Banana Accounting is a complete and professional accounting software that complements the solution you already use, while providing a more structured accounting alternative to Excel for special cases. It gives you the flexibility to handle specific needs and offer services that go beyond traditional bookkeeping.

It also includes advanced and specialised features that many other programs do not offer, helping you turn your accounting expertise into new opportunities for your practice.

What can you do with Banana Accounting?

• Manage specialised accounting - From everyday simple bookkeeping to investment accounting, trusts, financial forecasting and special assignments.
• Work across jurisdictions - Multilingual, multi-currency and shadow accounting.
• Handle year-end closing - Trial balances, closing adjustments and financial statement reclassification.

The modern accountant: creating value beyond accounting

The role of the accountant has evolved. Accounting and tax compliance remain essential, but digitalisation, cloud solutions and AI are making many operational tasks faster and increasingly accessible to clients themselves.

As clients take care of more of their day-to-day bookkeeping, the accountant's expertise becomes valuable in new ways: reviewing their work, interpreting financial data, anticipating problems and helping them make better decisions.

By spending less time on repetitive tasks, accountants can manage more clients while focusing their expertise on higher-value advisory and specialised services, from financial analysis and planning to more sophisticated assignments for businesses and private clients with complex needs.

Today's accountant is becoming an increasingly versatile professional: what we call the "poliedrico" accountant. The Italian word poliedrico literally means “having many faces” and, figuratively, describes someone with multiple abilities, skills and talents.

The timeless value of versatility

The idea has deep roots in the history of accounting. During the Renaissance, Luca Pacioli, often regarded as the father of modern accounting, was a mathematician and teacher with a deep understanding of commerce. In 1494 he published the Summa de Arithmetica, which included the first printed description of the double-entry bookkeeping system used by Venetian merchants. His work helped spread accounting knowledge that was fundamental to merchants and the development of business.

Another remarkable example of Renaissance versatility was Leonardo da Vinci, who combined art, science, engineering and invention. Pacioli and Leonardo were friends and collaborators, reflecting a culture in which different disciplines and skills were closely interconnected.

We see a parallel with the profession today. Accounting is not simply about recording transactions: it provides the information needed to understand economic activity, make decisions and support businesses. The modern "poliedrico" accountant builds on this foundation, combining accounting expertise, technology, analysis, business understanding and advisory skills to create value for clients with very different needs.

Banana Accounting is designed to support this versatile approach to accounting, giving professionals the flexibility to adapt to different clients.

Add flexibility to the software you already use

You don't need to replace your existing accounting or management system. Banana Accounting works alongside it whenever you need more flexibility, customisation or specialised functionality.

Its table-based approach combines the freedom of a spreadsheet with the controls and logic of professional accounting software. You can adapt the chart of accounts, settings and structure to each assignment, start from ready-to-use templates and customise them to the specific needs of each client.

With a single Banana Accounting subscription, you can also create and manage an unlimited number of accounting files, with no additional cost for each new client, company or assignment.

This gives you the freedom to take on very different types of work and develop specialised services that strengthen your expertise and your relationship with your clients.

• Explore all Banana Accounting features for accounting experts

Manage accounting for clients and specialised assignments

With Banana Accounting you can manage complete accounts for clients, organisations and specialised assignments. Its flexible and customisable structure makes it suitable for both simple accounting needs and more advanced or specialised accounting work.

Ready-to-use templates provide a starting point and can be customised to each client's requirements with relatively little effort.

Cash Manager and simple accounting

Manage cash books (Cash Manager) and simple accounts for individuals, self-employed professionals, and other clients with straightforward accounting needs. Banana Accounting provides an easy and structured way to record income and expenses (Income & Expenses accounting), in order to have the cash situation under control, keep balances up to date, and generate clear, up-to-date accounting reports.

For these simpler accounts, you can also let your clients handle their day-to-day bookkeeping while you provide professional oversight, review their accounts, and step in whenever your expertise is needed.

Accounting for associations and foundations

Manage associations, foundations, and other non-profit organisations whose specific needs do not always fit accounting software designed primarily for businesses. Banana's flexible approach makes it easy to customise the chart of accounts, manage different activities and funds, and keep income and expenses under control.

You can also recommend Banana Accounting to associations who prefer to manage their day-to-day accounting themselves, while you remain their professional advisor and provide oversight when needed. Thanks to its simplicity and flexible structure, associations can work independently while still benefiting from your expertise.

Investment accounting

The number of companies and individuals with increasingly large and complex investment portfolios is growing, creating a greater need for tools that enable investments to be managed professionally and efficiently.

Help private clients, foundations and organisations gain a clear overview of their financial investments. With Banana Investment Accounting, you can manage shares, bonds, funds, and other financial instruments in multiple currencies, as a full accounting solution or as a sub-ledger of an existing accounting solution.

• You always know the quantity and book value of your investments.
• The program automatically calculates gains and losses on sales transactions.

"I oversee several foundations and had to manage investment portfolios with Excel. Every update required time, manual checks, and continuous verification. With Banana Accounting I integrated investment portfolio management and now work faster, with a clear overview of investments." - anonymous user

Trust accounting

Banana Accounting allows you to manage all key aspects of a trust's accounting in one place: assets and investments, income and expenses, capital and reserves, beneficiary accounts and distributions, while keeping income and capital transactions clearly separated.

You always have an up-to-date balance sheet and income statement, and can customize the chart of accounts to reflect the specific structure and requirements of each trust.

