The accounting module in Theatre Manager is designed to be used in conjunction with the organization's existing financial accounting system. Information generated from the Theatre Manager General Ledger provides:

• Deposit and Sales Entries into your financial accounting system.
• A list of Accounts Receivables by patron.
• Tax liability information.
• Event / Play revenue breakdown reports, including order fees and exchange fees.

Sales are controlled and accounted for in the General Ledger module and display numerous variations of revenue breakdown. Implementing the General Ledger requires setting up a simplified chart of accounts, creating general journal entries, and posting the entries to the General Ledger. The General Ledger module provides information based on transactions which have been recorded. This differs from the ticket based reports as they show revenue at the moment of time that the report was created. The General Ledger provides detail and summary information.

The design of the General Ledger Chart of Accounts controls how information is maintained in the General Ledger. The number and type of accounts maintained determines the detail that is available from the General Ledger. This enables the ability to have all the detail information remain in Theatre Manager, while your financial package retains the summary information.

Data is entered into the General Ledger through General Journal Entries which record detail information on sales, exchanges and refund transactions for specific time periods. Summarizing the transactions is known as journalizing and the transaction detail created for each Deposit and Sales Entry records a chronological record of events / plays for the time period. The summarizing links together the debits and credits of each transaction and provides a complete record of each transaction.

There are three types of General Ledger entries:

1. Deposit entries summarize payments by method of payment; Cash, Check, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Other.
2. Sales entries summarize revenue for new sales, exchanges and refunds. The sales entry can then be broken down and displayed in virtually any format that is required.
3. Manual General Ledger Entries record periodic transactions such as the payment of tax liabilities, adjustments, and year end closings.

After the transactions are recorded in the General Journal, the debit and credit information about each transaction is posted to the General Ledger. Posting the General Journal Entries updates the General Ledger Accounts to reflect all transactions which have been journalized. The General Ledger account balances provide summary information on all General Ledger Entries that have been posted.

Cash Basis Accounting

Under the cash basis, revenues are reported when cash is received. If the order is entered in December, but the cash from the patron is not received until January, the revenue is reported in January because revenues are recorded when cash is received.

Accrual Basis Accounting

The accrual basis reflects the understanding that the economic effect of a revenue generally occurs when it is earned (tickets bought), not when cash is received.