On any document that posts to the ledger there is a button, top right, that shows you exactly how it will post, before you commit. It is generated by the very same engine that does the real posting, so what you see is precisely what will happen.
- What the preview shows
- Why it is identical to the real posting
- How it gives you certainty before you commit
What it is
Click the button and a panel opens with the document's would-be double entry: which ledger accounts it debits and credits, and for how much. You see the full posting laid out before a single figure touches the books.
The same engine, not a simulation
This is what makes it trustworthy. The preview is not a separate guess at what might happen, it runs the same posting engine as the real commit: the same balance check (debits equal credits), the same account resolution, the same arithmetic. The only difference is that the result is held aside instead of saved. So the preview is the posting, shown early.
Certainty before you commit
Because of that, you can be completely sure a document will land in the right ledgers for the right amounts before you confirm it. No posting to the wrong account discovered after the fact, you check, then commit.
Worked example
Before posting a 1,590 invoice you open the preview and see “debit Receivables 1,590, credit Sales 1,500, credit Output Tax 90”. It balances and the accounts are right, so you confirm with confidence. Had a line been miscoded, the preview would have shown it.
Good practice
- Preview anything you are unsure of. It is the cheapest way to catch a miscoded line before it posts.
- Trust it. It is the real posting, so what you preview is what you get.
Related
- Reference: Journal Entry (double entry explained)
- Reference: Document Lifecycle