Accounting
Journal entries, notes and cost centres
Post your own journal entries for expenses, loans and corrections, adjust what a customer or supplier owes with debit and credit notes, and track profit by branch or project with cost centres.
Most entries are created for you by your documents (see How accounting works). Use a journal entry for everything else: rent, utilities and other expenses, owner's capital, loans, depreciation, opening balances and corrections.
Post a journal entry
- Open Accounts → Journal Entries and click +. The Add Journal Voucher window opens.
- Enter the Date and a Narration that explains the entry, for example October office rent.
- On the first line, choose the account in Select Account and enter the amount as a Debit or a Credit (typing one clears the other). Optionally add a line narration and a cost centre.
- Add the other side on the next line, and click Add Line for more lines.
- Check the totals box: Total Debit and Total Credit must be equal (it turns green). Otherwise it shows debits must equal credits in red.
- Click Post to record it, or Save Draft to finish it later.
| Example | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Rent paid from the bank | Rent (an expense account you add) | Bank Account |
| Owner puts money into the business | Bank Account | Owner's Equity |
| Cash deposited into the bank | Bank Account | Cash in Hand |
| Loan received into the bank | Bank Account | Bank Loan (a liability account you add) |
- An entry needs at least two lines, and debits must equal credits to post.
- Journal lines don't carry a customer or supplier. To change what a particular party owes, use a debit or credit note.
- You can't post to a group account (one with sub-accounts) or on or before the lock date.
Drafts, posted entries and reversals
The Journal Entries list shows every voucher, newest first, with its Voucher No (or Draft), Date, Type, Status, Narration, Accounts and Amount.
- Drafts can be edited or deleted. To post one, open it with View and click Post.
- Posted manual entries can't be edited or deleted. To correct one, reverse it and post a new entry.
- Entries created by documents (sales, purchases and so on) can only be changed by editing or deleting the document.
Reverse a posted entry
- Click View on the entry's row, then Reverse.
- Set the Reversal Date (today by default; it can't be before the original entry's date) and, if you like, change the Narration.
- Click Confirm Reversal. A mirror-image entry is posted and the original is marked Reversed.
Debit and credit notes
Notes change what a customer or supplier owes without an invoice: a price correction, a goodwill discount, a late fee or a charge you forgot to bill. Open Accounts → Debit Note or Accounts → Credit Note and click +:
- Enter the Date and choose the Party Type (Customer or Supplier) and the Party.
- Enter the Amount and Remarks that explain it. Optionally choose a Cost Centre.
- Click Save. Use Print on the row to give the party a copy.
| Note | For a customer | For a supplier |
|---|---|---|
| Debit note | The customer owes you more (recorded as Other Income). | You owe the supplier less (recorded as Other Income). |
| Credit note | The customer owes you less (recorded as Other Expense). | You owe the supplier more (recorded as Other Expense). |
Cost centres
Cost centres let you see profit and loss for part of your business, such as a branch, a department or a project. Create them under Accounts → Cost Centres with a Code, a Description and, optionally, a Parent Cost Centre.
- Sale and purchase invoices, sale and purchase returns, and debit and credit notes have a Cost Centre field. Every line of the document's entry is tagged with it.
- Each line of a manual journal entry can have its own cost centre.
- Receipts, payments, POS sales, stock adjustments and payroll aren't tagged.
- Run the Cost Centre P&L report to see each centre's results. It shows exactly the centre you pick; entries in its sub-centres aren't added in.
A cost centre that has entries or sub-centres can't be deleted.
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