Daily bookkeeping flow

Small amounts done daily beat a big catch-up every few weeks: you still remember what each charge was, errors are easy to spot, and nothing ages unnoticed. This guide is a starting rhythm — adjust it to your business.

Open the company file

Open Solid Accounting and pick your company file from the recent list on the Welcome screen, then sign in. Home shows where things stand. Before the day's work, clear anything waiting for you:

• New bank transactions in Bank Feeds
• Items waiting for approval in the Review Queue (from connected apps set to review first)
• A Cloud Backup warning in the status bar

Money in

Bank feeds. If you've connected bank feeds, open Banking → Bank Feeds. Add the rows Solid Accounting is sure of with Add the sure ones, then work through the rest: match each to what's already in your books (a customer payment against its open invoice) or give it a type and an account (interest, a refund). Save for later keeps a row you need to ask about. Banking → Categorization Rules saves you from assigning the same payee twice. Clear the list every day — matching gets harder as memory fades.

Checks and cash you received. Choose Customers → Receive Payment, pick the customer and the invoices it pays, and deposit it to Undeposited Funds (the default) or straight to the bank account. If you batch, use Banking → Record Deposit at the end of the day so the deposit matches the one on your bank statement.

Sales without invoices (retail, food service). Record the day's total as a deposit to the right income accounts. Your point-of-sale system keeps the per-sale detail; your books need the daily total.

Money out

Bills. When a vendor's invoice arrives, choose Vendors → Bills, enter the vendor, dates, and lines with expense accounts, and attach the PDF or photo. The bill waits in accounts payable until you pay it. For a PDF receipt or invoice, drop it on Import Receipt in the sidebar and the app reads the vendor, dates, and amounts for you to check.

Paying. To pay a bill you entered, use Vendors → Pay Bill so the payment clears the bill. For a one-off payment with no bill, use Banking → Write Check; the check number fills in from your number sequence.

Credit cards. Let the card's bank feed bring charges in daily, then reconcile against the statement at month-end.

Recurring transactions. Rent, subscriptions, and loan payments can post themselves. Templates set to Auto-Post post on schedule; the rest wait for you in Transactions → Recurring Transactions. See Recurring transactions.

Weekly checks

• Receivables — Reports → A/R Aging. Send a reminder at 30 days; call at 60.
• Payables — Reports → A/P Aging. Pay what's due this week in one Pay Bill run.
• Cash — open your checking account from the Chart of Accounts and glance at the running balance.
• Backups — the status bar shows Cloud Backup's state. Fix a warning the day it appears.

End of day

1. Bank Feeds — nothing left unreviewed.
2. Today's entries — Reports → General Ledger for today. Look for odd amounts, wrong accounts, wrong dates.
3. Trial Balance — Reports → Trial Balance. Debits always equal credits; a quick look confirms nothing is stuck.

Then close the app. Everything you've saved stays saved; if a window still has unsaved changes, the app asks before closing it.

When a transaction doesn't fit

For something that isn't an invoice, bill, payment, or check — a correction, a reclassification, an owner contribution — use Transactions → Journal Entry. Write the reason in the memo. Journal entries are the ones you'll most need to explain six months later.

Rhythm by business type

Related: Banking · Accounts Receivable · Accounts Payable · Month-end close