How the books stay current
The chart of accounts is grouped for the statement of financial position and profit or loss. G/L determination sets which account each kind of transaction posts to, so a cashier never has to choose one. Finance can still post manual journals, where debits must equal credits.
Posted documents are not deleted. A void or reversal posts the opposite entry, and both stay in the history. Receivables, payables and treasury agree with their control accounts, and an integrity check tests this.
Money accounts and treasury
- Every account has a ledger account: bank, cash and mobile money, including paybill, till or phone wallet.
- Bank deposits: tick the receipts and till takings being banked, with a journal preview. An item cannot be banked twice.
- Bank withdrawals and transfers: cost lines, petty cash top-ups and approved staff advances.
- Reconciliation: enter or import a statement from Excel or CSV, match automatically, match the rest by hand, post charges from the statement and print the reconciliation statement.
- Loans: borrowed and lent, with policies, schedules, interest accruals, repayments and a register showing current and non-current portions.
- Letters of credit: from application through bank opening, documents and settlement.
Tax
Tax codes are managed per organisation. For Kenya, codes for exempt, standard 16%, zero-rated, non-VAT and reduced 8% are created for you. Each product can carry its own code. Withholding tax codes can apply to sales, purchases or both.
The VAT return shows output VAT on sales less input VAT on purchases for the month, with drill-down, and exports for filing. Kenyan invoices and credit notes are signed through eTIMS when connected.
Analysis and control
- Cost centres and dimensions: analyse by location, department, product line, staff or vehicle. Some accounts can require a dimension.
- Budgets: budget against actual by account.
- Multi-currency: documents convert at the rate for their date. Documents with no rate wait in a list and update when the rate is added.
- Fixed assets: capitalise from supplier invoices, run depreciation, assign to branch or staff, revalue, impair and dispose, with a register-to-ledger reconciliation.
- Staff money: advances, claims, travel and per diem, and petty cash funds with cash counts, all through an approval matrix.
- Financial controls: hide cost, margin or statements by role, lock prices, tax and exchange rates, and restrict period close.
Closing the month and year
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Before closing | Navigate reminds you of drafts, depreciation and bank reconciliations still open. |
| Close the month | Nothing can be posted on or before its last day. Invoices, payments, stock, payroll and depreciation are all covered. |
| Correct a closed month | Reopen the latest closed month with a reason, correct it and close it again. All of this is in the audit trail. |
| Close the year | Profit moves to retained earnings. A closed year can be reopened if a correction is needed. |
Statements and moving from an old system
Profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow and trial balance can be run for any period, compared with an earlier one, drilled into the postings, and exported to Excel or PDF. Branch profit and loss is available too.
The opening balances tool brings across the trial balance and subledgers. Each control account must equal its subsidiary ledger before you post, and it posts once. Reversing a migration needs a second person.
Where Navigate may not fit
- No direct filing with tax authorities. Returns are exported for you to file.
- No live bank feeds yet. Statement imports are by Excel or CSV.
- No consolidation across separate companies, and no inter-company transactions between them.
- The cash-flow forecast report is listed as planned. The cash flow statement itself exists.
- Treasury loans run in local currency.
- Tax rates are starting values. Check them with your accountant or tax authority.
- Trading-only plans below Business Accounting do not include the ledger.
Frequently asked questions
Does Navigate file my VAT with KRA?
No. It prepares and exports the VAT return, and you file it yourself. eTIMS signing of invoices is a separate, direct connection.
Do we still need an accountant?
Usually yes. Navigate posts and reports, but it does not judge your tax treatment, check your rates or file your returns. Your accountant can be given their own role.
Can it connect directly to our bank?
Not yet. Automatic bank feeds are planned. Today you enter or import statements, then reconcile with automatic matching.
Does it consolidate several companies?
Not today. Branches in one company report together, but companies in a holding group each keep separate books, with no consolidated reports or inter-company transactions.