Cash Position
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.
In short
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.
Also called: current cash balance, total cash
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.
What people get wrong
- 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.
Common questions
- Can I see my cash position as of a past date?
- 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.
- Where do I get the bank account id reconcile_account needs?
- 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.
Machine-readable: /api/knowledge/concept:cash-position