Financial statements, VAT report and dashboard
Read this when you ask: how much did I earn? Where is my money? How much VAT do I owe? Here are the eight financial statements, the tax report and the dashboard.
On this page
Everything posted in Sahl (an invoice, a voucher, a stock move) becomes a ledger entry immediately, and the financial reports read those entries directly. There is no "day close" and no "recalculate": open a report and the figures are current at that moment.
Dashboard: your morning in one minute
From the menu Home, then Dashboard. It shows quick tiles: Today's sales, This week's sales, This month's sales compared with last month to the same day, Cash in cashboxes and banks, and Due to us today with the invoice count. Users allowed to see cost also get Approximate profit this month.
Below is the Needs your attention table: incoming and outgoing cheques due this week, items below minimum, unpaid customer and supplier invoices, and Top 5 items this month. Clicking the cash tile opens the cash liquidity report.
Tip
Make the dashboard the first thing you open every morning. Tiles refresh on every open, and the refresh time is printed at the top of the page.
Financial statements
From Reports, then Financial statements. The page is tabbed; each tab has a period (from/to) or a date (as of), a branch filter, an Excel export and a print button.
| Report | What it answers | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Income statement | Revenue, cost of goods, gross profit, expenses, net profit. With a Compare with previous period option. | From/to |
| Balance sheet | Assets = liabilities + equity. Current period profit is computed automatically inside equity, so the sheet balances even before the year is closed. The Difference line must be zero. | As of date |
| Trial balance | Per account: opening, period debit and credit, closing. A positive closing is a debit balance, a negative one a credit balance. | From/to |
| General journal | Every entry, line by line, in sequence. | From/to |
| Cash flow | Receipts, payments and net change in cash, from receipt and payment vouchers and cheque events. | From/to |
| Cost of goods sold and profit margin | Gross margin as a percentage, grouped by item, group or branch, filtered by warehouse. | From/to |
| Stock valuation vs ledger | Inventory value from item balances against the inventory account balance. The difference must be zero. | Live |
| Exchange gains and losses | Realised and unrealised exchange differences in the period. | From/to |
How to read the income statement
- Revenue: sales after returns and discounts.
- Cost of goods: the cost of what left stock on invoices, at the cost at the moment of sale.
- Gross profit = revenue minus cost. This figure measures your pricing.
- Expenses: what you paid out with payment vouchers to expense accounts, plus cash differences, rounding and commissions.
- Net profit = gross profit minus expenses.
Watch out
A sudden jump in the "Stock adjustments" line means a large count or adjustment. Review it before trusting the profit.
VAT report
From Reports, then Tax report. Pick a Quick period (this month, last month, two months) or set from/to. It shows Net sales and Output VAT, Net purchases and Input VAT, then Payable (refundable).
Below the summary are two tables, sales and purchases, with every document and the party's VAT registration number. Export Excel (both tables) produces them together for your accountant.
The reconciliation line
The report compares document totals with the movement of the two tax accounts in the ledger. If it says "Matches the movement of both tax accounts in the ledger", the report is ready. If it says "Does not match the ledger", there is a manual entry on a tax account or a document that was not fully cancelled. It also warns you about documents for parties with no VAT registration number; complete those numbers in the party record.
What happens in the books
A sales invoice credits VAT to "Output VAT" (2300); a supplier invoice debits it to "Input VAT" (1600). Returns reverse the direction. The report sums posted documents only, never drafts.
Before you trust the numbers
- Make sure all invoices are posted; a draft enters no report.
- Check "Stock valuation vs ledger": a zero difference means stock and books agree.
- If you trade in foreign currencies, enter exchange rates up to the end of the period.
- The full monthly routine is in Daily and monthly routine.
Frequently asked questions
Why is today's invoice missing from the income statement?
Because it is still a draft. Reports read posted documents only; post it and it appears immediately.
What does "Payable (refundable)" mean in the VAT report?
Output VAT minus input VAT. Positive means you owe the difference; negative means you are due a refund.
The balance sheet shows a non-zero difference. What should I do?
Rare, and it happens after direct data edits. From Advanced accounting, then Posting accounts, click "Rebuild balances" and reopen the balance sheet.