> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hitaji360.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Accessing Accounting

> This page covers the basics of getting into the Accounting module: how to open it, how to pick the business whose books you want to work on, and how…

This page covers the basics of getting into the Accounting module: how to open it, how to pick the business whose books you want to work on, and how accounting roles and permissions control what you can see and do.

**You'll find this at:** `/accounting`

***

## Opening the module

There are three easy ways to reach Accounting:

1. **From the app menu.** Open the main navigation and look under the **Finance** category. The **Accounting** tile takes you to the dashboard at `/accounting`; the other Finance tiles (Sales Invoices, Bills, Payments, Chart of Accounts, Reports, and so on) deep-link into specific pages.

2. **From global search.** Press the search shortcut and type what you want — for example "chart of accounts", "invoices", or "trial balance" — then press Enter to jump straight there. See [Quick Search & Quick Create](/accounting/user/getting-started/quick-search).

3. **By typing the route.** Every page has a stable URL, e.g. `/accounting/accounts` or `/accounting/reports/trial-balance`.

> 📷 *Screenshot: The Finance section of the app menu with the Accounting tiles — to be added.*

***

## Choosing the active business

Hitaji 360 keeps a **separate accounting book for every business**. Accounting always operates on the **active business** — the one currently selected in the **business switcher** at the top of the app.

**Before you create or change anything, confirm the active business is the one you intend to work on.** Switching the business switcher swaps the entire chart of accounts, all balances, every document, and every report to that other business's book. There is no "all businesses" combined view inside a single accounting book — each book stands alone.

> 📷 *Screenshot: The business switcher in the top bar, expanded to show the list of businesses — to be added.*

A few things to know:

* A **newly created business** has empty books. You will see prompts to initialise the chart of accounts before you can post. See [Chart of Accounts](/accounting/user/getting-started/chart-of-accounts).
* The active business is remembered as you move between pages, so you don't have to re-select it on every screen.
* If a page unexpectedly shows "not found" or empty data, the most common cause is that the **wrong business is active** — check the switcher first.

***

## Roles & permissions

Access to Accounting is controlled by **permission slugs** of the form `module:action`. Your administrator grants these to roles (for example an "Accountant", "Finance Manager", or "Auditor" role), and roles are assigned to users. If you don't have the right permission, the relevant tile, button, or page is hidden or refused.

Accounting uses a **maker–checker** design for sensitive actions: the person who *creates* a document is often not the person allowed to *post*, *approve*, *void*, or *reverse* it. The permission set below makes that separation possible.

### Read & general access

| Slug                | What it allows                                         |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| `accounting:read`   | View the accounting dashboard and most pages           |
| `accounting:admin`  | Full administrative control over the accounting module |
| `accounting:config` | Change accounting configuration and settings           |

### Chart of accounts & contacts

| Slug                       | What it allows             |
| -------------------------- | -------------------------- |
| `accounting-accounts:read` | View the chart of accounts |
| `accounting-contacts:read` | View customers & vendors   |

> Note: the chart-of-accounts management actions (create, edit, reparent, merge, freeze, disable, opening balance) are exposed to authenticated accounting users on the Chart of Accounts page; a few high-risk actions additionally require special override roles described in [Chart of Accounts](/accounting/user/getting-started/chart-of-accounts).

### Sales — invoices

| Slug                         | What it allows                  |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| `accounting-invoices:read`   | View invoices                   |
| `accounting-invoices:create` | Create draft invoices           |
| `accounting-invoices:update` | Edit invoices                   |
| `accounting-invoices:post`   | Post an invoice to the ledger   |
| `accounting-invoices:send`   | Send an invoice to the customer |
| `accounting-invoices:void`   | Void an invoice                 |
| `accounting-invoices:delete` | Delete a draft invoice          |

### Sales — debts (money lent)

| Slug                      | What it allows                                   |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| `accounting-debts:read`   | View debts and the receivables-defaults resolver |
| `accounting-debts:create` | Record a new debt / money lent                   |

### Purchases — bills

| Slug                       | What it allows                 |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| `accounting-bills:read`    | View bills                     |
| `accounting-bills:create`  | Create draft bills             |
| `accounting-bills:update`  | Edit bills                     |
| `accounting-bills:post`    | Post a bill to the ledger      |
| `accounting-bills:approve` | Approve a bill (maker–checker) |
| `accounting-bills:void`    | Void a bill                    |
| `accounting-bills:delete`  | Delete a draft bill            |

### Purchases — expenses

| Slug                          | What it allows                     |
| ----------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| `accounting-expenses:create`  | Create expense claims              |
| `accounting-expenses:update`  | Edit expense claims                |
| `accounting-expenses:post`    | Post an expense to the ledger      |
| `accounting-expenses:approve` | Approve an expense (maker–checker) |
| `accounting-expenses:void`    | Void an expense                    |
| `accounting-expenses:delete`  | Delete a draft expense             |

### Payments

| Slug                          | What it allows               |
| ----------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| `accounting-payments:read`    | View payments and receipts   |
| `accounting-payments:create`  | Record a payment or receipt  |
| `accounting-payments:update`  | Edit a payment               |
| `accounting-payments:post`    | Post a payment to the ledger |
| `accounting-payments:send`    | Send a payment receipt       |
| `accounting-payments:reverse` | Reverse a posted payment     |
| `accounting-payments:delete`  | Delete a draft payment       |

### Journals (the general ledger)

| Slug                         | What it allows               |
| ---------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| `accounting-journal:read`    | View journal entries         |
| `accounting-journal:create`  | Create draft journal entries |
| `accounting-journal:update`  | Edit draft journals          |
| `accounting-journal:post`    | Post a journal to the ledger |
| `accounting-journal:reverse` | Reverse a posted journal     |
| `accounting-journal:delete`  | Delete a draft journal       |

### Budgets & reports

| Slug                      | What it allows                        |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| `accounting-budgets:read` | View organizational budgets           |
| `accounting-reports:read` | View financial reports and statements |

> Payroll approvals that touch the ledger use the separate `payroll:approve` permission, which lives in the HR/Payroll module rather than under `accounting-*`.

### Why the separation matters

Because posting, approving, voiding, and reversing each have their **own** permission, you can configure clean financial controls — for example, a clerk who can `create` invoices and bills but cannot `post` or `void` them, and a finance manager who can `approve` and `post` but does not raise the documents themselves. This is the basis of a proper segregation-of-duties setup.

***

## Related

* [Accounting Overview](/accounting/user/getting-started/overview)
* [Chart of Accounts](/accounting/user/getting-started/chart-of-accounts)
* [Quick Search & Quick Create](/accounting/user/getting-started/quick-search)