Digit Reports provide visibility of the financial activity within your SchemeServe site. They allow you to review income, expenses, debts, commissions, and accounting movements across policies and transactions.

Although there are many different reports available, most are simply different views of the same underlying financial data.

Understanding a few key concepts will make it much easier to interpret report results and investigate any unexpected figures.

Trial Balance

The Trial Balance is the most comprehensive financial report available within Digit.

It contains all accounting movements recorded in the system and shows the balance of every financial account used within your site.

Why is it important?

The Trial Balance acts as the foundation for many other reports. Figures shown in reports such as Profit & Loss are derived from the same underlying accounting data.

Expected Result

A Trial Balance should always balance to zero.

This is because every financial transaction recorded within Digit creates equal and opposite accounting entries. If the Trial Balance does not balance, this may indicate a system or accounting issue that should be investigated.

Profit & Loss Report

The Profit & Loss (P&L) report provides a summary of income and expenses over a selected period.

Typical income may include:

• Earned commission
• Earned fees
• Other income earned by the business

Typical expenses may include:

• Agent commissions
• Insurer costs
• Other operating expenses

The report calculates:

Income – Expenses = Profit (or Loss)

This allows you to understand the financial performance of your business during the selected period

Aged Debt Reports

Aged Debt reports show money that remains outstanding and how long it has been owed.

Examples include:

• Client Aged Debt
• Agent Aged Debt
• Insurer Aged Debt

These reports help identify overdue balances and outstanding liabilities.

Recommended Date Basis

For most Aged Debt reporting, it is recommended to use Inception Date, as this reflects when the policy became effective and when the debt was originally created.

Understanding Account Balances

Digit records financial activity using a series of accounting accounts.

Examples include:

• Client Receivables
• Insurer Payables
• Commission Income
• Fee Income
• Agent Commission

Each financial transaction updates one or more of these accounts.

Most reports simply display the balances and movements associated with these accounts.

Negative Figures and Brackets

You may notice some values displayed in brackets.

For example:

(£100.00)

This indicates a negative balance.

However, a negative balance is not necessarily a problem.

Whether a balance is expected or unusual depends on the type of account being viewed and the nature of the transaction. See the breakdown of credit/debit positive reports here.

If a figure appears unexpected, reviewing the underlying policy transactions and accounting movements will often explain why the balance exists.

Report Date Basis

Many reports can be viewed using different date bases.

The most common options are:

Transaction Date

Displays information based on when the accounting transaction was recorded within Digit.

This is the default setting for most reports.

Inception Date

Displays information based on the policy start date.

This is often useful for debt reporting and business performance analysis.

Important

The selected date basis is stored at user level and applies across reports.

If you change the date basis on one report, other reports may also use that same setting until it is changed again.

This is one of the most common reasons users see unexpected report results.

Earned and Unearned Commission

Depending on your site configuration, commission may be recognised at different stages of the policy lifecycle.

Earned Commission

Commission that has been recognised as income.

Unearned Commission

Commission that has been generated but has not yet met the conditions required to be recognised as income.

For example, some businesses only recognise commission once payment has been received.

If you need to review total commission generated, you may need to consider both earned and unearned commission values.

Include Future Dates

Some Aged Credit reports include an Include Future Dates option.

When enabled, the report will include future-dated transactions that have already been recorded within Digit.

When disabled, only transactions up to the current reporting date will be included.

This setting is primarily relevant when reviewing future liabilities or credits.

Investigating Unexpected Figures

If a report does not show the figures you expect, the following checks can help identify the cause.

Check the Date Basis

Confirm whether the report is using:

• Transaction Date
• Inception Date

Different date bases can produce significantly different results.

Review the Policy Money Tab

The Money tab provides a detailed view of the accounting movements associated with a policy.

Reviewing these transactions can often explain:

• Why a balance exists
• Why commission has or has not been earned
• Why a report figure differs from expectations

Review Report Filters

Always confirm:

• Date range
• Date basis
• Include Future Dates setting (where applicable)
• Any additional report filters

Key Points

• The Trial Balance is the master financial report and should always balance to zero.
• Profit & Loss reports summarise income and expenses over a selected period.
• Aged Debt reports help identify outstanding balances and overdue amounts.
• Negative values shown in brackets are not necessarily errors and should be reviewed in context.
• Date Basis settings can significantly affect report results.
• Commission may be reported as either earned or unearned depending on your site's configuration.
• The Money tab is often the best place to investigate and understand report figures.
• Most reports are simply different views of the same underlying accounting data held within Digit.