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ConceptReviewed 2026-09-29

Books, the active books switcher and cost centres

A set of books is the ledger of one promoter company: every posting for a project lands in its promoter's books, every accounting screen works on the one set chosen in the Books switcher, and cost centres inside the books (usually one per project with a child per tower) let the ledger and reports be cut by project.

Books, the active books switcher and cost centres

A set of books is one company's complete ledger: its chart of accounts, fiscal years, voucher numbering, cost centres and every voucher posted in its name. A developer group often sells through several legal entities, so NirmaanOne keeps one set of books per promoter company and routes each project's postings to the books of the company that promotes it. The accounting screens always look at one set at a time, chosen in the Books switcher; cost centres inside a set of books mark which project (and tower) a posting belongs to.

How it works in NirmaanOne

One set per promoter company

Books are set up on Books with Set up books (the Create permission on Books) for a company of the Promoter Entity type; any other company is refused ("Books can be set up only for a Promoter Entity company."), and a company can have only one set ("This company already has a set of books."). Setting up does four things in one go:

  1. copies the organization's chart templates into the books (groups, auto-create ledgers, component mappings);
  2. gives the books its first revenue policy row;
  3. opens the fiscal year that holds Books begin on, with 12 monthly periods, starting in the month chosen as Fiscal year starts in (April by default);
  4. seeds the eight voucher types and their numbering.

Books name defaults to the company name and is what the switcher shows. The company, begin date, fiscal-year start and currency are fixed once the books exist.

Postings follow the project's promoter

A demand, receipt, commission, benefit accrual, cancellation or revenue run never asks which books to use: it takes the project, finds its promoter company, and posts in that company's books. That is why project readiness checks that the promoter has books ("<promoter> keeps no books yet; set them up under Accounting > Books"), why a posting for a project whose promoter has none is refused ("The project's promoter company has no books yet. Set them up under Books first."), and why a payment recorded without a booking asks you to Choose… the books. Party ledgers are created in whichever books first post for that person, company or member.

Active is the only thing you can switch off. Inactive books keep their data but refuse new vouchers and every automatic posting for the company's projects ("These books are inactive. Reactivate them under Books to post entries."). Books can be deleted only while they hold no voucher and no payment; otherwise deactivate them.

The active books

Every accounting screen except the books list and the Consolidated report works on one set of books at a time: Chart of accounts, Vouchers, Reports, Payments, Payout runs and Revenue. The Books switcher in the page header is a dropdown when the organization has several sets (an inactive one is marked "(inactive)" and gets a red Inactive badge) and a plain link to the books when there is one.

Which set is active is decided in this order:

  1. the books named in the page's web address, so a link someone sends you opens on their books;
  2. the set you chose last time, remembered in your browser;
  3. the first active set.

Changing the switcher updates both the link and the memory, and tab links carry the choice along. There is no "all books" view; to see every entity together use Consolidated. Choosing books needs the View permission on Books ("Choosing a set of books needs the Books read permission. Ask your administrator."); with no books at all the accounting screens show "No books yet" with a Set up books button.

Cost centres

A cost centre is a tag on a voucher line that says which project or tower the amount belongs to. They form a tree per set of books on the Cost centres tab, and each can be linked to a project and, optionally, one of its towers.

  • Mirror projects creates them for you: each project of the books' company becomes a top-level cost centre coded P001, P002, … and, with Include towers on, each tower a child coded P001-T1, P001-T2, … (towers in name order) named "<project> / <tower>". Running it again adds only what is missing.
  • Automatic postings (demand issue, commission approval, benefit accrual, payouts) tag their revenue, expense and GST lines with the cost centre named on the charge's component mapping, or else the project's own active project-level cost centre. Tower cost centres are never picked automatically; they are for manual vouchers.
  • The Ledger report can be filtered by cost centre, and the Consolidated report's project cut keeps only lines whose cost centre carries that project (opening balances are dropped in a project cut, because they are not cost-centred).
  • A cost centre that has children, or that voucher lines or mappings reference, cannot be deleted; untick Active instead. Only active project-level cost centres are picked up by postings.

Why one set per entity

Each promoter is a separate taxpayer with its own GSTIN, PAN, bank accounts and audit. Keeping its ledger separate means its trial balance, GST and RERA accounts position can be produced on their own, while the templates and the Consolidated report still give the group one chart and one combined view.

Example

Shree Siddhi Developers LLP promotes Sai Darshan and Om Shanti Heights; a second entity, Om Sai Realty Pvt Ltd, promotes Ganga Residency. The finance lead sets up two sets of books: "Shree Siddhi Developers" beginning 1 April 2026 (FY 2026-27, twelve periods from April to March, INR) and "Om Sai Realty" the same way. The toast reads: Books "Shree Siddhi Developers" set up with 88 ledgers.

On the Shree Siddhi books she opens Cost centres and presses Mirror projects with both projects ticked and Include towers on. The result: P001 Sai Darshan with P001-T1 "Sai Darshan / Tower A" and P001-T2 "Sai Darshan / Tower B", and P002 Om Shanti Heights with its towers. The toast: "2 project and 4 tower cost centre(s) created."

The accountant issues demand DM-2026-27-00087 on Sai Darshan (₹17,58,000.00 plus ₹87,900.00 GST). Whatever books she happens to have open in her browser, the demand posts in "Shree Siddhi Developers", because Sai Darshan's promoter is Shree Siddhi. Its credit lines to the contract liability (₹17,58,000.00 in all) and the two GST lines of ₹43,950.00 are tagged P001; the buyer's ledger line (₹18,45,900.00, the full total billed) is not.

