Core Components

Account Headings

class AccountHeading

A classification system for accounts that defines their type and behavior.

Fields:

  • heading (CharField): The name of the heading

  • heading_type (CharField): Type of the account (choices defined in ACCOUNT_TYPE)

  • balance_type (CharField): Balance type, either “dr” (Debit) or “cr” (Credit)

  • number (IntegerField): Heading number for ordering/reference

  • tracker (IntegerField): Tracks changes/versions of the heading

Accounts

class Account

Represents individual accounts in the accounting system. Supports hierarchical structure with parent-child relationships.

Fields:

  • name (CharField): Account name

  • is_control_account (BooleanField): Indicates if this is a control account

  • is_active (BooleanField): Account status

  • heading (ForeignKey): Reference to AccountHeading

  • number (CharField): Account number/code

  • parent (ForeignKey): Reference to parent account (self-referential)

Key Methods:

period_records(end, extra_filters=None)

Retrieves accounting entries for a specific period.

Parameters:

  • end – End date for the period

  • extra_filters – Additional filtering criteria

Returns:

QuerySet of accounting entries

period_total(field, end, extra_filters=None)

Calculates total value of entries up to specified end date.

Parameters:

  • field – Field to total (‘dr_amount’ or ‘cr_amount’)

  • end – End date for calculation

  • extra_filters – Additional filtering criteria

Returns:

Decimal total value

balance(end=None, extra_filters=None, dr_filters=None, cr_filters=None)

Calculates account balance at a given date.

Parameters:

  • end – End date for balance calculation

  • extra_filters – General filtering criteria

  • dr_filters – Filters specific to debit entries

  • cr_filters – Filters specific to credit entries

Returns:

Decimal balance value

Accounting Transactions

class AccountingTransaction

Represents a complete double-entry transaction with balanced debit and credit entries.

Fields:

  • description (TextField): Transaction description

  • dr_entry (AccountingEntry): Debit entry

  • cr_entry (AccountingEntry): Credit entry

Key Methods:

validate_entries_value()

Ensures that transaction entries balance according to double-entry principles.

save(*args, **kwargs)

Saves transaction and associated entries atomically.

Accounting Entries

class AccountingEntry

Individual ledger entries that make up transactions.

Fields:

  • account (ForeignKey): Reference to Account

  • transaction (ForeignKey): Reference to AccountingTransaction

  • dr_amount (DecimalField): Debit amount

  • cr_amount (DecimalField): Credit amount

  • entry_date (DateTimeField): Date of entry

  • currency (ForeignKey): Reference to Currency

  • description (CharField): Entry description

Properties:

property dr_value

Calculated debit value in default currency

property cr_value

Calculated credit value in default currency

property amount

Total amount in default currency

Usage Example

# Create a transaction with balanced entries
transaction = AccountingTransaction(
    description="Monthly rent payment",
    dr_entry=AccountingEntry(
        account=rent_expense_account,
        dr_amount=1000.00,
        currency=usd_currency
    ),
    cr_entry=AccountingEntry(
        account=bank_account,
        cr_amount=1000.00,
        currency=usd_currency
    )
)
transaction.save()  # This will save both the transaction and its entries

Important Notes

  1. All transactions must follow double-entry principles (debits must equal credits)

  2. Entries must be either debit OR credit, not both

  3. All monetary values are stored with 4 decimal places

  4. Currency conversion is handled automatically based on currency conversion rates

  5. Control accounts aggregate entries from their child accounts