Accounts and balances

Knowing what was sold is one thing. Knowing where the money is now is another: some in the bank, some in the till at Ikeja, some waiting to be paid out. Accounts is where you list those places, and Tabs works out how much is in each from what is recorded.

Open Accounts in the sidebar, in the Finances group beside Transactions. The page reads "Where the business's money sits, and how much is in each." Until you add one, it asks "Where does your money sit?" and says "Add your bank accounts, wallets and cash, and Tabs keeps each one's balance from what's recorded."

Adding an account

Press Add account. The window asks what kind of account it is:

Every account needs a Nickname (up to 80 characters, such as "Shop till") and a Currency. A bank account with a bank picked needs its 10-digit account number, and Tabs checks it with the bank. Press Add account to save. Tabs says "Added" with its name.

You can also give it a Starting balance (optional): an amount, whether it is in credit or overdrawn, and the day it applies to. Tabs adds this as the first entry on that day. The day can't be after today.

A Moniepoint account is not one you add. Tabs makes it for you when you connect Moniepoint: one for the connection and one for each terminal. It is marked Made by Tabs, and only its name can change. It can't be removed.

How the balance is worked out

A balance is never typed in. It is the money that came in, less the money that went out, across everything recorded against that account, starting from its starting balance. Change what was recorded and the balance follows.

The currency can't be changed once an account has money in or out.

The Accounts page

Above the list sit the totals, one for each currency you hold:

• Total balance, as of a day.
• Money in, Money out and Left over for the period.
• A chart, Balance over time.

Needs you appears when an account is holding money that still has to be paid out to your bank, such as Paystack's. It reads "is holding" with the amount, then "Record the payout to your bank."

Latest money lists the most recent money in and out, with See all.

Under Accounts, the list has the Account, its Kind, Used at and Balance, and under each balance how much it changed "in this period". Search by name, and filter by Kind. Press an account to open it.

The balance needs access to every store. A member who works in one store sees the accounts but not the balances, because their sums would be wrong.

One account

An account's page shows:

• Account details, the bank, account number and account name (or the network and wallet address), each with a copy button, and Copy details to copy the lot. Tabs says "Details copied".
• Its Balance, "as of" a day.
• Starting balance: "Started with" an amount on a day, or "Overdrawn by". Change edits it.
• Where it came from, split into Orders, Reseller orders, Purchases, Payment edits, By hand, Moves and Opening balance.
• Money in and out, the list of what moved, which you can record by hand.
• Used at, below.

Edit changes the name, and for accounts you added, what they hold. Remove asks "Remove this account?" and says what was recorded against it stays. Press Remove, or Keep it.

Move money

When you take cash to the bank, or shift money from one account to another, press Move money, on the Accounts page or on an account.

1. From: the account the money leaves. "Pick an account".
2. To: the account it goes into. It must be a different account.
3. Amount.
4. Date: today or a day before.
5. Note (optional), such as "Takings banked".

Under the fields each account shows its balance before and after, with an arrow between them, so you see what the move does. Press the button. Tabs says "Moved" with the amount and the account it went to.

Used at

Under Used at, an account is either for Every store or for Chosen stores. "Any store can use it, and so can money that isn't a store's."

• With no stores chosen, every store can use it.
• With stores chosen, only those stores can record money on it. A member who works in one store sees the accounts used at their store, and the every-store accounts, and nothing else.
• If every store it was used at is closed, the page says "Its stores are closed, so nothing can be recorded on it until it has an open store or every store can use it." Choose stores, or press Use at every store.
• The account Paystack pays out to is marked "Paystack pays out here".
• A store change is refused while a repeating transaction uses the account at another store. Tabs says "This repeating transaction uses the account at another store. Change or stop it first:" with the transaction's name to press, which opens the Recurring tab. Money already recorded elsewhere stays as it is.

Paid into and Paid from

Wherever a payment is taken, Tabs asks where the money went:

• Paid into when money comes in: a new order, Record payment on an order, swap orders and a new reseller order.
• Paid from when money goes out: a payment to a supplier on a purchase, and money given back to a customer.
• The same field is on Edit this payment.

The choices come in this order:

1. The accounts in that payment's currency, grouped "For" the store, "Every store", or "Your accounts".
2. Cash, "Not into an account", and Other, "Anything else", under "No account".
3. Under "Through", the integrations the store takes, such as Paystack and each Moniepoint terminal. These only take money in, so they are missing from Paid from.

On a wide screen it is one field you can search ("Search accounts"). Type a name and press Enter to pick the first match. On a phone it is a list. Accounts used only at other stores aren't offered.

Until your business has an account in that currency, the picker keeps the choices each spot always had, and you carry on as before.

Payments appear in Transactions on their own

You don't copy payments into Accounts. When a payment is recorded, Tabs writes the matching line into Transactions against the account you picked, in the same moment. That covers:

• payments on orders and on reseller orders, and swap payments
• payments to suppliers on purchases
• a payment that is voided, which writes the opposite line
• money given back to a customer
• a lost Paystack dispute, as money out on the day it ends
• Paystack and Moniepoint settlements, and Paystack's fee

A payment you edit writes two lines, one taking the old figure back and one with the new. Each line keeps its record: Tabs never changes or deletes one.

Once an hour Tabs also looks for any that were missed and adds them, so a payment can take up to about an hour to show if it was missed the first time.

Payments from Paystack settle into the account you chose for Paystack payouts. Moniepoint ones go to the terminal's account.

A worked example

A shop has two stores, Ikeja and Yaba. The owner adds three accounts in naira:

• Main bank, a bank account, used at Every store, with a starting balance of ₦500,000.
• Ikeja till, Cash, used at Ikeja only.
• Yaba till, Cash, used at Yaba only.

At Ikeja a customer pays ₦20,000 cash for an order. In Paid into, the cashier picks Ikeja till. She doesn't see Yaba till. Ikeja till's balance goes to ₦20,000, and the payment is in Transactions.

At the end of the day the manager takes the ₦20,000 to the bank. Someone with the right role presses Move money, picks Ikeja till in From and Main bank in To, enters ₦20,000, and sees both balances before and after: ₦20,000 to ₦0, and ₦500,000 to ₦520,000. Ikeja till is back to zero, and Main bank holds ₦520,000.

Later the owner decides to use Main bank at Yaba only. Tabs refuses while a monthly rent transaction at Ikeja uses it, naming the transaction. She changes that transaction first, then saves.

Who can do what

Accounts have two permissions, set under roles. Both are marked sensitive, because they show account numbers and balances.

The owner has both. Of the starting roles, only the Accountant carries them; Cashier, Stock keeper and Store manager have none, and neither does the built-in Staff role. The Transactions page itself needs its own permission, See money in and out, and its totals. A role you create starts with none of these.

Things to know

• A Moniepoint account is made by Tabs. You can't add one by hand.
• A removed account leaves the list. What was recorded against it stays.
• The accounts you can pick on a payment are in that payment's currency.