Tradepal AI Transactions — Overview & Accounting Fundamentals

What Are Tradepal AI Transactions?

Transactions are records of financial activities that have taken place and that you want to track on Tradepal AI.

A transaction tells Tradepal AI what happened, when it happened, what asset or money was involved, how much was involved, and other important details about the activity.

For example, if you buy 1,000 USDT at ₦1,400 per USDT, the transaction records the purchase so that you can view it later and Tradepal AI can use it for calculations, reporting, analytics, and other features.

Transactions can be used to record activities such as:

• Buying an asset
• Selling an asset
• Receiving money or assets
• Sending money or assets
• Other supported financial activities

Your transactions collectively form your transaction history on Tradepal AI.

Why Transactions Are Important

Transactions are one of the most important parts of Tradepal AI because they provide the information used by many other features.

Your transaction records can be used to:

• Keep a history of your financial activities
• Track assets that you buy and sell
• Track money and assets coming in and going out
• Calculate profit and loss
• Track transaction volumes and activity
• Generate financial statistics and summaries
• Support reporting and tax-related activities
• Reconcile recorded transactions
• Provide information to the Tradepal AI Assistant

This means that a transaction is more than a record displayed on the Transactions page. It provides information that other parts of Tradepal AI can use.

What Information Does a Transaction Contain?

The information recorded depends on the type of transaction.

A transaction may contain:

• Transaction date — When the activity happened
• Transaction type — The type of activity
• Asset — The cryptocurrency or other asset involved
• Quantity — How much of the asset was involved
• Currency — The currency used in the transaction
• Amount — The total monetary value involved
• Rate — The actual rate used for the transaction
• Counterparty — The person or business involved
• Payment information — How money was paid or received
• Wallet or account — Where money or an asset came from or went to
• Fees — Fees associated with the transaction
• Evidence — Receipts, screenshots, or other supporting documents
• Notes — Additional information about the activity

Not every transaction requires all of these details. Tradepal AI uses the information relevant to the type of transaction being recorded.

Main Transaction Types

Buy and Sell

Buy and Sell transactions are used when an asset is exchanged for money or another supported value.

For example:

The transaction can record the USDT quantity, NGN amount, rate, counterparty, payment information, wallet, and applicable fees.

Deposits

A deposit records money or an asset coming into your account, wallet, or financial records.

Examples include:

• Adding your own funds
• Receiving money from another person
• Receiving cryptocurrency
• Receiving funds for a particular purpose

Withdrawals

A withdrawal records money or an asset leaving your account, wallet, or financial records.

Examples include:

• Sending money to another person
• Sending cryptocurrency to another wallet
• Taking personal funds out of a business
• Returning funds to another party

Other transaction categories may be supported as Tradepal AI continues to expand.

Transactions as Your Financial History

The Transactions section provides a history of the activities you have recorded.

Instead of keeping separate records for every purchase, sale, deposit, and withdrawal, Tradepal AI keeps these activities as structured transaction records.

This allows you to review:

• What you bought or sold
• How much you bought or sold
• When the activity occurred
• Who you transacted with
• How much you paid or received
• Which assets and currencies were involved
• The fees associated with the activity

Your transaction history therefore provides a clear record of your financial activity over time.

Transactions as the Source of Financial Information

Your transaction records provide the underlying information used by several Tradepal AI features.

For example, when you buy an asset and later sell it, Tradepal AI can use both transactions to determine how the asset moved and calculate the applicable financial result.

Similarly, transaction records can be used to answer questions such as:

• How much USDT did I buy this month?
• How much did I sell?
• How many transactions did I make?
• Who do I transact with most often?
• What was my profit or loss?

The accuracy of these results depends on the accuracy of the transactions you record.

Transaction Accounting and Profit & Loss

Tradepal AI does not only store your transactions. It can also use your transaction history to determine the cost of assets and calculate applicable profit or loss.

This becomes important when the same asset is bought multiple times at different prices before being sold.

For example:

Buy 1: 1,000 USDT @ ₦1,300
Buy 2: 1,000 USDT @ ₦1,400
Sell:  1,500 USDT @ ₦1,600

To calculate the result of the sale, Tradepal AI needs to determine which previous purchases are associated with the 1,500 USDT that was sold.

This is where the transaction accounting method becomes important.

FIFO — First In, First Out

One of the accounting methods supported by Tradepal AI is FIFO, which means First In, First Out.

FIFO means that the assets you acquired first are considered to be the assets you dispose of first.

Using the example above:

Buy 1: 1,000 USDT @ ₦1,300
Buy 2: 1,000 USDT @ ₦1,400

Sell: 1,500 USDT

Tradepal AI considers:

• The first 1,000 USDT sold to come from Buy 1
• The remaining 500 USDT sold to come from Buy 2

The system can then use the corresponding purchase costs to determine the applicable cost of the 1,500 USDT sold.

