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Cash flows and changes in equity

Run the Statement of Cash Flows (indirect method) and the Statement of Changes in Equity, and see how each line is worked out from the ledger.

For finance managers and accountantsUpdated 4 Nov 2026

Before you start

  • Set up the chart of accountsCash Flow Mapping says which accounts are cash and which line every other account feeds. Statement Mapping decides current and non-current, which the cash flow defaults use.
  • Close a periodYear to date and fiscal year periods come from your fiscal years.
  • Set up dimensionsOnly if you want either statement for one dimension value.
In this article
  1. Steps
  2. How the cash flow is worked out
  3. How changes in equity are worked out
  4. Related reports

Both statements are under Reports › Financial Statements. They use the same filter bar as the other statements (see the reports overview): Period, a date, Compare with (No comparison, Prior period or Prior year), More Filters for dimensions, Run and Export to Excel. Both open on Year to date.

Steps

  1. Run the Statement of Cash Flows

    Select Reports › Financial Statements › Cash Flows, choose the period and select Run.

    1. Period.
    2. Up to (or A date in the period).
    3. Compare with adds a second column.
    4. More Filters: dimension values.
    5. Run.
    6. Warnings. Here no account is mapped as cash, so the statement can't show opening or closing cash.
    7. The statement starts from Profit before tax.

    At the bottom, Cash at the end of the period is compared with Cash per the general ledger. When they agree you see "The statement agrees to the cash accounts in the ledger." A Cash accounts table then lists each cash account's opening balance, movement and closing balance.

  2. Run the Statement of Changes in Equity

    Select Reports › Financial Statements › Changes in Equity, choose the period and select Run.

    1. Period.
    2. Up to (or A date in the period).
    3. Compare with: a second table for the comparison period.
    4. Run.
    5. One column per equity component, and Total.

How the cash flow is worked out

The statement uses the indirect method. Over any period the debits and credits of all accounts cancel out, so the change in cash equals the profit plus the change in every other balance sheet account. Cash Flow Mapping only decides which line each change is shown on.

LineHow it's worked out
Profit before taxRevenue less expenses in the period, except income tax.
Adjustments for non-cash itemsThe movement on accounts mapped as non-cash (for example accumulated depreciation).
Items presented elsewhereIncome or expense mapped to investing or financing (for example a gain on selling an asset), taken out here and shown in its own section.
Changes in working capitalThe movement on current assets and current liabilities: an increase in receivables or stock is an outflow, an increase in payables an inflow.
Income tax paidThe movement on income tax expense accounts.
Net cash from operating activitiesCash generated from operations plus income tax paid.
Investing activitiesThe movement on non-current assets (and anything mapped as investing).
Financing activitiesThe movement on loans, borrowings, non-current liabilities and equity other than retained earnings.
Net increase (decrease) in cashOperating + investing + financing.
Cash at the beginning / end of the periodThe opening and closing balances of the accounts mapped as Cash.
DifferenceCash at the end of the period less cash per the general ledger. Only postings that don't balance inside your filters (for example a dimension filter that keeps one side of a journal) can make it non-zero.

Defaults when an account has no Cash Flow Mapping setting: accounts named cash or bank are cash; accumulated depreciation and impairment are non-cash; other non-current assets are investing and current assets working capital; loans, borrowings and non-current liabilities are financing, current liabilities working capital; retained earnings are non-cash and other equity financing. A non-current or current setting comes from Statement Mapping, so fix that first.

How changes in equity are worked out

One column per equity group in the chart of accounts. Credits are positive.

RowHow it's worked out
Balance at the start of the periodThe component's balance before the period. Past profit sits in retained earnings.
Profit/(loss) for the periodThe period's profit, added to retained earnings. It equals the Statement of Profit or Loss.
Contributions and other increasesCredits to the component's equity accounts in the period (share issues, capital introduced).
Distributions and other decreasesDebits in the period (dividends, drawings).
Balance at the end of the periodThe total equity on the Statement of Financial Position at the period end.