---
title: Accounting Postings Reference
description: "For accountants: every general ledger entry TBA posts automatically, with the exact debits and credits, shown for single-site companies and for multi-site companies."
url: "https://theasst.com/docs/accounting-postings-reference/"
updated: "2026-11-01"
category: Accounting
---

# Accounting Postings Reference

This article is for accountants and bookkeepers. It lists every general ledger entry TBA posts on its own, with the accounts debited and credited, what triggers it, and what happens when the source document is edited or voided. It is in two parts: [single-site companies](#single-site) and [multi-site companies](#multi-site). A short section on [how the statements read these entries](#statements) follows.

Account names below are the **default G/L accounts** you choose under Default G/L Settings (Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Sales Tax Payable, Undeposited Funds, Unearned Revenue, Vendor Deposits, Inventory Adjustment, and so on). Items, pay codes and fixed assets can carry their own accounts, which take priority where stated.

## Rules that apply to every entry

- **Double entry, balanced by construction.** Each entry's debit and credit totals are calculated from the same set of lines, so an entry cannot be saved out of balance. Amounts are whole cents; there is no floating-point arithmetic in any posting.
- **Source link.** Every automatic entry records the document that produced it (invoice, bill, payment, deposit, and so on). That link is how an edit finds and replaces the entry, and how a void finds the entry to reverse.
- **Editing a document voids and reposts.** When you change a posted invoice, bill, payment, bill payment or deposit, the old entry is reversed by an offsetting entry and a new entry is posted from the saved document. The reversal copies every line, including its site.
- **Voiding a document reverses its entry.** The original entry is marked voided and a reversing entry is posted automatically. Nothing is deleted.
- **Negative documents flip sides.** A credit memo (negative invoice) and a vendor credit (negative bill) post the same accounts as a normal document with debit and credit swapped. Debit and credit columns never hold negative numbers.
- **Periods.** An entry can only be posted into an open fiscal period. If the date falls in a closed or locked period, the save is refused. Where the document screen offers it, TBA can create the missing fiscal periods for you.
- **Reconciled lines are protected.** A document whose bank line has been reconciled cannot be edited or voided until that reconciliation is reopened.
- **Cash-basis date.** Cash-moving lines (bank, Undeposited Funds) carry the date the cash moved. Statements run on the cash basis use it; see [below](#statements).
- **Everything has a site.** Every journal line carries a site. A line saved without one is given the company's default site, so no line is ever outside a site-filtered report.

# Part 1. Single-site companies

A company with one site never sees a site field anywhere in TBA, and the same is true of any company whose General Options setting *Show Site Fields* is turned off. Every journal line is stamped with the company's one site automatically. The postings below are therefore described without any site rules.

## Sales

| Event | Debit | Credit | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Invoice saved** | Accounts Receivable (invoice total) | Revenue account of each line, grouped by account; Sales Tax Payable (tax amount) | Each line's revenue account comes from the line, else its item, else the default. The entry is dated the invoice date. A credit memo posts the same lines with debit and credit swapped. |
| **Invoice sells stock from inventory** | Cost of Goods Sold (the item's COGS account) | Inventory (the item's inventory account) | A second, separate entry for the same invoice, at the lot's cost (quantity × lot cost). Posted only when an inventory item is drawn from a lot. Service and non-inventory items post no cost entry. |
| **Special-order deposit converted by invoicing the order** | Unearned Revenue | Accounts Receivable | Moves the client's earlier deposit from a liability to a reduction of the invoice's receivable. The cash-basis date is the date the deposit was received. |

