Cash or accrual? How to read your Income and Expenditure

2026-10-15 · 5 min read

Open Accounts and you can look at your Income and Expenditure in two ways. They use the same records, but they answer different questions.

Cash basis: money that moved

Cash counts income when the money is received, and expenses when they are paid. If you sent an invoice in October and the customer pays in November, it shows in November.

Use it to see how much money you actually had, and whether you can pay the bills this week.

Accrual basis: what you earned

Accrual counts income when you send the invoice, and expenses when they happen, whether or not they are paid yet. That invoice shows in October.

Use it to see how the business is really performing, month against month, without the timing of payments distorting the picture.

What a confirmed charter does

When you confirm a charter payment, a trip and an invoice are created. On accrual, the income is counted from the invoice date. On cash, it is counted for the money received. If the guest paid a deposit, only the deposit shows on cash.

What a refund does

When you cancel a charter and refund the guest, the invoice is cancelled and the refund is recorded on it. The income no longer counts.

Which one should you look at?

Look at cash to run the week. Look at accrual to judge the month. When both tell the same story, you can relax. When they do not, the gap is your unpaid invoices, and that is where to start chasing.

Talk to your accountant about which basis you need for tax or reporting.