Q1. What is the general ledger?
The General Ledger shows all the different accounts and financial transactions that have been recorded for your business. This includes all types and classes of accounts, as well all types of business activity.
It is a complete record of all financial transactions over the life of a company.
Q2. Can I customize the date range for the general ledger?
Yes, you can customize the date range using the date selectors or use pre-defined commonly used date ranges.
Q3. Can I download the general ledger report for a specific period?
Yes, you can download the general ledger report. Just set the required date range and download.
See below for an example of the downloaded file.
Q4. What grouping options are available for the general ledger report?
Jaz supports 4 options for grouping your transactions:
By accounts
By contacts
Note: For transactions that do not have an associated contact, they will be grouped under No Contact.
By transactions
By tax profiles
Note: Only transactions that make use of tax profiles will show up here.
Q5. Can I use filters on the general ledger?
Yes, you can use filters on the general ledger.
Q6. How can I view the original amount of my transactions in the general ledger in the currency that was used in the transaction?
You can adjust the columns in the general ledger to view the display currency, source debit/credit, and base debit/credit amounts.
Alternatively, you can click on the transaction record in the General Ledger.
This will bring up the transaction details, where you can view the transaction's original amount in the currency that was used for the transaction.
Q7. I see many different accounts relating to foreign exchange. What are they used for?
There are 3 accounts that Jaz provides for managing foreign exchange transactions:
FX Bank Revaluation (Gains)/Loss
This account is used to record the gain/loss incurred to the bank balance due to the change in exchange rates of the currencies
E.g.- If a company operates in Singapore and has a bank account denominated in USD. At the beginning of the year, the company had USD10,000.00 in its bank account, which was recorded in its balance sheet as SGD13,592.70 with an exchange rate of 1.00 USD = 1.36 SGD. If there is a change in the rate at the end of the year, now it is 1.00 USD = 1.38 SGD. Here's how the revaluation would look like
Original balance in USD: $10,000.00
Original balance in SGD: $10,000.00 * 1.36 = S$13,600.00
Revalued balance in SGD: $10,000.00 * 1.38 = S$13,800.00
Gain/Loss from revaluation: S$13,800.00 - S$13,600.00 = S$200.00
Here, the company would record a gain of S$200.00 in its financial statements.
FX Realized Currency (Gains)/Loss
If a transaction was conducted in a foreign currency (i.e. a currency that is different from your organization's base currency), there may be FX currency gains/losses depending on exchange rate differences between the date of the transaction and the date of payment.
For an example of how realized gain losses are calculated, you can view the example calculations for invoices here: When does realized gain-loss (RGL) happen, and how is it calculated?
All FX gains/losses will be credited into this account.
FX Unrealized Currency (Gains)/Loss
This account is used to record the gain/loss of unpaid cross-currency transactions due to fluctuations in exchange rates.
E.g. A Singapore-based company holds Account Payables of $10,000.00 owed to a US supplier. At the time of the agreement, the exchange rate was 1 USD = 1.36SGD.
So, the liability recorded is S$13,600.00. By the end of the reporting period, the exchange rate changes to 1.00 USD = 1.34 SGD, and now the liability is worth S$13,400. here's how the unrealized currency gain/loss would be calculated -
Original liability recorded: S$13,600.00
The current value of liability based on the exchange rate: S$13,400.00
FX unrealized loss = Current value of liability based on exchange rate - Original liability recorded
FX unrealized loss = S$13,400.00 - S$13,600.00
FX unrealized loss = S$200.00
FX Rounding (Gains)/Loss
This account is used to record small rounding errors because of the conversion of foreign currency amounts into the base currency.
These rounded amounts may not perfectly match the original amounts due to exchange rates or decimal precisions.
If the rounded amount is less than the calculated amount, the difference is recorded as a debit to this account. Conversely, if the rounded amount is greater than the calculated amount, the difference is recorded as a credit to this account.