## Money received

| Event | Debit | Credit | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Client payment saved** | Undeposited Funds (payment total) | Accounts Receivable (money applied to invoices, plus any unapplied remainder); Unearned Revenue (money applied to orders that are not yet invoiced) | One entry per payment, however many invoices it covers. An unapplied remainder stays as a credit in Accounts Receivable until it is applied. Editing the payment voids and reposts the entry. |
| **Existing credit applied to an invoice** | No entry | The cash and the receivable credit were posted when the payment was saved. Applying credit only changes which invoice the credit is matched against (aging and invoice status). |  |
| **Unapplied credit moved to a special order** | Accounts Receivable | Unearned Revenue | Reclassifies the credit as a prepayment on the order. |
| **Payment-time discount or write-off** (QuickBooks import) | The discount account | Accounts Receivable | Closes the remaining balance on the invoice the discount was taken against. |
| **Bank deposit** | Bank account (deposit total less any merchant fee); Merchant Fee account (the fee, if any) | Undeposited Funds (the batched payments); the account of each "other deposit" line | The bank is debited the net amount, the fee is expensed, and Undeposited Funds is cleared by exactly the payments in the batch. Voiding the deposit reverses the entry and releases the payments. |
| **Bounced payment (NSF)** | The payment's entry is reversed (voided). | The receivable returns. Optional extras: a bank fee entry (Dr bank-fee expense, Cr bank) and a chargeback invoice to the client, which posts as a normal invoice. |  |
| **Refund, whole payment by card** | The payment is voided; its entry is reversed. | Treated exactly like a void with the reason "refund". |  |
| **Refund, part of a card payment** | The payment's entry is reposted for the reduced total. | Invoice applications are reduced and the same void-and-repost used for edits is applied. |  |
| **Refund by check, cash, ACH or other** | Accounts Receivable | The bank, cash or credit card account paying out | Posted as a Quick Payment to the client. The original payment is untouched, even if already deposited. |

## Purchasing

| Event | Debit | Credit | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Bill saved** | One line per resolved account: Inventory (stocked items); Order Layaway (inventory received against a client's special order); Cost of Goods Sold (non-inventory and service items, and drop-ship lines); the line's own G/L account (lines with no item) | Accounts Payable (bill total) | Receiving a stocked item also creates its inventory lot. A vendor credit posts the same accounts with debit and credit swapped. |
| **PO prepayment applied when the bill arrives** | Accounts Payable | Vendor Deposits | Reclasses the earlier prepayment against the bill. The cash-basis date is the original payment date. |
| **Bill payment** | Accounts Payable (bills paid); Vendor Deposits (prepayments on purchase orders not yet billed) | The bank or credit card account paid from | One entry per payment, however many bills it covers. Editing voids and reposts. |
| **Vendor credit applied to a bill** | No entry | Same logic as applying client credit: the cash and payable were posted with the original payment. |  |
| **Quick Payment** | The account of each expense line | The bank or credit card account paid from | A direct disbursement with no bill. Used for client refunds as described above. |
| **Return to vendor, credit received** | A vendor credit (negative bill) that reverses the accounts the original bill debited. | Each credit line keeps the original line's item and client, so it lands on the same account. A restocking fee deducted by the vendor reduces the credit. |  |

## Inventory, fixed assets and depreciation

| Event | Debit | Credit | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Inventory added by hand, or quantity/cost edited up** | The item's Inventory account | Inventory Adjustment | Value is quantity × cost. An edit that lowers the value posts the reverse (Dr Inventory Adjustment, Cr Inventory). |
| **Inventory converted to a fixed asset** | Fixed Asset account (cost plus use tax) | Inventory (cost); Use Tax Payable (use tax, if any) | Dated the in-service date. |
| **Depreciation run** | Depreciation Expense (each asset's own account, aggregated by account) | Accumulated Depreciation (each asset's own account, aggregated by account) | One entry per run for all eligible assets. A run cannot post if an asset is missing either account. |

## Payroll

| Event | Debit | Credit | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Pay run posted to the G/L** | Wages expense, one line per pay code (the pay code's own account if it has one, else the company payroll wages account) | Payroll Liabilities (net of the lines above) | Dated the check date. Voiding the entry reverses it and lets the run be posted again. A closed run's entry cannot be voided. |
| **Employer costs** (labor burden, benefits), in the same posting | Employer Costs account | Payroll Liabilities | Posted only when an Employer Costs account is chosen. The amounts are estimates until the payroll service's results are imported. |
| **Closing a pay run (true-up)** | Employer Costs (if actual exceeds estimate) | Payroll Liabilities | Difference between the payroll service's actual employer tax and other costs and the estimate. Reversed sides when actual is lower. No entry if there is no difference. |
| **Payroll GL Import** | One entry per payroll summary row, with the debit and credit accounts you map | Dated the period date. Used for the payroll service's summaries. |  |