Why FIFO Matters

The price of an asset can change every time you buy it.

For example:

1st purchase: 1,000 USDT @ ₦1,300
2nd purchase: 1,000 USDT @ ₦1,400
3rd purchase: 1,000 USDT @ ₦1,500

If you later sell 1,500 USDT, the financial result will depend on which purchases are considered to have been sold.

FIFO provides a consistent method for making this determination by using the oldest available purchase first.

This makes the order and accuracy of your transactions important for accounting calculations.

Asset Inventory and Remaining Quantity

Tradepal AI keeps track of the quantity of an asset that remains available after applicable transactions.

For example:

Purchase: 2,000 USDT
Sale:       500 USDT
Remaining: 1,500 USDT

The remaining 1,500 USDT can be considered in future accounting calculations.

If you have several purchases, FIFO works through the available quantities in their purchase order.

A sale can therefore use part of one purchase and part of another purchase.

FIFO and Profit & Loss

At a basic level, profit or loss can be understood as:

Sale Proceeds − Applicable Acquisition Cost = Profit or Loss

FIFO helps determine the applicable acquisition cost by matching a sale with earlier purchases.

The actual calculation can also consider other relevant information, such as transaction fees, quantities, currencies, and the circumstances of the transaction.

Tradepal AI supports additional accounting methods, including WAC (Weighted Average Cost) and Hybrid P&L, depending on the applicable configuration.

Detailed accounting rules and calculations are covered in separate P&L and accounting guides.

Transactions and Counterparties

A transaction can be associated with the person or business involved in the activity.

For example, when you buy USDT from a client, the client can be recorded as the transaction’s counterparty.

Counterparty information may include:

• Name
• Account information
• Bank information
• Other available details

You can use an existing saved counterparty or add a new counterparty while recording the transaction.

This helps you maintain a history of the activities you have carried out with different people and businesses.

Transactions and Supporting Evidence

Transactions can contain supporting evidence such as:

• Payment receipts
• Bank transfer screenshots
• Chat screenshots
• Transaction confirmations
• Other relevant documents or images

Keeping evidence with a transaction helps preserve the details surrounding the activity and makes it easier to review or verify the transaction later.

Recording Transactions

Tradepal AI provides different ways to record transactions.

Web Application

You can manually record transactions from the Transactions section of the Tradepal AI web application.

The application provides forms that guide you through the information required for the selected transaction type.

WhatsApp AI

Where WhatsApp AI recording is available, you can provide transaction information through WhatsApp.

You can:

• Type the transaction details
• Send an image or screenshot
• Send a voice note

The AI interprets the information, prepares a transaction summary, and allows you to review and confirm it before the transaction is saved.

The detailed recording process is covered in the How to Record Transactions guide.

Transactions and Asset Conversion

Sometimes an asset is exchanged for another asset rather than directly for fiat currency.

For example:

This activity still needs to be represented correctly in your transaction history because the asset you held has changed.

Tradepal AI supports recording applicable conversions so that the resulting asset movement can be properly reflected in your records.

Detailed conversion procedures are covered in a separate guide.

Transactions and Other Tradepal AI Features

Transaction data connects with several areas of Tradepal AI.

Transactions
                              │
          ┌───────────────────┼───────────────────┐
          │                   │                   │
        Assets           Counterparties       Payments
          │                   │                   │
          └───────────────────┼───────────────────┘
                              │
                     Financial Processing
                              │
          ┌───────────────────┼───────────────────┐
          │                   │                   │
         P&L              Analytics           Reporting
          │                   │                   │
          └───────────────────┼───────────────────┘
                              │
                       AI & Other Features

Your transactions can therefore provide the information needed for financial calculations, analytics, reporting, reconciliation, and AI-powered questions.

Transactions Are Records, Not Execution

An important distinction is that Tradepal AI records financial activities; it does not execute them simply because they are recorded.

For example, if you buy USDT from a client and make the payment yourself, you can record that purchase on Tradepal AI.

Recording the purchase does not cause Tradepal AI to:

• Send your bank payment
• Transfer cryptocurrency
• Place an exchange order
• Execute a trade
• Contact the counterparty

Tradepal AI records and manages the information about the activity.

Keeping Transactions Accurate

Because transaction information is used by several Tradepal AI features, accurate records are important.

Before saving a transaction, make sure that details such as the following are correct:

• Transaction type
• Date
• Asset
• Quantity
• Currency
• Rate
• Counterparty
• Payment information
• Fees

For example, recording the wrong quantity or rate can affect calculations that depend on that transaction.

Complete and accurate transaction records help Tradepal AI provide more reliable financial information.

Transaction Lifecycle

A transaction generally follows this process:

Activity Happens → Record Transaction → Review → Save → Process → Use in Financial Features

The activity first takes place. You then record it on Tradepal AI and review the information before saving it.

After it is saved, the transaction becomes part of your transaction history and can be used by applicable Tradepal AI features.