Before you can begin mapping your data, you'll need to select a posting method. To do so, click on Settings > Accounting > Select your shop > General Settings. The General Settings available to you and the way your information is mapped change depending on which posting method you select. As such, once the posting method is selected and your settings and mappings are completed, changing the posting method requires you to reconfigure your settings and re-establish your mappings from scratch. We, therefore, recommend choosing carefully and sticking with your choice once made.

To assist you in this selection, we've outlined the differences between the three methods.

Journal Entry

This posting method will summarize your daily activity into a single journal entry with every sync. Your Lightspeed Retail sales are mapped by item category to general ledger accounts and you report on your activity by running the profits and losses report.

If you're accustomed to running sales reports in your accounting software, you may not want to use this method, as your accounting software won't show any sales. This method is focused on deposits made to accounts, rather than sales. You can still report on your sales history in Lightspeed Retail itself, of course.

Summary Sales Receipt

This posting method summarizes your daily sales activity as a single sales receipt. Your sales by Lightspeed Retail item categories are mapped to corresponding items created in your accounting software and you report on your activity by running sales reports.

Because this method creates sales in your accounting software, it adds a new setting in General Settings. You have the option to track sales taxes in your accounting software rather than have that tax information sync over from Lightspeed Retail. You can learn more about this option here.

Xero

If you're using Xero as your accounting software, this posting method generates a summary invoice, rather than a sales receipt. You still map your Lightspeed Retail item categories, but you map them to income accounts, rather than items.

Itemized Sales Receipt

This posting method is virtually identical to Summary Sales Receipt, but rather than map your Lightspeed Retail item categories, you'll map each individual item in Lightspeed Retail to a corresponding item in your accounting software. This allows for more granular reporting on sales in your accounting software; however, it can be difficult to keep on top of if you create new items regularly, as each new item created needs to be mapped. 

While Itemized Sales Receipt allows for more detailed reporting on which items were sold in your accounting software, that information remains available in Lightspeed Retail's built-in reporting, regardless of which posting method you select for your bookkeeping. With that in mind, you may want to consider Summary Sales Receipt for your posting method instead unless you rarely add new items to your inventory or you absolutely require sales-by-item reporting in your accounting software.

General Settings

The important thing to remember is that there is no wrong choice when selecting a posting method -- it's simply a question of preference. Your choice of posting method should be based on how you prefer to work with your data, as any of the three is correct. Once you've made your choice, you're ready to configure the rest of your General Settings.