## Period end and other entries

| Event | Debit | Credit | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Year-end close** | Income accounts (to zero them); Retained Earnings if the year was a loss | Expense accounts (to zero them); Retained Earnings if the year was a profit | Dated the last day of the fiscal year. Only income and expense types are closed. |
| **Bank import: verify a transaction** | Bank account for a deposit; the account you choose for a withdrawal | The account you choose for a deposit; bank account for a withdrawal | Created only when you choose "post" for an imported bank line with no matching transaction. The bank line is marked verified. |
| **Manual journal entry** | Whatever you enter; must balance. | Debit and credit amounts cannot be negative. |  |
| **Opening balances** | Held on the account record, not as a journal entry. | Each account's beginning balance and its date are added to the account's activity in the Trial Balance, Balance Sheet and ledger detail. |  |

# Part 2. Multi-site companies

A company with two or more sites, and with *Show Site Fields* on, has a site on documents, a Site column on journal lines, and site choices on the financial statements. The entries are the same as in Part 1. What changes is **which site each line is posted at**.

## Principles

- **The site lives on the journal line, not on the account.** The chart of accounts is shared by all sites. A site's financial statements are built from the lines posted at that site.
- **Each site's part of an entry balances on its own.** Wherever an entry has lines at more than one site, the debits and credits at each site are equal. No entry moves a balance from one site to another, and no inter-site (due to / due from) accounts are used.
- **Bank and credit card accounts are shared.** A site's cash is whatever its documents moved. The bank line of an entry is posted at the same site as the document it settles. Your bank account therefore has a balance at each site, and the total is the real bank balance.
- **Customer payments follow the invoices they pay.** Deposits follow the payments they contain.
- **An invoice has one site; a bill can have several.** A bill's lines are posted at the sites they were received into.
- **Everything has a site.** A line posted without a site takes the company's default site: the one site if there is only one, otherwise the posting user's home site. The primary site, used where a rule below says so, is the lowest-numbered site.

## Site rule for each posting

| Posting | Site rule |
| --- | --- |
| Invoice | All lines (Accounts Receivable, revenue, tax) post at the **invoice's site**. The invoice's site comes from its order, otherwise the client's site, otherwise the sole site, otherwise the posting user's home site. |
| Invoice cost of goods sold | Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory both post at the **site of the lot the stock came from**, so each site's inventory is relieved correctly and each site's cost entry balances. If an invoice sells stock held at another site, the cost goes to that site and the revenue stays at the invoice's site. |
| Special-order deposit converted at invoicing | Both lines post at the invoice's site. |
| Client payment | The Accounts Receivable credit posts at **each applied invoice's own site**, and the Unearned Revenue credit at the order's site. Any unapplied remainder posts at the client's site. Undeposited Funds is debited at the same sites, in the same amounts, so each site's part of the entry balances. |
| Existing credit applied to an invoice | The payment's entry is reposted **only if** the per-site split changes (the credit sat at the client's site and the invoice is at another). Same-site applications post nothing. If the payment has already been deposited and the sites differ, the application is refused, because the deposit has already moved Undeposited Funds at the original sites. |
| Change Applications on a payment | Same rule: reposted if the split by site changes, refused if the payment is deposited, an error if its entry is in a closed period or reconciled. |
| Unapplied credit moved to a special order | Both lines post at the client's site. |
| Payment-time discount or write-off | Posts at the discounted invoice's site. |
| Bank deposit | Undeposited Funds is credited at the sites where the batched payments debited it, so it nets to zero at every site. The bank is debited **at each site for that site's gross amount less its share of the merchant fee** (the fee is shared in proportion; rounding goes to the site with the largest amount), and the fee is expensed at each site in the same shares. "Other deposit" lines post at the client's site if one is named, otherwise at the depositing user's home site. |
| Bounced payment (NSF) | The reversal copies the original sites. The bank-fee entry posts at the client's site, both lines. |
| Refund, whole or partial by card | The reversal or repost keeps each invoice's own site. |
| Refund by check, cash, ACH or other | Accounts Receivable is debited, and the bank credited, **at the sites of the invoices the refund reopens**. The part of a refund that comes from credit the client held (not applied to any invoice) posts at the client's site. |
| Bill and vendor credit | Each expense, inventory, or cost line posts at **the line's own site** (where the goods are received). Accounts Payable is credited **at each site for exactly the debits at that site**. A line with no site takes the company default. |
| PO prepayment applied to a bill | Both lines post at the purchase order's site. |
| Bill payment | Accounts Payable is debited **at the sites of the bills being paid**. A bill that spans sites is split in proportion to the Accounts Payable credits posted at each site. Vendor Deposits are debited at the purchase order's site, and the bank credited at each of those sites. An unapplied remainder posts at the user's home site. |
| Vendor credit applied to a bill | The bill payment's entry is reposted if the per-site split changes (error if its period is closed or it is reconciled). |
| Quick Payment | Each expense line posts at the client's site (for a client refund) or at the user's home site; the bank credit follows each line's site. |
| Return to vendor | Each credit line keeps the original bill line's site. |
| Inventory added or adjusted by hand | Posts at the **lot's site**. |
| Inventory converted to a fixed asset | Posts at the asset's site. |
| Depreciation run | One entry, with **each asset's expense and accumulated depreciation at that asset's own site**. Each site's debits equal its credits. |
| Pay run | Each person's wages, employer costs and the matching liability credit post at the person's **Home site** (set on the personnel record; blank means the primary site). The employer-cost true-up when you close the run is calculated per person and posted the same way. |
| Payroll GL Import | Posts at the importing user's site. It is a summary with no per-person detail, so it cannot be split. |
| Year-end close | Income and expense accounts are closed **at the site where they were earned**, and each site gets its own Retained Earnings line for its own net income. Each site's closing entries balance on their own. |
| Bank import: verify a transaction | Both lines post at the importing user's site. |
| Manual journal entry | You choose the site on each line. A line left blank takes the company default. An entry whose lines are at different sites is allowed, but it is yours to balance by site if you want the sites to balance. |
| Opening balances | Entered **per site** on the account (a grid with one amount per site and a running total). The account's beginning balance is always the sum of its site amounts. An account that was never split is owned by the primary site. |

