Accounting
Accounting in Dealersip is a full double-entry system — but it deliberately does not look like a traditional voucher-entry package. You never post raw debits and credits. Every financial event is entered through a form built for one purpose (a receipt form, a payment form, a journal), and Dealersip also writes entries for you automatically when you save a sale, a purchase or a party's opening balance. Behind each form it creates a balanced entry (equal debits and credits) that you never have to see. So the manual presents Accounting as a set of purpose-built screens, with double entry as the engine underneath.
Why Dealersip says "transaction" and not "voucher"
If you are used to the word voucher, it means the same thing here. In India a voucher is the accounting entry, and a Transaction Type is what Tally users know as a voucher type. Read "voucher" wherever this manual says "transaction" and nothing is lost.
Dealersip settled on Transaction for one reason: it is the term that reads correctly in every country the product runs in. The screens are the same everywhere, so the wording has to be too.
"Voucher" does not travel. It is standard in India and South Asia, but in North America and the UK the same word means something quite different — the supporting document that authorizes a payment, and in many business systems specifically a supplier's invoice waiting to be paid. A North American user reading "voucher" would expect a payables document, not an accounting entry. "Transaction" carries no such confusion: it is the word used by accounting standards and by mainstream accounting software worldwide.
Where Dealersip needs to name the raw debit-and-credit entry itself, it uses Journal — also standard everywhere, and the reason the expert entry form carries that name.
Key terms to know first
A few ideas make the rest of the module easy to follow.
Tax codes. A tax code defines a tax rate and how that tax is handled, and every tax code is linked to an account. A single tax code applies to either sales or purchases, not both at once — so if you charge the same rate on what you buy and what you sell, you create two codes (one for purchase, one for sale).
- The two codes can point to the same tax account or to separate ones. Example: HST 5% on purchases and HST 5% on sales both linked to one "HST 5%" account — that account then holds both the tax you paid and the tax you collected together. Link them to different accounts and the system keeps the two streams separate, so you can see paid tax and collected tax on their own.
Tax nature (asked when you create an account). When you add an account whose Account Detail Type involves tax, Dealersip asks its tax nature: Not Taxable, Tax Payable, or Tax Receivable.
- Tax Payable — purchases recorded under this account carry tax you pay to the supplier.
- Tax Receivable — sales recorded under this account carry tax you collect from the customer.
- If the nature is taxable, Dealersip then asks for the tax code to use — for example a sale account set to Tax Receivable might link to a "Tax Receivable 13%" account.
- (Some screens still show the older labels "Tax On Purchases" and "Tax On Sales" for Tax Payable and Tax Receivable.)
Parties are kept out of the ledger. A party is a person or legal entity you do business with — a customer, a supplier, and so on. Dealersip keeps parties separate from the voucher entries: every posting is clubbed into Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable according to the party's role, which keeps the financial statements uncluttered. The same party can be on both sides — if Prime Cars buys from Demo Cars, Demo Cars is a payable for Prime Cars and Prime Cars is a receivable for Demo Cars.
Party opening balances are posted as a voucher. Because parties aren't direct entities in the double-entry system, a party's opening balance is entered through the voucher system — when you create a party with an opening balance, Dealersip automatically creates an opening-balance voucher for it. This keeps everything inside true double entry, keeps parties in the annexures rather than cluttering the statements, and means the opening balance stays on the books whether the party is active or inactive.
Reconditioning cost is kept in its own account by default; you can club it with purchases in Setup — see Setup → Accounting settings below.
The account hierarchy — Account Types and Account Detail Types
Every account in the Chart of Accounts sits under a fixed two-level classification:
- Account Type — the broad bucket: Bank, Cash, Accounts Receivable, Inventory, Accounts Payable, Income, Expenses, and so on. There are 17, all built in — you cannot delete them. You can create your own account types as required to configure accounting system according to your needs.
- Account Detail Type — a finer split inside a Type. Bank splits into Checking/Current, Savings, Other Bank; Accounts Receivable into Customer Receivable, Sundry Debtors, Finance Company Receivable, and more. When you create an account in the Chart of Accounts, you choose its Detail Type, and the account takes its classification from that Detail Type — which statement it belongs to and whether it is an asset, liability, income or expense. You set that classification once, on the Type/Detail Type (see Account Types & Account Detail Types below), not on every account.
What "nature" means
- Which statement it shows on — the Balance Sheet (what you own and owe) or the Profit & Loss (what you earned and spent). (India presents the profit side differently — see "How the profit statement differs by country" below.)
- Its side — Asset, Liability, Income or Expense. Assets and expenses are debit-natured; liabilities and income are credit-natured.
