Why Double-Entry Accounting?

Every financial transaction affects at least two accounts. When you deposit fundraiser revenue:

• Your checking account increases (debit)
• Your fundraising income increases (credit)

This double-entry system ensures your books always balance and creates an audit trail. BeeKeeper handles the complexity so you can focus on recording what happened. In the transaction form you simply choose whether money moved in or out and assign it to one or more categories — BeeKeeper translates that into the correct debits and credits behind the scenes.

Understanding Debits and Credits

The Golden Rule: Every transaction must have equal debits and credits. In BeeKeeper, the Remaining indicator on the transaction form helps you confirm the amount is fully assigned to categories before you save.

Recording a Transaction

Journal entries are created from an account’s page — start from the account where the money moved (usually your checking account).

Simple Transaction (One Category)

Most transactions assign a single amount to one category:

1. Go to Bookkeeping and select the account (e.g., your checking account)
2. Click New Transaction
3. Choose the Direction: Money Out (a payment) or Money In (a deposit)
4. Fill in the header:
   • Date: When the transaction occurred
   • Ref: Check number, receipt number, etc.
   • Amount: The total amount of the transaction
   • Payee: Who you paid or received from (start typing to pick an existing vendor)
   • Description: Brief explanation
5. Under Categories, select the category account the money is for
6. Click Save

Example: Writing a check for supplies

• Direction: Money Out, Amount: $50
• Category: Office Supplies (Expense)

Example: Depositing membership dues

• Direction: Money In, Amount: $500
• Category: Membership Income

Split Transaction (Multiple Categories)

Sometimes one transaction needs to be split across multiple categories. Click Add Category to add as many category lines as you need; each line takes a category account and an amount.

Example: Deposit with multiple income sources

• Direction: Money In, Amount: $1,500
• Category 1: Membership Dues Income — $500
• Category 2: Donation Income — $300
• Category 3: Fundraiser Income — $700

The category amounts must add up to the transaction amount. The Remaining indicator shows $0.00 when the split is complete.

Adding Attachments

Attach receipts or documentation:

1. When creating or editing an entry, use the attachment field
2. Select the file from your computer
3. Supported formats: PDF, JPG, PNG
4. The attachment is stored with the transaction

Viewing Journal Entries

Account Transactions View

Each account’s page shows every journal entry affecting that account, along with a running balance. This is your go-to view for understanding what happened in a specific account over time.

To access the transactions view:

1. Go to Bookkeeping and select the account
2. Open the Transactions tab

The transactions view supports filtering to help you find exactly what you need:

• Payee: Filter by who was paid or received
• Description: Search within entry descriptions
• Amount range: Show only entries within a minimum and/or maximum amount
• Date range: Narrow to a specific time period
• Attachments: Filter to entries that have (or don’t have) attachments
• Linked accounts: Show only entries that also involve a specific offsetting account

The running balance is shown for each row, so you can see your account balance at any point in time.

Because every journal entry touches at least one balance-sheet account (like checking), the transactions view on your bank accounts effectively shows all of your activity.

Entry Detail View

Click any row in the transactions list (or choose View from the row’s menu) to open a detail panel showing:

• Full transaction details
• All line items with accounts and amounts
• Attached documents
• Whether the entry was a manual entry or a bank import

Editing a Transaction

Each row in the transactions list has a three-dot menu (⋮) at the end with the available actions.

1. Open the row’s three-dot menu
2. Click Edit
3. Make your changes
4. Click Save

Note: Editing preserves the audit trail. Editing is only available for manual entries that haven’t come from a bank import or expense report, and that aren’t voided.

Voiding and Undoing a Void

Rather than deleting a journal entry, you can void it. Voiding preserves the full audit trail — the entry stays in your records but a reversing entry is created so it no longer affects account balances.

How to Void an Entry

1. Open the row’s three-dot menu (⋮)
2. Click Void
3. Confirm the action

Voided entries remain visible in the transaction list but are clearly marked as voided. They do not affect account balances or financial reports.

