Choosing the right accounting template

Banana Accounting Plus provides a wide collection of templates that give you a ready-made starting point, which you can customise according to your needs. Choosing the most suitable one allows you to get off to the right start, save time and immediately gain a clear financial overview.

By selecting a template, you create the accounting file in which you will manage your accounting year. The file includes the chart of accounts, the Transactions table, and other tables, depending on the type of accounting and the features you need.

On this page, we refer to the templates for Switzerland and for selected English-speaking countries, as well as to the universal templates available in English that can be adapted to your country. This is only a selection: to see all the templates available in English, see the complete index.

We have grouped together some initial questions to help you quickly identify the template that best suits your needs.

What type of activity do you want to manage?

Banana provides predefined and customisable templates, organised by type of activity, such as personal, non-profit organisation or business. For each category, you can choose from different application types, from Cash Manager and Income & Expense Accounting to Double-entry Accounting, also with VAT or multiple currencies.

• Personal accounting
  For managing household accounts and the family budget, health insurance expenses, children's pocket money (it is never too early to start), etc. 
  See the templates available for individuals: Switzerland | USA | Universal English
   
• Association, foundation or non-profit organisation 
  For small associations, or when the accounts are managed by a volunteer without specific experience, Income & Expense Accounting may be sufficient.
  Some associations, however, prefer to use Double-entry Accounting.
  If the association is subject to VAT, choose a template with VAT; if it also has bank accounts in foreign currencies, choose a Multi-currency Accounting template.
  • See the templates for associations: Switzerland | USA | Universal English
  • Other resources for associations (project management, donation certificate, membership fee management): Switzerland | Universal English
     
• Business
  If you need to manage a business activity, consider these aspects when choosing the template:
  • What type of business do you have? Choose the template that best suits your business:
    • Switzerland: SA and Sagl companies, sole proprietorships, partnerships, small businesses and micro-enterprises.
    • Other templates for businesses in English: USA | Canada | Universal English
  • Are you subject to VAT?
    • Switzerland: you can choose an Income & Expense Accounting template with VAT or a Double-entry Accounting template with VAT. Also check which VAT method applies to your business, either the effective method or the net tax rate method. See the differences between the two systems.
  • Do you manage your accounts on an accrual or cash basis? See the difference between the two methods.
  • Do you work internationally? Do you have bank accounts in different currencies?
    • Switzerland: Multi-currency Double-entry Accounting templates.
    • Other templates for businesses in English: USA | Canada | Universal English

Important note: if you have a business in Switzerland and are subject to VAT, you need the Advanced plan of Banana Accounting Plus to obtain the VAT Report.

• Trustees and accounting professionals
  Banana Accounting provides solutions for different types of clients. With a single subscription, you can manage multiple clients and create an unlimited numer of accounting files, allowing to create the most suitable chart of accounts for each one of them. Banana also adapts to different ways of working: you can supervise the accounts managed directly by your clients or manage all their accounting work yourself.
  In addition, specific templates are available for areas such as Investment accounting, Forensic accounting (or accounting reconstructions) and Financial planning, allowing you to expand the services and consulting you offer your clients. More information...
   
• Other areas: Solutions are also available for managing Real estate accounting.

Are you already familiar with accounting?

Did you know that with Banana Accounting, in addition to traditional Double-entry Accounting, you can also use Income & Expense Accounting? You can choose the one that best suits you based on your accounting knowledge:

• If you are a beginner: we recommend an Income & Expense Accounting template. These templates use descriptive accounts and categories (that is, words instead of account numbers), making management even more intuitive. You learn as you work, and if necessary, you can always convert your Income & Expense file to a Double-entry Accounting file later (on our website you can also find the theory of double-entry accounting, useful for reviewing the basic concepts).
   
• If you already have some experience or are an accounting specialist: choose a Double-entry Accounting template. There are double-entry templates with very compact charts of accounts for simpler cases.

The links to the templates above refer, by way of example, to templates for Switzerland.

Do you need to issue invoices?

If you want to issue and manage invoices, also take this requirement into account when choosing the template. With Banana, you can manage invoicing directly in the accounting file using Integrated invoicing, or separately with the Estimates and Invoices application.

Some Double-entry Accounting templates are already set up for integrated invoicing, with a customer ledger and sample transactions that make it easier to manage invoices and related payments.
The Estimates and Invoices application templates, on the other hand, allow you to manage invoicing separately from accounting and are the solution most commonly used together with Income & Expense Accounting.

For more information about invoicing and the two available solutions, see:

• Invoicing
• How to create invoices/letters with the Swiss QR code

Not sure? Get started anyway

If you still have doubts, don't worry. You can start with a simpler template, for example Income & Expense Accounting, and customise it according to your needs. Your choice of template is not final. If necessary, you can also switch to another type of accounting later while keeping the work you have already done. The important thing is to get started.

Next steps

By choosing the template, you have already taken an important first step. Now all you need to do is enter the basic data for your business in the file and make any small adjustments to the template according to your needs. At this point, you are ready to enter the transactions.

• Customise the template structure
  All Banana templates are fully customisable. For example, you can add or modify accounts, change categories and descriptions, and add or modify VAT codes. You can also make changes after you have started working with the file. Learn more.

• Import transactions
  Once you have chosen and customised the template, you can enter transactions manually or import them directly from your bank.

Tips for choosing a subscription plan

The choice of subscription plan depends on the features you need and how you prefer to work.

Professional plan

If you have only a few transactions, you can enter them manually and, for those that repeat periodically, use Recurring transactions. For importing bank transactions, the Professional plan includes the standard ISO 20022 format.

Advanced plan

If you manage many transactions or want to speed up your work, the Advanced plan offers additional import and automation features. It includes specific import extensions for different banks and credit cards, as well as Rules for the automatic completion of imported transactions, useful, for example, for completing imported transactions that repeat every month. In addition, the Filter allows you to quickly find and modify text, amounts and other data in transactions.

If you start with the Professional plan and later need the additional features included in Advanced, you can upgrade at any time, even during the year, paying only the pro-rata difference.

Other useful resources

In addition to the program, you can find the complete Banana Accounting documentation free of charge on our website. It serves as a manual and guides you through the use of the different features. To find your way around more easily, you can start with these resources:

• Documentation
  On the main documentation page, you will find all the available topics. If you are just getting started, also see the User interface page, which presents the main areas of the program and helps you understand the documentation instructions more easily.
   
• Video tutorials and webinars
  Learn how to use Banana Accounting through examples and practical explanations.
   
• Courses and consultancies
  We work with various partners active in the accounting and financial sectors who offer practical courses on using Banana Accounting and consulting services.