Configure your Accounting Settings
Accounting Settings is where you tell Sales Scribe which ledger account to use for each bookkeeping role — the receivables account, the VAT accounts, the foreign-exchange accounts, and the default accounts for products. Sales Scribe reads these when it posts a transaction, so getting them right is what lets invoicing and payments work.
The same page carries the Financial year card, which is a separate setting with its own Set button — it saves on its own, so a change there does not affect the account roles below it and vice versa. See Set your financial year end.
Before you begin
- You need to be signed in with the organisation selected.
- Go to Settings → Accounting Settings (or open the Settings hub and choose Accounting settings). You can also reach it from the Chart of Accounts page with the Accounting Settings button.
- Your Chart of Accounts is already set up with a starter set of accounts, so the required roles are usually filled in for you from the start.
What each role is for
Each setting maps one role to one ledger account. The page groups them into three cards.
Control Accounts
| Role | What it is for | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts Receivable (AR) Control | Holds the total your customers owe you. Every issued sales invoice and every customer payment touches it. | Yes |
| Accounts Payable (AP) Control | Holds the total you owe your suppliers. | Yes |
| Output VAT (Sales Tax) | The VAT you charge customers on sales. | Yes |
| Input VAT (Purchase Tax) | The VAT you are charged on purchases and may reclaim. | Yes |
| Rounding / Suspense | Catches small rounding differences. | Optional |
Default Product Accounts
These are used when a product (or its category) does not name its own account. They are covered in detail in Set your default product accounts.
| Role | What it is for | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Default Sales Revenue | The income account for product sales. | Yes |
| Default Purchase Expense | The expense account for overhead purchases. | Yes |
| Default Cost of Goods Sold | Where the cost of sold stock is recorded. | Yes |
| Default Inventory Asset | The value of stock you are holding. | Yes |
| Default Purchases (Periodic) | Direct purchases under the periodic inventory method. | Optional |
Foreign Exchange & Unapplied Payments
| Role | What it is for | Required |
|---|---|---|
| FX Gain | Where a gain from currency movement is recorded. | See note below |
| FX Loss | Where a loss from currency movement is recorded. | See note below |
| Unapplied Receipts (Customer Deposits) | Holds customer money received before it is matched to an invoice. | Optional |
| Unapplied Payments (Supplier Advances) | Holds money paid to suppliers before it is matched to a bill. | Optional |
Save your settings
- Choose an account for each role from its drop-down.
- Select Save Settings.
[Screenshot required: Accounting Settings page showing the Control Accounts, Default Product Accounts and Foreign Exchange cards]
What happens next
Sales Scribe uses these mappings automatically every time it posts. You do not choose accounts each time you invoice or take a payment — the roles do that for you.
Important notes
Warning: Posting will fail with a message if a role a transaction needs has not been set. For example, issuing a sales invoice needs the AR Control, Output VAT and a sales account; recording and matching a customer payment needs the unapplied-receipts and AR accounts. If you see such a message, come back here and fill in the account it names.
Note: As soon as you trade in a currency other than your functional currency, the FX Gain and FX Loss accounts become necessary. When you save, Sales Scribe fills them in automatically where it can; if it cannot, it asks you to choose them. A foreign-currency payment will not post until they are set.
Troubleshooting
- A save was rejected asking you to set FX accounts. Choose an FX Gain and FX Loss account and save again.
- An invoice or payment will not post and names a missing account. Open Accounting Settings, set the account it mentions, and retry.
- A save failed and asked you to reload. The settings were changed elsewhere at the same time. Reload and try again.