Finance glossary
Use this glossary when a familiar accounting word has a specific Makronexus meaning. Definitions describe the current product model; configuration- and country-dependent terms are labelled.
Audience: every Finance learner
Learning time: 25–35 minutes
How to use the glossary
- Read the plain-language definition first.
- Follow the related-object links mentally: obligation → collection → accounting → settlement.
- Do not assume two objects with similar statuses share one lifecycle.
- Treat tax, statutory, provider and exchange-rate policy as external or configuration-dependent unless explicitly verified.
A
Accounting book
A configured Finance setup object used to register accounting books and ledgers. It is part of Finance Setup and is distinct from an individual General Ledger account.
Allocation
The assignment of some or all of a payment amount to one or more invoices. Allocation explains which obligations a payment settles.
Amount outstanding
The unpaid portion of an invoice. Current invoice contracts derive it from total amount minus amount paid when it is not supplied.
Approval
A controlled decision by an authorised actor. Approval is recorded through a status, actor, timestamp, history or approval request. Approval does not automatically mean posted, paid, reconciled or settled.
Approval matrix
Configuration for threshold and maker-checker approval routes. A matrix defines decision routing; it does not itself prove that a specific request was approved.
Audit event
Traceability evidence created around a mutation or controlled action. It can include action, resource, tenant, actor, request, response and identifiers.
B
Bank account
A school or tenant bank account configured in Bank Settings. It provides payment and reconciliation context and may contain presentation or GL mapping information.
Bank statement
External bank activity imported or retrieved for review. A statement contains lines that must be matched or investigated; it is not created by an invoice or payment.
Billing run
A bulk billing operation that generates or monitors invoices for an intended population. Detailed run states and procedures are covered in P3.
Billing split
Optional invoice metadata that allocates responsibility among participants. A billing split is not a payment allocation.
C
Cancellation
A lifecycle action that stops or invalidates an object according to its own rules. Invoice cancellation, receipt cancellation and payment cancellation are different operations.
Cashbook
The Cash & Banking workspace for recorded cash and bank movements. It is related to, but not a substitute for, the General Ledger.
Cashier session
A controlled period in which a cashier opens a till, manages a float, collects and prepares for close or cash-up.
Certification
Independent evidence that an exact control state was reviewed and accepted. Current Finance access-control certification cannot be performed by the creator of the same scan.
Chart of Accounts
The structured list of General Ledger accounts. Makronexus supports tenant-default accounts and school-specific accounts or overrides.
Collection
The process of receiving and recording money. Collection can include payment capture, provider confirmation, allocation, receipting, handover and later reconciliation.
Credit note
A controlled record that reduces an invoice obligation. It has its own number, amount, remaining amount, reason, status and approval state. It is not a cash refund.
Currency
The ISO code attached to a monetary record. Current payment contracts enumerate USD, ZWG, ZAR, EUR and GBP; other Finance objects may accept configured ISO codes. Do not assume one enum applies universally without checking the specific screen and API.
D
Debit
One side of a journal entry. Asset and expense accounts normally carry debit balances in the internal GL model.
Deferred income
A Period Close workspace for recognition schedules and liability movements. Detailed recognition policy is configuration- and accounting-policy-dependent.
Deposit batch
A controlled grouping of cash prepared for dispatch or deposit, including cash-in-transit evidence where configured.
Discount application
A specific discount applied to an obligation. It is separate from the reusable discount-program configuration.
Discount program
Reusable configuration for automated discount rules.
Domain event
A system event published after relevant mutations so search, analytics, reconciliation or other consumers can remain synchronised.
E
Effective permission
The resource:action ability Makronexus evaluates after considering the user’s roles, assignments and grants. A job title alone is not effective permission.
Exchange rate
The rate used to relate currencies on a record. The rate, source, effective date and approval can be configuration- or policy-dependent.
Expenditure
A payables-side financial record for supplier or school spending. It is not a student invoice.
Export
A package or file produced for an external workflow. A ledger export is not the primary General Ledger.
F
Fee adjustment
A student-level or fee-level adjustment maintained in the fees domain. It is distinct from an invoice credit note and must be understood in its specific workflow.
Fee category
A required grouping on a school fee, such as a core or supplementary classification.
Fee structure
The school’s pricing and billing configuration for a charge. It can define amount, currency, audience, frequency, due-date behaviour, discounts, installments, mapping and approval metadata.
Finance configuration
Setup records that determine how Finance operates: accounting books, processes, approval matrices, accounts, fees, providers, receipt templates, posting controls and related policy.
Finance control
A policy, readiness, approval, exception or certification mechanism that constrains Finance actions.
Financial statement
A report generated from the internal GL for a date or period: trial balance, income statement, balance sheet or cash flow.
Front Desk
The collection workspace used to find a student, review balances and collect a payment. Its navigation requires payment-create access.
G
General Ledger
Makronexus’s internal accounting ledger. Operational modules can post journal entries to it. It is the source for GL statements; exports package its data for downstream use.
GL account
A Chart of Accounts record with code, name, type, normal balance, school/tenant scope and posting/header attributes.
Guardian or payer
The person or organisation providing money or responsible for an obligation. The billed guardian and the person who actually pays may differ.
I
Invoice
The student obligation record containing line items, total, currency, due date, amounts paid and outstanding, payment state, communication state and approval state.
