YOUR FIRST STEPS

Getting started

Set up your business once, then use the sales, purchase and payroll workflows to keep its records up to date.

Start with the right business

Your user account can be linked to more than one business. Check the business name shown at the top of the page before entering transactions or changing settings.

Use Create a New Business in Settings for a separate set of books. If someone already created your business in PiggyZen, ask them to invite you instead. The country selected when creating a business determines its base currency; these cannot be changed in Business Settings later.

Prepare the essentials

1. Check your business details, then set up invoice details, your logo and the sales taxes you use.
2. Review the Chart of Accounts. Keep the supplied accounts where they suit your business, and add the bank or cash accounts you need.
3. Add customers, vendors and reusable products and services. You do not need a complete catalogue before starting.

Moving from another system

Agree a starting date with your accountant and decide which historical transactions or opening balances to bring across. Avoid importing old transactions as well as opening balances that already include them.

Import & Data covers customer lists, income, expenses and balanced journals. A journal import updates ledger accounts; it does not create customer invoices, vendor bills or their individual balances. Plan those records separately with your accountant.

Choose the workflow that matches the transaction

• Sales: use quotations and invoices for documents created in PiggyZen, or Other Income for sales recorded elsewhere. Record money received against an existing customer balance as a payment, so the sale is not counted twice.
• Purchases: use bills for purchases you will pay later, and cash expenses for purchases already paid.
• Staff: Payroll records employee pay, deductions and payments. Your accountant still handles tax calculations and submissions.
• Other movements: Financial Transactions covers investments, transfers, loans and assets.

A useful routine

Keep source documents, check dates and accounts, and review your bank statement against recorded entries. Use reports to review the results. When the records for a period are complete, agree with your accountant whether to close and lock it.

The Dashboard gives a quick sales overview. Detailed reports let you choose the dates and accounts you need. Some features are unavailable in the Free edition; PiggyZen displays a message when a feature requires an upgrade.