Accounts | Double-entry book-keeping

Accounts constitute the main structure on which all accounting is created. If you open one of the templates included in Banana Accounting, the accounts are already present in the Accounts table and contain all the settings needed to instantly record the transactions in the Transactions table.

The accounts in the Accounts table are divided as follows:

  • Balance Sheet Accounts - Assets and Liabilities.
  • Profit and Loss Accounts - Expenses and Income.
  • Customer and Supplier master Data
  • Account Cost and Profit centers - for managing projects or keeping the Customers / Suppliers register
  • Segment Accounts - for managing business segments or branches.

 

The BClass

The BClass is essential for the correct total of amounts and balances. In the BClass column, each account must be assigned one of the following values, regardless of the account number or group to which it belongs:

  • 1 -  for Assets
  • 2  - for Liabilities
  • 3  - for Expenses
  • 4  - for Income

Groups and subgroups do not have BClass, so the cell of the relevant column remains empty.

BClass of off-balance sheet accounts

Off-balance sheet accounts are those whose amounts and balances do not fall within the totals of the balance sheet and income statement accounts. They are accounts that are entered in the chart of accounts to view guarantees and conditional commitments.
Off-balance sheet accounts must have the following BClass:

  • 5 for Off Balance Sheet Assets
  • 6 for Off Balance Sheet Liabilities
  • 7 - 10 - for other Off Balance Sheet accounts

Add a new account or category

In the Accounts table, Base view, you can add new accounts (or new categories in the Income / Expense accounting).

Before adding an account or a category it is important to know:

  • The account or category number can consist of numbers, letters and separator characters.
  • There cannot be multiple accounts or categories with the same number.
  • Each account must have a grouping (Gr) and a class (BClass).

To add an account or a category proceed as follows:

  • Go to the row preceding the one where the new account or category will be inserted.
  • Add a row with the Edit → Insert row command
  • Fill in the respective columns the account or category number, the description, the BClass (1 for assets, 2 for liabilities, 3 for costs and 4 for revenues - only for double-entry accounting), the number of Gr which must be the same as the one entered for the accounts belonging to the same Group.

Warning: if you enter a transaction with an account that does not exist in the chart of accounts and only after creating the new account, you will initially receive an error message; to eliminate it, it is necessary to recalculate the accounting with the command Shift + F9 or through the menu Actions → Recalculate totals.

Rename an account

This is a very useful function because it allows you to change an account and simultaneously have it replaced in the Transactions table. It avoids having to change the account for each transaction that contained the previous account. In addition, it also allows you to rename a group or a VAT code.

  • In the Accounts table go to the Account / Category or Group column, or to the VAT Code column of the VAT Codes table.
  • Use the Data → Rename command.
  • Indicate the new account number, group, category or VAT code.

The program automatically updates the Transactions table with the new VAT number or code.

Delete an account

If an accounting is already started, before deleting an account, make sure that it has not been used in the Transactions table or that it does not have an opening balance.

  • Locate the row of the account that is to be deleted.
  • Use the command Edit → Delete rows command.

After deleting an account or a category it is advisable to use the Actions → Recalculate totals command. If the deleted account or category is in use in transactions, the program reports an error message.

Opening balances of the accounts

The opening balance of an account is shown in the Opening column.

  • Debit (Asset) balances are shown normally.
  • Credit (Liabilities) balances are indicated with a minus sign (in negative) in front of the amount
  • Typically, only the opening balances of the Asset and Liabilities accounts are indicated.

To carry over the opening balances automatically to the following year, see the Create New Year lesson.

Further details on opening balances are available on the Opening balances page.

Differences in opening balances

To have correct accounting, the total of the opening debit balances must match the total of the opening credit balances, so that there are no differences.
If the total does not correspond there will be a notification of the difference between the initial balances in the Info window.
If any account numbers have been changed and there are differences, perform the Full Accounting Recalculation.
When using Banana Accounting for the first time, to create the opening balance, it is necessary to manually enter the opening balances (Opening column), making sure to enter the balances of the Liabilities with the minus sign (-) in front of the amount.

Further details on opening balances are available on the:

Customer and Supplier accounts

Customer and supplier accounts can be entered directly in the Balance Sheet sections, listing the accounts for each customer and supplier and creating two distinct totaling groups, one in the Assets for customers, the other in the Liabilities for suppliers. If the list of customers and suppliers is very extensive, it is possible to create a customers / suppliers ledger at the end of the chart of accounts.

There are several setting options:

Accounts with addresses

In the Accounts table, Address view, there are columns to enter the addresses of customers, suppliers or members. If the columns of the address view are missing, you can add them:

The address columns are essential to be able to manage billing, reminders and the control of payments and collections.

More details are available on the Address page.

address columns for ledger

The Cost and Profit Centers accounts

They are ideal for project management, have precise details on a specific event or for any other need.

  • Cost and profit centers
    They are accounts that have the number preceded by a period ".", by a comma "," or by a semicolon ";" and are used to attribute the transaction amounts to additional accounts as well, with respect to the basic accounting ones.
    All the amounts attributed to the cost and profit centers are separate from the Balance Sheet and the Income Statement and are entirely for information purposes.
     

The Segment Accounts

To have financial statements also of different sectors or activities in which the company operates.

  • Segments
    They are similar to sub-accounts that have the number preceded by a colon ":" and are used to attribute the accounting operations to sub-categories of accounts.

Customize accounts and categories

Adding a new account or category

With Banana Accounting it is possible to customize the chart of accounts by adding or deleting accounts and categories.

To add a new account or category, proceed as follows:

  • Position yourself in the row above the one where you want to add the new account or category.
  • Add a new empty row with the command Edit → Add rows.
  • Enter in the respective columns:
    • The Account number
    • The Description,
    • The BClass (1 for the Assets, 2 for the Liabilities, 3 for the Expenses and 4 for the Revenue)
    • Grouping number (Sum in column) which must be the same as that entered for accounts or categories belonging to the same Totalization Group.

If in the Transactions table you enter a transaction with a non-existing account, the program gives you an error message; to take it away you have to create the new account in the chart of accounts and recheck the accounting with the Shift + F9 key, or with the menu Actions → Recheck accounting command.

Adding a new group

If you want new totalization groups, proceed as follows:

  • Position yourself in the row above the one where you want to add the new group
  • Add a new empty row with the command command Edit → Add rows.
  • Enter in the respective columns:
    • The Group number
    • The Group Description,
    • Grouping number (Sum in column) in which you wish this group to be totalized.

Renaming an account, a group, a category or a VAT Code

This is a very practical function that allows you to rename an account, a category, a group or a VAT code and to have the replacement automatically in the Transactions and Budget table without having to enter them manually.

To rename one of the elements proceed as follows:

  • Position yourself in cell where the account or group (Accounts table) or the category (Categories table), that needs to be renamed, is present.
  • If it is necessary to rename a VAT code, it is necessary to position yourself in the VAT Codes table, on the cell of the code to be substituted.
  • Choose the Data menu → Rename command
  • Indicate the new account, group, category or VAT code number.

Removing an account, a group, a category or a VAT Code

  • Position yourself on the row number that contains the element that is to be deleted
  • Click on the Edit menu → Delete rows.
  • Enter the number of rows that you wish to delete

After deleting an account, a group, a category or a VAT code, it is necessary to use the Recheck accounting command. The program will give you a warning message if the deleted element was used in the transactions.

When deleting a group and not all accounts belonging to the deleted group are deleted, you must change the grouping number in the Sum in column for the remaining accounts, otherwise errors will be reported.