{"id":"concept:cash-position","kind":"concept","label":"Cash Position","synonyms":["current cash balance","total cash"],"definition":"Cash position is the current balance of every bank account and credit card connected to a book, plus a single total, computed live right now rather than as of a chosen past date.","summary":"The fastest answer to \"how much money do we actually have.\" A credit card reads as a positive amount owed, same as everywhere else in BalanceMCP — only the grand total is signed, netting card debt against cash. It also maps a bank account id to the chart account and balance behind it, which is what reconcile_account needs.","explanation":["Cash position is the quickest report BalanceMCP offers: the current balance of every bank account and credit card tied to a book, plus a single total, with no date range to specify and no report to configure. Each row displays a credit card as a positive amount owed, the same as the balance sheet — only the total is signed, netting card debt against cash so it genuinely reflects net cash position rather than overstating what's on hand.","Cash position also doubles as a lookup tool for ids the rest of BalanceMCP needs. Each row separates a chartAccountId — the ledger account, used by general_ledger and most other reports — from bankAccountIds, the specific bank connection behind it, used by reconcile_account. list_transactions also returns a bankAccountId on every row, but cash_position is the one that maps that id to its chart account and current balance, which is what makes reconciling an account start here.","A real, specific limitation: cash position is a live, right-now snapshot — it doesn't take a date parameter, so it can't answer \"what was my cash position as of last month.\" For that, a balance sheet's assets section, or general_ledger pulled on a specific cash account, is the right tool instead.","Cash position is a different question from cash flow. It answers \"how much do I have right now,\" a snapshot; cash flow is about the actual movement of money over time, and whether a healthy cash position was built from real earnings or from debt is exactly the kind of distinction cash position alone can't reveal on its own."],"commonMistakes":["Trying to pull cash position for a past date — it's a live snapshot with no date parameter; use balance_sheet or general_ledger for a historical figure instead.","Confusing a row's chartAccountId with its bankAccountIds — reconcile_account specifically needs the latter, and the two are easy to mix up.","Assuming a strong cash position by itself proves the business is doing well — it doesn't distinguish cash built from earnings versus cash built from a recent loan."],"category":"analysis","questions":[{"question":"Can I see my cash position as of a past date?","answer":"Not directly through this report — it's a live, right-now snapshot. For a specific past date, use the balance sheet's assets section or general_ledger on a specific cash account."},{"question":"Where do I get the bank account id reconcile_account needs?","answer":"From cash_position's bankAccountIds array on a row, not its chartAccountId. list_transactions also returns a bankAccountId, but cash_position is where you see it mapped to a chart account and a current balance."}],"url":"/glossary/cash-position","relatedTo":[{"id":"concept:cash-flow","relationship":"related","weight":0.9,"api":"/api/knowledge/concept%3Acash-flow"},{"id":"concept:bank-account","relationship":"related","weight":0.9,"api":"/api/knowledge/concept%3Abank-account"},{"id":"concept:credit-card-account","relationship":"related","weight":0.9,"api":"/api/knowledge/concept%3Acredit-card-account"},{"id":"concept:reconciliation","relationship":"related","weight":0.9,"api":"/api/knowledge/concept%3Areconciliation"},{"id":"tool:cash_position","relationship":"references","weight":0.7,"api":"/api/knowledge/tool%3Acash_position"},{"id":"guide:what-cash-flow-tells-you-that-profit-and-loss-doesnt","relationship":"references","weight":0.7,"api":"/api/knowledge/guide%3Awhat-cash-flow-tells-you-that-profit-and-loss-doesnt"}],"referencedBy":[{"id":"concept:cash-flow","label":"Cash Flow","url":"/glossary/cash-flow"},{"id":"concept:accounts-payable","label":"Accounts Payable","url":"/glossary/accounts-payable"}],"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"BalanceMCP — https://balancemcp.com"}