AWRA Help Center

The live statements change whenever somebody posts a late journal. What a board, a lender or an auditor was sent should not. A certified statement is stored once, with a SHA-256 checksum, and is read from that stored copy every time it is opened or downloaded; it is never recalculated.

Open Certified statements at /accounting/certified-statements in the accounting area. The page lists every certified version with its period, version number, who certified it and when, the note, and whether it is Current or Superseded.

Certifying A Period

1. Choose From and To. A whole calendar month is titled by its month name, for example September 2026; any other range is titled by its dates.
2. Add a Note if you want one, for example the board meeting that approved the figures.
3. Press Certify. AWRA stores the trial balance, the income statement, the balance sheet as at the last day and the cash flow for the period, with the checksum, and writes the certification to the audit log.

Certify the same period again and you get v2: the new version is current and the old one is kept and marked superseded. Nothing certified is ever overwritten. Close the month first, so the books you certify cannot move under you; see Month-End Close.

Has The Ledger Moved Since?

Open a certified version. If anything posted since would change one of its figures, the page says The ledger has moved since this was certified with the number of figures affected, and What changed lists each one as the certified figure against the figure now. Certify the period again for a version that matches. If the stored copy no longer matches its own checksum, the list marks it checksum mismatch.

Board Commentary

On a certified version, Write commentary asks AI for three to five plain sentences on the period’s results, the balance sheet, cash and the one thing the board should discuss. It is written from the frozen figures only (and the previous certified period’s net income and revenue, when there is one), then stored with the version, so it does not change when opened again. If AI is switched off for Accounting under Settings → AI Modules, the button writes nothing.

Downloading And Scheduling The Board Pack

• Board pack PDF and CSV download a certified version as it was signed off. The PDF carries the commentary; the CSV carries the figures and the checksum.
• To send it on a schedule, save a filter on the Certified statements page and schedule it like any other report. A scheduled board pack always sends the latest certified version, never the live ledger; if nothing has been certified yet, the run fails rather than sending live figures.

The board pack carries the certified statements and the commentary. For the operating figures beside them — revenue, margin, cash, receivables and payables — use the Executive Dashboard, which can be scheduled as its own emailed pack.

Permissions

• View accounting — see certified versions, what changed since, and download them.
• Certify financial statements — certify a period and write the commentary.

Certified versions are also in the AWRA mobile app: open one to read its figures and what changed since, and open the board pack PDF (on iPhone it opens in the system viewer). Certifying a period and writing the commentary stay on the web.

Common Mistakes

• Certifying a month that is still open. A late posting then makes the certified version disagree with the books straight away. Close the month first.
• Sending the live income statement to the board. It moves. Send the certified version, or schedule the board pack.
• Reading a superseded version. Check the status column; the current version is the one marked Current.

Related

• Financial Reports — the live statements a certified version freezes.
• Auditor Evidence Pack — certified versions, closes and postings in one ZIP for your auditor.
• Month-End Close — closing the month before you certify it.
• Month-end close and Accounting controls — the feature overviews.