Classes let you cut the same transactions a different way from locations and jobs. A location answers "which store", a job answers "which customer project", and a class answers the question neither can: which department, product line, fund, branch or division. Code an invoice, bill or journal line to a class, and Profit & Loss by Class shows what each one earned and spent.
A class is a label. It restricts nothing, owns nothing, and closing one changes nothing already posted: a closed class stays on every report it appeared on and simply leaves the pickers.
Opening the Class List
Choose Lists ▸ Class List. The Classes screen shows how many classes you have, with the note "The cut that is not the store and not the job — departments, funds, product lines."
The list
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Class | The class name. Sub-classes are indented under their parent; top-level classes are in bold. |
| Code | The optional short code. |
| Income | Income posted to this class, including its sub-classes, for all dates. |
| Cost | Cost of goods sold and expenses posted to this class, including its sub-classes. |
| Profit | Income less cost. |
| Status | Active or Closed. Closed classes are dimmed. |
| … menu | Edit… and Delete… for that class. |
Double-click a row to edit it. Click a column heading to sort. The list can be exported like other lists.
Buttons
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Show closed / Hide closed | Includes or leaves out closed classes. |
| Refresh | Reads the list again. |
| New class | Opens New class. |
The "On no class" banner
When some income or cost is not coded to any class, an amber banner reads "On no class: $X income and $Y cost. Those figures are in the business totals and in none of the columns below, so a Profit & Loss by class will not add up to the whole." Use it to see whether classes are really being used: code those documents to a class, or accept that part of the business is outside class reporting.
Adding or editing a class
- Press New class (or choose Edit… on a class).
- Fill in the form and press Save. You see "Saved."
| Field | What to enter / what it means |
|---|---|
| Name | Required, for example Workshop, Online, Vessel 2. Names must be unique across your classes. |
| Code | Optional short code, for example a department number. |
| Parent class | Shown when other classes exist. Leave it at Top level — not inside another class, or choose the class this one sits under. |
| Note | Optional. |
| Active / Closed | Active — "Offered on documents." Closed — "Off the pickers. Everything already posted against it stays exactly where it is." |
A parent class's figures include all of its sub-classes, so Retail shows Retail : Online and Retail : Store together. Classes can nest up to five levels deep.
Deleting a class
Choose Delete… on a class and confirm Delete. Only a class with nothing posted against it can be deleted. If it has been used, close it instead: it stays on past reports and leaves the pickers.
Coding transactions to a class
Once at least one class exists, the documents that post to income and expense accounts offer a class. When no classes exist, the class controls do not appear.
| Where | How |
|---|---|
| Create Invoices | Choose a class for the whole invoice (Which class is this?). You can also give a single line its own class (Class for this line); "Only this line. Its sale and its cost of goods post against the class you pick; the tax and what the customer owes stay on the invoice as a whole." Follow the invoice puts the line back on the invoice's class. |
| Enter Bills | A class for the bill, and a Class column on each line. |
| Write Cheques, Enter Credit Card Charges and the Expenses tab | A class on each expense line. |
| Make General Journal Entries | A class on each line. |
Sub-classes appear with their full path (Retail : Online), so two sub-classes with the same name are never confused.
What gets the class in the books: the income and cost of goods sold lines of a sale, and the expense or item lines of a bill or cheque. Amounts that belong to the document as a whole, such as tax and what the customer or vendor owes, are not split by class.
Class reports
| Report | Where |
|---|---|
| Profit & Loss by Class | Reports ▸ Company & Financial |
| Profit & Loss Unclassified | Reports ▸ Company & Financial |
| Balance Sheet by Class | Reports ▸ Company & Financial |
| Budget vs. Actual by Class | Reports ▸ Budgets & Forecasts |
See Profit & Loss and Set Up Budgets.
Permissions
Adding, editing and deleting classes each need the matching permission for Classes in your role. See Roles and permissions explained.
Messages you may see
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "A class needs a name." | Type a name. |
| "A class called "…" already exists. Two classes with one name make a report nobody can read." | Choose another name, or use the existing class. |
| "That would put this class inside one of its own sub-classes. Move the sub-class out first." | Choose a different parent. |
| "Classes nest 5 deep at most. Flatten a level first." | Choose a parent higher up. |
| "Entries are posted against this class, so deleting it would change reports that have already been run. Close it instead…" | Edit the class and switch it to Closed. |
| "This class has sub-classes. Move or delete those first." | Move or delete its sub-classes, then delete it. |
Tips
- Keep classes for one question (for example departments). Use Jobs for customer projects and locations for stores.
- Keep the list short: a class people have to think about is a class they leave blank.
- Check the On no class banner at each month-end.