Transaction Ledger
Overview
The Transaction Ledger is the master record of every financial transaction in your garage. While other reports summarize and categorize your data, the Transaction Ledger lists each transaction individually, so you can see what makes up your financial picture.
It is a movement list, not a formal accounting ledger. Each job, expense, credit note and payment is recorded once, and the Debit and Credit columns show the direction of that single movement. It is not full double-entry bookkeeping, so the two columns are not a trial balance and will not add up to the same figure.
Why this matters:
When something does not add up, the Transaction Ledger is where you go to investigate. It is the audit trail that shows exactly what happened, when, and to which accounts.
What you can do with this report:
- Trace any balance back to its source transactions
- Investigate discrepancies between reports
- Provide detailed records for your accountant
- Verify that transactions were recorded correctly
- Export data for external analysis or auditing
How Financial Entries Affect the Transaction Ledger
Financial Entries appear in the Transaction Ledger so you can audit how they affected balances and cash movement.
| Financial Entry Type | Transaction Ledger Effect |
|---|---|
| Prepaid Expense | Appears as part of financial-entry-related ledger impact |
| Expense Payable | Appears as a payable-related transaction and later settlement trail |
| Asset Purchase | Appears as an asset-related financial transaction |
| Capital Contribution | Appears as financing/equity-related activity |
| Account Transfer | Appears as a transfer trail without affecting profit |
Use Financial Entries when you want these items recorded correctly before tracing them here.
Credit Notes and Paid Invoice Reversals
When you reverse a paid invoice, autoGMS creates a full credit note instead of deleting or editing the settled invoice. The Transaction Ledger shows that credit note as its own transaction, with the credit note number as the reference.
This means you can trace:
- the original invoice revenue
- the payment that was collected
- the credit note that reversed the billed value
- any replacement invoice that was generated afterwards
Credit-note applications are non-cash movements. They affect the accounting trail and invoice balances, but they are not treated as new customer cash received.
How to Access the Report
- Log in to your autoGMS dashboard.
- From the sidebar, click Financial Reporting.
- Select this report directly from the section list.
- Select Transaction Ledger.
The report loads showing transactions for the current month by default.
Understanding Debit and Credit in This Report
This report records one entry per transaction. There is no matching counter-entry, so Debit and Credit here mean the direction of a single movement rather than the two halves of a double-entry posting:
- Credit — value earned. A completed job credits the ledger.
- Debit — value going the other way. An expense, a credit note, a deposit held, or cash you received against work already earned.
What this means in practice
- The Debit and Credit column totals are not meant to match. They are not a trial balance, and an imbalance is not an error.
- To reconcile, use the Balance column and the summary figures at the top of the report, not the two column totals.
- A customer payment appears as the cash movement it is and does not change the balance, because the revenue was already recorded when the job was completed.
Example: a completed job and its payment
A £100 job that the customer later pays in full:
| Transaction | Debit | Credit | Effect on balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job completed | £100 | +£100 | |
| Payment received | £100 | no change |
The job earned the £100. The payment is the cash arriving against it, recorded so you can reconcile collections without counting the revenue twice.
If you need statutory double-entry books, export this ledger and hand it to your accountant. autoGMS records the transactions; it does not keep a general ledger in the formal accounting sense.
Reading the Report
Account Selection
At the top, select which account(s) to view:
- All Accounts — Shows transactions across all accounts
- Specific Account — Filter to one account (e.g., "Cash", "Accounts Receivable", "Parts Revenue")
Date Range
Select the time period to analyze. The ledger shows transactions that occurred within this range.
Transaction Table
Each row represents one transaction:
| Column | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Date | When the transaction was recorded |
| Reference | Transaction ID or invoice number |
| Description | What the transaction was for |
| Account | The account affected |
| Invoice State | Paid, partially paid, not paid, no invoice, or blank when not invoice-related |
| Payment Source | Bank, cash, card, or other source when captured |
| Debit | Amount debited (if any) |
| Credit | Amount credited (if any) |
| Balance | Running balance for that account |
Revenue rows show payment sources captured on linked invoices, Not paid when the linked invoice has no payment yet, or No invoice when no invoice is linked. Payment received rows are shown separately so you can reconcile cash collections without changing earned revenue.
Running Balance
For single-account views, the Balance column shows the running total after each transaction. This lets you trace how the account balance changed over time.
Common Use Cases
Reconciling Bank Statements
- Select your Cash or Bank account.
- Set the date range to match your bank statement.
- Compare each transaction in the ledger to your bank statement.
- Identify any discrepancies (missing transactions, wrong amounts).
Investigating a Balance
If a balance looks wrong:
- Select the account in question.
- Set a date range that covers the period in question.
- Review each transaction to find errors or missing entries.
Preparing for Audit
- Select All Accounts.
- Set the date range for the audit period.
- Export to CSV.
- Provide to your auditor along with supporting documents.
Finding a Specific Transaction
- Use the search function.
- Search by reference number, description, or amount.
- Click on the transaction to see full details.
Filtering and Searching
Filter the Ledger
Use the toolbar filters to narrow the ledger by:
- Transaction type, such as revenue, payment received, expense, deposits, credit notes, or financial entries
- Expense category
- Payment source, such as cash, card, bank transfer, cheque, not paid, or no invoice
- Invoice state, such as paid, partially paid, not paid, or no invoice
Search
Type in the search bar to find transactions by:
- Reference number
- Description
- Amount
Date Range
Use the date picker to narrow results to a specific period.
Methodology
Click the Methodology button in the report header to see how transactions are classified, what accounts are used, and how opening/closing balances are derived.
Export Options
Click Export to download the ledger:
| Format | Best For |
|---|---|
| Formal records, audit documentation | |
| CSV | Importing into accounting software, detailed analysis |
Exports include all visible transactions based on your current filters.
Tips and Best Practices
-
Use specific account views for reconciliation. Viewing all accounts at once is useful for overview, but reconciliation works better with single-account views.
-
Match to source documents. For any transaction you are investigating, find the original invoice, receipt, or bill.
-
Review regularly. Monthly ledger reviews catch errors before they compound.
-
Read Debit and Credit as direction, not as a balancing pair. Credit is value earned; debit is value going the other way, including cash you collected against work already earned.
-
Use reference numbers. When searching for transactions, reference numbers (invoice numbers, payment IDs) are the fastest way to find what you need.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do debits and credits confuse me?
This is normal. The terminology is counterintuitive because it comes from the bank's perspective, not yours. In everyday language, a "credit" seems positive, but in accounting, it depends on the account type. Focus on the effect: did the account go up or down?
Is this a double-entry general ledger?
No. It records one entry per transaction, so the Debit and Credit columns show movement direction and will not balance against each other. It is a complete transaction trail you can hand to an accountant, not a set of statutory double-entry books.
Why does my running balance not match my expected balance?
Check your date range. The running balance starts from the beginning balance at the start of your selected period. If transactions before that date are excluded, the starting balance reflects those historical entries.
Can I edit transactions in the Transaction Ledger?
The Transaction Ledger is a read-only view. To correct something, fix it at the source — the booking, invoice, expense or financial entry — and the ledger updates with it.
What if debits do not equal credits?
That is expected here and is not an error. Each transaction is recorded once, so the two column totals are unrelated. Reconcile using the Balance column and the summary figures instead.
How detailed should descriptions be?
Detailed enough to identify the transaction months later. Include customer names, invoice numbers, and what was purchased or paid.