- A tax nature, where relevant — some Detail Types are set up so that accounts under them normally collect tax on sales, pay tax on purchases, or hold tax balances. This is what decides the tax question when you create an account under them.
Account Types (the 17)
| Account Type | Shows in | Side |
|---|---|---|
| Bank | Balance Sheet | Asset |
| Cash | Balance Sheet | Asset |
| Accounts Receivable | Balance Sheet | Asset |
| Other Current Assets | Balance Sheet | Asset |
| Inventory Assets | Balance Sheet | Asset |
| Fixed Assets | Balance Sheet | Asset |
| Other Assets | Balance Sheet | Asset |
| Accounts Payable | Balance Sheet | Liability |
| Credit Cards | Balance Sheet | Liability |
| Other Current Liabilities | Balance Sheet | Liability |
| Long Term Liabilities | Balance Sheet | Liability |
| Equity | Balance Sheet | Equity* |
| Income | Profit & Loss | Income |
| Cost of Goods Sold | Profit & Loss | Expense |
| Expenses | Profit & Loss | Expense |
| Other Income | Profit & Loss | Income |
| Other Expense | Profit & Loss | Expense |
* Equity is credit-natured (the liability side) — owners' funds are a claim on the business, shown on the Balance Sheet next to liabilities.
Account Detail Types, grouped by their Type
Each Balance-Sheet Detail Type shows on the Balance Sheet with its Type's side; Income and Expense Detail Types show where noted.
- Bank — Checking/Current Accounts, Saving Accounts, Other Bank Accounts.
- Cash — Cash on Hand, Undeposited Funds.
- Accounts Receivable — Customer Receivable, Sundry Debtors, Finance Company Receivable, Warranty Receivables, Manufacturer Incentive Receivable, Accounts Receivable.
- Other Current Assets — Prepaid Expenses, Employee Advances, Deposits with Auctions/Vendors, Sales Tax Recoverable, Finance Reserve Receivable.
- Inventory Assets — New / Used / Demo-Loaner Vehicle Inventory, Inventory in Transit, Parts Inventory, Accessories/Add-ons Inventory, Work in Process – Service.
- Fixed Assets — Company Vehicles, Shop Equipment, Furniture and Fixtures, Computer Equipment, Leasehold Improvements, Accumulated Depreciation.
- Other Assets — Long Term Deposits, Deferred Tax Assets, Goodwill and Intangibles.
- Accounts Payable — Accounts Payables, Vehicle Auction Payables, Manufacturer Payables, Sundry Creditors, Trade In Payables.
- Credit Cards — Dealership Credit Cards, Credit Cards, Fuel Cards.
- Other Current Liabilities — Customer Deposits, Sales Tax Payable, Payroll Liabilities, Warranty/Service Contract Payable, Unearned Service Contract Income, Accrued Expenses, Current Portion of Long Term Debt, Floor Plan Interest Payable.
- Long Term Liabilities — Floor Plan Notes Payable, Vehicle Loans Payable, Equipment Loans Payable, Lease Liabilities, Notes Payable – Owners.
- Equity — Owner/Shareholder Equity, Partner/Member Capital, Retained Earnings, Opening Balance Equity, Dividends/Distributions.
- Income — New / Used / Wholesale Vehicle Sales, Parts Sales, Service Labor Income, Body Shop Sales, Finance and Insurance Income, Warranty Income, Manufacturer Incentive/Holdback Income, Documentation/Admin Fee Income, Rental/Loaner Income, Contra Sales.
- Cost of Goods Sold — New / Used / Wholesale Vehicle Cost of Sales, Parts Cost of Sales, Service Technician Labor COGS, Sublet Repairs COGS, Reconditioning Costs, Freight/Destination COGS, Inventory Adjustments/Shrinkage, Warranty Claim Costs.
- Expenses — Advertising and Promotion, Bank Charges, Commissions, DMS/Software, Insurance, Legal and Professional Fees, Office/Admin, Rent/Occupancy, Facility Repairs and Maintenance, Salaries and Wages, Payroll Taxes and Benefits, Utilities, Training and Licenses, Vehicle Fuel – Demos/Loaners, Shop Supplies, Bad Debt Expense, Depreciation Expense, Floor Plan Interest Expense, Warranty Goodwill/Customer Policy, Merchant Fees, Telephone and Internet.
- Other Income — Interest Income, Gain on Sale of Fixed Assets, Miscellaneous Other Income.
- Other Expense — Interest Expense – Term Debt, Loss on Sale of Fixed Assets, Income Tax Expense.
How the profit statement differs by country
Where the profit side appears depends on the dealership's country:
- Canada / USA — two statements: the Balance Sheet and the Profit & Loss.
