Help

Five small jobs

1. Name it: Make a House for your family, business, property, or client.
2. Add money: Add the checking, savings, cash, or credit account you use most.
3. Sort it: Add simple income and expense categories.
4. Protect it: Turn on two-step security with your phone.
5. Use it: Save one real deposit, purchase, bill, or transfer.

People names are optional. Add them only when you want reports for each person and Shared money.

What happens to the starting balance?

Guided Setup makes a balanced Starting Balance entry. The other side goes to Opening Balance Equity. It does not pretend that old money is new income, and it does not make an expense.

Why do I still need a first entry?

A starting balance tells the app how much was already in an account. Your first real entry shows money that truly came in, went out, or moved. This proves your everyday bookkeeping is ready.

Can I stop and come back?

Yes. Every finished step is saved in your real books. Open Guided Setup from the menu and continue with the first unfinished step.

What is Quick Tap?

Quick Tap is the fastest way to enter common income and expenses on your phone. You tap a picture, type the amount, and press Save Entry. The app puts the entry into the right account and category for you.

Set it up in three easy steps

1. Open Quick Tap Setup from the menu.
2. Choose the family or business House you want to work on.
3. Choose an account and press Build My Starter Buttons.

The app makes buttons from that House's income and expense categories. Each House gets its own buttons, so a business does not get mixed up with personal money.

Make the buttons your own

Open any button with Edit. You can change its name, picture, color, account, category, merchant, and place in the list. Use the caption check box when you want words under the picture. There are more than 30 pictures to choose from.

Use a button

1. Open Quick Tap.
2. Choose the right House.
3. Choose Income or Expenses.
4. Tap the picture that matches what happened.
5. Keep today's date, or pick another date.
6. Type the amount and press Save Entry.

Put Quick Tap on your phone

On an iPhone, open Quick Tap in Safari, tap Share, and tap Add to Home Screen. On Android, open Quick Tap in Chrome and choose Install app or Add to Home Screen. The new icon opens Quick Tap directly. You still sign in, and two-step security still protects your books.

When should I use the full app?

Quick Tap is only for simple income and expenses. Use Quick Entry in the full app when you need a receipt, check number, note, split, transfer, owner draw, or equity correction. Quick Tap never makes an equity correction by itself.

What is Quick Entry?

Quick Entry is the fast way to add one money event. Pick what happened, enter the details, check the accounts, and save.

Which button should I use?

• Deposit: Money came into an account.
• Withdrawal: Money left an account.
• Transfer: Money moved between two accounts you own.
• Equity: Fix an account balance without making income or an expense.

What does this choice mean?

This choice tells the app who the money was for. It helps you sort and report the money later. It does not change who can open the House.

When should I choose Shared?

Choose Shared when the money belongs to the whole family, household, or business. A rent payment, family groceries, or money earned by a shared business can be Shared.

When should I choose a person?

Choose a name when the whole entry belongs to that one person. For example, choose Maria for Maria's classroom supplies. Choose James for James's personal hobby purchase.

How to use it in Quick Entry

1. Choose the account first. The app will find its House.
2. Open Person or Shared.
3. Choose Shared or start typing a person's name.
4. If the name is new, press Add Person.
5. Enter the name, then press Save and Close.
6. Finish the entry and press Save Entry.

What if two people share one receipt?

Person or Shared applies to the whole entry. If part belongs to one person and part belongs to another, make two entries for the two amounts. This keeps each person's total easy to check.

Husband, wife, business, and school examples

• Joint bills: Choose Shared.
• One person's spending: Choose that person's name.
• Business money: Keep it in the business House and use the right business account and category.
• Teacher supplies: Choose the teacher's name and the school-supplies category.
• Bookkeeper: The bookkeeper can see the label and the full entry when the House is shared with them.

Does choosing my name make the entry private?

No. A name is only a sorting label. Everyone who can open that House can still see the entry. For truly private money, make a different House and do not share that House.

How do I see each person's totals?

1. Open Reports.
2. Open People and Shared.
3. Choose Activity by Person, Person Comparison, or Receipts by Person.
4. Choose one House or All Houses.
5. Choose Everyone, Shared, or a person's name.
6. Choose the dates, then print or download the report.

What is Cash Compass?

