Set up a new business in 30 minutes

This hands-on walkthrough creates a company file, adjusts the chart of accounts, records a few transactions, and runs your first reports — about half an hour. By the end you'll have a working test company and the muscle memory to set up the real one.

The example business is Acme Consulting LLC, a one-person consulting firm. You need Solid Accounting installed and a license or the free 30-day trial active — any tier works. For the other ways to start (moving from QuickBooks®, catching up old books, restoring a backup), see Your first company.

1. Create the company file (3 min)

1. On the Welcome screen, choose Create New Company. New Company Setup opens.
2. Goal — choose Start a new business.
3. Admin Account — enter a username, display name, and password. This is the Admin sign-in for this company file. Use your password manager.
4. Source — Business chart template (the Service Business chart of accounts).
5. Start Date — the first day you'll record. A new business has no prior balances.
6. Review Plan — enter the company name, Acme Consulting LLC, and check where the company file will be saved. Choose Create company.
7. Save your recovery phrase. The app shows it once. It opens this company file and can reset a forgotten Admin password — write it down and store it like a key.

The company file opens on Home. Set the fiscal year start and other details later under Company → Company Information….

2. Adjust the chart of accounts (5 min)

Open Lists → Chart of Accounts. The Service Business template includes about 30 accounts, for example:

Assets       1010 Checking Account      1100 Accounts Receivable
Liabilities  2000 Accounts Payable      2100 Credit Card
Equity       3000 Owner's Equity        3200 Retained Earnings
Income       4000 Service Revenue       4100 Consulting Revenue
Expenses     5600 Rent                  5700 Software & Subscriptions

Make two changes so Acme can see strategy work separately from implementation work:

1. Add — choose New Account, name it Strategy Revenue, type Income. Save.
2. Rename — open Service Revenue and rename it Implementation Revenue. Save.

3. Add a customer and a service (3 min)

Customer. Open Lists → Contacts and choose New Contact. Type: Customer. Name: Beta Corp, email accounts@beta.example.com, payment terms Net 30. Save.

Service. Open Lists → Items & Services and choose New Item. Type: Service. Name: Strategy Hour, price $300.00, income account Strategy Revenue. Save.

4. Invoice and get paid (6 min)

Invoice. Choose Customers → Invoices and start a new invoice for Beta Corp. The due date fills in from Net 30. Add a line: Strategy Hour, quantity 8. The total is $2,400.00. Save.

Behind the scenes, the invoice is a journal entry:

DR  Accounts Receivable     2,400.00
CR  Strategy Revenue        2,400.00

Payment. Choose Customers → Receive Payment. Received from Beta Corp, change Deposit to from Undeposited Funds to Checking Account, amount $2,400.00, applied to the invoice you just created. Save.

DR  Checking Account        2,400.00
CR  Accounts Receivable     2,400.00

Beta Corp now owes nothing, and Checking is up $2,400.

5. Enter and pay a bill (5 min)

Vendor. In Lists → Contacts, add a contact of type Vendor: Property Management Co., terms Net 15.

Bill. Choose Vendors → Bills and start a new bill for Property Management Co. Line: account Rent, description Office rent, amount $2,000.00. Save.

DR  Rent                    2,000.00
CR  Accounts Payable        2,000.00

Pay it. Choose Vendors → Pay Bill, pay from Checking Account, and select the bill. Save.

DR  Accounts Payable        2,000.00
CR  Checking Account        2,000.00

Checking is now $400: $2,400 in, $2,000 out.

6. Run your first reports (4 min)

Trial Balance — Reports → Trial Balance. Every account with a balance, in a debit or credit column. The two totals are equal ($2,400 each), which means the books balance.

Income Statement — Reports → Income Statement. Strategy Revenue $2,400, Rent $2,000, net income $400.

Balance Sheet — Reports → Balance Sheet. Checking $400 in assets; no liabilities; equity (this year's net income) $400. Assets equal liabilities plus equity.

Click any number on a report to see the transactions behind it.

7. Turn on Cloud Backup (5 min, optional)

Before real money goes in, set up offsite backup:

1. Choose Company → Back Up Company File… and click Turn on backup.
2. Pick Managed by Solid Accounting — encrypted cloud backup included with Updates & Cloud Services.
3. Confirm your password, write down the recovery phrase (12 words; 24 for backups set up before version 26.10), confirm three of the words, and turn it on.

The first backup runs right away. After that, backups run every hour while the app is open and when you close it. See Backing up your books.

What you've learned. The company file holds everything and stays on your computer. Every invoice, payment, and bill is a balanced journal entry underneath. Reports always reflect the current books. Next, try the daily bookkeeping flow, move your QuickBooks books, add users, or read about the month-end close. Unfamiliar term? See the Glossary.