages was to use the Spotlight Display Name.  Giving two or more accounts the same Spotlight Display Name resulted in them appearing on a single line.

We had a lot of requests for more options in this area, including the ability to have sub-headings/totals within the main sections of the profit and loss - for example, a 'Travel Expenses' section within OPEX.  To provide this flexibility, we've introduced the Account Groupings feature - find out more about this in our quick video demo.

Due to the way the new feature works. we needed to create some new profit and loss layouts to work with this, so if you find that your profit and loss layout isn't showing the Spotlight Display Names, it's likely that you're using one of the new layouts.  Don't worry - if you need them, the 'old' style profit and loss reports are still available - simply click the Add Page option and choose to add the page you want.  We do recommend that you take a look at the Account Groupings options, however, as they give you far more flexibility - why not take a look?


Spotlight Forecasting - Comparing actuals to budgets

If you need to compare actuals for a previous month (or a longer period) against your budget or forecast in Spotlight Forecasting, this is easy to do with the new Comparison pages.

Chart Settings - What does the Auto option do?

The charts which are available in Spotlight show a variety of different information - and of course, you can also create your own.

When working in a chart, you may notice that the X-Axis and Y-Axis options are set to 'Auto'.  This means that the axis will be set to the most appropriate range for the data in the chart:

  • X-Axis - The majority of charts will show month-by-month values for the current financial year.
  • Y-Axis - The high and low values will automatically accommodate the highest and lowest values for the data series' in the chart.

If you want to change the setting, it's easy to do - just head to the chart settings to make the changes you need.

Spotlight Forecasting - Cash flow forecast - Other Flows

The cash flow forecast page includes an "Other Flows" row option which is designed to automatically generate a value to ensure that the calculation of opening bank balance minus net cash flows agrees to the closing bank balance figure on the cash flow forecast during periods of actuals.

If you notice a difference between your bank and cash position you can enable this row in the page settings.


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