I played all four companies through the engine, the moves a careful team would make from its card and the checklist. Every number here is the engine's. The bars share one scale, so a desk that moved a lot looks like it.
The number every team starts from and the number its decisions produced. The postings total 1,173,000 in every column and never change. Same desk 1 and desk 2 for everyone; desks 3 and 4 differ by card.
Every model is 9 of 9 on its own card and short on the others. Everyone won. There is a best way to align master data, and it depends on what the company needs.
Company A
Contractors who build the plant: we expense them. All four sites are run by one regional team. Grid interconnection is part of the plant.
Expenses contractors, one regional team, interconnection part of the plant. The lenient card on paper, but its call is the one that bites: the concrete group was never cleaned at desk 2, so the call is where pipe and maintenance come out.
desk 1 Cost on Civil construction, by project ✓ done
(unassigned): 0 → 10,000 · Civil construction: 140,000 → 77,000 · Corporate finance department: 7,000 → 0 · Foundation installation: 287,000 → 271,000 · Grid interconnection: 116,000 → 195,000 · Procurement department: 3,000 → 0
✓ Foundation work sits together on one phase, the contractor's accrual included.✓ Interconnection work sits together on one phase.
desk 2 Rented plant, by project ✓ done
(unassigned): 0 → 36,000 · Construction equipment rental: 126,000 → 112,000 · Ready-mix concrete: 188,000 → 152,000 · Repair services: 0 → 14,000
✓ Rented plant is one group across all four projects, and no repair is in it.✓ Repair is its own group.
desk 3 Capital cost of Solar Gamma, by account ✓ done
Asset impairment expense: 7,000 → 0 · Construction in progress: 603,000 → 591,000 · External services expense: 538,000 → 531,000 · Repairs and maintenance expense: 0 → 26,000
✓ Cost of building each plant is on a capital account, under your policy.✓ Cost of running a plant is on the repairs account, never capital.
desk 4 Cost designated to closeout, by phase ✓ done
Construction closeout: 824,000 → 1,128,000 · Settles to nobody: 304,000 → 0
✓ Every finished phase settles to closeout; nothing else does.✓ Running cost sits with whoever holds its budget.
the call Concrete across the portfolio ✓ finished
Purchasing needs concrete spend by project and by phase. They do not want a new phase.
Chose: Take pipe and filters out of the concrete group first, then report. Two fixes in what was bought, then one report. Nothing moves, nothing is created.
Test: passed · report total 152,000 on 2 postings.
What was wrong: No single group picks out exactly these postings. Something else shares the group, or one of them sits elsewhere.
What changed in the call: t06: what was bought cleared, logged for Procurement department. t19: what was bought cleared, logged for Procurement department.
Won. Your model is the best model for your company.
Company B
Contractors who build the plant: we capitalize them. Delta is run by an outside manager with his own budget. Grid interconnection is part of the plant.
Capitalizes contractors, Delta has its own budget holder. Desk 3 moves two contractors onto the capital account, which is why its Gamma capital figure is 300,000 and not 210,000; desk 4 creates a cost center for Delta.
desk 1 Cost on Civil construction, by project ✓ done
(unassigned): 0 → 10,000 · Civil construction: 140,000 → 77,000 · Corporate finance department: 7,000 → 0 · Delta site operations: 0 → 14,000 · Foundation installation: 287,000 → 271,000 · Grid interconnection: 116,000 → 195,000 · Procurement department: 3,000 → 0 · Regional operations team: 35,000 → 21,000
✓ Foundation work sits together on one phase, the contractor's accrual included.✓ Interconnection work sits together on one phase.
desk 2 Rented plant, by project ✓ done
(unassigned): 0 → 36,000 · Construction equipment rental: 126,000 → 112,000 · Ready-mix concrete: 188,000 → 152,000 · Repair services: 0 → 14,000
✓ Rented plant is one group across all four projects, and no repair is in it.✓ Concrete is only concrete: no pipe, no maintenance materials in the group.
desk 3 Capital cost of Solar Gamma, by account ✓ done
Asset impairment expense: 7,000 → 0 · Construction in progress: 603,000 → 786,000 · External services expense: 538,000 → 336,000 · Repairs and maintenance expense: 0 → 26,000
✓ Cost of building each plant is on a capital account, under your policy.✓ Cost of running a plant is on the repairs account, never capital.
desk 4 Cost designated to closeout, by phase ✓ done
Construction closeout: 824,000 → 1,128,000 · Settles to nobody: 304,000 → 0
✓ Every finished phase settles to closeout; nothing else does.✓ Delta's running cost sits with Delta's own manager.
the call Cost heading to closeout ✓ finished
Accounting needs the original cost of every phase that will settle to closeout, development included.
Chose: Keep the three phases the previous team set and report those. Reconciles, but leaves site preparation, commissioning and development off the asset.
Test: passed · report total 1,128,000 on 19 postings.
What was wrong: Nothing was wrong with the model. The call was about laying the report out.
What changed in the call: Nothing in the model. The report answered it as it stood.
