Two questions people ask with the same words, and they have different answers:
- "How much did we sell?" → a Sales report. Counts what you invoiced.
- "How much came in?" → the Collections report. Counts what you were paid.
For a cash sale these are the same number on the same day. For anything on credit they are not: the sale is counted the day you raise the invoice, the money is counted the day the customer pays — which may be next month, or never.
Every report now says which one it is, in the line under its title.
Before you start
- You need the Ledger Reports permission for Collections and the Cash Book.
- Pick your period with the Period box — Today, Yesterday, This month to date and the rest — instead of typing two dates.
What Collections shows
Open Reports → Collections from Customers.
Three figures across the top:
| Figure | What it is |
|---|---|
| Received against receipts | Payments against an invoice that already existed — the receipts book. |
| Received on invoices | Till sales settled on the invoice itself. No receipt is raised for these. |
| Total collected | The two added together. This is the day's takings. |
The second one is the figure that catches people out. When a cashier rings up a cash sale, the money is recorded on the invoice — there is no receipt. Add up only your receipts and you will be short by exactly that amount, and it will look like money is missing when it is not.
Below that, the same money twice more:
- By payment method — the shape of a cash-up: how much cash, how much card, how much transfer.
- By destination account — which cash or bank account each amount landed in. This is the section that ties to the Cash Book.
Steps: reconciling a day's takings
- Open Collections and set Period to Today (or the day you are checking).
- Read Total collected. That is what should have been received.
- Compare By payment method against the physical count and the card terminal settlement.
- Open Reports → Cash Book for the same day. The By destination account figures should match the movements there, account for account.
- Any difference is real and worth chasing — the two reports read the same underlying records.
Tips
- Collections ≠ profit. It is money received, including payment for goods sold weeks ago. For profitability use Profit & Loss.
- A customer paying an old invoice appears in Collections today and appeared in Sales on the day the invoice was raised. Neither is wrong.
- Refunds and credits reduce what a customer owes but are not collections — they appear on the Client Journal, not here.
- Export to Excel keeps numbers as numbers, so the columns still sum.
Common problems
"Collections is higher than Sales for the same period." Normal. Customers are paying for earlier invoices. Over a long enough period the two converge, minus whatever is still owed.
"Collections is lower than Sales." Also normal — you sold on credit and have not been paid yet. Reports → Aging (Customers) shows what is outstanding and how old it is.
"My receipts book does not match the report." Check Received on invoices. Till sales settle on the invoice and raise no receipt, so the receipts book alone will always be short by that figure.
"A customer shows as 'Walk-in / unnamed'." The payment was not linked to a customer record — typical for over-the-counter cash sales. The money is counted correctly; only the name is missing.
"The total does not match the Cash Book." Compare the By destination account table with the Cash Book account by account rather than on the grand total — that narrows it to one account immediately. Check both reports cover the same dates.