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Set Up Bookkeeping in SolaBooks

The first-day setup checklist for SolaBooks. Do these in order — each step builds on the one before. After the last step, you can create your first invoice.

Step 1 — Confirm organization details

  1. Open SolaBooks from your Workspace.
  2. Go to Settings → General Settings (under Organization & General).
  3. Confirm and edit:
    • Legal name — appears on documents.
    • Address — appears on PDF invoices.
    • Contact email and phone — appears in the document footer.
    • Tax registration / VAT number — if applicable.
  4. Save.

Step 2 — Check your base currency

  1. Go to Settings → Currencies (shown on multi-currency plans; on other plans your base currency is set during setup).
  2. Confirm the base currency matches your country. The base currency is fixed and locked after finance setup — get this right before posting anything.
  3. If you bill customers in other currencies, enable those currencies here. Note that this page only controls which currencies are available; conversion uses dated Exchange Rates — see Multi-currency.

Plan availability: multi-currency depends on your subscription. If you don't see Currencies in Settings, your plan may not include it.

Step 3 — Set the fiscal year

  1. Go to Settings → Fiscal Years (under Accounting Periods).
  2. Add a fiscal year:
    • Start date — your fiscal year start (e.g. 2026-01-01).
    • End date — your fiscal year end (e.g. 2026-12-31).
  3. The system generates the periods inside it.

You must have a fiscal year that covers the dates you plan to post to, or postings will be rejected.

Step 4 — Build the chart of accounts

  1. Go to Accounts → Chart of Accounts.
  2. The system seeds a starter list. Review each section:
    • Assets (Bank, Accounts Receivable, Inventory, …)
    • Liabilities (Accounts Payable, VAT Payable, …)
    • Equity (Owner's Equity, Retained Earnings, …)
    • Revenue (Sales Revenue, …)
    • Expenses (Cost of Goods Sold, Salaries, Utilities, …)
  3. For each account, check the Subtype is correct — subtypes drive report grouping.
  4. To add an account, click Add Account and fill in Code, Name, Type, Subtype.
  5. To remove an unwanted starter account, delete it (only possible if no transactions reference it; otherwise archive it).

For posting to work, the system needs default accounts set — Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Sales Revenue, Cost of Goods Sold, Inventory (if you sell stock items), Output and Input VAT (if VAT applies), a default Bank, and Retained Earnings. Confirm them under Settings → Account Defaults.

Step 5 — Set up taxes

If your country requires VAT or sales tax:

  1. Go to Settings → Taxes.
  2. The starter list includes country defaults. For each tax you'll use, confirm the rate, code, and account.
  3. Mark one rate as the default for sales and one for purchases.

If you don't charge VAT, leave taxes off and the tax fields stay out of your way. See Taxes & VAT.

Step 6 — Opening balances

If you are migrating from another system, opening balances let you start with the right values without re-entering history.

  1. Go to Accounts → Chart of Accounts and open Opening Balances.
  2. The fastest route is the Excel template: download it (it comes pre-filled with your real accounts, customers, suppliers, and items), fill in the balances, and import it — the import fills the opening-balances setup for you. You can also enter balances directly on the page, and Export Balances at any time.
  3. Customer and supplier opening balances (unpaid invoices and bills from your old system) are entered in this same setup — there is no separate per-customer or per-supplier entry screen.
  4. Set the opening date — typically the day before your first posting in SolaBooks.

Once posted activity exists on or after the opening date, opening balances lock and the page shows an "Adjustment required" notice — changes then go through an adjustment instead of editing the original. Enter opening balances before you start day-to-day posting.

Step 7 — Set up numbering sequences

  1. Go to Settings → Numbering Sequences (under Documents & Numbering).
  2. For each document type (Invoice, Quote, Bill, …) set:
    • Prefix (e.g. INV-).
    • Starting number (e.g. 1000).
    • Padding (number of digits).
  3. Save.

Once a number has been used, the prefix and padding can still be changed; the next available number cannot be moved backwards.

Step 8 — Optional: PDF templates

If you have a designed letterhead:

  1. Go to Settings → PDF Templates.
  2. Upload your logo, set colours, choose a layout.
  3. Set it as the default.

See PDF templates.

You are ready to bill

After Step 7 (and Step 8 if you customised the template) you can:

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