Books overview
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.
Books overview
The home page of one set of books. It shows which company the books belong to and how they were set up, how much they hold, their fiscal years, and shortcuts to everything that hangs off them. From here you also rename the books, deactivate them or delete them.
Where to find it
Open Accounting > Books in the sidebar and click a books name, or its Open icon. You also get here from:
- the books name next to Books at the top of the chart of accounts, vouchers and reports pages, when your organization has only one set of books;
- the Open books link on a voucher, and the books name on a payment.
You need the View permission on Books. Without it the page shows "No access" and "You do not have permission to view books. Ask your administrator." If the books can't be found (a wrong or old link), the page shows "That item could not be found." with a Back to books link.
What you see
The header shows the books name, an Active or Inactive badge, "FY <name>" for the fiscal year that holds today's date, and underneath "<company> · books begin <date> · <currency>".
When the books are inactive, a warning reads "These books are inactive: vouchers cannot be created or posted until they are reactivated."
The tabs under the header are Overview, Fiscal years, Voucher types, Cost centres, Opening balances and Revenue policy. Opening balances shows only to people with any permission on Chart of Accounts, and Revenue policy only to people with any permission on Revenue Recognition. The Revenue policy tab holds the CA's effective-dated choices on when these books recognise sale revenue and how they treat the costs that go with it.
The Overview tab has:
- Details: Company (a link to the company when you have the View permission on Companies), GSTIN / PAN, Books begin, Fiscal year starts (the month), Currency, Status, and Created and Updated with their date and time.
- Five counts: Groups, Ledgers, Cost centres, Voucher types and Vouchers. Each is a link when you can open what it counts: Groups and Ledgers open the chart of accounts (with the View permission on Chart of Accounts), Cost centres and Voucher types open their tabs, and Vouchers opens the voucher list for these books (with the View permission on Vouchers).
- Fiscal years: each year with its dates, a Current badge on the year that holds today and a Closed badge on closed years. The Periods and locks link opens the Fiscal years tab.
- Shortcuts on the right, each shown only when you have the permission it needs:
- Chart of accounts: "Groups, ledgers, party ledgers and component mappings of these books." Needs the View permission on Chart of Accounts.
- Vouchers: "Drafts, posted entries and outstanding bills." Needs the View permission on Vouchers.
- Reports: "Ledger, trial balance, day book and period balances." Needs the View permission on Reports.
- Opening balances: "Balances brought forward at the start of a fiscal year." Needs the View permission on Chart of Accounts.
What you can do
Vouchers
The Vouchers button in the header opens the voucher list for these books.
- Who: anyone with the View permission on Vouchers. Without it the button isn't shown.
Edit
Opens the panel "Edit <name>", where you can change two things:
- Books name (required, up to 150 characters). Empty shows "Name is required".
- Active: "Inactive books keep their data but refuse new vouchers and postings."
A note at the foot reads "Company, begin date (<date>), fiscal-year start and currency are fixed once the books exist."
Click Save changes, or Cancel to close without saving.
- Who: anyone with the Edit permission on Books. In the default roles that is the Administrator and the Finance Lead. Without it the button isn't shown.
- Greyed out: Save changes stays greyed out until you change something. No reason is shown on hover.
- What happens next: "Books updated." The header and badges refresh.
Delete
Asks "Delete books?": "<name> and its chart of accounts, fiscal years, voucher types and cost centres will be removed. Books with vouchers or payments cannot be deleted; deactivate them instead." Click Delete to go ahead, or Cancel.
- Who: anyone with the Delete permission on Books. In the default roles that is the Administrator and the Finance Lead. Without it the button isn't shown.
- What happens next: "Books "<name>" deleted." and you return to the Books list.
- If it's refused: "Vouchers or payments exist in these books; deactivate them instead". Use Edit and untick Active.
Statuses
- Active: vouchers can be created and posted, and automatic postings (demands, receipts, payouts, commissions, year-end close) go through.
- Inactive: the books keep all their data, but new vouchers and postings are refused.
Tick or untick Active under Edit to move between them.
Things to know
- What deactivating stops. Creating or posting a voucher is refused with "These books are inactive. Reactivate them under Books to post entries." Bookings, demands and commissions for the promoter's projects are refused with the same message, and so are RERA sweeps and escrow withdrawals ("Books <name> are inactive"). Saving a new collection, RERA separate, operative or GST bank account no longer creates its ledger in these books. Deactivate books only when the company has really stopped trading through them.
- Inactive books still count as set up on a project's Ready to sell and collect? card, so the card can show a project as ready while its postings will be refused. Check the books' status when postings fail.
- In the books switcher at the top of the chart of accounts, vouchers and reports pages, inactive books are listed as "<name> (inactive)", and an Inactive badge shows next to the switcher while they are the chosen books.
- Why deleting is limited. Once a voucher or payment exists, deleting the books would remove accounting history, so the app only lets you deactivate them.
- No History button here. Changes to books are recorded in the Audit log under Settings, where they appear as Books.
- Your organization can rename the tab labels, so your screen may use different words.
Related
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Audit logScreen
The organization-wide change log: every create, change and delete, every sign-in (including refused ones), sign-out and downloaded file, with who did it, when, from where and what changed.
- Books, the active books switcher and cost centresConcept
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.
- 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.
- "These books are inactive": nothing posts until the books are reactivatedTroubleshooting
Posting a voucher, issuing a demand, recording a payment, starting a run or cancelling a booking is refused because the promoter's books are inactive; what is blocked and how to reactivate them.
- Books cannot be deleted: vouchers or payments exist in themTroubleshooting
The Delete books dialog refuses because the books already hold vouchers or payments; deactivate the books instead so their history stays intact.
- VoucherScreen
One voucher with its lines and bill allocations, its reversal links, its history, and the actions to post, reverse, cancel or delete it.
- PaymentScreen
One receipt or payout: its details, amounts and allocations, and the actions to clear it, bounce it, cancel it, edit it or delete it.