Setup & Configuration

Chart of accounts (multi-level)

The Chart of Accounts is a tree: the company at the top, user-defined groups (headers) in the middle, and postable accounts at the bottom.

• "Postable" accounts take transactions.
• "Groups" (headers) only organise and roll up totals - they aren't postable.

Use "+ Child" to nest an account under a group, and "Manage Levels" to name your tiers (e.g. Division → Department → Account).

Account codes are stored as type-number with a HYPHEN: 1-1020, 6-7400, etc. The screen DISPLAYS them with the company number and dots (1.6.7400) - but always type the hyphen form when creating accounts. (If you do type the dotted form, the app now auto-corrects it.) An account nests under its group by its parent, and sorts within the group by code.

Active accounts filter: by default only active accounts are shown. Tick "Show inactive" (next to the search box) to reveal inactive accounts - they appear dimmed with an "Inactive" badge. To deactivate an account, open it and set Status → Inactive. Inactive accounts are hidden from dropdowns and cannot be posted to.

Tax codes & GST registration

1. Go to Settings → Company and choose your tax regime (Australia GST, NZ GST, UK/EU VAT, US Sales Tax, Canada GST/HST).
2. Go to Settings → Tax Codes and click to seed the standard codes for that regime, or add your own. Rates feed invoice/order line calculations automatically.
3. Still in Settings → Company, set "Registered for GST" or "Not registered" to match your actual registration status:
• Registered: lines default to 10% GST, the BAS report applies, and you issue tax invoices.
• Not registered: lines default to 0% using tax code GST-NR - no GST is charged, but the document is still titled "Tax Invoice" with a GST column showing $0.00 (ATO-compliant). When you register, changing the setting to "Registered" automatically switches new invoice lines to 10% GST. The Health check warns when your rolling 12-month income reaches $75,000 (the registration threshold).

Australian GST tax codes (BAS impact)

• GST - Standard 10% GST on taxable sales and services. Flows to 1A.
• CAP - Capital acquisitions at 10% GST. Flows to G10 (separately from G11).
• FRE - Domestic GST-free sales (fresh food, medical, education, etc.). Flows to G3 on BAS.
• EXP - Export sales (goods/services supplied outside Australia). Flows to G2 on BAS. Use this for exports, not FRE - the ATO requires G2 (exports) and G3 (other GST-free) to be reported separately.
• INP - Input-taxed sales (financial services, residential rent). Flows to G4 on BAS; related purchases go to G13.
• GNR - GST not registered. Use when your business is not registered and issues ordinary invoices (no GST).
• N-T - Not reportable. Internal transactions, bank transfers, and owner drawings that have no GST impact and should not appear on the BAS.

Email (SMTP) - sending invoices & statements

Settings → Email configures your outgoing mail server so the app can email invoices, statements and remittances as PDF.

1. Enter the SMTP host, port, username (usually your full email address), from name and from email.
2. Tick "Implicit TLS (port 465)" for port 465; leave it off for STARTTLS (port 587).
3. Enter the mailbox password (stored encrypted) and click Save, then Send Test.

Tip: the most common failure is the TLS setting not matching the port - port 465 needs "Implicit TLS" ON. If a test fails with "greeting never received", that toggle is usually the cause.

Currencies & exchange rates

Foreign-currency invoices, POs and SOs record the rate and the base-currency equivalent, and FX gain/loss is calculated on payment and revaluation.

Set your base currency (administrator only)

1. Go to Settings → Currencies.
2. Under "Base Currency", pick the currency your accounts and reports are kept in.

Import exchange rates

1. Under "Exchange Rate Import", choose a Rate Provider - Reserve Bank of Australia, Frankfurter (ECB) or open.er-api.com are free and need no account; XE.com needs an Account ID and API key from xe.com/xecurrencydata (administrators enter these once and everyone can then import).
2. Click "Import Rates Now" to fetch live mid-market rates, or "Import from CSV…" to bring in rates from your own file (e.g. your bank's rate export) - you'll map the columns yourself, any layout works.

Note: the RBA provider only publishes rates against AUD - if your base currency isn't AUD, pick a different provider.

Financial periods & locking

Settings → Periods defines your financial years, each with 12 monthly periods. AcctApp defaults to the Australian financial year (1 July – 30 June); change the start month in Settings → Company.

