Accounting basics

What a new company gets

Every company starts with:

• a chart of accounts (Accounting → Chart of Accounts): the Iraqi Unified Accounting System (2026, IFRS-aligned), with the official codes and Arabic names exactly as published, or the standard simple chart. You can extend either at any time;
• account names in your language: the Iraqi chart shows its accounts in English, Kurdish (Sorani) or Arabic, whichever language you use Zanix in. Arabic is the official name. To change a name in one language, open the account and edit the name for that language; your wording is kept when Zanix updates;
• a main cost center (for example "Main - ZT");
• a fiscal year for the current calendar year;
• numbering for journal entries (JV-2026-00001 …).

Fiscal years

Each company chooses its own fiscal years (Accounting → Fiscal Year): a name (for example "2026" or "2026-2027"), a start date and an end date, at most one year long. Fiscal years of a company can't overlap. Every entry must be dated inside a fiscal year; if none covers the date, Zanix tells you to add it.

When a year is closed, nothing can be posted on dates inside it, and documents dated in it can't be cancelled. Correct mistakes with a new entry dated in the open year instead; the message tells you which year is open.

Closing a year

When a fiscal year has ended, Zanix reminds the people who can close it (a notification with a Close the year button). When the year's entries are complete:

1. Accounting → Year Closing → New, choose the company and the fiscal year. Zanix fills in the last day of the year and works out the net profit (or loss): income minus expenses.
2. Choose where the result goes: the closing account (the company's retained earnings account unless you choose another), or tick Split Among Partners.
3. Save, then Submit.

Submitting posts the closing entry: every income and expense account of the year goes back to zero, and the profit or loss goes to retained earnings or to the partners' capital accounts. Each partner's withdrawals for the year are moved into their capital account too, so withdrawals start the new year at zero. The year is then closed.

With the Iraqi chart, a profit goes to 2631 الفائض المتراكم and a loss to 2632 العجز المتراكم; Zanix chooses from the actual result when you submit. Years are closed in order: close 2025 before 2026.

Reopening a year. If a real mistake is found later inside a closed year, an administrator can reopen it on purpose by cancelling its Year Closing. The closing entry is reversed, the year is open again, and the reopening is written to the Security Log. Fix the mistake, then Amend the cancelled Year Closing and submit it again: a new closing entry is built from the corrected ledger. Years are reopened newest first.

Partners

If the business has owners who share the profit, add each one under Accounting → Partner with their share (for example 60 and 40). The shares of a company's partners must add up to 100%.

Each partner has a capital account (their share of the yearly profit or loss goes here when a year is closed with Split Among Partners) and a withdrawal account (money they take out during the year). Leave them empty and Zanix creates them in the chart, for example Aga - Capital under Capital. In the Iraqi chart, capital accounts go under 2611 رأس المال المدفوع. The published chart has no place for withdrawals, so Zanix adds a Partners' Withdrawals group under 26 حقوق الملكية (code 265, the first free one) when the first partner is created; the published accounts themselves are never changed.

The split is exact: shares are worked out to three decimals and the last partner receives what is left, so nothing is lost to rounding.

Chart of accounts

Accounts are arranged in a tree. Groups (like Current Assets or Expenses) hold other accounts; entries always go to the non-group accounts inside them.

Accounting → Chart of Accounts shows the chart in two styles. Switch with the buttons at the top; Zanix remembers your choice.

• Tree: groups open and close with a click. Each row shows the number, the name, the type and the balance, and a group's balance includes everything inside it. Hover a row for Open and Add sub-account (the new account starts with that parent filled in).
• Tiles: groups are folders and accounts are documents, like files on a desktop. Double-click a folder to go inside (tap once on a phone or tablet), and double-click an account to open it. The path at the top takes you back, and so does Backspace.

In both styles, search by name, or by number from the beginning (for example "134" finds all the cash accounts). Companies you can see are listed in the selector. List view shows the plain list with filters.

