Which reports in your books you can rely on today
Which Achekam business reports read an advice practice's own ledger, and which report screens are not yet backed by it, so you know what to trust.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Financial services businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
A practice owner preparing for a meeting with the bank opens the reports menu, generates a management pack, and gets a neat-looking report with nothing in it. Ten minutes later, from a different screen, the same owner gets a full income statement with real figures. Which one is right?
The answer is that they are different things. Some of Achekam's business reports are added up on the server from your own posted journals. Others are screens that are not yet connected to your ledger. If you are going to put a figure in front of a bank, a compliance officer or a business partner, you need to know which is which. This article sorts them.
Management accounts from your own journals
The report to reach for first is the management accounts. It shows an income statement for a period you choose, beside the period before, and a balance sheet at the period end. Both are added up from your own journals, and both can be exported as PDF or CSV.
For an advice practice, that covers the core monthly questions: what fees came in, what the practice spent, and what it owns and owes. AccountingTools describes management accounting as the internal reporting that tracks revenues, expenses and variances to help managers act, and this report is where that starts in Achekam.
Three details to know before relying on it:
- Year to date means calendar year. The year-to-date preset starts on 1 January, not on your own financial year start. If your year starts in March, choose the dates yourself.
- No year-end close. Profit is not closed to retained earnings at year end and shows as its own line on the balance sheet. Your accountant handles this in the annual financial statements.
- No cash flow statement. The books do not produce one. If the bank wants cash flow figures, ask your accountant.
The trial balance and general ledger
The general ledger lists every posted line, and the trial balance shows each account for all time, for a period or at a date, and says whether debits equal credits. Both read your ledger directly.
These are the reports to use when a figure in the management accounts surprises you. Open the account in the general ledger and you see each posting behind the balance, with its date and source. When your accountant asks for "the TB", this is what they mean.
The debtors age analysis
Receivables are aged into 0-30, 31-60, 61-90, 91-120 and over 120 days, with overdue totals. This comes from your actual invoices and receipts, so it is a reliable view of which clients owe fees and for how long. A customer statement of account can also be produced as a PDF from the server and e-mailed, with the screen telling you whether it was sent.
For a practice that bills ongoing advice fees and once-off planning fees, the ageing is worth reading monthly. Fees that drift past the first column usually mean a client who is unhappy, has moved, or has forgotten.
Payroll cost and headcount reports
If you run payroll in Achekam, the payroll reports show cost, headcount and staff movements by month and by department. Each approved pay run is also posted to your ledger as a wages journal, so the staff costs in your management accounts can be checked against them. Use them when you are deciding whether you can afford a paraplanner, or when a lender asks what your staff costs have been.
The Reports library that creates empty reports today
Now the screens to be careful with. The Accounting Reports library lists report types such as a management pack and a debtors age analysis. Generating one today creates an empty report in the browser without reading your ledger. It is not a broken version of the management accounts; it is simply not connected yet.
Until it is, use the management accounts, trial balance, general ledger and ageing described above, and leave the library alone. A report that looks tidy but empty is easy to forward to someone by mistake.
The obligations list on the Tax Dashboard is sample data too, and anything added there is not saved. Keep your filing calendar somewhere you trust.
The VAT screen in South Africa
For South African practices that are VAT vendors, the VAT screen does not yet read your own VAT. The books overview shows only a single figure from the ledger: output VAT less input VAT. That figure is real, but it is not a return.
If your accounting firm is appointed to your books, it can see your monthly output and input VAT from your ledger and download it as CSV, which is a sound basis for preparing the return. A practice that charges VAT should agree this split of work with its accountant rather than relying on the business VAT screen.
A short list to keep beside you
| You need | Use |
|---|---|
| Income statement and balance sheet | Management accounts |
| The detail behind a balance | General ledger |
| A full list of balances | Trial balance |
| Who owes fees, and for how long | Receivables ageing and statements |
| Staff costs | Payroll reports |
| VAT for a South African return | Your accountant's monthly VAT view |
For a monthly pack built on these reports, see a monthly management pack for partners, and for checking the balances before anyone else sees them, read reading your trial balance before the accountant does.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