Dynamic financial forecasting

Banana's financial forecasting is based on double-entry accounting logic. Create detailed forecasts for liquidity, balance sheet and profit and loss, develop different scenarios and continuously compare forecasts with actual figures. Give entrepreneurs and organisations a clearer basis for decisions about investments, financing and future cash requirements.

Liquidity management and cash flow analysis

Give your clients an up-to-date view of their liquidity and cash flows, helping them understand where their money comes from, where it goes and how their financial position is evolving.

With Banana's Rules for the automatic completion of imported transactions, you can quickly update the accounts with the latest bank transactions and provide cash flow analysis based on data that is current up to the previous day, turning liquidity monitoring into a valuable ongoing advisory service.

Forensic accounting and accounting reconstruction

One-time accounting work and special situations require the freedom to work directly with the data and adapt the accounting structure to the specific case.

Banana's transparent table-based approach makes it particularly suitable for reconstructing incomplete accounts, analysing transactions, identifying inconsistencies and cleaning up accounting data. It provides accountants and auditors with a professional alternative to complex Excel spreadsheets for unusual or investigative cases.

Other professional uses

Banana Accounting can also be used for other accounting activities and specialised needs, including:

• Management accounting and Shadow accounting
• Real estate accounting
• Business Unit Accounting
• Federated accounting
• Accounting training in companies
• Consolidation of independent accounts
• Verification, Auditing, and Accounting controls

Accounting across multiple jurisdictions

International customers often operate across countries and need their accounting to meet different requirements. Banana Accounting provides a flexible solution for managing accounting across multiple jurisdictions, thanks to its international capabilities:

• Multilingual software and accounting:
  you can use the software in different languages (English, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Dutch), work with charts of accounts and reports in different languages.
• Multi-currency accounting:
  manage transactions and accounts in multiple currencies within the same accounting file, with exchange rates and currency differences handled directly in the accounting system.

For example, a U.S. company operating near the Mexican border may keep its primary accounting in the United States while also needing accounting information for its activities in Mexico. In this situation, Banana can be used for shadow accounting (parallel accounting), providing a separate accounting view adapted to specific Mexican requirements without changing the main accounting system.

Trial balance and year-end closing

Use Banana Accounting as a flexible software for trial balance and year-end closing, even when the client's day-to-day accounting is managed in another system or ERP.

For example, you can import accounting data from SAP or another ERP into Banana and perform adjustments and closing entries, as well as reclassify accounts and prepare financial statements in the required presentation format, in a more flexible and efficient environment.

With the Trial Balance extension of Banana Accounting, you can clearly separate the effect of closing transactions from the original accounting data. For each account, the report shows the unadjusted balance, adjustments, and adjusted balance side by side, making it easier to review the closing process and understand how each adjustment affects the final accounts.

Why Banana instead of Excel?

When traditional accounting software cannot handle a particular case, Excel is often the natural fallback. It offers flexibility, but formulas must be created and maintained, accounting consistency is not guaranteed and errors can be difficult to detect.

Banana retains the freedom of working in tables while adding accounting intelligence:

• automatic accounting controls
• reliable calculations without complex formulas
• transparent and traceable data
• easy filtering, copying and editing
• professional reports
• files that can be understood and worked on by others

You remain free to work with the data without giving up the safeguards of professional accounting software.

Powerful automation, under your control

With the Rules for the automatic completion of imported transactions, you define exactly how transactions should be completed and recorded. Rules can combine multiple conditions and transaction details.

Unlike AI-based systems, which make probabilistic suggestions, Banana's rules are deterministic: when the conditions you define are met, the software applies exactly the accounting treatment you have specified.

You get a high level of automation while remaining fully in control. You decide what should be automated, under which conditions, and exactly how each transaction should be recorded. Before applying the rules, Banana shows you a preview of the results for your review and approval. Nothing is applied until you confirm.

Your clients' data remains under your control

For a professional firm, client data confidentiality is essential. With Banana Accounting, your data remains under your control:

• The software runs locally: you do not need to upload your clients' data to external servers in order to work.
• You decide where files are stored: on your computer, on your firm's server, or in a storage location of your choice.

This allows you to maintain full control over sensitive information and protect your clients' privacy, in accordance with your firm's security policies.

Ready for Artificial Intelligence

Banana Accounting is ready for a future in which Artificial Intelligence will play an increasingly important role in accountants' work. Our approach is to combine AI with Banana's accounting engine and flexible extension system, opening up new possibilities for automation and customisation:

• AI agents working with Banana:
  AI agents will be able to interact with Banana to transform data that you import, automate workflows, and extract information for further analysis. Banana can process the accounting data locally, reducing the need to send sensitive data to external AI models, with benefits for privacy, efficiency, and processing costs.
• AI-generated extensions:
  AI will make it easier to create extensions that automate specific tasks and generate customised reports. Extensions can also adapt Banana to specific industries, workflows, and country requirements.

This is also part of what makes Banana a truly international accounting solution: the core software can be used worldwide, while extensions and AI provide the flexibility to adapt it to local and specialised requirements.

Try Banana Accounting

Discover how Banana Accounting can work alongside the tools you already use and help you expand the services you offer your clients.

The advanced features designed for accounting professionals are included in the Banana Accounting Advanced plan.

Would you like to see how they could fit into your practice? We’ll be happy to provide you, upon request, with a free trial period of the advanced features, so you can explore them with your own accounting needs and workflows.

• Request your free trial

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