Locking a period

Once you have finalised a month or year:

1. Settings → Periods.
2. Click the lock icon next to the month, or click "Lock Year" for the full year.
3. Any attempt to post, edit, or void a transaction dated in a locked period is rejected immediately with a clear error message.

Why lock periods?

• Prevents accidental back-dating of new transactions into a closed period.
• Protects your BAS position - once a quarter has been lodged, locking ensures nothing can alter that period's figures after the fact.
• Protects year-end figures after the accounts have been signed off by your accountant.

Unlocking a period

If a genuine correction is needed (e.g. a last-minute accountant adjustment):

1. Settings → Periods → unlock the relevant period.
2. Post the correction.
3. Re-lock immediately. Unlocking is an administrator-only action. All lock/unlock events appear in the audit trail.

Period-end workflow

Complete bank reconciliation → post any last-minute journals → run BAS → export reports → lock the period. For year-end, run the year-end close after locking all 12 months (see Period-End → Year-end close & retained earnings).

Users & security cards

Settings → Security Cards define per-section Create/Read/Update/Delete permissions. Settings → Users create users and assign one or more cards - a user's access is the combined total of their cards. The System Administrator card grants full access. Enable 2FA per user for stronger security.

Create a security card

1. Go to Settings → Security Cards.
2. Click "+ New Card", or click "▾ From template" to start from a pre-built role (see below) and adjust it.
3. Tick the permissions you want for each section, then save.

Create a user and assign cards

1. Go to Settings → Users → "+ New User".
2. Enter their name, username, email and password.
3. Under "Security Cards (assign one or more)", tick every card that should apply - their access is the combined total. If no cards appear, create one on the Security Cards tab first.
4. Optionally enable 2FA for this user, then save.

Permission groups

• Accounting - Chart of Accounts, Journals, Bank Reconciliation, Currencies, Periods.
• Sales - Contacts, Quotes, Sales Orders, Invoices, Credit Notes, Commissions, Reminders.
• Purchasing - Purchase Orders, Bills, Payments, Prepayments, Receipt Inbox, Recurring.
• Operations - Stock & Inventory, Production, Fixed Assets, Projects, Expense Claims, Point of Sale.
• Collaboration - Email Client, Calendar, Tasks, CRM Pipeline, Time Tracker, Messages, Blotter.
• Office Suite - Spreadsheeter, Documenter, Presenter.
• Insights - Reports, Cash Flow Forecast, Budgets, Advanced Search.
• Setup & Admin - Data Verification, Tax Codes, Plugins, Users & Security, Settings, Spreadsheeter Database Query.
• Settings Tabs - controls which individual Settings tabs each user can access.
• Granular Controls - fine-grained gates within sections (e.g. void invoices, import bank statements, approve expense claims).

Role templates - use "From template" to pre-fill a card:
Sales Representative, Purchasing Officer, Bank Reconciliation Officer, Bookkeeper, Inventory Manager, Project Manager, Read Only (Auditor), POS Operator, Office Staff.

Backward compatibility - sections and granular controls not configured on a card default to "allowed". Existing cards are unaffected until you explicitly set a value.

Backup & restore (local + cloud)

1. Go to Settings → Backup.
2. Tick "On launch (max once/day)" and/or "On exit" so a timestamped copy of your database is made automatically, or click "Backup Now" to make one immediately.
3. Optionally set up a cloud destination (see below) and/or encryption.

Cloud options:

• Synced folder - point the app at a folder synced by OneDrive (default), Box, Dropbox or Google Drive; the provider uploads it. No logins required.
• Direct upload (rclone) - upload straight to a cloud remote via rclone, with no provider sync client.
• Encryption - optionally AES-256-encrypt the backup with a passphrase before it leaves your machine (keep the passphrase safe - it can't be recovered). A "Restore an encrypted backup" tool decrypts it.

To restore a plain backup: close the app, replace the database (or RESTORE the .bak on SQL Server), and reopen.

Live & Test databases

Settings → Database lets you keep more than one connection - typically "Live" and "Test". Switch with "Use", or open one in its own window with "↗ New window". The active connection shows in the header.

"Copy / Refresh target" clones your Live data into the Test database (on the same SQL Server instance) using a fast backup/restore - handy for practising or training without touching real data. A Test database on the same instance only needs a database name; the server and login are inherited from Live. Use ↻ Refresh if the list ever looks out of date.

