Welcome. This page walks you from an empty account to real books you can trust: a company, a chart of accounts, your bank activity flowing in, and your first report. Most people finish in under an hour. You can print this page and keep it beside you.
1. Create your company
From the dashboard, add your first company. You will give it:
- A short code (a few letters you will see in lists, like SUNRISE).
- The legal name (Sunrise Realty, Inc). This is the name that appears on invoices and reports.
- The state and timezone it operates in.
Nothing else is required to start. You can add the tax ID and the rest of the profile later in Settings.
2. Choose your chart of accounts
When you open the books for the first time, kBooks offers you a starting chart of accounts:
- A trade template (retail, restaurant, rental property, professional services and more) gives you a sensible, complete chart for that kind of business. Pick this if you are starting fresh.
- Just the essentials creates only the handful of accounts the books cannot work without. Pick this if you plan to import your own chart from your previous system, so the two never collide.
You can rename, add, deactivate and reorganize accounts at any time under Chart of Accounts, so this choice is a starting point, not a commitment.
3. Bring in your bank activity
Open Banking. You have two ways to get real transactions in, and you can use both:
- Connect your bank so new activity arrives on its own. The Connections page walks you through linking your bank credentials once; after that, a pull brings in every account the connection covers.
- Upload a statement (PDF or CSV) from your bank's website. The statement reader works out the columns and dates by itself and shows you what it found before anything is saved.
Either way, nothing touches your books yet. New lines wait in For review.
4. Categorize your first lines
Each line in For review needs an answer to one question: what was this?
- Pick the category (the expense or income account) and, if you use them, the class and the payee. One click adds it to the books.
- When kBooks recognizes a line (a match to an invoice, a bill, or a pattern you have taught it), it suggests the answer and you just confirm.
- Create a rule for anything that repeats ("anything containing CITY WATER goes to Utilities"), and future lines categorize themselves.
Do ten lines and you will have the rhythm. The Categorized and Matched tabs show everything you have already handled, so nothing is ever lost.
5. Read your first report
Open Reports and run the Profit and Loss. Every number drills down: click it to see the exact transactions behind it. If something is in the wrong category, fix it right from the drill and the report updates.
Where to go next
- Bringing history from another system? Read Import from QuickBooks.
- Sending invoices? Read Invoices and getting paid.
- Managing rentals? Read Property Books and rent.
- Adding your team or your accountant? Read People and access.
You can explore safely. Almost everything in kBooks can be edited or voided with a full history of who changed what, and your data is yours: a complete backup is one click away under your plan page.