Banana Accounting Plus Cash Manager is a completely free application. Just a few simple steps are enough to create your file.

Create your file

• Open the template with the Banana Accounting Plus WebApp
• With the File > File Properties command, set the period, the name of your association, and the base currency (you can do the budget and accounting in any currency).
• With the File > Save As command, save the file. It is useful to include the name of the association and the year in the file name. For example: "Association-20xx.ac2".

WARNING: if you close your browser without saving, you will lose the entered data. Always save the file on your computer.

You can find all the information in our Documentation, especially on the following pages:

• Video tutorial
• Getting Started with the Cash Manager
• Transactions
• Create a budget
• Printouts

The template, while simple and essential in structure, allows you to manage your accounting professionally.

• You can customize the accounts and categories at any time to suit your specific needs.
• The Accounts and Categories tables provide an immediate view of the balances for each account and category, allowing you to maintain full control over your financial situation.
• By setting up the members and donors list, you can issue invoices with the added benefit that they are automatically recorded in the accounting.
• You can speed up the entry of transactions by importing banking data and using Rules: for each imported transaction, you enter a keyword (Rule) that completes all the other elements of the transaction (counterpart, cost center, etc.); in future imports, the program will automatically complete the data whenever it finds the keyword, significantly reducing work time and minimizing errors.

Some features require a subscription to the Advanced plan of Banana Accounting Plus, such as using the new Rules, Filter and Temporary Row Sorting functions. See all features of the Advanced plan.

Create your file

• Open the template with Banana Accounting Plus WebApp
• With the File > File properties command, set the period, the name of your organization and the base currency.
• With the File > Save As command, save the file. It is helpful to include the association name and year in the file name. For example "Association...-20xx.ac2".

WARNING: if you close the browser without saving, you will lose the entered data. Always save the file on your computer.

In our Documentation you will find all the information on the various topics:

• Video tutorial
• Income and expenses
• Members list
• Donation certificate
• QR invoices to members
• Letters to members / mail merge
• Project management

Tutorial created based on the information available on the site www.swissaccounting.ch (formerly www.veb.ch). The chart of accounts is structured according to the system developed by Herbert Mattle and Dieter Pfaff.
More information:

• Swissaccounting.ch (German) - PDF document and useful information for efficiently managing finances and accounting, complying with legal and insurance regulations.
• Kmu.admin.ch - Useful information for establishing an association

Set up your file

• Create a new file starting from this template (Template ID  +10940), using one of the methods explained.
• From the File > File properties menu, set the period and the company name.
• From the File > Save As menu, save the file. It's useful to include the association's name and year in the file name. For example, "Association XX-2025.ac2".

See also Organising accounting files locally, on a network, and in the cloud.

Accounts Table

In the Accounts table of this tutorial, you will find the balance sheet and income statement accounts already set up. To get intermediate totals and more detailed views, the main groups are divided into various subgroups. You can fully customize the chart of accounts according to your needs.

The Balance Sheet accounts are divided into groups and subgroups: Current Assets, Fixed Assets, Total Assets; Short-term Liabilities, Long-term Liabilities, Funds, and Equity. The Income Statement is in a stepped format. Cost and profit centers are available to manage members and projects, as well as segments to manage different activity sectors.

Assets

Assets are divided into the following main groups:

• Current Assets
• Fixed Assets

Liabilities

Liabilities are divided into three main groups:

• Short-term liabilities
• Long-term liabilities
• Equity

In the Accounts table, in the Opening column, enter the opening balance for each account.
When moving to the new year, the opening balance is carried over automatically from the menu Actions > Create New Year.

After each entry, the columns of the Accounts table are immediately updated, giving you a clear and immediate view of the financial situation.

Income Statement

The income statement is divided into Revenues and Costs with the following subgroups:

Revenues

• Membership fees
• Revenue from contributions
• Revenue from activities and services
• Other revenue

Costs

• Costs for activities and services
• Personnel costs
• Administrative costs
• Depreciation and value adjustments
• Financial costs and revenues
• Direct taxes

Other Elements of the Chart of Accounts

At the end of the chart of accounts, profit centers are set up to provide detailed information for the following groups:

• List of members, managed with CC3 (;) - Allows you to view details for each member, as well as print subscriptions and donation certificates.
• Projects, managed with CC1 (.) - To view details for each project.
• Activity sectors, managed with Segments - To know which sector was most successful and generated more profit.

