Finding your way around Finance
What each part of Finance is for, plus how to set up accounts and periods, post journal entries and close a period.
On this page
Overview
Finance holds your organisation's books. The core ledger covers the Chart of Accounts, Journal Entries, Fiscal Periods and Posting Rules. Around it sit Accounts Payable (AP), Accounts Receivable (AR), Cash & Bank, GST, TDS/TCS and Budgets. This guide shows where each one lives and walks through the everyday ledger tasks.
Guidelines
Set up accounts and periods first
Journal entries need posting accounts and an open period that covers the entry date. Create your chart of accounts and fiscal year before you start posting.
Correct posted entries with a reversal
You can't edit or delete a posted journal entry. Use Reverse to create a reversal entry, then post a corrected entry.
Steps
Step 1: Open the Finance overview
Go to Finance → Overview. The cards show your number of ledger accounts (Accounts (COA)), journal entries posted this month (JEs This Month) and Open Periods. Shortcuts take you to Chart of Accounts, Journal Entries and Fiscal Periods. If you see Finance module not yet configured, start with Posting Rules.
Step 2: Know where everything lives
The Finance menu is grouped as follows:
- Core ledger: Chart of Accounts, Journal Entries, Fiscal Periods, Posting Rules.
- Accounts Payable: AP Dashboard, AP Invoices, Payment Runs, Debit Notes. Vendor bills, payment scheduling and vendor ledgers.
- Accounts Receivable: AR Dashboard, AR Invoices, Credit Notes, Advance Receipts, Collections, Customer Ledger, Retail Collections. B2B invoices, customer advances, overdue follow-up and POS daily settlement.
- Cash & Bank: Cash Book, Bank Book, Reconciliation, Petty Cash, Statement Upload.
- GST: registrations, GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, 2A/2B reconciliation and the ITC register. See the GST guide.
- TDS/TCS: TDS Deductees, Deduction Register, TDS Challans, Form 16A, TDS Returns, TCS Register.
- Budgets: Budgets and Budget Alerts, which warn you when actual spending reaches a set percentage of a budget.
Step 3: Set up the chart of accounts
Go to Finance → Chart of Accounts and click New Account. Enter the Account Code and Account Name, and choose the Type (Asset, Liability, Equity, Income or Expense) and Normal Balance (Debit or Credit). Choose a Parent Account, or None (Root Account) for a top-level account. Tick Posting account (allows journal entry lines) if entries will be posted to it. System accounts are marked [sys] and can't be edited, deactivated or deleted.
Step 4: Map accounts for automatic posting
Go to Finance → Posting Rules. Account Map links each logical role to an account in your chart of accounts. Your mapping overrides the platform defaults. Auto-Posting Rules lists the rules that create journal entries from documents automatically. Posting Run Log shows each attempt and its outcome, filtered by All Outcomes, date or document type.
Step 5: Create a fiscal year
Go to Finance → Fiscal Periods and click New Fiscal Year. Enter the Fiscal Year Label (for example 2026-27), Start Date and End Date, and click Create. Twelve monthly periods are created from the start date with the status FUTURE. Click Open on a period to allow postings to it.
Step 6: Enter a manual journal entry
Go to Finance → Journal Entries and click New Entry. Enter the Date and Narration. On each line, choose an Account and enter a Debit or Credit amount, with an optional line narration. Click + Add Line for more lines. If debits and credits don't match, the form shows the difference. Click Save Draft. The date must fall in an open period.
Step 7: Post, reverse or delete an entry
Click a row to see its lines. On a DRAFT manual entry, click Post and confirm, or Delete to remove the draft. Posting needs a balanced entry, an open period, and a different person from the one who created it. On a POSTED entry, click Reverse to create a reversal entry. Use the All Statuses filter to show Draft, Posted or Reversed entries.
Step 8: Close and lock a period
On Fiscal Periods, click Close… on an OPEN period. The Period Close Checklist opens. Tick each item as you complete it. Close Period becomes available when every item is ticked. Once a period is CLOSED, click Lock to lock it permanently.
Terms
- Posting account
An account that journal entry lines can be posted to.
- Normal balance
Whether the account usually carries a debit or a credit balance.
- Reversal entry
A new journal entry that cancels out a posted entry, so the original stays on record.
- Maker-checker
The rule that the person who posts a manual journal entry must be different from the person who created it.
Key points
A journal entry can be saved and posted only in an open period.
Debits must equal credits before an entry can be posted.
Automatic entries come from Posting Rules; manual entries come from Journal Entries.
Notes
The Finance menu appears only when Finance is enabled for your organisation. AP, AR, Cash & Bank, GST, TDS/TCS and Budgets each appear only when that part of Finance is enabled too.
You can create, post and close only if your role can edit Finance. Other roles can view the pages.
Warnings
Posting a journal entry can't be undone. To correct it, reverse it and post a new entry.
Locking a period is permanent. Close and lock a period only when its books are final.
Deleting an account can't be undone. To stop using an account, deactivate it instead.
FAQs
Why can't I post an entry I just created?
Another user must post it. The person who posts a manual entry must be different from the person who created it. The entry must also be balanced and its period must still be open.
My entry date is rejected.
No open period covers that date. Open the period under Finance → Fiscal Periods, or create the fiscal year first.
Why is Close Period greyed out?
Every item on the Period Close Checklist must be ticked first.