Cash Compass is your money plan. It uses the real entries in each House to show what you planned, what you spent, what is coming up, and what is safe to spend.

Start a monthly plan

1. Choose a House and month.
2. Choose whether to plan only money received or expected income.
3. Add a cushion that should stay untouched.
4. Press Build My Starter Plan, copy last month, or add categories yourself.
5. Check every suggested amount and change anything that does not fit your life.

Pick a planning style

• Easy: Shows Safe to Spend, the money plan, weekly check-in, and bills coming up.
• Guided: Adds goals, coaching, monthly wins, and a printable report. This is the best starting choice for most people.
• Detailed: Adds every Guided tool plus the What-If Playground.

Keep-safe cushion

The cushion is money you want the plan to leave alone. If you enter $200, Cash Compass removes $200 when it works out Safe to Spend. Use it for a small emergency buffer or to protect the lowest balance you want to keep.

The four money sections

• Must Pay: Bills and needs that come first.
• Everyday Life: Flexible costs such as food, fuel, and supplies.
• Future You: Savings, reserves, taxes, and bigger plans.
• Fun Money: Enjoyment you planned on purpose.

What Safe to Spend means

Safe to Spend protects Must Pay money, Future You money, upcoming subscription charges, and your cushion. It then looks at the unspent Everyday and Fun plan. Open the explanation under the number to see exactly what was counted.

Safe to Spend is guidance, not a bank guarantee. Keep your transactions current and check your real bank balance before a large purchase.

Weekly check-in and What-If

Once a week, look at the route status, choose the category that needs attention, and save one short note. What-If lets you test cuts, cancelled charges, or surprise costs. It never changes the real plan.

Goals, rollover, and Monthly Wins

A Goal shows what you are saving for, how much you have saved, and the target date. Rollover carries a category's amount left over, or amount overspent, into the next month. Monthly Wins points out progress worth noticing, even when the month was not perfect.

Read the Cash Compass report

Planned is what you gave the category, including rollover. Spent is what posted to that expense category. Left is Planned minus Spent. Print it in color or black and white, or open the main Reports page for several months together.

Important bookkeeping rule

Cash Compass counts posted income and expense category lines. Transfers and equity corrections do not become income or an expense, so they do not inflate budget results.

Build any report

1. Open Reports from the main menu.
2. Open a report section and choose the report you need.
3. Choose one House or All Houses.
4. Use This Month, This Quarter, This Year, Last Year, or type your own dates.
5. Use Find Words when you need a merchant, account, or category.
6. Choose Color or Black & White.
7. Press Print / Save PDF, or download the table as a CSV file.

Financial statements

• Profit and Loss: Income minus expenses for a period. It compares the same number of days immediately before your chosen period.
• Balance Sheet: Assets, liabilities, and equity on one date. The Equation Check should be $0.00.
• Cash Flow Analysis: Cash in and out, grouped as operating, investing, or financing activity.
• Trial Balance: Every account's debit or credit balance. The two totals should agree.

Find the details

• General Ledger: One account, every entry, and a running balance.
• Transaction Builder: A searchable list by date, House, merchant, account, category, type, source, or status.
• Category Report: Income and expenses by category, with counts and percentages.
• Merchant and Payee: Shows who received money, who paid you, and how often.
• Equity Activity: Shows owner contributions, draws, and corrections that do not belong in profit.

Check accuracy and planning

• Reconciliation Health: Shows which accounts finished a statement and which have open work.
• Receipt Coverage: Shows expense entries with proof and entries that may still need a receipt.
• Cash Compass Performance: Shows planned versus actual category spending and savings-goal progress.

Tax organizers

Business and Personal Tax Organizers collect income, expense, and receipt information for review. They are not completed tax forms, and category names are not automatically assigned to an IRS line. Give the report and supporting receipts to a qualified tax professional and ask what is deductible for your situation.

People and Shared reports

• Activity by Person: Shows income, expenses, categories, and net activity for Everyone, Shared, or one person.
• Person Comparison: Places each person and Shared on separate rows. Shared money is never secretly divided.
• Receipts by Person: Shows which expense entries have a receipt and which may still need one.

First choose a House. Then choose Everyone, Shared, or a name. When you choose All Houses, the app combines the same name across those Houses. These are sorting reports. They do not create a separate bank balance for each person.

