Using analytical codes

By the end of this guide, you will know how to create your analytical families and codes, assign them during entry, and read your reports by department or project. Management accounting (comptabilité analytique) allocates expenses and revenue across management axes (department, project, cost centre, activity) and operates alongside the statutory general ledger without replacing it.

Management accounting vs general accounting

Aspect	General accounting	Management accounting
Legal obligation	Yes — SYSCOHADA mandatory	No — internal management tool
Impact on financial statements	Yes (balance sheet, P&L, FEC)	No — zero legal impact
Accounts used	Classes 1 to 8	Class 9 (analytical)
Purpose	Statutory and tax compliance	Decision support, performance monitoring
Level of detail	Legal (aggregated by cost type)	Free (by department, project…)

Tip

Analytical accounting is optional in SynkriaOps. You can start without it and activate it when your need for axis-based tracking becomes real. The general ledger functions independently.

Understanding analytical families and codes

Analytical family = a management axis (e.g. DEPARTMENTS, PROJECTS, BRANCHES).

Analytical code = a value within the axis (e.g. in the DEPARTMENTS family: COM = Sales, OPS = Operations, FIN = Finance).

An accounting voucher can carry one code per family on each entry line.

Creating an analytical family

1. Go to Accounting → Analytics → Families → New family.

2. Enter the family code (e.g. DEPT) — short, no spaces or special characters.

3. Enter the name (e.g. Departments).

4. Click Save.

Adding codes to a family

1. Open the family just created (e.g. DEPT — Departments).

2. Click New analytical code.

3. Fill in:

   • Code: COM (Sales), OPS (Operations), FIN (Finance), DIR (Management)
   • Label: the full name of the code
   • Family: already pre-selected

4. Repeat for each code. Click Save after each entry.

Full example — a consulting firm with 3 axes:

• Family DEPT: COM, OPS, FIN, DIR
• Family PROJECTS: PROJ-CAMRAIL, PROJ-SONARA, PROJ-INTERNAL
• Family BRANCHES: YDE (Yaoundé), DLA (Douala)

Assigning an analytical code during entry

When creating an accounting voucher, each entry line can receive an analytical code:

1. Open Accounting → Vouchers → New voucher.

2. Enter the account, label, and amount as usual.

3. On the expense or revenue line (class 6 or 7 accounts), click the Analytical code field.

4. Select the family (e.g. DEPT) then the code (e.g. OPS).

5. Continue entry as normal. The analytical code does not affect the debit/credit balance.

Note

Analytical codes are generally applied to expense lines (class 6) and revenue lines (class 7). It is not useful to tag counterparty lines (411xxx, 401xxx) or treasury lines (521xxx).

Example — allocating payroll across 3 departments

Situation: May 2026 payroll cost = XAF 3,250,000 to be split between Sales (45%), Operations (40%), and Finance (15%).

May 2026 payroll — allocation by department

Account	Description	Debit	Credit
661000	Gross payroll — Sales (DEPT: COM)	1 462 500
661000	Gross payroll — Operations (DEPT: OPS)	1 300 000
661000	Gross payroll — Finance (DEPT: FIN)	487 500
422000	Payroll payable		3 250 000
Totals Balanced entry		3 250 000	3 250 000 XAF

In the general ledger, account 661000 shows XAF 3,250,000 in payroll expense. In the analytical view, filtering on DEPT: COM shows XAF 1,462,500, etc.

Viewing analytical reports

Analytical general ledger

Go to Reports & Exports → General ledger, then activate the Analytical code filter and select the desired code (e.g. OPS).

SynkriaOps displays only entries tagged OPS, with their running balance. See Consulting the general ledger →.

Expenses by department

In Reports → Analytics → Expenses by code, select the DEPT family.

The report shows, for each code (COM, OPS, FIN, DIR), the total class-6 expenses for the selected period, broken down by account.

Profitability by project

In Reports → Analytics → Analytical P&L, select the PROJECTS family.

For each project, SynkriaOps displays the tagged revenue (class 7) and expenses (class 6) and computes the analytical margin: Revenue − Expenses.

Limitations to be aware of

Limitation	Detail
No tax impact	Statutory financial statements (SYSCOHADA balance sheet, P&L) do not include analytical codes
No carry-forward	Analytical balances do not roll over — analytics is a management view for the current period
Optional per line	An entry without an analytical code is valid — completeness depends on data-entry discipline
Not included in FEC	The statutory FEC export does not include analytical codes (fixed format imposed by the standard)

Caution

Analytical accounting does not replace a full management accounting system if you have complex needs (indirect cost allocation, project pricing, etc.). For such cases, SynkriaOps allows CSV export of analytical data for further processing in a spreadsheet.

See also

• Understanding the SYSCOHADA chart of accounts →
• Consulting the general ledger →
• Create an accounting voucher →