Introduction
The Transaction Description field allows you to add a short description to a transaction for better clarity and presentation.
It is a brief note that explains the purpose of the transaction and helps make reports and documents easier to understand at a glance.
There are two types of descriptions used in the system:
Transaction Description
A general description for the entire transaction.
Line Item Description
A description entered at the individual item level.
Understanding How the Description Works
All transactions fall into two categories:
1. Transaction Item-Based
These are transactions that contain line items.
For example: Sales, purchases, money in/out, journal entries, stock adjustments or transfers.
Behaviour:
If Transaction Description is entered
→ Reports and documents will show Transaction DescriptionIf Transaction Description is not entered
→ System will use first line item description
Example:
Sales Invoice
Transaction Description: Custom Gift Set
First Line Item Description: Lip Balm (Honey 10g)
Result:
Reports → Custom Gift Set
When applying payment to a sales invoice → The invoice’s transaction description will be shown
In the official receipt (PDF) → The invoice’s transaction description will be displayed
If Transaction Description is empty → Lip Balm (Honey 10g)
2. Deposit / Settlement-Based
These are transactions that record or settle payments.
For example: receipts, payments, refunds.
Behaviour:
If Transaction Description is not entered
→ System will auto-generate a description based on the related documentIf Transaction Description is entered
→ Reports and documents will show Transaction Description
Example:
Sales Payment
No Transaction Description entered
Result:
Reports → Payment to IV-00019
Understanding Description in General Ledger (GL)
The General Ledger (GL) shows all transactions grouped by account, allowing you to track movements and balances.
The GL follows a different display logic from other reports.
Each line item in a transaction is posted to its respective account, and the GL displays entries based on these postings.
How the General Ledger Displays Descriptions
There are two types of entries:
Transaction Entries (Item-Based)
These come from transactions that contain line items (e.g. sales invoices, bills, journal entries, stock adjustments).
Each line item is posted to its respective account.
The General Ledger (GL) will display the line item description for each account entry.
This applies regardless of whether a Transaction Description is entered.
Example:
Sales Invoice (IV-00019)
Invoice contains multiple items:
Result in GL (Sales Income account):
Each line item is posted separately, and the GL will show the line item description for each entry.
Money Out (PV-00020)
Line Item:
Result in GL (Meals & Entertainment account):
Deposit Entries (Payment / Settlement-Based)
These include transactions such as payments, receipts, and refunds.
These entries are used to settle or offset related documents (e.g. invoices or bills).
Behaviour:
If Transaction Description is entered → The GL will display the Transaction Description
Example: Money Out (PV-00020)
Result in GL (Bank account):
If Transaction Description is not entered → The system will follow the default rule based on transaction type:
Direct money transactions (Transactions that directly record money movement, such as Cash Sales / Cash Purchase / Money In / Money Out) → The GL will display the first line item description.
Example: Money Out (PV-00020)
Result in GL (Bank account) → First line item description
Payments / refunds (Transactions that settle or offset existing documents) → The GL will display an auto-generated description based on the related document.
Example: Sales Payment (OR-00009)
Result in GL (Bank account) → Payment to IV-00019
Setting Default Transaction Descriptions
You can set default transaction descriptions at:
Control Panel > Company Settings > Descriptions
Here, you can define default descriptions for different transaction types. These defaults will be automatically applied when creating transactions, but they can still be overridden at the transaction level if needed.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Why doesn’t the full description show in my documents (e.g. Official Receipt or Payment Voucher)?
For documents (e.g. Official Receipt / Payment Voucher), the system is designed to display only the first line item description from the related invoice or bill. This is to keep the document clean and easy to read, especially when there are multiple line items.
If you need a more complete or customised description to appear, you can enter a Transaction Description in the invoice or bill (under the “Description” field).
The Transaction Description will then be shown in the receipt and reports.
