---
title: "Academy S4. Specialist: Accounting and Reporting"
description: "Specialist lesson 4: double entry and the ledger, what posts automatically, periods and year-end closing, reconciliation and bank import, and the financial statements."
url: "https://theasst.com/docs/academy-s4-specialist-accounting-and-reporting/"
updated: "2026-10-30"
category: Academy
---

# Academy S4. Specialist: Accounting and Reporting

*TBA Specialist: Accounting and Reporting · about 10 hours*

## After this lesson you can

- Read a journal entry and say whether it balances and why.
- Say what every common transaction posts to the ledger.
- Lock periods, close a year, and explain what the closing entry does.
- Import a bank file, match it, and reconcile an account to a statement.
- Choose the right financial report and explain why two reports can differ.

## Why it matters

The ledger is the company's record. Every module posts to it, so an accounting specialist can follow any number back to where it came from.

## Read

- [Accounting Overview](https://theasst.com/docs/accounting-overview/) and [Banking Overview](https://theasst.com/docs/banking-overview/)
- [General Ledger](https://theasst.com/docs/general-ledger/) and [G/L Accounts](https://theasst.com/docs/g-l-accounts/)
- [Fiscal Year and Year-End Closing](https://theasst.com/docs/fiscal-year-and-year-end-closing/)
- [Bank Import](https://theasst.com/docs/bank-import/) and [Reconciliation](https://theasst.com/docs/reconciliation/)
- [Deposits](https://theasst.com/docs/deposits/) and [Account Register](https://theasst.com/docs/account-register/)
- [Fixed Assets](https://theasst.com/docs/fixed-assets/)
- [Trial Balance](https://theasst.com/docs/trial-balance/), [Balance Sheet](https://theasst.com/docs/balance-sheet/), [Profit and Loss](https://theasst.com/docs/profit-and-loss/), [Cash Flow Statement](https://theasst.com/docs/cash-flow-statement/), [Cash Flow Forecast](https://theasst.com/docs/cash-flow-forecast/)
- [Report Designer](https://theasst.com/docs/report-designer/)

## Double entry and the ledger

Every posted journal entry has **total debits equal to total credits**. Assets and expenses normally carry **debit** balances; liabilities, equity and revenue carry **credit** balances. The accounting equation is Assets = Liabilities + Equity. The **trial balance** lists every account's balance so you can check that debits equal credits. A posted entry is voided by a **reversing entry**: the original and its reversal both stay in the ledger, so the history is kept and the net effect is zero. Classes tag entries so reports can be filtered by department, job or other grouping.

## What posts automatically

- **Invoice saved:** debit accounts receivable; credit revenue and any sales tax owed. Stocked items also debit cost of goods sold and credit inventory.
- **Payment received:** debit Undeposited Funds; credit accounts receivable.
- **Deposit made:** debit the bank account; credit Undeposited Funds.
- **Bill saved:** debit expense or inventory; credit accounts payable.
- **Bill payment:** debit accounts payable; credit the bank or card account.
- **Depreciation:** debit depreciation expense; credit accumulated depreciation.
- **Invoice voided:** a reversing entry, with the original left in place.

Undeposited Funds exists so the bank account matches what the bank will show once the deposit is made.

## Periods and year-end

**Locking a period** protects finished periods from accidental change. A fiscal year is made of periods, which can be closed one by one or all together with the year. **Closing a year** posts a closing entry that moves net income into retained earnings; accountants and auditors commonly expect to see it. Closing and reopening a year have their own permissions, separate from ordinary posting. Reopening is supported and recorded in the period history. The "include year-end closing entries" choice on the income statement lets you see the year's own results even after the entries are posted.

## Reconciliation and bank import

**Reconciling** checks that the entries you have cleared agree with the bank's statement. You enter the statement date and ending balance and tick entries until the difference is **zero**. Reconciled entries are locked from editing or voiding until the reconciliation is undone. **Save & Continue Later** keeps your ticks as an Incomplete reconciliation to resume.

**Bank import** takes OFX/QFX/QBO, CSV and BAI2 files. Lines are matched to entries by the **exact signed amount within a window of days**, with a check number raising the confidence; weak matches are never treated as high confidence. Repeat imports are recognised by transaction ID, so lines are not added twice. A line can be **verified** (the bank reported it) before it is **reconciled** (cleared on a statement). Voiding a verified entry returns its bank line to unmatched.

## Financial statements and reports

The **income statement** shows revenue less expenses for a period. The **balance sheet** shows assets, liabilities and equity at a date. The **Cash Flow Statement** looks back at cash that moved; the **Cash Flow Forecast** looks ahead from open receivables and payables. On the **cash basis**, income counts when the cash arrives; on the **accrual basis**, when it is earned. After closing, net income sits in retained earnings. The report designer builds custom reports, and every report exports to PDF or a spreadsheet.

A sound **month-end close**: finish and approve the month's entries, reconcile the bank and card accounts, post adjustments such as depreciation, review the reports, then lock the period.

## Try it

1. Post a manual journal entry and try to post an unbalanced one.
2. Void it and look at the reversing entry.
3. Import a bank file, match a line, and reconcile the account to a statement; leave one reconciliation half-way and resume it.
4. Close a period and try to edit an entry inside it.
5. Run the income statement on both bases and explain the difference.

## Check yourself

Explain to a colleague what each common transaction posts, why Undeposited Funds exists, and what the difference is between a line being verified and being reconciled. A Specialist exam is planned for a later release; the areas it will cover are the five sections above.