To add an account: New account, type the name and an optional number, choose the parent group, and choose the root type, which must match the parent (Asset, Liability, Equity, Income or Expense). Optionally choose an account type (Cash, Bank, Receivable, Payable, Tax …) and an account currency if the account is kept in another currency, for example a USD bank account.

Zanix stops mistakes: an account can't be placed under a non-group, numbers can't repeat in a company, and a group that still holds accounts can't stop being a group.

Cost centers

Cost centers let you see spending per branch or project (Accounting → Cost Center). Leave a journal line's cost center empty to use the company's main one.

Budgets

A budget limits what a cost center (a branch or department) may spend in a fiscal year. Accounting → Budget → New: choose the company, fiscal year and cost center, then add a row for each expense account with its amount. A group account (for example Expenses) covers every account inside it. Choose what happens if exceeded:

• Stop: an entry that would take spending over the budget is refused, and the message says by how much.
• Warn: the entry is saved and you are told it went over.

The budget applies once it is submitted. To change amounts, cancel it and amend it. Each cost center has one budget per fiscal year. Refunds (credits) lower the spending, and the year-closing entry is not counted.

Reports → Budget vs Actual shows each budget row with what was spent, what is left and the percentage used.

Taxes

Taxes are off for a new company. Switch them on under Setup → Company → Taxes Enabled; while they are off, no taxes are added to that company's documents.

• Tax Template (Accounting → Tax Template): a set of taxes for Sales or Purchase, each row with a tax account, a rate and a description printed on invoices. Tick Included in Price when your prices already include the tax: it is then taken out of the price instead of added on top, and the total stays exactly what the customer pays. Mark one template per kind as the Default for new documents.
• Item Tax Template: different rates for some items. Iraqi sales tax only applies to some goods (for example 20% on recharge cards), so a common setup is a sales tax template with rate 0, plus an item tax template Recharge cards 20% set on the Recharge cards item group. An item uses its own item tax template if it has one, otherwise its item group's (or a group above it); variants use their template item's.
• Tax Withholding Category: a rate and account for withholding tax, for example Contractors 3.3%. Set it on a supplier when you deduct tax from what you pay them, or on a customer who withholds tax from what they pay you. It is applied on invoices and payments.

Each tax is rounded once for the whole document (to 3 decimals), never per line, so amounts are not lost to rounding.

Exchange rates

Your company types its own daily rate (Accounting → Currency Exchange → New): the date, from currency, to currency, and the rate. For example 1 USD = 1470 IQD, your market rate rather than the central bank's. One rate per pair per day; the opposite direction is worked out automatically.

If nobody has entered today's rate, Zanix uses the most recent earlier rate and reminds you on the dashboard: for each company and each currency it works with (accounts kept in that currency, or rates entered in the last 30 days), it says which earlier rate is being used. Enter today's rate opens the form with the company, currencies and date already filled in. The reminder is shown to people who can enter rates, and disappears once today's rates are in.

Payment methods

List how money comes in (Accounting → Payment Method): Cash, FIB, ZainCash, FastPay, Qi Card, bank card, bank transfer … and link each to its own account (usually a Cash or Bank account). Shift closings and payments then show each method separately.

Exchange offices work like bank accounts: add one as a payment method on its own account (in its currency, for example USD), and set its Fee Account (for example Bank Charges). On a Payment, type the office's Transfer Fee on the money row: for example paying a Turkish supplier $20,000 through an Erbil exchange office for a $60 fee. The supplier is paid exactly $20,000, the office's account goes down by $20,060, and the $60 goes to the fee account. Banks that charge per transfer work the same way.

Journal entries

A journal entry records any transaction directly in the accounts (Accounting → Journal Entry → New):

1. Check the posting date and type a title.
2. Add at least two lines. On each line choose an account (only accounts that can take entries are offered) and type a debit or a credit.
3. Total debit must equal total credit exactly. Zanix never rounds amounts, so if they differ even by 0.001, it shows the difference.
4. Save, then Submit. Submitting posts the entry to the ledger.