- India — the profit side is a single "Trading Profit & Loss Account", with two sections in one statement rather than two separate statements:
- The Trading Account section holds opening stock, purchases, sales, closing stock, and the direct expenses and incomes, and works out the gross profit.
- That gross profit is then carried into the Profit & Loss section, where all the indirect incomes and expenses are listed to arrive at the net profit.
To support this, certain Account Detail Types are marked to show in the Trading section (the direct sales, direct cost of sales, and direct incomes and expenses).
The Balance Sheet is the same in every country.
Account Types and Account Detail Types
Every account in your books sits under a two-level classification: an Account Type (the broad bucket, such as Bank or Accounts Receivable) and, inside it, an Account Detail Type (a finer split, such as Savings or Sundry Debtors). To manage both, open Accounting → Account Types from the left-hand menu.
Dealersip ships with a full set of Types and Detail Types, so you can start posting straight away without touching this screen. But you can also build your own structure — add your own Types and Detail Types and simply leave the shipped ones unused. That is how a dealership sets its accounting up its own way.
These settings shape your whole chart of accounts, your financial statements and the figures on the Business Health dashboard. Consult an experienced accountant before adding or changing them.
How the screen is laid out
The screen has two stacked panes, and the top one drives the bottom one:
- The top pane lists your Account Types, with counts of Total Types and how many are built in (System Types). Its columns are Account Type, Statement, Classification, Nature, Sort Order and System.
- The bottom pane lists Account Detail Types, and always shows the ones belonging to whichever Account Type is selected above. Click a different Type on top and the bottom pane follows. Its columns are Account Detail Type, Classification Code, Sort Order and System.
Along the green bar at the top sit a statement filter (All Statements, Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss), a Search account types… box, and the Add New button that creates an Account Type. The bottom pane has its own Add button and its own search box — and that search is worth knowing about: although the pane normally shows only the selected Type's Detail Types, the search looks across every Detail Type you have, so you can find one without knowing which Type it belongs to.
What you can change on the built-in ones
Built-in rows are marked System and show a lock where the delete icon would be. The lock means one thing only: they cannot be deleted. Beyond that:
- A built-in Account Type can be renamed and its Sort Order changed. Its Statement, Classification and Nature are fixed, and the edit panel says so under each locked field.
- A built-in Account Detail Type can be renamed only.
- Anything you create is fully editable.
You are never obliged to use the shipped ones. Create your own and leave the defaults idle if that suits your dealership better.
Editing and deleting
Each row carries a pencil icon to open it for editing. A Type or Detail Type you created also shows a bin to delete it; built-in rows show the lock instead.
One rule catches people out: an Account Detail Type cannot be deleted once an account has been filed under it. Move or remove those accounts first, or simply stop using the Detail Type — there is no harm in leaving it in place.
Adding an Account Type
Press Add New on the top pane. The panel asks for five things:
- Account Type — the name, as it will appear throughout your chart of accounts.
- Statement — which financial statement this Type belongs to: the Balance Sheet or the Profit and Loss. Indian dealerships are also offered the Trading Account, for the direct trading income and costs that produce gross profit.
- Classification — the accounting class, and the choices follow the Statement you picked. Balance Sheet offers Asset and Liabilities; Profit and Loss offers Income and Expenses.
- Nature — the most important field on this panel. See below.
- Sort Order — a number deciding where this Type sits in the lists, and the order it appears in on your statements. Lower numbers come first.
Why Nature matters more than it looks
Statement and Classification tell Dealersip where a Type belongs on paper. Nature tells Dealersip what the Type actually is — that this one holds bank accounts, that one holds money customers owe you, another holds stock. It is how the software recognises accounts when it works on its own.
The clearest consequence is the Business Health dashboard. Its tiles are built by Nature, not by name: the Cash & Bank tile gathers every account whose Type has a bank or cash Nature, Receivables gathers the receivable Nature, and so on. Give a new Account Type the wrong Nature and its accounts land in the wrong tile; give it none and they are counted nowhere — the balances are still correct in your ledgers and statements, but the dashboard will quietly understate that section.
So when you create a Type, pick the Nature that matches what it genuinely holds, and if nothing fits, that is usually a sign the Type is not needed.
Adding an Account Detail Type
Press Add on the bottom pane. The panel asks for four things:
- Account Type — the parent this Detail Type sits under. If a Type is already selected in the top pane it is filled in for you, and you can change it to any other Type.
- Account Detail Type — the name.
- Classification Code — an identifier, explained below. Leave it as Default unless you have a reason not to.
- Sort Order — where it sits among the other Detail Types of the same Type.
