How to manage farm codes in Farm Focus

Why:

Farm codes are essential for structuring your financial and non-financial farm data. By organising them properly, you can streamline GST returns, track income and expenses, and maintain clear financial records.

Benefits:

• Helps track farm-related financial transactions.

• Enables clear reporting of income and expenditure.

• Customisable to suit your farm’s unique needs.

Structure of Farm Codes

Farm Focus uses a four-level structure to organise your farm codes:

1. Section
   Groups similar codes together, such as income categories (e.g., sheep and beef sales, milk production). Sections define your report structure.

2. Total
   Creates totalling areas for easier reporting and analysis, such as total income or expenses.

3. Category
   Broad management areas like livestock sales or animal health. These categories can be customised to match your business needs.

4. Extended Code
   Subgroups within a category for more detailed tracking, such as specific repairs or maintenance costs.

Farm Focus allows for unlimited codes, but having too many can create confusion. Code at the level of detail you need—for example, code each motorbike separately if you're tracking individual costs, or group them if you're only interested in the total cost.

TIP:
While you can add as many codes as necessary, try to keep your list manageable to avoid confusion.

How to Add a New Farm Code

You can add new farm codes in two ways:

1. In Settings:

   • Go to Settings > Codes > Farm Codes.

   • Click the three vertical dots next to the section you want to add a new code to.

   • Select New Category or New Extended Code.

   • Follow the prompts to name your code and choose its GST type.

2. When Coding an Invoice:

   • While entering an invoice in Actuals > Needs Action, select the option to add a new extended code at the bottom of the list.

NOTE:
Ensure the code is relevant to the transaction you’re recording.

Editing Existing Farm Codes

To edit a farm code:

1. Go to Settings > Codes > Farm Codes.

2. Find the code you want to edit and hover over it.

3. Click the three vertical dots and select Edit.

4. Change the code name or details as needed.

Scenario:
John has an extended code for farm fuel that combines diesel and petrol. He wants to track them separately for more accurate reporting. John edits the extended code to change “Fuel” to “Diesel” and creates a new code for “Petrol.”

Deactivating, Reactivating, and Deleting Farm Codes

You can manage your farm codes by deactivating, reactivating, or deleting them.

• Deactivate a code:
  To deactivate a code, go to Settings > Codes > Farm Codes, select the code, and click Deactivate. Deactivated codes are hidden from your code list but remain in historical reports.

• Reactivate a code:
  To reactivate a code, go to Settings > Codes > Farm Codes, click Show inactive codes, select the code, and change its status to Active.

• Delete a code:
  To delete a code, the category or extended code must be empty. Once the code is no longer in use, you can delete it from the list.

Re-positioning Farm Codes

You can rearrange sections, categories, and extended codes by dragging and dropping them to a new location in your list. It’s best to order your codes in a way that suits your workflow—e.g., place frequently used codes at the top.

Printing Your Farm Codes List

To print your farm codes list, go to Settings > Codes > Farm Codes and click Print. This generates a PDF of your current code list that you can keep for reference while coding transactions.