> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nyumbazetu.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Financial statements

> Trial balance, profit & loss and balance sheet — how to run them, read them, and drill into the journals behind them.

**Finance → Accounting → Statements**

| Statement         | Route                    | Answers                                                    |
| ----------------- | ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Trial Balance** | `/reports/trial-balance` | Do the books balance, and what is each account's position? |
| **Profit & Loss** | `/reports/profit-loss`   | Did we make money over a period?                           |
| **Balance Sheet** | `/reports/balance-sheet` | What do we own and owe as at a date?                       |

## Trial balance

The trial balance lists every account with its debit or credit balance as at a date. Total debits
must equal total credits.

| Column                   | Meaning                                                |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Account**              | Name and code.                                         |
| **Account type / class** | Grouping.                                              |
| **Debit / Credit**       | The balance and its side.                              |
| **Balance status**       | Whether the account carries a debit or credit balance. |

**Include zero-balance** adds accounts with no movement. Leave it off for a working review; turn
it on when checking that the chart itself is complete.

The trial balance is run **as at** a date, not for a range — it is a position, not a flow.

<Tip>
  Read the trial balance before every close. An account with a balance on the wrong side — a
  liability in debit, an income account in debit — is almost always a mapping error, and it is far
  cheaper to catch before you close than after.
</Tip>

## Profit and loss

Income less expenses over a date range.

The statement groups by account class, so its usefulness depends directly on how the
[chart of accounts](/guides/chart-of-accounts) is designed. Total expenses include non-operating
expenses and tax, so the bottom line is the actual result rather than an operating subtotal.

Read it with:

* **Comparatives** — this period against the last, or against budget. See
  [Budgets](/guides/budgets).
* **Attention on the unusual** — a category that moved sharply, or one that did not move at all
  when it should have.

## Balance sheet

Assets, liabilities and equity as at a date.

Things to check every period:

| Check                                               | Why                                                                     |
| --------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Receivables agree with the aging report             | A gap means invoices or allocations are not posting.                    |
| Deposits held agree with the deposits module        | Deposits in an income account is a classic mapping error.               |
| Bank balances agree with reconciled bank statements | The most direct test that cash postings are complete.                   |
| Payables agree with unpaid expenses                 | A gap means expenses recorded but not posted, or paid without settling. |

## Drill-down

Statement lines are not dead ends. From a line you can drill into the **journal lines** that
produced it, and from a journal line to the source invoice, payment or expense. The journal detail
shows the **journal id**, the **posting key** and, where applicable, the **reversal journal**.

Use **Open in Journal entries** to move from a summarised figure to the underlying entries.

This is the fastest way to answer "why is this number what it is" — far faster than exporting to a
spreadsheet and re-deriving it.

## Supporting ledger reports

| Report                        | Route                                | Use                                                                     |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **General ledger**            | `/reports/general-ledger`            | Every movement on an account, with a category filter.                   |
| **Journal lines**             | `/reports/journal-lines`             | The raw line-level journal, filterable by block, unit, lease and owner. |
| **AR aging ledger**           | `/reports/ar-aging-ledger`           | Receivables by age at ledger level.                                     |
| **Customer statement ledger** | `/reports/customer-statement-ledger` | A customer's ledger position.                                           |
| **Transactions report**       | `/reports/transactions-report`       | Transaction-level detail across the branch.                             |

See [Reports](/guides/reports) for the full catalogue.

## Running statements correctly

<Steps>
  <Step title="Confirm the branch">
    Statements are branch-scoped. An unexpectedly small profit is usually one branch, not a bad
    month.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the right basis">
    Trial balance and balance sheet are **as at** a date; profit & loss is **over a range**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Close the period first for final numbers">
    Statements over an open period can still change. See
    [Accounting periods](/guides/accounting-periods).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Reconcile before you circulate">
    Receivables to aging, cash to bank, deposits to the deposits module.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Common problems

| Symptom                                            | Cause                                                                                 |
| -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Revenue lower than billing suggests                | Invoices issued but not posted — check posting status on the invoices list.           |
| Receivables higher than aging                      | Credit notes or write-offs not posted, or allocations missing.                        |
| An account is missing from a statement             | It is inactive, has a zero balance with the toggle off, or its account type is wrong. |
| Figures change between two runs of the same report | The period is still open.                                                             |