How to use

Who it is for

Solo Accounting keeps the books for a small business run by one or two people who are not accountants. It is a good fit when:

• The business is one of these:
  • One owner: a sole proprietor or a one-owner LLC.
  • Two owners: spouses who own it together, or two partners (a partnership or two-member LLC).
  • A small S or C corporation with one or two shareholders.
• Business money moves through a few bank accounts and credit cards, and you get a statement for each one every month.
• Payroll, if you have any, is run by a payroll service (the app records what the service takes out, split into pay and taxes), and you have no inventory to track.
• You count money when it actually comes in or goes out, on a January–December year.
• You use a Windows computer.
• You want tidy books all year and an easy hand-off to your tax preparer.

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Why use it

One pass a month

Telling the app what a statement line was records it and checks it off against the bank at the same moment. You never type a transaction in and then match it up later.

Your statements come straight in

Save the PDF statement from your bank's website and drop it in. Virginia Credit Union business checking and Chase credit card statements are read directly. Other banks' PDFs often work through a general reader, which accepts one only when its numbers add up. If one doesn't, a CSV, OFX, QFX or QBO download from any bank works instead.

It has to add up, to the cent

Before anything is saved, the app checks that the starting balance plus the month's activity equals the ending balance printed on the statement. When it doesn't, it tells you and points at the likely cause.

Nothing is counted twice

A payment from checking to your credit card shows up on both statements. The app matches the two sides, so the payment is recorded once and never looks like an expense.

It learns your categories

Once you have filed a payee under a category, the app suggests it next time. Most lines become one click.

Organized the way your tax form is

Every category is tied to the line of the tax form it belongs on, and in the Transactions export the category rows show their tax line for your preparer.

Reports that are always current

Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet are up to date the moment you record a line, and the Balance Sheet proves it balances with a check line at the bottom.

Easy to fix

Undo, reopen a finished statement, or delete a whole import. Every change is kept in a change history, so nothing is ever silently lost.

Your data stays yours

Your books live on your computer, with automatic backups. Keep the app folder in OneDrive, or add a second backup folder, and the backups are also kept off your computer. No bank passwords, no connection to your bank, no subscription.

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The big picture

Every month follows the same five steps.

1. StatementsDownload last month's statement from each bank and card website.
2. ImportDrop each file on its account's card on Home. The app checks that it adds up.
3. ReviewTell the app what each line was. Choosing records it.
4. FinishWhen nothing is left and the difference is $0.00, finish the statement.
5. ReportsProfit & Loss and Balance Sheet are up to date.

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First-time setup

Setup takes about ten minutes. If you have them, keep the last statements from before your start date nearby. You can also leave starting balances blank (see step 7).

1. Install once. In the Solo Accounting folder, double-click install.cmd. It sets up what the app needs to run (downloading it the first time, if this computer does not have it) and puts a "Solo Accounting" shortcut on your desktop. You do this once per computer.
2. Start the app. Double-click the "Solo Accounting" shortcut on your desktop. Your web browser opens the app. It runs on your computer only.
3. Say who owns the business. Under "Who owns the business?" pick "Just me", "Me and my spouse" or "Me and one partner".
4. Pick how the business is set up for taxes. The choices follow your answer: "Sole proprietor", "One-owner LLC", "Partnership or LLC (Form 1065)", "No corporation election", "S corporation" or "C corporation". Each one has a one-line explanation under it.
5. Name the business and its owners. With two owners, enter each one's share.
6. Pick the start date. Most people start on January 1. If you start later in the year, a "Before you started" step asks for totals for the earlier months from your own records, so the year's reports are complete.
7. Add your accounts. Add every business bank account and credit card you will import statements for, with "+ Add another bank account" and "+ Add another credit card". For each one give its name, the bank or card company, the last 4 digits, and its starting balance: the balance at the end of the day before your start date (for a card, what you owed). For a bank account, that is usually the ending balance of the statement that ends that day. For a card, also give the day of the month its statement closes.

   Leave the starting balance blank if you don't have that statement, or for a credit card whose statement does not end the day before your start date (what you owed on that exact day is on no statement). Your first statement fills it in for you.

8. Corporations only: starting balances. The "Company's starting balances" step asks "Was the company already running before your start date?" If yes, copy the figures from last year's return or your formation papers.
9. Check and create. The last step lists your answers. Click "Create my books". Home opens with one card per account.

Adding an account later

Opened a new card? In Settings, under Accounts, open "Add an account", fill it in and click "Add account". Then click "Set starting balance" for it, or leave it for the first statement to fill in. Its card appears on Home, ready for its first statement.