Lines in an account kept in another currency are converted at your daily rate. To correct a submitted entry, cancel it (which adds reversing entries; nothing is deleted) and amend it.

Reports (general ledger, trial balance, balance sheet, income statement) come next.

Petty cash

A petty cash box is a small amount of cash kept by an employee or a branch for small expenses. Each box needs its own cash account: the standard chart has 1115 Petty Cash for the first one; add others in the chart of accounts (in the Iraqi chart, under 1341 نقدية بالصندوق). Then create the box under Accounting → Petty Cash Box with its account, custodian, branch and float (what it holds when full).

• Top up: on the box, click Top up, choose where the money comes from (the main cash or a bank) and the amount (filled with what brings the box back to its float). A draft journal entry opens; submit it when the cash is handed over.
• Spending: Accounting → Petty Cash Voucher → New: choose the box, who was paid, and one line per expense (expense account, description, amount, cost center). Attach the receipts. When submitted, the expenses are charged and the box's cash goes down. A box can't spend more than it holds.
• Who sees what: to let a custodian see only their own box and its vouchers, restrict them to it under Users → Restrictions.

Reports → Petty Cash shows each box's cash, what was spent this month, and how much tops it up to its float.

Fixed assets

Cars, machines, furniture and buildings lose value over the years; Zanix books that depreciation by itself.

1. Accounting → Asset Category → New (for example Vehicles): the fixed asset account, the accumulated depreciation account and the depreciation expense account, the method, the useful life in months and how often to depreciate (every 1, 3, 6 or 12 months). In the standard chart: 1210–1240, 1290 and 5900; in the Iraqi chart: 111x/121x, 221x متراكم الاندثار and 371x الاندثارات.
2. Buy the asset with a purchase invoice whose line uses the category's fixed asset account.
3. Accounting → Asset → New: the name, category, cost, salvage value (what it will still be worth at the end), the date depreciation starts, and optionally the purchase invoice, serial or plate number, branch, cost center, location and custodian. Leave the method and life empty to use the category's.
4. Submit. Zanix makes the depreciation schedule: one line per period. Every night it posts each line that has come due as a Depreciation Entry journal entry (expense up, accumulated depreciation up), and the asset's book value goes down. Post due depreciation does it right away.

Methods:

• Straight Line: the same amount each period: (cost − salvage) ÷ number of periods.
• Written Down Value: a fixed yearly % of what is left (for example 20%); the last period takes it down to the salvage value.

For an asset you owned before Zanix, enter what was already depreciated under Already Depreciated and give its remaining life; its cost and old depreciation come in with the opening balances.

If a depreciation entry was wrong, cancel that journal entry: its line becomes due again. An asset can only be cancelled before any depreciation is posted.

Scrap takes an asset out of the books on a date: depreciation up to that date is posted, its cost and accumulated depreciation are cleared, and what is left of its value goes to the loss account you choose.

Reports → Fixed Asset Register lists each asset with its cost, accumulated depreciation and book value on a date.

Bank reconciliation

To check the books against the bank, open Accounting → Bank Statement → New, choose the bank account and the statement's dates, and type the opening and closing balances printed on it. Add the lines: type them, or click Import CSV after saving to load the bank's export (a header row with Date, Description, Reference and either Deposit and Withdrawal or one signed Amount column; dates like 2026-10-25 or 25/10/2026).

Click Match automatically. Each line is matched to the payment, cleared cheque or journal entry on that account with the same amount and a close date (up to 14 days earlier in the books, 3 days later); when the statement mentions a payment's reference or cheque number, that one wins. Check the matches, and type the entry number under Matched Entry for any the bank describes differently.