## Where your sites do and do not appear

- **Payroll Home site.** The Home site row on the personnel record appears only when site fields are on.
- **User home site and permission profiles.** Both are hidden for single-site companies and when site fields are off.
- **Site-level security.** A permission profile can be limited to one site, so a user can be allowed to see only that site's clients, invoices and statements.

# Part 3. How the statements use these entries

- **Site filter.** The Trial Balance, Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow and the ledger drill-down accept All Sites, a Single Site, or a Custom set. They add up the journal lines at the chosen sites, plus the opening balances of those sites. All-sites reports include every line.
- **By Site view.** The Income Statement and Balance Sheet can show one column per site plus a Total column. The Total is the sum of the site columns. Rows that are zero at every site are left out unless you show zero balances. The By Site view has an Excel export; the PDF is single-column only.
- **Retained earnings.** The Balance Sheet works out Retained Earnings and current-year net income from the income and expense lines for the chosen sites, so a single-site Balance Sheet shows that site's own equity. Year-end closing entries are left out of the statements so the same profit is not counted twice.
- **Accrual and cash basis.** Accrual statements use each line's entry date. Cash-basis statements recognize revenue, cost and tax in proportion to the payments applied to each invoice or bill, at the same site the entry was posted. Cash-basis figures for invoices or bills that were edited use only the current version of the entry.
- **Aging.** AR Aging and Sales Summary filter by the invoice's site. AP Aging splits each bill's open balance by the sites its Accounts Payable credits were posted at, so the site totals add up to the company total. Unapplied vendor credits are spread across the sites of the payment that created them.
- **Checks.** Because each entry balances at every site, the total of any account across all sites equals the sum of its site balances. A line with no site, or an entry that is out of balance within a site, indicates a manual journal or an older entry and should be reviewed.

## What does not post

- Quotes and orders post nothing, except that a payment applied to a not-yet-invoiced order is a liability (Unearned Revenue).
- Changing which invoice or bill a payment is matched to does not post in a single-site company; in a multi-site company it reposts the payment only when the sites differ, as described above.
- Bank reconciliation marks lines as cleared and never posts an entry.