Data verification

The Data Verification tool (sidebar → Data Verification) checks the validity of an email (format, common-typo suggestions and a live domain check), an Australian phone number, a postal address (postcode matching the state), an ABN (checksum) and a BSB. Contacts and the Company profile also verify these on save and warn you before you store something that looks wrong.

File attachments

Attach files (PDFs, images, Word/Excel docs) to invoices, contacts, purchase orders and more - look for the Attachments/Files section in each record. Files are copied into a managed storage folder (set it in Settings → Files); the database stores a link to each. You can open, reveal-in-folder, or delete attachments anytime.

Moving storage folders (OneDrive / network drive)

AcctApp stores three types of files locally. All three can be moved to OneDrive, a shared network drive, or any folder you choose - useful for multi-PC setups or cloud backups.

Product Image Storage Folder (Settings → Files)
Stores product and variant photos imported from eBay or uploaded manually, plus contact photos and logos.

• Shows the current folder path.
• Browse to pick a new folder.
• "Move existing images" copies all files to the new location - the app switches immediately.
• Original files remain in the old folder so you can verify before deleting them.

Receipt Inbox Storage Folder (Settings → Files)
Stores photos captured by the mobile receipt scanner (Settings → Mobile Capture).

• Same Browse + Move workflow as Product Images.
• Move to OneDrive so captures from your phone land directly in a shared folder.

Attachment Storage Folder (Settings → Files)
Stores documents attached to invoices, bills, contacts, and other records.

• Same Browse + Move workflow as the others.

After moving, the app uses the new folder immediately - no restart needed. The original files are left in place for manual cleanup.

Migrating from another system

Use the Migration tool to bring master data across from Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks, Zoho Books, Sage, Akaunting, FrontAccounting, Wave, FreshBooks, Reckon or GnuCash.

1. Open the Migration tool (sidebar).
2. Pick your old system under "Source system", and what you're importing under "Data to import" (accounts, customers, suppliers or items).
3. In your old system, export that data to CSV.
4. Click "📂 Choose CSV File" and select the export - the tool maps that system's columns to AcctApp automatically and shows a mapped preview.
5. Check the preview, then click "Import … into [company]".
6. Repeat for each data type (accounts, then customers, suppliers, items).
7. Once the chart of accounts is in, enter opening balances via Settings → Import → Opening Balances Journal.
8. When you're finished migrating, click "Remove migration tool" to hide it from the sidebar.

Licence & activation

Enter your licence key on first run to activate. A free 30-day trial key is available at acctapp.com.au - no credit card required. The licence is perpetual; the app verifies it online periodically and keeps working offline for up to 14 days between checks.

Licence types

• Trial - 30-day free trial. One trial per email address and per device. After expiry, switches to read-only until a licence is purchased.
• Standard - 1 company, 1 set of POS terminals (PC + Tablet + Mobile). Perpetual with optional annual maintenance.
• Professional - 3 companies, 3 sets of POS terminals. Perpetual with optional annual maintenance.
• Enterprise - unlimited companies and POS terminals. Designed for accountants, bookkeepers, and management consultants managing multiple clients. Requires full Microsoft SQL Server (not SQL Server Express) when running more than one company.

Company limit

Standard and Professional licences enforce a company limit. If you reach your limit, AcctApp will prompt you to upgrade. Enterprise licences have no company limit. To upgrade your plan, visit acctapp.com.au.

POS terminal entitlements

Each licence includes a set of POS terminals (PC + Tablet + Mobile) per the plan above. The Terminals tab (Operations → Point of Sale → Terminals) shows current usage against each limit as PC 0/1 · Tablet 0/1 · Mobile 0/1 pills. To add more terminals beyond your plan, contact AcctApp at acctapp.com.au - your limits are updated on the server and take effect immediately after clicking Re-check below.

Maintenance plan

If the maintenance plan lapses, the app warns for 7 days then switches to read-only mode. In read-only mode you can view, print, export, and run reports - but you cannot post new transactions or change data. Renew the maintenance plan at acctapp.com.au to restore full access.

View status and re-check

Settings → Licence shows your licence key, plan type, expiry date, and maintenance expiry. Click "Re-check" to force an immediate online verification.