Invoice line
One priced component of an invoice. It includes description, quantity, unit amount, total amount, currency and optional accounting classifications.
Invoice payment status
The invoice’s settlement summary, currently derived as pending, partial or paid in the invoice contract. It is separate from invoice approval status.
J
Journal entry
A double-entry accounting record with debit account, credit account, amount, date, source, currency and status.
Journal reversal
A new offsetting journal entry that swaps debit and credit accounts and marks the original as reversed. Posted history is not destructively edited.
L
Ledger export
A job or evidence package that reports or transfers posted financial data. It is not the internal ledger itself.
Line item
A component row that contributes to a document total, such as an invoice or receipt line.
M
Maker-checker
A separation pattern where the person creating or requesting a sensitive action is not the person independently approving or certifying it.
Metadata
Structured additional information stored with a record. Metadata can support provider references, device context or integrations but should not replace required first-class fields.
Multi-currency
The ability to record or report amounts in more than one currency. Supported behaviour depends on the object, configured rates, accounting book, provider and report.
N
Normal balance
The side on which an account normally increases. In the internal GL, asset and expense accounts are debit-normal; liability, equity and revenue accounts are credit-normal.
P
Payment
The Makronexus record of incoming funds. It carries amount, currency, method, date, student, invoice, references, status, verification, reconciliation, refund and allocation data.
Payment allocation status
A derived payment summary: unallocated, partially_allocated, fully_allocated or over_allocated.
Payment attempt
A provider- or gateway-oriented record used to investigate authorisation, pending state, retries, abandonment and callbacks. An attempt is not automatically a completed payment.
Payment method
The method recorded for the payment, such as cash, bank transfer, card, mobile money or a configured provider value.
Payment plan
Configuration that schedules an amount across installments. It changes expected timing, not necessarily the total obligation.
Payment profile
A student/account configuration carrying stable references and payment controls.
Payment status
The payment lifecycle value. Current contracts include draft, pending, processing, completed, failed, cancelled, refunded, reversed and partially_refunded.
Period close
The controlled process of confirming completeness, tie-outs, exceptions, adjustments and sign-off for a financial period.
Posting
The creation of accounting evidence in the internal GL from an operational event or manual journal.
Posting exception
A downstream failure or blocker that prevents or complicates expected accounting posting.
Posting policy
Configuration governing whether and how Finance events post, map and use controlled overrides.
Provider
An external payment service or bank-facing integration. Provider statuses, settlement timing and availability are controlled partly outside Makronexus.
R
Receipt
A numbered proof-of-payment document linked to payment and invoice allocations. It can be issued, delivered, duplicated, resent or cancelled under separate permissions.
Reconciliation
The comparison or matching of internal records with bank, provider, subledger or control evidence.
Refund
A controlled action that records money returned against a payment. It is limited by the captured amount and differs from a credit note or receipt cancellation.
Request ID
A correlation identifier returned or echoed by APIs. It is useful support evidence for a failed or unexpected action.
Reversal
An append-only correction that offsets an earlier accounting or controlled event. The exact effect depends on the object.
S
School context
The school against which a record or request is scoped. Finance operations can require an active school even within the same tenant.
Settlement
Provider or bank evidence that funds have moved according to the external channel. Settlement is not proven solely by a completed Makronexus payment.
Soft delete
A record is archived by setting a deletion timestamp while preserving historical data. Default queries generally exclude soft-deleted records.
Source ID and source type
Journal fields that identify the operational record and module responsible for the accounting entry.
Student account
The conceptual and workspace view of a student’s invoices, payments, allocations, balances, ageing and references. It may be assembled from several records rather than stored as one universal ledger object.
Student financial summary
A read model showing balances, ageing and collection history by student.
T
Tenant
The top-level isolation boundary for an organisation in Makronexus. Finance APIs enforce tenant scope.
Tenant-default account
A GL account with no school ID that can be used as the tenant fallback. A school-specific account with the same code takes precedence for school-scoped posting.
Trial balance
A statement of debit and credit totals and account balances as of a date. It includes an isBalanced result.
V
Validation
System checks applied before accepting a request. Examples include positive amounts, non-empty invoice lines, total reconciliation and required method-specific fields.
Verification
A payment review control that records verifier and time. Current payment verification accepts the verified outcome through its dedicated endpoint.
W
Webhook
An inbound or outbound callback event between Makronexus and an external provider or bank integration. Duplicate and delayed callbacks must be handled without creating duplicate economic events.
Commonly confused terms
| Do not confuse | Difference |
|---|---|
| Fee structure and invoice | pricing configuration versus a student obligation |
| Payment and payment attempt | recorded funds versus provider interaction state |
| Payment and allocation | money received versus where it is applied |
| Payment and receipt | monetary record versus proof document |
| Credit note and refund | obligation reduction versus money returned |
| Verification and reconciliation | internal review versus matching to external/control evidence |
| Posting and export | internal GL evidence versus packaged output |
| Cancellation and reversal | object-specific lifecycle stop versus offsetting correction |
| Role and permission | human/job label versus evaluated ability |
| School context and tenant context | school scope within the wider organisational boundary |
Practice
For each item, name its layer:
- Invoice
- Receipt template
- Bank statement line
- Journal entry
- Payment allocation
- Approval history
Answer: obligation; configuration; settlement/evidence; accounting; collection; control/evidence.