What Classification Code does
Classification Code is an identifier. It marks a Detail Type as being a particular known kind of thing — a bank, an accounts-receivable group, a tax group, vehicle stock — so that Dealersip can find the right accounts when it does something automatically, rather than asking you every time.
Choosing Default means no identifier at all, which is right for most Detail Types you create yourself. Set one only when the Detail Type really is that kind of thing and you want the software to treat it accordingly.
Moving a Detail Type to a different Account Type
You can change a Detail Type's parent at any time, including one that already has accounts under it. The change takes effect immediately, and it is not cosmetic: the Detail Type takes on the new parent's Statement, Classification and Nature, so every account filed under it is reclassified at once.
That can move balances from one statement to another and change which Business Health tile they are counted in. It is occasionally exactly what you want — and it is an easy way to do real damage by accident. This is the change to take to your accountant first.
Chart of Accounts
The Chart of Accounts in Dealersip: the default accounts, how to add and edit one, tax nature, default opposite account, and how opening balances are recorded.
Read Chart of Accounts →Parties
Add and manage parties - customers, suppliers and finance companies - in Dealersip, and see how the party type shapes the form.
Read Parties →Party Types
A Party Type classifies your parties (for example customer, supplier, finance company, salesperson). It does two jobs: it decides which accounts a party's opening balance posts to, and it tailors the party form — which fields appear and which must be filled in. Manage them at Accounting → Party Types.
What ships with Dealersip, and what you can change
Dealersip ships a set of ready-made party types — Auction Company, Customer (Retail), Dealer (Customer), Dealer (Vendor), Finance Company and Sales Person. In the list these show a lock, which means only one thing: they cannot be deleted. You can still configure them freely — rename them, point them at different accounts, and change which fields the party form shows or requires.
You can also create your own party types as your business needs them. Those can be deleted, unless a party is already using them.
The list shows each party type with its Receivable Account and Payable Account, plus counts of Total Party Types, Configured Accounts and System Types. Click a row’s pencil icon to open the add/edit panel. To create one from scratch, press Add New at the top right of the Party Types screen.
Setting where opening balances go
The panel's two dropdowns decide where a party's opening balance is posted, based on the Receivable / Payable choice made on the party:
- If opening is debit (Receivable from party) — used when the party owes the dealership. You may choose receivable and other asset accounts only.
- If opening is credit (Payable to party) — used when the dealership owes the party, such as a customer advance or deposit. You may choose payable and other liability accounts only.
The two must be different accounts, so the Receivable/Payable choice on a party actually changes where its balance lands. An Add Account button beside each lets you create the account without leaving the panel.
This is how you steer different kinds of party to the right place. For example, a Seller party type can post its payable side to Trade in Payables rather than the general Accounts Payable, keeping that kind of debt identifiable.
Choosing which fields the party form shows
The Party Form UI Config section tailors the party form for this type, with three lists of checkboxes:
- Show fields/sections — force a field or section to appear.
- Hide fields/sections — remove it from the form.
- Required fields — make a field mandatory before a party can be saved (for example Tax Reg Number, Billing Address, City, State, Country, Postal Code).
If you leave every Show and Hide box unticked, you get the standard behaviour: the fields appear, and they are optional. Only tick these boxes when you want to depart from that — and note a field cannot be required while its section is hidden.
Transactions
The Dealersip transaction register: period and filters, reading a row, expanding the double entry, and opening a transaction on its own.
Read Transactions →Transaction Types
Transaction Types define what each entry form asks for and how it posts. Configure your own, and see what is locked on the built-in types.
Read Transaction Types →General Ledger
In an account's ledger, each line names the other account it is set against. When a line's opposite side is a single account, the ledger shows that account's name (with the line's narration). When the opposite side is more than one account, there is no single account to name, so the ledger shows it as "Split Entry: Narration".
A line names the other account only when the opposite side of the entry is exactly one account — then that account is shown. If the opposite side has two or more accounts, the line is a split.
Worked examples (Dr = debit side, Cr = credit side):
- Dr Bank / Cr Party A / Cr Party B — Bank faces two accounts on the credit side, so Bank shows as a split. Party A and Party B each face a lone Bank on the debit side, so both show Bank.
- Dr Bank / Dr Cash / Cr Party A / Cr Party B — both sides have two accounts, so every line is a split.
- Dr Bank / Cr Cash — one account on each side, so each names the other: Bank shows Cash, Cash shows Bank.
It is the number of accounts on the opposite side that decides this, not the amounts.
Business Health
The Business Health dashboard: what you hold and owe, period performance, where the figures come from, and the questions it commonly raises.
Read Business Health →