If you keep the hotel's books in a general accounting system, almost everything you use has a place in Containn. The core difference is one: the revenue póliza (Mexican journal entry) is no longer entered from a hotel report; it is created by each signed day.
Where everything is
All paths are under the Containn menu, except My Team. The Containn screens are in Spanish, so each one is shown with its English meaning.
| In a general accounting system | In Containn |
|---|---|
| Chart of accounts with SAT grouping codes | Configuración → Catálogo de cuentas (chart of accounts) |
| Revenue entry keyed from the hotel report | Created by each signed day; you see it in Pólizas |
| General journal entries, adjustments and accruals | Pólizas → Capturar póliza (enter a póliza) |
| Opening balances | An opening entry in Pólizas → Capturar póliza |
| Account ledgers | Balanza de comprobación → click the account |
| Trial balance | Balanza de comprobación, month or year to date |
| Financial statements | Estados financieros: income statement and balance sheet |
| Month-end close and period lock | Cierre de mes (month-end close) |
| Year-end close and retained earnings transfer | Cierre de mes → Ejercicio (fiscal year) |
| Vendors and accounts payable | Cuentas por pagar (accounts payable) |
| Payroll entry | Nómina (payroll) |
| Fixed assets and depreciation | Activos fijos (fixed assets) |
| Bank reconciliation | Bancos (banks) |
| Electronic accounting (SAT) | Entrega al SAT (SAT filing) |
| Users and roles | Settings → My Team, Containn section |
How to start
- The chart of accounts. Load the base chart and adapt it to yours: numbers and names can be changed, and Nueva cuenta (new account) adds what is missing. The SAT grouping code is required.
- The concepts. In Settings → Accounting concepts, use the same codes your books already know.
- Opening balances. Enter an opening entry with Pólizas → Capturar póliza, dated on your start date. It must balance to the cent or it is not saved (manual pólizas).
- From the first signed day on, stop entering the revenue póliza: it is already in the books.
What you will not find
- Payroll calculation. Containn records the payroll your provider gives you; it does not calculate ISR (income tax withholding), IMSS or INFONAVIT (social security and housing contributions), and it does not issue payroll CFDI.
- Reading vendor XML. The invoice is entered by hand; its fiscal folio (UUID) is recorded, and the same invoice cannot be registered twice.
- Bank connection. Movements are pasted from the bank statement: date, description and amount.
- Sealing and submitting to the SAT. Files come out unsealed: you sign them with the hotel's e.firma (advanced electronic signature) and upload them through the Buzón Tributario, the SAT's online tax mailbox.
- Spreadsheet export. Pólizas, the trial balance and the statements are viewed on screen; the files Containn produces are the Anexo 24 XML files.
- Group consolidation. Each legal entity keeps its own books, and today they are not consolidated.
Each limit has its reason and its place on the roadmap. If your hotel needs one of them today, it is better to know before you start: read What Containn does not do and Electronic accounting.
Related articles
What Containn does NOT do, and whyToday's limits, stated plainly: no sealing or submitting to the SAT, no tax returns, no payroll calculation, no supplier XML import, no bank feed.Manual pólizasHow to capture an opening, adjustment, accrual or reclassification póliza, and the rules checked before it is saved.The base chart of accounts for Mexico, account by accountThe 36 accounts Containn loads in one step, with their SAT grouping code and normal balance, and what your accountant still needs to add.Electronic accounting: what you file and whenWhich Anexo 24 files the SAT requires, the deadlines, which ones Containn produces, and who signs and submits them.