Glossary

Account code

The number or code used to identify an account. For example, your sales for the financial year might be assigned account code "10000".

Account group

One or more ranges of account codes that are related. For example, several account codes may make up your sales accounts. CAPITAL allows you to treat these accounts as a single group.

Accruals

The process of allocating expenses, etc., To one or more accounting periods even though no specific transaction occurred in those related periods. The point of this is usually to show more fairly how an expense relates to the way in which it is used up.

Audit trail

The detailed records that show the journals that make up an account balance.

Automatic journal

The journals created automatically as the result of processing a transaction in CAPITAL Office.

Balance sheet

The account balances of your assets and liabilities, as well as information on how these balances have been funded.

Body

The middle section of a report, excluding the heading or any notes at the bottom.

Budget

A target account balance that one plans to meet.

Chart of accounts

The account codes and account names that are used to classify the various income, expense, asset and liabilities of your organisation.

Contra accounts

In CAPITAL, this is the account that balances your journal entries automatically.

Control amount

 The total debits or credits that a batch must add up to.

Cursor The blinking block or line that shows were typing will commence on the screen. The arrow keys are used to move the cursor.

Dialog box

 The box that appears at the bottom of the screen containing messages and help information in CAPITAL programs.

Double-entry book keeping

A method of doing bookkeeping, whereby two accounts are always effected by the entry of one transaction (journal).

Expense code

In CAPITAL Office, accounts codes that specifically refer to the profit and loss (overheads/expenses) section of your chart of accounts. Once CAPITAL GL Controller is active, expense codes are often also used to cover income, purchases of assets such as stock, fixed assets, and so on.

Field

A unit of information that CAPITAL requests you enter. A field could include such things as an account code, the name of a company, the amount of a journal, etc.

Financial formula

The total of one more groups of account codes.

Footer

The bottom section of a report where special messages may appear. Most standard CAPITAL reports do not have footer sections. Footer sections may be added to customised reports.

General journals

Journals that involve direct adjustments to account balances through the general ledger.

GL set

The table of account code references that tell CAPITAL Office which chart of account codes to effect during the processing of transactions.

Header

The top section or heading section of a report.

Income statement

The income less cost of sales, less expenses for a particular accounting period.

Input mask

The template that enforces the way in which account codes may be entered into CAPITAL. For example, an input mask might force a dash symbol in the middle of an account code.

Journal

A transaction that causes an account balance to change.

Mask

See input mask.

Master file

The table of entries that holds the balances of all accounts for all periods in the current financial year.

On-line journals

Journal entries that do not require the creation of batches in order to post.

Posting

The process of updating the account balances in your master file by processing a series of journals.

Profit and loss report

A report that tells you how well you have done for a specific trading period. Whether your activities have lead to a profit, or a loss for that period.

Reversal

The act of restoring an account balance to its original value. CAPITAL can do this by treating debits as credit and credits as debits, and re-posting a batch.

Standing journals

Journals that can be posted multiple times.

Template character

A special symbol that tells CAPITAL which key-strokes are acceptable when entering account codes.

Trading statement

See profit and loss report.

Trial balance

A list of all the debit and credit balances for your accounts in the chart of accounts.