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The monthly routine

1. Download your statements. From each bank and card website, save last month's statement as a PDF. For a bank whose PDF is not read cleanly, download that statement's dates as a CSV, QFX, OFX or QBO file instead. These files often leave out the ending balance, so keep the statement's ending balance handy: you type it in at step 3.
2. Click "Import" on the account's card on Home, and pick the file. You can also drag the file onto the card. Start with checking.
3. Read the preview. Nothing is saved yet. Look for these:
   • The tie line. It adds the starting balance and the month's activity and compares the result with the statement's own ending balance. A ✓ at the end means it adds up to the cent. For example: Opening $1,000.00 + activity $250.00 = $1,250.00 · Bank balance as of Jan 31, 2026: $1,250.00 ✓ For a card it reads "You owe" instead of "Bank balance".
   • Rows read. For a PDF, a line such as 24 transaction rows seen on the pages, 24 read ✓ means every row on the paper was read.
   • A file without a balance (common with CSV, OFX, QFX and QBO). The tie line ends with "Balance not verified". Type the ending balance printed on the statement next to "Balance from the statement", check the date, and click "Check". The tie line then shows ✓. You can also type it later, at the top of Review.
   • A PDF that doesn't add up. The preview lists the likely causes. If you can't find why, you can tick "Import anyway, unverified" and check every line yourself. Such a statement can only be finished with "Finish (balance not verified)" until its balance ties.
   • First statement for an account. If you left its starting balance blank, the preview works it out from the statement and shows it, marked "will be used". Change it only if you know it is wrong. For a file without balances (many CSV downloads), the preview asks for it instead: type it and click "Use this".
   • A starting balance that doesn't match. If the preview says the statement opens at a different amount than the account's starting balance, fix the starting balance in Settings, under Accounts, and import the file again.
   • A statement that starts before your books. You get two buttons: "Leave out lines before" your start date, or "Move my start date to" the statement's first day. One is marked "(recommended)". If your books start January 1 and a card statement runs from Dec 21 to Jan 20, leave out the December lines: they belong to last year's books.
   • A missing period. If this statement does not start where the last one ended, the preview says which days are missing. Import that statement first, or type the balance at the start of this one and click "Fill the missing period".
   • Wrong account. If the file looks like it belongs to a different account, the preview warns you. Click "Start over", choose the right account in the "Account" list and pick the file again (or go "Back to Home" and use that account's card).
4. Click "Import & Review". A backup is made first, then the Review screen opens with every line of the statement. At the top you see "Remaining" and "Unexplained difference".
5. Record each line. Choosing what a line was records it. Work down the list:
   • Accept suggestions. A line the app recognizes shows its guess in the Category field with a "✓ Accept" button ("✓ Accept match" when it matched something already recorded). The button above the table, such as "Accept 12 suggestions", records them all at once, and one "Undo" takes them all back. A "✓ Accept?" button is a guess: it is never included in the accept-all button, so check it and accept it yourself.
   • Choose a category. Click the Category field ("Choose a category") and pick from the list, or type a few letters to narrow it down.
   • Quick picks. Under the highlighted line, "Quick pick:" shows your most-used categories. Click one or press its number, 1 to 9.
   • Card payments and transfers. Paying the credit card from checking, or moving money between your own accounts, is not an expense. It is under "Move money" in the list, and the suggestion usually reads "Payment to" and your card's name. On a line that looks like a payment, the quick pick 0 picks it. Or type pay or transfer in the Category field.
   • Personal spending and money you put in. A personal purchase on the business card, or money moved between your personal and business accounts, is "Owner money" ("Shareholder money" for a corporation).
   • One line, several categories. Choose "Split…", give each part a category and an amount (or a percentage), and click "Record split" once it says "Adds up ✓". Next month the app offers the same split.
   • Not sure? Choose "Ask my accountant" and keep going. Clear these with your accountant before the year is done.
   • Exclude, rarely. "Exclude…" is only for a bank duplicate or reversal, or a row that is not a real transaction (such as a pending item). Never exclude personal spending: that is Owner money.

   Each line also has a ⋯ menu with Split, Exclude, Ask my accountant, Owner money and a note. Need a break? "Save and come back later" keeps everything you have done.

6. Click "Finish statement". When "Remaining" is 0 and "Unexplained difference" reads "$0.00 ✓", click "Finish statement". The statement is marked reconciled, a backup is written, and its lines are frozen until you reopen it.

   If the ending balance was never typed in, "Unexplained difference" reads "Balance not verified" and the button reads "Finish (balance not verified)": the statement is finished but not proven. Type the balance there later, and once it ties the statement is reconciled.

7. Do the credit card next. Import the card statement the same way. The payment you recorded from checking shows "✓ Accept match" on the card's payment line. Accept it: it is the same money, recorded once.
8. Check Home. Each account card shows "Reconciled through" the statement's last day. "To do" lists anything that still needs you. Once every account is finished through the end of a month, "How the year is going" shows that month's income, expenses and profit.

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Things not on a statement

Some business money never touches a business account. Record it with "Add manual entry" on Home or Transactions. Most months need none, or just one or two.

Mileage, home-office and receipt tracking are not in the app yet. Keep your own log of those for your preparer.

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Reading your reports

Open the Reports tab. Click a category or account name to see the transactions behind it. "Print" prints the report and "Export CSV" saves it for a spreadsheet.

"Profit & Loss": what you earned and spent

Pick a period, such as "This month", "This year" or "Last year". Income is at the top, expenses below, and the bottom line is "Net profit", or "Net loss" when you spent more than you earned. Owner money and transfers never appear here, because they are not income or expenses.

