▶ Video: How to start a Cash Manager (Cash book) file. Learn how to enter and monitor the movements of your money of your cash account.

Creating an accounting file, starting from a template

Here is how to start choosing a template directly from the program:

1. File menu → New command
2. Select the Region, the category and the accounting type (with or without VAT).
3. From the list of the templates that appears, select the template that is closest to your own needs.
4. Click on the Create button.

You can search for a template by entering a keyword in the Search box; the program displays the templates containing the keyword entered.

It is equally possible to start from a blank file, by activating the Create blank file option. In any case, in order to facilitate the start and avoid grouping errors, we recommend that you always start from an existing template

Further information is available on the Create New File page.

Setting up the File properties

Set up your own data from the File and Accounting properties  command and save with your own file name.

Save to disk

Via the File→ Save As command, save the data and also assign a name to the file. The typical save dialog of your operating system is displayed.

• It is advisable to use the name of the company followed by the year  "Company-20xx.ac2" to distinguish it from other accounting files.
• You can keep as many accounting files as you need and each one will have its own name.
• You can choose the path or support you want (save on drive, USB or cloud).
  If you also expect to have documents linked to the current year's accounts, it is suggested that you create a separate directory for each accounting year where all the files are to be grouped. Please also visit the Organizing your files page.

Entering the opening balance of the account

Enter the account you wish to manage in the Accounts table of the Cash Manager and the initial amount in the Opening column. At the start of a new year, using the menu Actions → Create New Year ... command will automatically generate the opening balances to be carried over.
Only one account can be entered: if you need to manage more than one you need to use the Income / Expenses accounting.

Customising the Categories table

In the Categories table, customize the income and expense categories, according to your own needs. It is possible to:

• Change the category numbers
• Change the description
• Add or delete categories
• Add or delete subgroups

All balances of the categories will determine the result of the accounting year (profit or loss) and must therefore not contain any balances at the start of the year.

Add new categories

If new categories need to be added in an already existing group, proceed as follows:

• Add an empty row (Edit menu → Add rows ) before the Total of the Group 
• Enter the category number or code in the Category column
• Enter the category description
• In the Sum in column add the same grouping code or number as the other categories belonging to the Group Total

Add subgroups

To add new subgroups, proceed as follows:

• Add an empty row (Edit menu → Add rows ... command) where you wish to add a new subgroup
• In the last empty row, in the Group column, enter a number or code for the totalisation group (in our example 31 - Other income)
• Enter the description that identifies the new subgroup
• In the Sum in column, enter the totalisation group (in our example 3 - Total sales).

Delete categories or subgroups

Select the categories or subgroups you wish to delete and proceed with in the Edit menu → Delete rows ... command.

Transactions

In the Transactions  table, income and expense transactions are entered, indicating the category to which the income or expense is attributed.

Speeding up the recording of the transactions

In order to speed up the recording of your transactions, you can use:

• The Smart fill function that allows the automatic auto-complete of data that have already been entered at an earlier date.
• The Recurring transactions function (Actions menu), used to memorize recurring transactions into a separate table.
• Import of your bank or postal account statement.

Make visible the Balance column in the Transactions table

The new Balance column is a very useful feature: it allows you to immediately spot possible differences.
The Balance column is not visible by default: you can make it visible via the Data → Columns setup menu.

• Watch the Video: Using the Balance column to spot differences
• More information on the Balance column

Transactions with VAT

In order to enter transactions with VAT please proceed as follows:

• from the File menu, choose New command and choose  as Type the Cash Manager with VAT/Sales tax
• Choose one of the existing templates for your nation.
  In order to enter transactions with VAT, please refer to the Transactions page.

The Category or Group card

The Category or Group card allows you to have a complete list of accounting entries relating to the same category or group. 

• To open an category or group card you click once on the account number cell and then click once on the small blue arrow appearing in the upper right corner of the cell.
• To open multiple category or group cards you must select the Account cards command from Reports menu.
• To update the category or group cards, following changes in the Transactions table, you must click on the two circular arrows symbol, located at the top right corner of the account card.

Account cards per period

To open an category cards with account balances referring to a predefined period, click on the Reports menu, Account/Category cards ...command and click Period selected in the Period tab to insert your selected period. Visit the Period page for further information.

Print the Category card

To print a Category card, open it from any table (Accounts or Transactions) and start printing from the File menu.

