> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://harnesscalendar.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Understand your transactions

> Learn how to read your transactions ledger.

**Finances → Transactions** is your studio's complete money record.

## The kinds of transaction

| Kind        | What it is                                                   |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Charge**  | A bill: money a student owes, from a lesson or added by hand |
| **Payment** | Money you received                                           |
| **Refund**  | Money you returned to a payer                                |
| **Credit**  | Goodwill that lowers what an account owes on a bill          |
| **Expense** | A cost your studio paid out                                  |
| **Void**    | A cancellation of another transaction                        |

## What you can change

The record stays accurate by keeping money that has moved permanent, and letting you correct it with a new transaction instead of editing the old one.

| Transaction                                 | Editable or deletable?                                                  |
| ------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **An open charge or expense**               | Yes, while it's still open: not paid, not on a sent invoice, not voided |
| **A paid charge, or one on a sent invoice** | No. Correct it with a void or a refund                                  |
| **A payment, refund, or void**              | No. These are permanent records of money that moved                     |

While a charge is still open, you can also move it to a different **account** from its detail view, to fix a bill that went to the wrong payer. The charge leaves its old account's upcoming bill (and any draft invoice it sat on) and rides the new account's next one. Once a charge is paid or on a sent invoice, it can't move; correct it with a void instead.

To undo something that's locked, add a correcting transaction rather than editing it:

* **Void** cancels a charge or payment you no longer want, and leaves a record that it was cancelled.
* **Cancel & refund** voids a paid charge and returns the money.
* A **refund** returns money a payer has put in. See [Issue a refund](/docs/billing/refunds).

## The Summary bar

The **Summary** bar sits on top of the screen. Pick a timeframe, **Past Week**, **Past Month**, or **Past Year**, to scope the figures. Every metric except **Outstanding** updates with it.

| Metric                | What it measures                                                                              |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Gross Revenue**     | Total billed in the timeframe                                                                 |
| **Collected Revenue** | Payments received in the timeframe, minus refunds                                             |
| **Total Expenses**    | Expenses recorded in the timeframe                                                            |
| **Net Profit**        | Collected Revenue minus Total Expenses                                                        |
| **Outstanding**       | What's still owed across every unpaid charge. An all-time figure, unaffected by the timeframe |

## The list

Each row is one transaction:

The columns worth decoding:

| Column           | What it shows                                                             |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Date**         | When it was recorded                                                      |
| **Service Date** | When it actually happened: the lesson date, or the day you took a payment |
| **Source**       | How it was created: Lesson, Calendar, Manual, Invoice Line, or Stripe     |
| **Amount**       | The dollar amount of the entry                                            |
| **Status**       | For a charge, whether it's paid. Other kinds show a dash                  |

## Find a transaction

* The tabs above the list filter it: **All**, **Charges**, or **Expenses**.
* **Search transactions** filters by description, student, category, or amount.

## Add a transaction

Click **Add Transaction** to record one by hand:

* **Charge**: a one-off amount an account owes, like a recital fee or a book. Pick the account (and optionally which student it's for); the charge rides the account's next bill. See [Automated billing](/docs/billing/automated-billing).
* **Expense**: a studio cost, with a tax category and an optional receipt. See [Track expenses](/docs/accounting/expenses).

## Act on a transaction

Open a row's **...** menu for the actions that apply to it: **Record Payment**, **Edit**, **Void**, **Delete**, or **Cancel & refund**. See [Record a payment](/docs/billing/record-a-payment), [Manage invoices](/docs/billing/manage-invoices) for voiding, and [Issue a refund](/docs/billing/refunds).

<Note>
  The Transactions screen is the live record. To export it to CSV or PDF, or to build a **Profit & Loss** statement, use [Reports](/docs/accounting/reports).
</Note>