You can submit when every line is matched and the opening balance plus the lines gives the closing balance. Money the bank took that isn't in the books yet (for example bank charges) needs a journal entry first, then match it. Once submitted, the matched entries can't be cancelled until the statement is cancelled.

Reports → Bank Reconciliation shows the account's balance in the books, the entries the bank hasn't confirmed yet, and the balance the bank should show on that date.

Reports

Reports are in the Reports menu. Choose the filters at the top; the report updates as you change them. Export CSV gives every row with exact amounts (it opens in Excel with Arabic and Kurdish intact); Download PDF gives a printable copy in your language. Cancelled documents never appear: they and the entries that reversed them cancel each other out.

• General Ledger: every entry in a period, with the opening balance, a running balance and the closing balance. Filter by account (choosing a group, such as Expenses, includes every account inside it), cost center or document number, and click a document number to open it. The screen shows the first 1,000 entries; the totals and the exports always cover all of them.
• Trial Balance: for every account, the opening balance, the period's debits and credits, and the closing balance, arranged like the chart (groups add up the accounts inside them). Total debits always equal total credits.
  • Choosing a fiscal year fills in its dates.
  • Income and expense accounts start each fiscal year at zero. If an earlier year was not closed yet, its result is shown on a separate line, Result of earlier years not yet closed, until you close it.
  • For a closed year, the year-closing entry is left out by default so you can see the year's income and expenses; switch on Include the year-closing entry to see the balances after closing.
  • Accounts with no balance are hidden unless you switch on Show accounts with no balance.
• Balance Sheet: what the company owns (assets) and owes plus its equity on a date. Both sides are always equal. A profit or loss that hasn't been closed into retained earnings yet is shown on its own line, Profit or loss not yet closed.
• Income Statement: income, expenses and the net profit (loss) for a period. The year-closing entry is left out, so a closed year still shows what it earned and spent.

Both statements follow your chart of accounts: a company on the Iraqi chart sees the Iraqi groups, codes and Arabic account names. You can also:

• choose the detail level, from the main groups only (Level 1) to every account;
• switch on Compare with a year earlier to add the same date (or period) one year before;
• choose Show in currency, for example IQD for the official statements of a company that keeps its books in USD. Zanix uses your own exchange rate for the statement date (or the latest earlier one) and prints the rate on the statement; type a conversion rate to use a different one.

Iraqi official statements

For companies on the Iraqi chart, Reports → Iraqi Official Statements produces the model statements of the Iraqi unified accounting system, with their official Arabic headings and codes. Choose the Statement:

• قائمة المركز المالي (statement of financial position), at the To date;
• قائمة الدخل الشامل, comprehensive income, in three forms: by function, by nature, and condensed;
• قائمة التدفقات النقدية, cash flows, by the direct and the indirect method;
• قائمة التغيرات في حقوق الملكية, changes in equity, with the official columns (opening balance, other comprehensive income, profit for the period, dividends, reserves, capital, write-offs, policy changes, minority interests, closing balance).

Every line follows the published model, corrected where the model's codes don't match the chart; the Code column then shows the codes actually used. Each statement checks itself: the balance sheet balances, profit equals income minus expenses, the cash flow reconciles to the cash accounts (134) and no cash movement is left unclassified, and each equity row adds up from opening to closing. If a check isn't zero, a warning above the statement says which and why.

Cash flows are worked out from the entries on the cash accounts: each payment or receipt is classified by the account on the other side (for example money received from customers, or paid for equipment). Compare with the previous period adds last year's column (for the balance sheet, the end of the previous period). Show in currency converts to IQD for a company that keeps its books in USD, and the PDF prints in Arabic.

Lines for consolidated groups (the parent's and minority shares) and the by-function cost centres (groups 5–8) are not filled in yet.

Print language. Download PDF asks for the language to print in, whatever language your screen is in, for example Arabic for official statements. The headings print in that language; account names print as they are in the chart.