How Acctally thinks about money
Understand the mental model: transactions, events, review, and posting. How your actions become accounting records.
The core idea
Every time money moves, Acctally asks: "What actually happened here?" Your answer determines how the transaction gets recorded, categorized, and reported.
You don't need to think about accounting rules. Just tell Acctally what happened in plain terms, and it handles the rest.
Three layers of information
When you record something, Acctally builds three connected layers:
Transaction
What you see and work with. "Customer ABC paid $500 for consulting on Jan 15." This is your view of what happened.
Events
The accounting meaning. Acctally breaks your transaction into events like "sale recorded" or "cash received." One transaction might create multiple events.
Journal entries
The official accounting record. Debits and credits in the right accounts. This is what your accountant cares about, but you never have to touch it.
You only work with transactions. Events and journal entries are created automatically based on your workspace settings and policies.
The review safety net
Before a transaction counts in your reports, Acctally checks if anything looks incomplete or unusual. If so, it goes to Review instead of being posted immediately.
Common reasons something needs review:
You fix the issue, then approve. Once approved, the transaction is posted and shows up in your reports.
Posted vs. unposted
| Status | What it means | Shows in reports? |
|---|---|---|
| Unposted | Still being prepared or needs review | No |
| Posted | Approved and recorded in the books | Yes |
| Reversed | Cancelled out by a reversal entry | Net zero |
How automation fits in
When you connect integrations like Stripe or Paystack, transactions flow in automatically. Acctally applies rules you set up to:
- Assign categories based on patterns
- Match settlements to charges
- Apply tax rules for your jurisdiction
- Flag anything unusual for review
High-confidence transactions post automatically. Low-confidence ones go to review.
Think of it this way
Think of Acctally as a smart assistant that:
- 1.Listens to what happened (you tell it, or an integration tells it)
- 2.Figures out the accounting meaning (events)
- 3.Checks if anything looks off (review)
- 4.Records it properly (journal entries)
- 5.Shows you the results (dashboard and reports)
Next steps
Learn the Key ideas like accounts, categories, and contacts. Or jump to the Setup checklist to configure your workspace.