To print out several or all the Account/category cards , click Reports menu, select Account/category cards and select the accounts/categories you wish to print. The filter in the window allows you to select automatic selection of all categories, cost centers, segments, groups etc ... Visit the Account Cards page for further information.

Enhanced Statement

To view the Enhanced Statement and the Enhanced Statement with groups, choose the Report menu → Enhanced statement or Enhanced statement with groups command. You can also obtain statements by period.

• The Enhanced statement displays all accounts and categories without any subgroups
• The Enhanced statement with groups displays all accounts and categories also with subgroups

Archive data in PDF format

At the end of the year, when the accounting is done, corrected and revised, you can store all accounting data with the Create PDF dossier  command from the File menu.

The Budget

Before starting your accounting year, you can create a budget with your assumed expenses and revenue, in order to have control over the financial and economic situation of your company.

The budget can be set in two different ways:

• From the Budget column of the Categories table. For each account the yearly budget is indicated.
  In this case, when you process the Budget from the Reports menu, Enhanced statement with groups command, the Budget column shows the amounts that relate to the entire year.
• From the Budget table, that you need to manually activate using the Tools menu → Add new functionalities → Add Budget table command.
  In this table all estimates are entered as budget transactions, either income or expenses. If you activate this table, the Budget column of the Accounts table is automatically deactivated.
  In the Budget table you can setup a detailed budget that takes into account possible variations during the year and in different periods of the year.

The Cash Manager Accounts table contains only one account and no other accounts can be added.

The columns of the Accounts table:

The main columns of the Categories table are listed below. The display of columns changes according to the selected View.

Additional columns can be added either system or own columns via the menu Data > Columns setup.

Group
This column remains empty.

Account
Enter the number or initials of the account to be managed (cash, bank, post office).

Description
Enter a description relating to the account entered.

Opening
You need to enter the opening balance only the first time you use a new file or when using Banana accounting for the first time. At the beginning of the new year with automatic opening, the account balance is automatically updated.

Income
The column is protected and shows the balance of income transactions. The balance is updated automatically after each transaction.

Expenses
The column is protected and shows the balance of outgoing expenses. After each transaction the balance is updated automatically.

Balance
The column is protected and shows the total balance between income and expenses. After each transaction the balance is updated automatically.

The Categories table presents the Income and Expenses situation.

The Categories table

In the Categories column, for each income and expense, the respective categories are set. 
In addition to the Categories column, there are columns to set:

• Sections
• The Totalization groups.
  For further information on the grouping system, refer to the Grouping system.
• Any Cost and Profit centers.

In the example there are three main groupings:

• Group 4 - Totals all the Categories that have grouping 4 in their Sum in column (total Income)
• Group 3 - Totals all the Categories that have grouping 3 in their Sum in column (total Expenses)
• Group 00  - Totals groups 3 and 4 (Total Income and Expenses), which determine the Result for the accounting period.

The columns of the Categories table

The main columns of the Categories table are listed below. The display of the columns changes according to the selected View.

You can add additional system columns as well as your own columns via Data > Columns setup.

Section
An asterisk is inserted in the row where a title is entered, which will then be taken over in the Enhanced Statement with groups
(in our example the asterisk is inserted on the line of the title Operating result).

If other sections are provided in addition to income and expenses, such as cost and profit centers, another asterisk can be inserted in the Sections column, again on the title row. More details are available on the Sections page.

Group
Enter an identifier (numerical or sign) identical to the one entered for each category in the Sum in column. The totals for each category belonging to the same grouping of the Sum in column will then be added up (in our example, Group 4 totals the Income Category and group 3 the Expenses category).

Category
Enter the Category number that will identify the type of expense or income.

Description
A description is entered to identify the income or expenses category. This description is automatically taken from the Category Description column of the Records table (if displayed).

Sum in (Gr)
The code of a group is indicated so that the programme totals the amount of the line in the group.
The heading ‘Sum in’ has been adopted with the Banana Plus version.
The column name has remained Gr, to maintain compatibility with previous versions of the programme.
Each category has an identifier that is used to define in which group it is to be totalled (in the example, all revenue categories, in the Sum in column, have the grouping 4, because they are totalled in Group 4, Total Revenue).

Income
The column is protected and shows the balance of income transactions. The balance is updated automatically after each transaction.

Expenses
The column is protected and shows the balance of outgoing expenses. After each transaction the balance is updated automatically.

Balance
The column is protected and shows the total balance between income and expenses. After each transaction the balance is updated automatically.