How to Undo a Void

If you voided an entry by mistake, you can restore it:

1. Open the voided entry’s three-dot menu (⋮)
2. Click Undo Void
3. The entry is restored and its amounts once again affect account balances

Undoing a void deletes the reversing entry, so you always have a complete history of what happened.

Deleting a Transaction

Manual entries can be deleted when they have not been reconciled or cleared. To delete, open the row’s three-dot menu (⋮) and click Delete, then confirm. Once an entry has reconciled or cleared items — or it came from a bank import or expense report — deletion is not available; void it instead to keep a clean audit trail.

Importing Transactions

Transaction imports are done from individual account pages:

1. Go to Bookkeeping and select the account
2. Open the Actions menu and click Import
3. Choose a file: CSV, Excel (.xlsx), or a bank download file (QFX, OFX, or QBO)
4. For CSV/XLSX, map columns to BeeKeeper fields
5. Review and accept imported transactions on the Needs Review tab

See [Data Import & Export](import-export) for file format details and [Bank Connections](bank-connections) for the review pipeline.

Exporting Journal Entries

Export an account’s transactions:

1. Go to Bookkeeping and select the account
2. Apply any filters (date range, payee, amount)
3. Open the Actions menu and click Export
4. The file downloads with all visible entries

To export everything, run the export from each of your bank accounts — every journal entry touches at least one of them.

Matching Receipts

You can link uploaded receipts to journal entries for a complete audit trail. BeeKeeper automatically matches receipts when the date and amount are close, but you can also match manually:

1. Open the row’s three-dot menu (⋮)
2. Click Match Receipt
3. Browse available unmatched receipts
4. Select the receipt to link

See [Receipts](receipts) for details on uploading and scanning receipts.

Tips for Clean Records

Be Consistent

• Use the same payee name each time (e.g., always “Staples” not sometimes “Staples Office Supply”)
• Follow a reference number convention
• Write clear, searchable descriptions

Record Timely

• Enter transactions weekly at minimum
• Don’t let receipts pile up
• Fresh memory means accurate records

Attach Everything

• Scan and attach all receipts
• Include invoices, contracts, approvals
• Your future self (or successor) will thank you

Use Categories Wisely

• Assign transactions to specific accounts
• Avoid overusing “Miscellaneous”
• Think about how it will appear on reports

Understanding Bank Imports

When you connect your bank:

• Transactions import automatically
• They start as “uncategorized”
• Use rules to auto-categorize common transactions
• Review and categorize the rest manually

The journal entry is created automatically; you just need to assign accounts.

Limitations

• Entries must balance (debits = credits)
• Manual entries can be deleted while they have no reconciled or cleared items; otherwise void them instead (see Voiding and Undoing a Void above)
• Bank-imported and expense-report entries cannot be edited or deleted, only voided
• Attachments limited to 10MB each (PDF, JPG, or PNG)

Common Questions

Where is the Journal Entries screen? There isn’t a separate Journal Entries section — entries are created and viewed from each account’s page under Bookkeeping. Open the account, use New Transaction to record an entry, and the Transactions tab to browse them.

What if I made a mistake on an old entry? Edit the entry from its three-dot menu — the audit trail is preserved. For prior-period corrections, create an adjusting entry dated in the current period with an explanation.

Can I create a recurring entry? Not currently. You’ll need to create each entry manually or import from CSV.

How do I record a voided check? Use the Void action: open the transaction’s three-dot menu and click Void. This creates a reversing entry while preserving the full audit trail. If you need to record a check that was voided before it was ever entered in BeeKeeper, create a transaction with the check details, note “VOID” in the description, and then void it so it doesn’t affect your balances.

What’s the difference between a journal entry and a bank transaction? A bank transaction is what your bank shows. A journal entry is how you record and categorize it in BeeKeeper. Connected banks create journal entries automatically.

What does the Transactions tab show? The Transactions tab on each account page shows every journal entry affecting that account with a running balance. You can filter by payee, description, amount range, date range, attachments, and linked accounts.