# How the reports are built

What the accounting reports read, how a period and the draft entries change a figure, why currency columns come and go, what each export format holds, who sees which report and what the app does not do.

**Accounting reports** adds ready reports to Accounting. None of them stores figures of its own: each one reads the journal items of the books at the moment you open it, groups them by account and adds them up into lines. This page explains the pieces that every report shares, so that a figure can always be traced back to its entries.

## The families of reports {#families}

| Family | Reports | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Financial statements | Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement, Annual Statements, Executive Summary | **Reporting**, under **Statement Reports** and **Management** |
| Ledgers | Trial Balance, General Ledger, Journal Audit | **Reporting**, under **Ledgers**; **Review**, under **Control** |
| Clients and vendors | Aged Receivable, Aged Payable, Partner Ledger, Customer Statement, Follow-up Report | **Reporting**, under **Partner Reports** |
| Taxes and period end | Tax Report, EC Sales List, Deferred Revenues, Deferred Expenses, Unrealized Currencies | **Reporting**, under **Taxes & Fiscal**; **Review**, under **Regularization Entries** |

Each family has its page in the user guide: [Read the financial statements](read-the-financial-statements), [Check the books with the ledgers](check-the-books-with-the-ledgers), [Follow client and vendor balances](client-and-vendor-balances) and [Prepare the tax and period-end figures](prepare-the-tax-and-period-end-figures).

## Two kinds of period {#periods}

Some reports add up what moved between two dates: the profit and loss, the cash flow, the ledgers, the tax report. Others give the balance on one day: the balance sheet, the aged reports, the follow-up report, the unrealized currencies. The report decides which kind it is, and **Custom Range** shows **From** and **To** for the first kind, **As of** for the second.

The ready choices of **Date** (**Today**, **This Month**, **This Quarter**, **Previous Year** and the others) are computed from today's date each time the report loads; on a one-day report, a choice such as **This Year** means its last day. **Custom Range** keeps the dates you type. Every report opens on **This Year**.

In the ledgers, the initial balance of an income or expense account starts at the beginning of the fiscal year, while a balance sheet account carries its balance from its first entry on. The fiscal year itself is set in [Define the fiscal year](/docs/accounting-start-here/define-the-fiscal-year).

## Posted and draft {#posted-and-draft}

A report counts posted entries only. **Include Draft Entries** adds the entries still in draft, such as an invoice not yet confirmed; the journal items window then marks them **Draft**. Use it to see what the figures will become, and untick it for the figures the books keep.

## From a figure to its entries {#drill-down}

A line with an arrow unfolds into the accounts it adds up; the magnifier at the end of the line opens the journal items behind the figure. The **Annual Statements** gather three statements and do not open journal items: open the statement itself for that.

## Currency columns {#currencies}

While the database has one active currency, the columns of foreign amounts (**Amount Currency**, **Currency** and the balances of the unrealized currencies report) are hidden from every report and every export. As soon as a second currency is active, in any company of the database, they appear everywhere. Currencies are managed in [Banks, cash and currencies](/docs/banks-and-cash).

## Exports {#exports}

| Format | What you get |
|---|---|
| **Excel (XLSX)** | A sheet with the lines, their levels and figures, to work on. |
| **PDF** | A compact page to print, file or send. |
| **CSV** and **Plain Text (TXT)** | The lines as text, for another program or a quick look. |
| **Audit File (XAF)** | An XML audit file with the company, its accounts and the journal entries of the period, for an auditor's software. |
| **All Formats (ZIP)** | The Excel, PDF and CSV files together in one archive. |

Every export takes the period and the options of the screen (draft entries, rounding). The columns hidden with the column settings stay in the files.

## Who sees what {#access}

| Access right | Sees |
|---|---|
| **Invoicing** only | No report: the **Reporting** and **Review** menus stay hidden. |
| **Read-only** | Every report and every export; changes nothing. |
| **Administrator** | Everything above, and may post the revaluation entry. |
| **Administrator** | Everything above. |
| **Multi Currencies** (added to one of the above) | **Unrealized Currencies** and **Post Revaluation Entry**. |

Each user sees the figures of the companies they work in.

## What the app does not do {#does-not-do}

- It sends nothing: no statement, no reminder, no e-mail. Export the file and send it yourself.
- It has no settings page of its own. The accounting settings are explained in [Accounting settings](/docs/accounting-start-here/accounting-settings).
- Its **Financial Budgets** (Configuration) hold planned amounts per account for comparison in the statements; analytic budgets per department or project are followed in [Budgets](/docs/budgets).
- Bank matching is done in [Banks, cash and currencies](/docs/banks-and-cash).
- **Accounting/Review/Audit/Working Files** cannot be used today: it needs return types that only a technical setup creates, and its stages cannot be changed from the screen.

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/accounting-reports/how-the-reports-are-built
- Updated: 2026-10-23
- Version: Accounting reports 19.0.1.1.0