Plan Liquidity

Liquidity is the main pillar of the Association: it allows activities to be carried out to achieve the set goals, to forecast in advance how much liquidity will be available while minimizing risks, and to constantly check whether the budget approved by the general meeting is being followed.

Banana Accounting Plus gives you the ability to create both liquidity planning and the economic budget.

Discover the various Forecasting features in our Documentation:

• Budget and Forecasts
• Financial Planning Template

Enter Budget Transactions

You enter the budget in the Budget table, using the double-entry accounting method. You use the same chart of accounts already available for general accounting. You simply start recording the transactions that usually occur each month, entering only one record. You should also include operations that happen once a year or repeat quarterly. The table includes the Repeat column, which, based on the period option you enter, allows the program to automatically calculate the total with all details.

When entering transactions, record the accounts in Debit and Credit as if you were entering actual accounting data. This way, by using all accounts available in the chart of accounts, you will have all movements for liquidity, other balance sheet accounts, and the income statement.

For revenues, it is more difficult to make forecasts. We recommend entering the amounts based on revenues from the same period of the previous year, evaluating upcoming events or focusing on other special events, such as the purchase of new equipment or other investments.

Always record in the Budget table, using the accounts from the income statement and liquidity accounts.

Budget Account Card

If you enter your Budget, you can view all data grouped by each cost or revenue item in the respective cards, just like with actual recorded data.

This way, you can see all details of each account card or group and constantly check whether the budgeted data matches the recorded data, thanks to the graph that provides an immediate visual for comparisons.

To activate one or more Budget account cards, proceed as follows:

• Menu Report > Account cards > activate Budget entries.

Financial Planning Balance Sheet

Once you've completed your forecast entries, by viewing the balance sheet and income statement, you can see the impact on liquidity. You can always go back to the Budget table and change the amounts where necessary.

Cash flow planning is a very effective and successful strategy that allows you to make more prudent decisions regarding the association’s activities.

To view the financial planning balance sheet, click:

Menu Report > Enhanced balance sheet with groups > in the Columns section, activate Budget in the balance sheet.

Forecast of Costs and Revenues

In the income statement, you can assess the impact of your forecast on costs and revenues and understand if the forecasted revenues will be sufficient to cover the costs.

To view the financial planning balance sheet, click:

Menu Report > Enhanced balance sheet with groups > in the Columns section, activate Budget in the Income Statement.

Record Actual Transactions

In the Transactions table, enter all daily movements. If you want to speed up the entry process, we recommend using Banana’s various features:

• The Data entry with autocomplete function automatically recalls previously entered data.
• The Recurring Transactions function (under the Actions menu) lets you save repetitive entries in a dedicated table.
• Importing data from bank statements automatically retrieves all bank transactions.
• You can link each transaction to its related digital document, and with a single click view the document.
  See also Accounting file and digital receipts to better organize your documents.
• Use the Sort rows by date command to sort rows in chronological order.
• Use the Print/Preview command to print or export the journal in PDF format.

 Enhanced Balance Sheet

To view the Balance Sheet, click on the Report menu and then the Enhanced Balance Sheet or Enhanced Balance Sheet with groups command. You can customize the statement with the columns you wish to display, such as also including the budget column or balance sheet by period.

• The Enhanced Balance Sheet shows all accounts without any subgroups.
• The Enhanced Balance Sheet with groups displays all accounts including the subgroups.

Check Balances Against Budget

When the actual data has been recorded, you can view the Balance Sheet and Income Statement and compare them with the budget. Monitoring the comparison is an excellent way to check whether everything is proceeding as planned or if you need to adjust some amounts to better match the accounting values and avoid compromising future forecasts.

To obtain the balance sheet with actual and budgeted comparisons, click:

Menu Report > Enhanced balance sheet with groups > in the Columns section, activate Current, Budget, and Difference for both the Balance Sheet and the Income Statement.