Won. Your model is the best model for your company.
Company C
Contractors who build the plant: we capitalize them. Delta is run by an outside manager with his own budget. Grid interconnection is kept apart from the plant. It settles to nobody.
Same accounting as B, but interconnection is kept apart. Desk 1 must put the interconnection work together, and desk 4 must leave that phase pointed at nobody: 933,000 settles instead of 1,128,000.
desk 1 Cost on Civil construction, by project ✓ done
(unassigned): 0 → 10,000 · Civil construction: 140,000 → 77,000 · Corporate finance department: 7,000 → 0 · Delta site operations: 0 → 14,000 · Foundation installation: 287,000 → 271,000 · Grid interconnection: 116,000 → 195,000 · Procurement department: 3,000 → 0 · Regional operations team: 35,000 → 21,000
✓ Foundation work sits together on one phase, the contractor's accrual included.✓ Interconnection work sits together on one phase, so it can be kept apart.
desk 2 Rented plant, by project ✓ done
(unassigned): 0 → 36,000 · Construction equipment rental: 126,000 → 112,000 · Ready-mix concrete: 188,000 → 152,000 · Repair services: 0 → 14,000
✓ Rented plant is one group across all four projects, and no repair is in it.✓ Concrete is only concrete: no pipe, no maintenance materials in the group.
desk 3 Capital cost of Solar Gamma, by account ✓ done
Asset impairment expense: 7,000 → 0 · Construction in progress: 603,000 → 786,000 · External services expense: 538,000 → 336,000 · Repairs and maintenance expense: 0 → 26,000
✓ Cost of building each plant is on a capital account, under your policy.✓ Cost of running a plant is on the repairs account, never capital.
desk 4 Cost designated to closeout, by phase ✓ done
Construction closeout: 824,000 → 933,000 · Settles to nobody: 304,000 → 195,000
✓ Every finished phase settles to closeout; nothing else does.✓ Delta's running cost sits with Delta's own manager.
the call A repair coded as rental ✓ finished
Operations needs repair cost at Delta on its own. Purchasing has confirmed t20 is a repair.
Chose: Correct the account now, log the group request, keep everything else. Honest and fast. The group stays open as a request to purchasing.
Test: passed · report total 14,000 on 1 postings.
What was wrong: Nothing was wrong with the model. The call was about laying the report out.
What changed in the call: Nothing in the model. The report answered it as it stood.
Won. Your model is the best model for your company.
Company D
Contractors who build the plant: we expense them. All four sites are run by one regional team. Grid interconnection is kept apart from the plant. It settles to nobody.
Expenses contractors, interconnection apart, and the only company whose call needs money that was never posted: two sourced entries on the foundation phase, 24,000 that no label could create.
desk 1 Cost on Civil construction, by project ✓ done
(unassigned): 0 → 10,000 · Civil construction: 140,000 → 77,000 · Corporate finance department: 7,000 → 0 · Foundation installation: 287,000 → 295,000 · Grid interconnection: 116,000 → 195,000 · Procurement department: 3,000 → 0
✓ Foundation work sits together on one phase, the contractor's accrual included.✓ Interconnection work sits together on one phase, so it can be kept apart.
desk 2 Rented plant, by project ✓ done
(unassigned): 0 → 36,000 · Construction equipment rental: 126,000 → 112,000 · Not applicable: 32,000 → 56,000 · Ready-mix concrete: 188,000 → 152,000 · Repair services: 0 → 14,000
✓ Rented plant is one group across all four projects, and no repair is in it.✓ Concrete is only concrete: no pipe, no maintenance materials in the group.
desk 3 Capital cost of Solar Gamma, by account ✓ done
Asset impairment expense: 7,000 → 0 · Construction in progress: 603,000 → 615,000 · External services expense: 538,000 → 531,000 · Repairs and maintenance expense: 0 → 26,000
✓ Cost of building each plant is on a capital account, under your policy.✓ Cost of running a plant is on the repairs account, never capital.
desk 4 Cost designated to closeout, by phase ✓ done
Construction closeout: 824,000 → 957,000 · Settles to nobody: 304,000 → 195,000
✓ Every finished phase settles to closeout; nothing else does.✓ Running cost sits with whoever holds its budget.
the call The whole foundation cost ✓ finished
Finance needs foundation cost including approved labor and overhead that were never posted.
Chose: Record the two sourced allocations on the foundation phase. Two sourced entries on the foundation phase. The total reconciles across postings and entries.
Test: passed · report total 295,000 on 6 postings.
What was wrong: The labor allocation is not recorded as a sourced entry on the same phase as the foundation postings.
What changed in the call: LAB-01: phase or department set to Foundation installation. OH-01: phase or department set to Foundation installation. LAB-01: account set to Construction in progress. OH-01: account set to Construction in progress. Recorded labor allocation LAB-01, 18,000 on Solar Alpha, source Approved LAB-01. Recorded overhead allocation OH-01, 6,000 on Solar Alpha, source Approved OH-01.
Won. Your model is the best model for your company.