While any lines are still in Ask my accountant, the bottom line reads "Net profit before uncategorized items" (or "Net loss before uncategorized items"), followed by "Not yet categorized (Ask my accountant)" and their total.

"Balance Sheet": what the business has, owes, and your stake

Pick a date. The report lists "What the business has" (bank balances, cash, equipment), "What the business owes" (credit cards, loans), and "Owner's stake": what you put in, took out, and the profit the business has made.

The last line is the check line. It proves that what the business has equals what it owes plus your stake. A ✓ means the books balance. They always should; if they ever don't, the report tells you what to do.

Under each bank and card account is a short note such as Per statement $1,250.00 (as of Jan 31) · uncleared -$80.00 (1 item) · book $1,170.00. "Per statement" is what the last statement said, uncleared is what you have recorded that the bank has not shown yet (a check not cashed), and book is the balance in your records.

"Owner's stake": each owner's year

Pick a year to see, for each owner, the starting stake, money put in, money taken out, share of the profit, and the ending stake. A corporation sees "Shareholders' equity" instead.

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Fixing mistakes

Undo the last thing

In Review, click "Undo" (or press Ctrl+Z). An accept-all comes back as one step. Undo works until you finish the statement.

Change a category after the fact

While the statement is open, click "All" above the table (recorded lines are hidden under "Remaining"). Then use the line's ⋯ menu, choose "Un-record this line", and choose again. Or open the Transactions tab, click the transaction, change the category, payee or note, and click "Save". Amounts and dates from the bank never change.

Change a finished statement

In Review, open "More ▾" and choose "Reopen statement…". Make the change, then click "Finish statement" again. Later statements check themselves again.

Wrong file, or the wrong account

In Review, open "More ▾" and choose "Delete this import…". Lines you already recorded are un-recorded first, then the whole statement is removed. Import the right file on the right card. A finished statement has to be reopened first ("Reopen statement…").

See what changed

Settings has a "Change history" of everything, newest first. Each transaction also shows its own history when you open it.

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Backups and your data

• Where your books live. Each business is one file on this computer, in the SoloAccounting folder inside your user folder. It is kept out of OneDrive on purpose: a file that is in use can be damaged while it syncs.
• Automatic backups. Copies are saved to the Backups folder inside the Solo Accounting app folder (Settings, under Backups, shows exactly where): before each import, after you finish a statement, every hour while you work, when you quit, and before an app update. If the app folder is in OneDrive, OneDrive keeps the backups off your computer too. If it is not, set a second backup folder (below).
• Back up by hand. Settings, under Backups: click "Back up now".
• Go back to a backup. Settings lists your backups, newest first. Click "Restore" next to one. Everything entered after that backup is gone from the books, and a safety copy of the current file is saved first.
• A second copy. Put a USB drive, a OneDrive folder or another folder in "Second backup folder" and click "Save folders". Every backup is copied there too.
• Quit. Click "Quit" at the bottom of Home or on Settings. It writes a backup and stops the app. Closing the browser tab does not stop it; it stops by itself after 12 hours of not being used.

If the backup folder cannot be found (for example, it was moved or renamed), backups go to a fallback folder on this computer and Settings tells you so.

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Year-end and taxes

What you can give your preparer today

1. Finish every statement through December. The card statement that runs into January holds December charges, so import it too.
2. Clear Ask my accountant. On the Profit & Loss for "Last year", click "review" next to "Not yet categorized (Ask my accountant)" to see those lines. Decide each one with your accountant and change its category.
3. Print or export the reports. "Profit & Loss" for "Last year" and "Balance Sheet" for "Dec 31 last year", with "Print" or "Export CSV". The Transactions tab has "Export CSV" for every transaction, and the category rows show their tax line.
4. Show the tax lines. Settings, under Categories, shows each category's "Tax line", the line of the tax form it belongs on.

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S and C corporations

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Keyboard shortcuts

The Review screen works with the mouse or entirely from the keyboard. Press ? there for this list, or open "More ▾" and choose "Keyboard help (?)".

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Questions and answers

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Words used in the app

Reconcile

Check your records against the bank's statement until they agree, to the cent. Here, recording each line does it, and a finished statement that ties shows "Reconciled".

Statement line

One row of a bank or card statement: a date, a description and an amount.

Category

What a line was: a kind of income or expense, such as Supplies. Each category is tied to a tax-form line.

Owner money

Money between you and the business that is neither income nor expense. For a corporation: Shareholder money.

Transfer / Move money

Money moving between two of your own business accounts, including paying the business credit card.

Uncleared

Something you recorded yourself that has not shown up on a statement yet, such as a check that has not been cashed.

Starting balance

An account's balance right before your books start (for a card, what you owed). Left blank, the first statement fills it in.

Balance not verified

The app has not been given the statement's ending balance yet, so it cannot prove the statement adds up. Type the balance in Review to prove it.

Check line

The last line of the Balance Sheet: what the business has equals what it owes plus your stake. A ✓ means the books balance.

Ask my accountant

A holding place for lines you are not sure about. It must be empty before the year's numbers go to your preparer.

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