Journal & Ledger is the school’s full set of books. Most of it fills itself: every receipt, expense, payroll run and shop sale is written in automatically. Here you can see the list of accounts, make the occasional correction by hand, and print the reports an auditor or board will ask for.
- Where Finance & Billing → Journal & Ledger
- Who can use it Anyone whose role includes Journal & Ledger. The Chart of Accounts and Reports tabs, and the account lists in a manual entry, also need Finance in the role.
The idea in plain words
Every movement of money touches two places: where it came from and where it went. When a parent pays GHS 500.00 in cash, the cash box goes up by 500 and fee income goes up by 500. The two sides are called debit and credit, and they must always be equal. That is how the books check themselves.
You don’t need to remember which side is which for day-to-day work, because èLyn does it for you. You only need it for a manual entry.
Chart of Accounts
This tab lists every heading money can be recorded under, grouped as Assets (what the school owns, such as cash and bank), Liabilities (what it owes, such as PAYE not yet paid to GRA), Equity (the school’s own funds), Income and Expenses.
Headings marked Built-in come with èLyn and can’t be deleted. To add your own, fill in Add a custom account: a Code (for example 4090), a Name (Canteen Rent Income) and a Type, then click Add Account. A custom account can be deleted only while nothing has been recorded under it.
Journal Entries
This tab lists the 200 most recent entries with their Date, Memo, Source, Reference and Total. The source tells you where each one came from: Receipt, Expense, Payroll, Fee adjustment, Opening balance, Sale, Procurement or Manual entry.
Only manual entries have a bin icon. An automatic entry can’t be deleted here; void or delete the receipt, expense or other record it came from instead, and its entry is reversed for you.
Make a manual entry
Use this for things no other screen records, such as bank charges taken straight from the account, or correcting an opening balance.
- On Journal Entries, click New Manual Entry.
- Enter the Date, a Reference and a Memo that explains it, for example GCB monthly charges, March.
- On the first line, choose the account that goes up for an expense or asset, for example 5070 Administrative Expense, and enter 45.00 under Debit.
- On the second line, choose where the money came from, for example 1010 Bank Account, and enter 45.00 under Credit.
- Click Add Line if you need more lines, then Post Entry.
Total debits must equal total credits, and you need at least two lines. If they don’t balance, the entry is refused with a message.
Tip: Unsure which side? Money landing in cash or bank is a debit there; money leaving cash or bank is a credit there.
Reports
On the Reports tab, pick a report and set the date:
| Report | What it answers |
|---|---|
| Trial Balance | The balance of every account As of a date, and whether the books balance. |
| Income Statement | Income and expenses between From and To, and the Surplus or Deficit. |
| Balance Sheet | What the school owns, owes and holds as its own funds As of a date. |
| Account Ledger | Every movement on one Account over a date range, with a running balance. Use Previous and Next to page through. |
The Trial Balance and Balance Sheet say in a note whether they balance. They always should; if you see a warning, raise it through Support.