Read the CEE balance sheet in SamBooks
8 min read
Understand the Balance sheet page: statement of financial position, income statement, four key indicators, and where every figure comes from.
What it's for
The Balance sheet page (/bilancio) shows the company's statement of financial position and income statement under the Italian CEE schema (civil code art. 2424/2425), rebuilt in real time from the journal entries: it isn't a document you "generate" once a year, it's an always-current snapshot of what you've recorded. Every line item is built by adding up the journal entry lines that hit the accounts mapped to it, so the moment you post an entry the balance sheet reflects it.
Before you start
The page is visible to the Manager, Staff and Viewer roles (the latter read-only). It isn't reachable in two cases: if the company keeps simplified accounting (a CEE balance sheet needs double-entry bookkeeping), and for companies on the Italian flat-rate scheme (forfettario), where the whole accounting area — chart of accounts, journal, fixed assets, adjustments and balance sheet — stays locked by product design.
Step by step
1. Open the Balance sheet page
Go to the Balance sheet menu item. At the top you'll find two independent selectors:
- "Fiscal year" — always opens the full year, even mid-year; the current fiscal year is marked "(current)".
- "Period" — the time slice within the chosen fiscal year: "Whole year", a quarter (Q1-Q4), or a single month. Below the two selectors a line shows the exact date range the period covers (for example "From 1 January to 31 March").
This distinction matters: the statement of financial position is a snapshot at period end (a "stock"), while the income statement is the flow within the chosen period — pick "Q2" and the income statement only shows that quarter's revenue and costs, not the year-to-date total.
2. Read the four indicators (KPIs)
Below the selectors you'll find four cards, each carrying the AI badge (they're derived values, not typed in by hand):
- "Revenue from sales (A.1)"
- "EBITDA"
- "Net financial position"
- "EBITDA / NFP"
Each card shows the period's value and, underneath, the percentage change against the same period of the prior fiscal year ("vs same period last year"), with a green up-arrow or red down-arrow depending on the sign.
3. Check that the balance sheet balances
Below the KPIs there's a status badge:
- "Balanced: assets = liabilities + equity + result" — all good.
- "Out of balance: assets ≠ liabilities + equity + result" — flags something to fix (see "If something goes wrong").
Next to it, if there are accounts with movements that haven't been mapped to a balance-sheet item yet, you'll see the warning "Accounts without a CEE voice — assign it in the Chart of accounts".
4. Read the tables
The tables stack one below the other, in a single column: "Income Statement" (with the "Result for the period" total), "Statement of Financial Position — Assets" (total "Total assets"), "Statement of Financial Position — Liabilities" (total "Total liabilities" plus the "Result for the year" row), and — only if there are values — "Memorandum accounts". Every row shows the chosen period's value next to the same period a year earlier. The "Hide zero items" toggle (on by default) hides CEE schema lines that never carry an amount, to keep the read short; turn it off to see the full schema, including zero lines.
5. Drill down to the entries
Click an account inside a balance-sheet item to open its detail: in most cases the "Entries" window opens, listing the journal entries for that account in the chosen period (columns Date, Reason, Description, Debit, Credit) with, on each row, the "Go to the journal entry" link that takes you straight to the entry's detail in /prima-nota. On two accounts in particular — trade receivables (item C.II.1) and trade payables (item D.7) — the click opens the subledger instead: the account's balances by counterparty (columns Counterparty, Debit, Credit, Balance, with a total), handy for seeing at a glance who makes up that balance without opening every single entry.
6. Export to Excel
The "Export XLSX" button downloads the selected period's balance sheet (also honouring the "Hide zero items" toggle) as a bilancio_cee_<year>_<period>.xlsx file, with the prior-year comparison column. If something goes wrong you'll see "Balance sheet export failed."
How it's actually calculated
The CEE balance sheet isn't a separate document: it's the result of a calculation that adds up every live journal entry line (excluding cancelled entries) grouped by CEE item and by account nature — asset/liability/equity accounts land in the statement of financial position, costs and revenue in the income statement, memorandum accounts stay apart. That's why the CEE balance sheet's balance is never really in doubt "by construction": every journal entry is already balanced (debits = credits) when you post it, and that property carries straight through to the totals. If the badge says "Out of balance", the cause is never the balance-sheet calculation itself — it's almost always accounts missing a CEE item (check the warning above the tables). A new fiscal year's opening balances only enter the balance sheet after the prior year's accounting closing is reopened: until then, the new year's balance sheet reflects only the entries posted from that point on.
