Balance Sheet: what the business owns and owes
How to read the Balance Sheet line by line on any day you choose, which figures Todah works out for you, and what to do when it says Out by.
A balance sheet is a picture of the business on one day. It lists what the business has (assets), what it owes (liabilities), and the part that belongs to the owners (equity). When everything has been entered, assets equal liabilities plus equity, which is why it is called a balance sheet. It is on every plan.
Step by step
- In the menu on the left, choose Reports.
- Choose Accounting & Tax, then Balance Sheet.
- In the As At box at the top, pick the day you want, for example the last day of your financial year. It starts on today.
- Read the coloured box: This balances, or Out by an amount.
- Read the Assets, Liabilities and Equity cards in turn.
Good to know: The period buttons and the From and To boxes do not change the Balance Sheet; the As At box does. Everything dated on or before that day is counted, and nothing dated after it: a payment, a bill payment, a credit note applied or a refund dated after the As At day is left out, so a past day shows exactly what was owed on that day.
The lines you will see
Each line is an account: a named bucket of money with a number (its code). Todah gives every workspace a short starting list. It fills most lines in for you from your invoices, bills and bank lines, and adds anything you entered in Journal Entries.
| 1000 Business Bank Account | Money in the bank: every deposit minus every withdrawal in your imported or connected bank lines up to the As At day, plus your opening bank balance from Journal Entries. Lines you marked Ignored are left out. |
|---|---|
| 1100 Accounts Receivable | Money clients still owed you on the As At day: the total of every sent invoice issued by then, minus the payments and credit notes applied to it on or before that day, plus any receivables entered as an opening balance. |
| 1200 Prepaid Expenses, 1500 Equipment and Vehicles, 1510 Accumulated Depreciation | Shown when they have a balance. You fill these with a journal entry, for example a van bought before you started using Todah. |
| 2000 Accounts Payable | Money you still owed suppliers on the As At day: what was left to pay on every bill issued by then, after the payments dated on or before that day, plus any payables entered as an opening balance. A bill you paid after the As At day is still counted as owed on it. |
| 2100 Sales Tax Payable | Tax charged on your invoices, minus tax reversed by credit notes, minus tax you paid on bills that you can claim back. Tax marked Not Recoverable, such as PST, is counted as part of what the purchase cost instead. A minus figure means a refund is due to you. |
| 2150 Customer Credits | Credit notes you had issued by the As At day that had not yet been applied to an invoice on that day: money a client is holding against you. |
| 2200 Credit Card | Shown when it has a balance, from a journal entry. |
| 2500 Loans Payable | Money the business owes on loans: bank lines categorised as Loan received, minus those categorised as Loan repayment, plus any loan entered with a journal entry (for example one you already owed on your start date). |
| 3000 Owner's Contributions | Money owners put into the business: bank lines categorised as Owner contribution, the amount on your opening balances, and, on Enterprise, contributions recorded under Partners & Finance. |
| 3100 Owner's Drawings | Money owners took out, shown as a minus: bank lines categorised as Owner draw and, on Enterprise, draws and reimbursements recorded in Settings → Books & Tax → Partners & Finance. |
| 3900 Retained Earnings | Every profit and loss since you started, added together, plus the earnings from before Todah in your opening balances. |
| Total Assets, Total Liabilities, Total Equity | The sum of each card. |
When it says Out by
Out by is the size of what Todah has not been told yet. Todah shows the gap rather than hiding it, so the statement never looks right when it is not. The usual reasons:
- The money you had in the bank on the day you started using Todah. Enter it once, with Journal Entries → Enter Opening Balances.
- A payment recorded on an invoice or bill whose bank line has not been imported yet, or the other way round. Import and match your bank lines.
- Bank lines not yet dealt with: bank fees with no bill, an owner putting money in, a loan, a cash sale. On the Banking screen, use Create a Bill from This Entry, Record Income from This Deposit, or the Categorise tab (Owner contribution, Owner draw, Loan received, Loan repayment).
- Card payments: between a client paying by card and Stripe's payout reaching your bank, the money is at Stripe, and the payout is less Stripe's fees. Categorise the payout as Card payout and record the fees as a bill.
- Things bought before you started, such as a vehicle or equipment: a journal entry.
Tip: Import and match your bank statements first; that clears most of the gap. Then enter your opening balances. What is left is usually something your accountant can give you as a journal entry.
The message under Out by links straight to Journal Entries for owners and admins.
Exporting it
On Business and Enterprise, choose Excel, CSV or PDF in the Export Format box and choose Export. The file is the Balance Sheet as at the day in the As At box, and its name ends with that date.
See also
Was this helpful?
Still stuck? Write to us or email support@todah.ca — a person reads every message and replies by email. The FAQ covers plans, prices and the questions people ask before they sign up.