Docs
Task guides for owners, and the ledger detail for accountants.
Start here
Set up your first business book
One book is one business. Add where your money lives, then type in today’s real balances to start.
The 90/10 method: less typing, true profit
Log only the big sales and costs. Check your real balances once a month. NapkinLedger fills the small gap.
Your 5-minute month-end routine
Three steps once a month: log big items, check real balances, read your profit.
Recording transactions
Log a sale that is fully paid
Money already in hand. Record the sale with nothing left to collect.
Log a sale on credit (partly paid)
Money comes later. Record the sale now. The rest becomes what the customer owes you.
Log a sale spread over months
Yearly contract or long service: record once. Each month gets its fair share.
Log a purchase you paid in full
Bought and paid now. Record it with nothing left to pay.
Log a purchase on credit (partly paid)
You still owe part. Record now. The rest becomes debt to the vendor.
Log a purchase spread over months
Yearly insurance or prepaid rent: record once. Each month takes its share.
Log equipment you keep (fixed asset)
Van or machine: record once. Its cost spreads slowly over time.
Record a payment (money moves)
Customer pays you, or you pay a vendor. Close what was already owed.
Add your own money to the business
Your own cash in is a contribution, not sales and not profit.
Take your own money out
Your own withdrawal is a drawing, not a cost.
Check your real balances at month-end
Type what each account really holds. That one step locks your profit.
Pending docs do the remembering for you
Add to pending docs and NapkinLedger refills repeating work and late payments.
Fix anything from History
One timeline for all entries. Open any item, fix it, everything recalculates.
Reading your reports
Understand your Home screen
Five boxes that answer: cash, profit, worth, who owes you, who you owe.
Read your income (profit and loss)
Sales minus costs for the month. Plus a 12-month trend chart.
Read your balance sheet (photo of business)
What you own minus what you owe. Three blocks, top to bottom.
Ledger and Trial Balance (for checking)
The raw journal behind every number, and the totals that must match.
For accountants
How accounts work (for accountants)
13 fixed types, 7 locked system accounts, debit-positive books.
What each form really posts
Simple examples of the zero-sum lines behind each button.
Give your books to your accountant
Four reports to send, two sentences to explain, one folder of paper.