Re: pretty cool app

[Richard L. <ri...@th...>]

On Tuesday 01 January 2002 21:56, Keld J=F8rn Simonsen wrote:

<snip>

> An accountant cannot call on a system administrator, that
> has the appropiate systems accessabilities, and knowledge of sql=20
database
> handling, every time the locking needs to be done. The locking
> must in principle be done for every transaction! But there is also
> a need for functionality to only do it when requested, eg
> every quarter. As far as I understand it, the requirement is
> considered "good accountant practice" in most countries.=20

Can I just put in a vote for flexibility.  In an audited office=20
environment, with competent operators, the locking ought, of course, to=20
be automatic, and corrections would be made by contra journal entries=20
(of course it's then important that these contras are entered as=20
negative sums to the relevant debit and credit accounts, so that the=20
total statistics are not distorted in management reports, VAT returns,=20
etc.).  BUT, for the small user doing his/her own bookkeeping,=20
mistakes, changes of heart about classification, etc. are common, and=20
the records would become a nightmare for the poor accountant who gets=20
the resultant output if the records cannot be simply amended. =20

Surely the right approach (in the spirit of open software, too!) is to=20
allow the locking to be switched on if so desired.  The switch would=20
only be accessible to the accountant user, of course, so that strict=20
auditing could be enforced when required.

--
richard