Customising the Categories table

You may customise the entry and exit categories in the Categories table according to your needs. You can:

• Change category numbers
• Change description
• Delete or add categories
• Insert or delete subgroups

All category balances determine the operating result (profit or loss) and must therefore have no balance at the beginning of the year.

Adding new Categories

If you need to add new categories to an existing group, proceed as follows:

• Insert empty rows (menu Edit > Insert Rows) before the Totalisation Group row
• Enter the category number or abbreviation in the Category column
• Enter a description to identify the category
• Enter in the Sum in column , the same grouping number as the other categories, belonging to the same Totalisation Group.

Adding Subgroups

To add new subgroups, proceed as follows:

• Insert empty rows (menu Edit > Insert rows) in the area where you wish to insert the new subgroup
• In the last empty row enter a number or abbreviation for the totalisation in the Group column (in the example "34 - Total Optional Costs")
• Enter a description to identify the new subgroup
• Enter in the Sum in column  the Totalisation Group (in the example "3 - Total Costs").

Deleting categories and subgroups

To delete categories or subgroups, select the rows with the categories and subgroup to be deleted and issue the command Delete rows from the Edit menu.

You only need to enter the Initial Balance the first time you use Banana Accounting Plus.

Opening balances when you start with Banana Accounting

When creating a new file for the first time with Banana Accounting, the opening balances must be entered manually in the Accounts table, Opening column.

When you move to the new year, using the Actions > Create new year command, Banana accounting reports all the opening balances automatically.
It is not possible to enter more than one account; for this you must use the Income/Expense Accounting.

The transactions of the Cash Manager are entered in the Transactions table.

There are specific columns to enter:

• the date
• the document number
• the description
• the income or expense amount
• the category relevant to the income or expense in the Category table
• should the transaction be subject to VAT tax, enter the VAT code in the VAT code column.
  The VAT codes are listed in the VAT codes table.

Speeding up the recording of the Transactions

In order to accelerate the recording of the transactions, you can use:

• the Smart fill function that allows the automatic auto complete of data that have already been entered at an earlier date.
• the Recurring transactions function (Actions menu), used to memorize recurring transactions into an appropriate table.

Examples of transactions without VAT

Examples of transactions with VAT

Category card

To display the transactions of a category, click once on the small blue arrow appearing in the upper right corner of the cell.

The display of entries in the Categories table is similar to the one in the Transactions table.
When new transactions are added or changes are made (i.e. in the Transactions table), it is possible to update the tab of a category by clicking on the Update symbol (blue symbol, of two circular arrows, located in the right part of the window).

Financial planning is carried out in the Budget table.

Before starting a financial year, you can budget expenses and estimate income to keep the economic and financial situation under control.

The budget can be set in two different ways:

1. In the Categories table, under the Budget column. For each category, the annual budget amount is indicated.
   In this case, when you generate the Budget from the Report menu using the command Enhanced Statement with groups, the Budget column shows the amounts that refer to the entire year.
2. In the Budget table, which can be activated from the Tools menu > Add/Remove functionalities > Add Budget Table.
   In this table, all budgeted expenses and incomes are recorded with transactions. If this table is activated, the Budget column in the Accounts table is automatically disabled. In this case, you can set a detailed budget that takes into account possible variations during the year and in different periods of the year.

Instant information

In the Accounts and Categories tables, the balances of the accounts and the categories of income and expenses are displayed immediately. After each individual entry, the balances are updated automatically, and there is no need to generate reports to keep the situation under control; you simply need to position yourself in the Accounts and Categories table.

To print the content of the tables, please refer to the Page setup section (last paragraph).

Advanced printouts

All printing is run from the Reports menu, where the different functions for printing are located:

• Journal - command to define the period. You can display and print the whole table or just a specified period.
   
• Account/Category cards - Account cards / Categories. You may select all cards or define your selection.
  Define the required period in the Period tab and click the required settings in the Options tab. Print settings can be saved in the Customization tab so they can be resumed without them to be having defined again.
   
• Enhanced statement - Enhanced statement command. You may also print a defined period and various options and customizations may be included.
   
• Enhanced statement with groups - Enhanced statement with groups command. You may also print a defined period and various options and customization may be included.
   
• Accounting report - Account report command. The required options are displayed in the Accounts table. Reports are possible for current, previous periods or previous years; each period may contain subdivisions and the customizations can be saved.

Example of printout of Enhanced statement with groups