Accounting & General Ledger

1. Chart of Accounts and Account Hierarchy

The account backbone

The Chart of Accounts (ChartOfAccountsPage) is the structural foundation of the accounting module. It supports a multi-level hierarchy, so accounts can be nested beneath parent accounts to produce grouped, roll-up views. Accounts are classified by the standard double-entry account types: Asset, Liability, Equity, Revenue and Expense.

Seeded defaults

To avoid a blank-slate setup, the system ships seeded default accounts through chart_of_accounts_seeder.go. An organization therefore starts with a usable baseline chart rather than having to define every account by hand before posting a single transaction.

How the chart is used

Every downstream accounting action resolves to accounts defined here. Journal entries debit and credit these accounts; bank accounts link to a GL account; petty cash funds link to a GL account; and depreciation posts to accumulated-depreciation accounts. Because the chart is hierarchical, reporting can present both the detailed leaf accounts and the summarised parent totals.

A typical setup workflow is to review the seeded chart, adjust or extend it to match the organization's reporting needs, and only then begin posting. The hierarchy and account-type classification are what let the General Ledger, Trial Balance, Balance Sheet and Income Statement aggregate correctly, since each statement selects accounts by their type. Getting the chart right early keeps the financial statements meaningful as volume grows.

2. Journal Entries and Double-Entry Posting

Manual and automated entries

Journal Entries (JournalEntriesPage) are the core posting mechanism and follow strict double-entry accounting. Entries can be created manually or generated automatically by other modules. Each entry is multi-line, carrying one or more debit and credit lines against chart-of-accounts accounts.

The balance rule

A journal entry must balance before it can be saved, meaning total debits must equal total credits. This invariant is enforced at save time, so an unbalanced entry cannot be committed to the ledger. This is the mechanism that keeps the books internally consistent.

Automatic journal entries

Many workflows generate journal entries automatically so that operational activity flows straight into the ledger. Examples recorded in the system include AR invoices creating an auto journal entry, petty cash activity posting entries (such as debit Petty Cash and credit Bank on fund setup, or debit Expense and credit Petty Cash on a disbursement approval), payroll runs generating journal entries on posting, depreciation posting entries, and budget workflows posting to the journal. A typical manual-entry workflow is to add each debit and credit line, confirm the running totals match, and save once the entry balances, after which it becomes part of the General Ledger and contributes to the Trial Balance.

3. Contra, Capital and Recurring Transactions

Contra and capital entries

Contra and Capital Entries (ContraEntriesPage) handle two specific flows with explanatory guidance built into the page. The transfer-funds flow moves money between accounts, and the capital-investment flow records owner or investor capital coming into the business. Presenting these as guided flows reduces the chance of mis-posting common but structurally specific transactions.

Recurring transactions

Recurring Transactions (RecurringTransactionsPage) automate repeating postings. The system can schedule auto-posting using day-of-week and day-of-month rules, and a backend job runner executes the schedule. Supported frequencies include Daily, Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-annually and Annually. Recurring definitions can automate invoices, bills and journal entries.

Configuration and tracking

Each recurring definition carries configurable start and end dates and a total-occurrences count, plus day-of-month or day-of-week scheduling and an auto-post option for hands-off posting. The system keeps a generation-history trail with a status on each generated item, recorded as generated, posted or failed. Operators can also process due transactions on demand rather than waiting for the scheduler. A typical workflow is to define the template, set its frequency and date bounds, decide whether to auto-post, and then monitor the generation history to confirm each occurrence posted successfully.

4. General Ledger and Trial Balance

The General Ledger view

The General Ledger (GeneralLedgerPage) presents the complete transaction history and supports account drill-down. From a ledger balance an accountant can drill into the individual journal entries that make up that balance, which is essential for investigating a figure or tracing an error back to its source transaction.

Trial Balance

The Trial Balance lists account balances and shows a balanced or unbalanced indicator. Because every journal entry is forced to balance at save time, a correctly functioning ledger should present as balanced. The indicator gives a quick, at-a-glance confirmation that debits equal credits across the whole ledger.

Why drill-down matters

The combination of a drill-down ledger and a balance indicator supports a practical review workflow. An accountant scans the Trial Balance, confirms it is balanced, and then uses the General Ledger drill-down to examine any account whose balance looks unexpected. Because journal entries are the single posting mechanism and other modules post through them automatically, the ledger is the consolidated record of all financial activity. The drill-down path from summary balance to source entry is what makes the ledger auditable rather than just a set of totals.

5. Balance Sheet and Income Statement

Balance Sheet

The Balance Sheet (BalanceSheetPage) presents assets, liabilities and equity as at a chosen date. It is a point-in-time statement, so the operator selects the as-at date and the report composes the account balances by type into the three sections. Because accounts are classified by type in the Chart of Accounts, the statement can group and total them automatically.

Income Statement

The Income Statement, also called the Profit and Loss or P&L (IncomeStatementPage), reports period totals rather than a single date. It summarises revenue and expense activity over the selected period to show the result for that span of time. Where the Balance Sheet answers what the organization holds and owes at a moment, the Income Statement answers how it performed across a period.

How they relate

These two statements draw on the same ledger but select different account types and different time framing. The Balance Sheet reads asset, liability and equity accounts at a date; the Income Statement reads revenue and expense accounts over a period. A typical reporting workflow is to produce the Income Statement for the period just closed and the Balance Sheet as at the period-end date, giving a paired view of performance and position that both trace back to the posted journal entries in the General Ledger.

6. Cash Flow Statement and Custom Reporting

Cash Flow Statement

The Cash Flow Statement (CashFlowStatementPage) tracks movement of cash across a period. It reports beginning and ending cash, inflows, outflows, and the net change between the two cash positions. This complements the accrual-oriented Income Statement by showing the actual cash movement, which can differ from reported profit when timing differences exist.

The three core statements together

Taken together, the Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Cash Flow Statement form the standard financial-reporting set. The Income Statement shows performance over the period, the Cash Flow Statement shows how cash moved over the same period, and the Balance Sheet shows the resulting position at the period end. All three are generated from the same posted ledger data.

Custom report builder

Beyond the fixed statements, custom reporting is available through the Analytics module. This includes a Report Builder for custom reports, a BI Dashboard with embedded charts and KPIs, and a KPI Board. This lets an organization go beyond the standard three statements to build tailored financial and operational views. A typical month-end workflow is to run the three core statements for the close, then rely on the Analytics report builder and dashboards for the organization-specific metrics that the standard statements do not cover.