Three different balance sheets: don't mix them up
SamBooks distinguishes three things that share the word "balance sheet" but are different tools:
- CEE balance sheet (this page) — rebuilt in real time from the journal, the one you read here.
- Trial balance — the list of every account balance for internal control: it has no dedicated screen, you can only get it by asking Sam.
- "IT-full" reclassified balance sheet — the one imported at onboarding from the Chamber of Commerce visura/XBRL for the first historical comparison: this one has no page of its own either.
If you're looking for either of the last two and can't find a page for it, that's not a bug — ask Sam instead.
Who can see it
Manager and Staff see the whole page; the Viewer sees it read-only (exports aren't blocked, but no write action anywhere in the area). The page is hidden from the sidebar for companies on simplified accounting and for the flat-rate scheme (forfettario): in those cases the "Balance sheet" menu item doesn't show up at all.
Ask Sam
You can also have the balance sheet explained in chat: for example "what's this quarter's EBITDA?", "show me the income statement for the last six months" or "why is the balance sheet out of balance?". Sam recalculates with the same engine as the page, and can also produce the trial balance or read out the details of the IT-full reclassified balance sheet, which — as mentioned — have no screen of their own: for those two, chat is the only way to see them.
If something goes wrong
- "Out of balance: assets ≠ liabilities + equity + result" — this is almost never a calculation problem: check the "Accounts without a CEE voice" warning right above the tables and assign the missing CEE item from the Chart of accounts; once assigned, the account lands in the right section and the balance is restored.
- I don't see the new fiscal year's opening balances — you need to close the prior fiscal year and reopen it: until that's done, the new year's balance sheet starts from zero.
- I can't find "Balance sheet" in the sidebar — the company is likely on simplified accounting or the flat-rate scheme: in both cases the area is locked by product design.
- I'm looking for the trial balance or the IT-full reclassified balance sheet and can't find a page for them — that's expected: neither has a dedicated screen, ask Sam for them.
- A figure doesn't add up — use the drill-down: click the account inside the balance-sheet item, open "Entries" (or the subledger for receivables/payables) and trace it back to the single entry to see where the number comes from.
Frequently asked questions
How do I read the balance sheet in SamBooks? Go to the Balance sheet page: pick the fiscal year and period at the top, then scroll through the four KPIs and the income statement / statement of financial position tables.
Where do I see the year's income statement? On the Balance sheet page, with "Period" set to "Whole year": the first table is the Income Statement.
How do I get a quarter's balance sheet? Change the "Period" selector to the quarter you need (Q1-Q4): the tables and KPIs update to that period.
What does EBITDA mean on the balance sheet page? It's one of the four indicators shown at the top, calculated automatically (AI badge) and compared with the same period a year earlier.
What is the net financial position? It's another one of the four balance-sheet KPIs, also compared year over year.
The balance sheet is out of balance: what do I do? Check the "Accounts without a CEE voice" warning right above the tables and assign the missing item from the Chart of accounts: a journal entry's balance is always guaranteed, so the cause is almost always there.
It says "accounts without a CEE voice": what does that mean? That there are accounts with movements but no balance-sheet item mapped to them: go to the Chart of accounts and assign the missing CEE item to those accounts.
How do I export the balance sheet to Excel? Press "Export XLSX" at the top right: it downloads a file with the selected period and the prior-year comparison.
Does the balance sheet compare with last year? Yes, both the four KPIs and every table row show the comparison with the same period of the prior fiscal year.
Why don't I see the opening balances in the balance sheet? Because they only enter with the new fiscal year's accounting reopening: before that step, the balance sheet starts from zero.
How do I hide zero items? Use the "Hide zero items" toggle above the tables: it's on by default.
Where's the trial balance? It has no page of its own: ask Sam for it in chat.