Accounting cheat sheet
The Profit and Loss (P&L) report shows the performance of the company over a specific period (usually the current year).
The Gross Profit equals the revenues from sales minus the cost of goods sold.
Operating Expenses (OPEX) include administration, sales and R&D salaries as well as rent and utilities, miscellaneous costs, insurances, … anything beyond the costs of products sold.
The Balance Sheet is a snapshot of the company’s finances at a specific date (as opposed to the Profit and Loss which is an analysis over a period)
Assets represent the company’s wealth, things it owns. Fixed assets includes building and offices, current assets include bank accounts and cash. A client owing money is an asset. An employee is not an asset.
Liabilities are obligations from past events that the company will have to pay in the future (utility bills, debts, unpaid suppliers).
Equity is the amount of the funds contributed by the owners (founders or shareholders) plus previously retained earnings (or losses).
Each year, net profits (or losses) are reported to retained earnings.
PROFIT & LOSS
NET PROFIT
GROSS PROFIT
- Revenue
- Revenue
- Less Costs of Revenue
- Cost of Goods Sold
OPERATING INCOME OR LOSS
- Less Operating Expenses
- R&D
Sales, General & Administrative
- Plus Other Income
- Foreign Exchange Gains
Asset write-downs - Less Other Expenses
- Interest on debt
Depreciation
BALANCE SHEET
NET ASSETS
TOTAL ASSETS
- Current Assets
- Cash & Bank Accounts
Accounts Receivable
Deferred Tax Assets - Plus Non-current Assets
- Land & buildings
Intangible Assets
- Less Current Liabilities
- Accounts Payable
Deferred Revenue
Deferred Tax Liabilities - Less Non-current liabilities
- Long-term loans
TOTAL EQUITY
- Equity
- Common Stock
- Plus Retained Earnings
What is owned (an asset) has been financed through debts to reimburse (liabilities) or equity (profits, capital).
A difference is made between buying an assets (e.g. a building) and expenses (e.g. fuel). Assets have an intrinsic value over time, versus expenses having value in them being consumed for the company to “work”.
Assets = Liabilities + Equity
Chart of Accounts
The chart of accounts lists all the accounts, whether they are balance sheet accounts or P&L accounts. Every financial transaction (e.g. a payment, an invoice) impacts accounts by moving value from one account (credit) to an other account (debit).
Balance = Debit - Credit
| Debit | Credit | Balance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Assets | |||
| 11000 Cash | |||
| 13100 Accounts Receivable | |||
| 14000 Inventory | |||
| 14600 Goods Issued Not Invoiced | |||
| 17200 Buildings | |||
| 17800 Accumulated Depreciation | |||
| 19000 Deferred Tax Assets | |||
| 2 Liabilities | |||
| 21000 Accounts Payable | |||
| 22300 Deferred Revenue | |||
| 23000 Goods Received Not Purchased | |||
| 26200 Deferred Tax Liabilities | |||
| 3 Equity | |||
| 31000 Common Stock | |||
| 4 Revenue | |||
| 41000 Goods | |||
| 42000 Services | |||
| 5 Expenses | |||
| 51100 Cost of Goods Sold | |||
| 52500 Other Operating Expenses | |||
| 53000 Price Difference |
Journal Entries
Every financial document of the company (e.g. an invoice, a bank statement, a pay slip, a capital increase contract) is recorded as a journal entry, impacting several accounts.
For a journal entry to be balanced, the sum of all its debits must be equal to the sum of all its credits.
| Debit | Credit | |
|---|---|---|
| Assets: Cash | 1000 | |
| Equity: Common Stock | 1000 |
Explanation:
- The company receives $1,000 in cash
- Shares worth of $1,000 belong to the founders
The initial capital can be cash, but could also be intellectual property, goodwill from a previous company, licences, know how, etc…
Sometimes, capital is not released immediately, accounts for "capital to be released" may be necessary.
Reconciliation
Reconciliation is the process of linking journal items of a specific account, matching credits and debits.
Its primary purpose is to link payments to their related invoices in order to mark invoices that are paid and clear the customer statement. This is done by doing a reconciliation on the Accounts Receivable account.
An invoice is marked as paid when its Accounts Receivable journal items are reconciled with the related payment journal items.
Reconciliation is performed automatically by the system when:
the payment is registered directly on the invoice
the links between the payments and the invoices are detected at the bank matching process
Customer Statement Example
Accounts Receivable | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
Invoice 1 | 100 | |
Payment 1.1 | 70 | |
Invoice 2 | 65 | |
Payment 1.2 | 30 | |
Payment 2 | 65 | |
Invoice 3 | 50 | |
Total To Pay | 50 |
Bank Reconciliation
Bank reconciliation is the matching of bank statement lines (provided by your bank) with transactions recorded internally (payments to suppliers or from customers). For each line in a bank statement, it can be:
- matched with a previously recorded payment:
a payment is registered when a check is received from a customer, then matched when checking the bank statement
- recorded as a new payment:
the payment’s journal entry is created and reconciled with the related invoice when processing the bank statement
- recorded as another transaction:
bank transfer, direct charge, etc.
Odoo should automatically reconcile most transactions, only a few of them should need manual review. When the bank reconciliation process is finished, the balance on the bank account in Odoo should match the bank statement’s balance.
Checks Handling
There are two approaches to manage checks and internal wire transfer:
The first journal entry is created by registering the payment on the invoice. The second one is created when registering the bank statement.
Account | Debit | Credit | Reconciliation |
|---|---|---|---|
Account Receivable | 100 | Invoice ABC | |
Undeposited funds | 100 | Check 0123 |
Account | Debit | Credit | Reconciliation |
|---|---|---|---|
Undeposited funds | 100 | Check 0123 | |
Bank | 100 |
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