Sales Accounting

What it is: Sales invoices, the receivables they create, and the documents that support them.

Overview

Works out the smallest useful Sales Accounting setup for the business in front of it, then builds it only when asked. The default output is a short recommendation, not a spreadsheet. Artifacts - CSV, SQL DDL, JSON Schema, Notion mapping - are produced on request, from one field list so they cannot drift apart.

Scope of one row. This is a single-table skill and one row is one invoice carrying one line item. It is deliberately not a multi-line billing engine. An invoice with several items either becomes several rows that repeat the same Invoice Number, or is kept in a separate line table alongside this one - whichever the business actually needs. Decide that in Step 2, do not assume it.

Everything is conditional. Not every sale is on credit, not every invoice has an order or a challan, not every sale attracts VAT, and not every customer deducts TDS. Those fields exist to record what was confirmed; they are left unset when the answer is "not applicable" or "not known". Never fill them with a default to make the row look complete.

Layer: Layer 3: Record. Fits: Starter stage. Table code: n/a.

When to Use This Skill

• sales accounting
• sales invoice register
• customer billing and receivable tracker
• sales vat register log

Also use it when the user describes invoicing, billing or tracking who has paid, or the same process happening in a spreadsheet, a document or someone's inbox.

Do not use it for: customer collections, tax filing, or legal advice. This skill produces empty templates only - it never holds or processes real customer or financial data.

How It Works

Follow the shared execution contract. The module-specific rules below define only domain fields, decisions, calculations, and safety constraints.

Step 1 - Identify intent

Read the request and pick the intent before asking anything.

• "set up" or "build" or "create" -> the user wants artifacts; go to Step 2.
• "our process is ..." or "it is in a sheet" -> the user wants to move an existing process; capture it, then Step 2.
• "is this right" or "review" or "audit" -> the user wants a check, not a build; answer from what they share.
• "how do I ..." -> advice question; answer directly and offer the build only if it helps.

Then read everything the user has already said and work out which single missing answer would actually change the recommendation. If the request already contains enough to recommend, do not ask anything yet - go to Step 4. If the user is describing a problem rather than requesting a build, answer it first; a question is not owed.

Never open with a fixed question such as "How are sales invoices raised today?" when the request has already answered it.

Step 2 - Ask only what is missing

Treat ambiguous replies as unanswered and ask which explicit option the user means. Record unknown values as Unknown; Unknown is not zero. A record must not be Done when a required check fails.

Skip anything the user already answered, in any earlier message. Ask the rest one at a time, and stop as soon as the remaining answers would not change the output.

• Volume - How many invoices a month? / Roughly how many lines per invoice?
• Documents - Is there a sales order every time, or only for some customers? / Is a delivery challan used at all?
• Taxes and credit - Is VAT charged, and at what rate? / Do any customers deduct TDS, and at what rate? / How many sales are on credit? / Standard credit period? / Who follows up?
• Current process - Tracked now? / Software or sheet? / What gets missed?
• Outcome - What do you need? / A sales register, an aging view or both?

Never invent an answer. If the user does not know, record it as unknown and carry on.

Step 3 - Hold the internal context

Hold the answers in this shape. It stays internal - it is not shown to the user unless they ask, and it never carries a value the user did not give.

module: sales-accounting
intent: null            # setup | advice | review | fix | build | convert | export
scale: null             # Starter | Growth | Scale, only if the answer changes it
areas:
  "Volume": null
  "Documents": null
  "Taxes and credit": null
  "Current process": null
  "Outcome": null
requested_outputs: []   # csv | sql | json | notion | xlsx - requested formats only

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