Accounting Journals, Analysis & Audit Reports Guide

Overview

This guide covers the supporting accounting reports that sit behind Trial Balance, financial statements, and ledger review. They are useful when you need to explain balances, analyze posting patterns, review account lists, review payee-based activity, or confirm what changed.

Related guides: Use this guide together with Trial Balance Reports, Financial Statements, Cash Flow Reports, and General Ledger & Account Transactions.

Reports Covered

Report	Use It For
Audit Trail Report	Review who created, changed, or affected transactions and records.
Accounts List Report	Review the chart of accounts in report form, including active and inactive accounts where needed.
General Journal Report	Review period journal activity in journal-style order.
Journal Summary Report	Review journal activity in summarized form.
GL Report	Review general-ledger style activity for the selected period.
Transaction Detail by Account Report	Review detailed activity for selected accounts.
Transaction Summary by Account Report	Review summarized movement by account.
Transactions by Payee Summary / Details	Review accounting activity grouped by payee, with optional focus on location or job where supported.
Transactions by Type Summary / Details	Analyze transactions grouped by document or transaction type.
Transactions by Class Summary / Details	Review activity grouped by class for analysis or reporting structure.
Transactions by Payment Methods Summary / Details	Review activity by payment method for control and analysis.
Transactions by Check Books Summary / Details	Review cheque-book based activity where cheque books are used.
Financial Ratios Report	Review ratios that help management understand liquidity, performance, and financial strength.

What These Reports Usually Share

Date or date-range selection
Account, type, class, payment method, or cheque-book filters depending on the report
List-style output designed for review, export, and audit support

Common Filters

Field Or Option	What It Means
Date / Date Range	Limits the report to the period being reviewed.
Account	Limits the report to selected accounts when account-level investigation is needed.
Show Inactive Accounts	Used in Accounts List Report when you need to review accounts that are no longer active but still important for reference.
Payee	Used in payee reports when you need to review accounting activity by person, supplier, customer, or other payee.
Store / Job	Available in some payee-analysis reports to narrow the result to a branch or project.
Transaction Type / Class	Groups or filters activity using the selected classification.
Payment Method	Shows transactions by cash, card, bank, cheque, or other configured payment methods.
Check Book	Useful when cheque control is reviewed by book or book range.

Suggested Workflow

Start with Trial Balance or financial statements to identify the account or area that needs explanation.
Use Accounts List first when the question is about account structure, active versus inactive accounts, or chart-of-accounts reference.
Use General Journal, GL, or transaction-by-account reports to see supporting activity.
Use payee, type, class, payment-method, or check-book reports when the question is about posting pattern or operational mix.
Use Audit Trail when you need change history or accountability.
Use Financial Ratios when management wants interpretation, not only raw balances.

Best Practice

Use summary reports first, then move to detailed reports when you need explanation.
Keep the same date range across related reports when comparing results.
Use Accounts List when reviewing account design or inactive-account cleanup.
Use Transactions by Payee when the business question is about who received or generated the posting, not only which account was affected.
Use Audit Trail carefully as a control and support tool, especially before escalation.
Use Financial Ratios together with financial statements, not on their own.

Important: These reports help explain the numbers, but they do not replace reviewing the original source transaction when a posting still looks unusual.