Later the accountant opens Reports > Ledger with the Om Sai books active (her last choice), notices the Books switcher reads "Om Sai Realty", and switches to "Shree Siddhi Developers". Picking the contract liability ledger with Cost centre P001 shows only Sai Darshan's billing, including that ₹17,58,000.00; picking P002 shows Om Shanti Heights alone. When she sends the link to a colleague, it opens on the same books and cost centre.

Where you see it

Related

  • BooksScreen

    The list of every set of books in your organization, one per promoter company, with the actions to set up books for a company, open a set or delete one.

  • Books overviewScreen

    The home page of one set of books: its company and settings, counts, fiscal years, and shortcuts to the chart of accounts, vouchers, reports and opening balances, with the actions to rename, deactivate or delete the books.

  • Fiscal yearsScreen

    The fiscal years of a set of books with their 12 monthly periods: lock or unlock a month, open the next year, and close or reopen a year at year end.

  • Voucher typesScreen

    The voucher numbering series of a set of books, one per kind of voucher: add a series, or change its prefix, suffix, digits and whether it restarts each fiscal year.

  • Cost centresScreen

    The cost-centre tree of a set of books, usually one per project with a child per tower, so the ledger and the reports can be cut by project; mirror the projects in one click or add cost centres by hand.

  • Opening balancesScreen

    The balances brought forward into a fiscal year, one amount and side per ledger, typed in one table and saved as a whole, with running debit and credit totals.

  • Chart of accounts: GroupsScreen

    The reporting groups of the chosen set of books as a tree under the five classes (asset, liability, equity, income, expense); add your own groups and delete empty ones.

  • LedgersScreen

    Every ledger of the chosen set of books, as a grouped tree or a flat list, with the actions to add ledgers and party ledgers, edit or retire them, and open a ledger's report.

  • Component mappingsScreen

    Which ledger each charge component posts to in the chosen set of books (a main ledger, an optional second tax ledger, an optional cost centre and, for sale and tenant charges, the revenue treatment and contract liability ledger), and the action to copy template additions into the books.

  • VouchersScreen

    Every voucher in the chosen set of books (drafts, posted, reversed and cancelled), with filters and the menu to start a new voucher.

  • Ledger reportScreen

    The ledger of one account between two dates: opening balance, every posting with a running balance, and closing balance, with CSV export.

  • ConsolidatedScreen

    One trial-balance-style view across every active set of books in your organization, matched by the organization's template ledgers or groups, with an optional project cut.

  • PaymentsScreen

    Every receipt and payout of the chosen books, with filters and search, and the buttons to record a receipt, record a payout or open the payout runs, the RERA sweeps, the TDS credits and the escrow withdrawals.

  • Payout runsScreen

    Every payout run of the chosen books, the dialog that drafts a new run of member benefits, commissions or refunds, and the scheduled rules that draft runs automatically.

  • DemandsScreen

    Every demand raised in the chosen books, on bookings and on society members' offers, with filters for status, subject, project and dates, and the way into demand runs.

  • Revenue runsScreen

    The revenue runs (period closes) of the chosen books, the dialog that prepares a new draft run, and the scheduled rules that draft runs automatically.

  • Revenue policyScreen

    The CA's effective-dated choices on how the books recognise sale revenue and the costs that go with it: framework, method, possession trigger, OC rule, cost treatments and judgement areas.

  • Company (<company name>)Screen

    One company's registrations, contact details, type-specific details, the people you deal with there and its bank accounts, with shortcuts to edit, delete or read the record's history.

  • Project overviewScreen

    A project's home page: its details, site, land, RERA registration, inventory summary, whether it is ready to sell and collect, where its money stands across its RERA accounts, and the setup checklist.

  • Promoter entityConcept

    The company developing a project; every project must name one, and its books and bank accounts are where the project's demands, receipts and payouts are posted.

  • Project readiness and the RERA gateConcept

    A project is ready to sell and collect once it has a promoter entity with books, the collection, RERA separate and operative bank accounts with their ledgers, and, when the organization requires it, a RERA registration whose validity covers today; bookings and allottee purchases wait for all of it, estimates only for RERA.

  • Fiscal years, periods, locks, opening balances and the year-end closeConcept

    Each set of books runs in fiscal years of twelve monthly periods; a voucher can post only into an open year and an unlocked period, opening balances carry each ledger's balance into a year, the year-end close moves income and expense into Profit & Loss Account by a closing journal and writes the next year's openings, and a monthly balance cache is kept as a cross-check.

  • The chart of accounts: templates, books copies, nature and system rowsConcept

    The organization keeps one master chart (group templates, ledger templates and default mappings) and every set of books holds its own copy of it; each group carries a nature (asset, liability, equity, income, expense) and a Direct flag that feeds gross profit, a few system rows are locked, codes are never reused, and the Consolidated report adds the books up by the template each ledger came from.

  • Component mappings: which ledgers a charge posts toConcept

    A component mapping tells one set of books where a charge component posts: a main ledger, an optional second tax ledger, an optional cost centre and, for sale and tenant charges, the revenue treatment; demands, commissions, benefit accruals, payouts and cancellations all read it, and an unmapped component stops the posting.

  • Vouchers, reversals and system vouchersConcept

    A voucher is the only way an amount enters the ledger: a dated header with balanced debit and credit lines, editable as a Draft, numbered and frozen when posted, corrected only by a mirrored reversal; demands, payments, commissions, benefit accruals, cancellations, revenue runs and the year-end close post their own system vouchers the same way.

  • Bank accounts, purposes and bank ledgersConcept

    One register of every bank account you pay from or into: who owns an account, what its purpose tag means, why the collection, RERA separate, operative and GST purposes belong to the promoter, what the primary account and the IFSC are for, and how a bank ledger is created in the books.