Chart of accounts structured with groups and subgroups. Swiss VAT codes are already set up to automatically generate a sample VAT return and the XML file for electronic submission of VAT data on the FTA’s online platform (available only with the Advanced plan). Member and project management using cost centers.

The chart of accounts has a stepped format that allows you to see the composition of the operating result even at intermediate stages.

• You can customize the accounts to suit your specific needs.
• By setting up the member list, you can issue invoices for subscription fees, with the advantage of having them automatically recorded in the accounting.
• The VAT Codes table is updated with the new 2024 VAT rates.
• To speed up data entry, you can import banking transactions using Rules: for each imported transaction, enter a keyword (Rule) to automatically complete the other elements of the transaction (counter account, VAT code, cost center...); in future imports, the program will automatically complete the transaction every time it finds that keyword, significantly reducing workload and minimizing errors.

Many automation features, such as importing banking data using Rules, the sample VAT Form with the new 2024 rates, the XML file for electronic VAT submission, filters, and many others, are included exclusively in the Banana Accounting Plus Advanced plan.

Create your file

• Open the template with the Banana Accounting Plus WebApp
• Use the File > File Properties command to set the period, your organisation’s name, and base currency (you can do budgeting and accounting in any currency you choose).
• Use the File > Save As command to save the file. It is useful to include the organisation name and year in the filename. For example: "Association...-20xx.ac2".

WARNING: if you close the browser without saving, you will lose any data entered. Always save the file to your computer.

In our Documentation you’ll find all the information and insights to manage your accounting effectively:

• Chart of Accounts
• Managing Projects
• Donation Certificate
• Letters to Members / Mail Merge
• Budget
• VAT Management
• Invoicing
• Printouts
• Year-End Closing and New Year
• External Report

Manage members, projects, and activities using cost centers and segments. Automated member subscriptions and donation certificates.

In our Documentation you’ll find all the information and insights to manage your accounting efficiently:

• Getting Started Video
• Chart of Accounts
• Managing Projects
• Donation Certificate
• Letters to Members / Mail Merge

Chart of accounts with a very simple structure of groups and subgroups. Swiss VAT codes are already set up to automatically generate a sample VAT report and the XML file for electronic VAT data submission to the FTA’s online platform (Advanced plan only).

All the settings and features you need for:

• Creating and printing invoices with Swiss QR code
• Importing data from bank statements
• Setting up Rules to save and automate the completion of transactions imported from bank statements.
• Managing VAT according to the new VAT rates
• Managing cost centers, customizable to suit your needs to get detailed insights into specific accounts.
• Creating budgets and financial forecasts
• Printing all the reports you need: Balance Sheets, Journal, Account Cards, VAT Reports, Open Invoices and much more.

For managing VAT with the new rates, you can find detailed information on the VAT Management page.

Some features require a subscription to the Banana Accounting Plus Advanced plan, such as generating the sample or XML VAT Report, using new features like Rules, Filter and Temporary Row Sorting. See all Advanced plan features.

Create your file

• Open the template with the Banana Accounting Plus WebApp
• From the menu File > File Properties set the period, your company name, and base currency in any currency you want.
• From the menu File > Save As, save the file. It’s useful to include your company name and year in the file name. For example: "Rossi-SA-20xx.ac2".
• In the Exchange Rates table, set up foreign currencies always in reference to the base currency. Opening exchange rates are set only the first time Banana Accounting is used. At the new year transition, these are automatically carried forward using the closing exchange rates as of 31.12.

WARNING: If you close the browser without saving, you will lose any entered data. Always save the file to your computer.

To reopen the saved file, click on File > Open.

In our Documentation you’ll find all the information and insights you need to manage your accounting effectively:

• Getting Started Video
• Non-profit Tutorial
• Multi-currency
• Accounting for Non-profits
• Chart of Accounts
• Managing Projects
• Donation Certificate
• Member List
• Letters to Members / Mail Merge
• Budget
• VAT Management
• Invoicing
• Printouts
• Year-End Closing and New Year