Cash basis today

Best Darn Finance App currently uses cash-basis reports. Money counts when it is received or paid. The app now keeps an accounting-method setting for every House and a separate recognition date behind the scenes, so accrual tools can be added later without replacing your cash-basis books.

Accrual tools will stay unavailable until the app can correctly handle customer invoices, vendor bills, partial payments, Accounts Receivable, and Accounts Payable. A report button by itself would not be enough to make the numbers correct.

Set up a repeating bill

1. Open Subscription & Fee Desk.
2. Add the company, amount, House, payment account, and expense category.
3. Choose how often you pay and enter the next due date.
4. Add reminders, contact details, and cancellation information when you have them.
5. Save the recurring cost.

When a payment is due

Choose Record Charge when you want the app to make the bookkeeping transaction. The app puts the expense in the chosen category, updates the payment account, and moves the next due date forward.

Choose Paid manually only after you entered the payment yourself. Check the box and press Save Paid Status. The app remembers that the due date was paid and moves the schedule forward, but it does not create another bookkeeping transaction.

Next due date and renewal date

The next due date is the next day money must be paid. The renewal date is when the plan or contract starts a new term. They may be the same day, but often they are different.

Schedule buttons

• 7, 15, and 30 Days: Show active payments coming due in that amount of time.
• Overdue: Shows active payments with a due date that has passed.
• Yearly: Shows active items paid once each year.
• Review: Shows items you marked for review or cancellation.

Subscription reports

• Upcoming Due: Lists active charges that are overdue or due during the next 30 days, in due-date order.
• Yearly Cost: Lists active charges from most expensive to least expensive after each charge is converted to a yearly amount.
• By House: Lists active charges together by House so you can see which person or business is responsible.
• By Category: Lists every active subscription by expense category so you can see what kinds of recurring costs you have. Subscriptions without a category appear together as Not assigned.
• Review List: Lists charges you marked Review or Plan to Cancel so they do not get forgotten.

Each report shows the number of items, the total of the next payments, and the estimated yearly cost. Choose Color or Black & White, then press Print Report.

What Trial Desk does

Trial Desk watches free trials, introductory offers, and other temporary services that may become paid. It shows the exact cancellation date and counts down the days remaining.

Add and watch a trial

1. Enter the provider, trial name, House, and trial start date.
2. Enter the last safe day to cancel in Necessary Cancellation Date.
3. Add the future price, billing schedule, payment account, and category when known.
4. Add the cancellation link so it is ready when you need it.
5. Save the trial and watch its written countdown.

Deadline warnings

Every card says exactly what is happening, such as OVERDUE, CANCEL TODAY, ACTION NOW, or DUE SOON. Borders also use different styles. You never need to recognize a color to know how urgent a trial is.

Trial actions

• Cancel Page: Opens the provider's cancellation website. The app cannot cancel an outside service for you.
• Mark Cancelled: Use this after you actually cancel with the provider.
• Convert to Subscription: Creates a regular subscription using the future price and billing date. It does not create a bookkeeping transaction.
• Snooze 1 Day: Removes the item from the Reminders view until tomorrow without hiding or changing the real cancellation date.

Trial reports

• All Trials and Cancellation Dates: Shows every active and historical trial with its necessary cancellation date and deadline result.
• Future Cost Exposure: Shows active trials and the monthly or yearly costs they may become.
• Conversion Report: Shows trials you decided to keep as paid subscriptions.
• Cancellation Success: Shows cancelled trials and whether each one was cancelled on time or late.

Choose Color or Black & White, then press Print Report.

Save proof with the right transaction

1. Open Receipt Vault and expand Add a Receipt.
2. Choose the House and the transaction the receipt proves.
3. Take a photo or upload an image or PDF.
4. Press Save Receipt and Close.

You can also add a receipt while saving a Quick Entry. Every saved receipt remains attached to its bookkeeping transaction.

Find and use a saved receipt

Search by merchant, House, account, category, date, or amount. Expand a receipt to preview it, download it, or open its bookkeeping transaction.

Deleting a receipt

Delete Receipt Only removes the stored file and its attachment. It does not delete or change the bookkeeping transaction.

Automatic receipt reading

In Quick Entry, press Take Photo and Read or Upload and Read. The app suggests the merchant, date, total, tax, and useful receipt notes. Review the filled fields, then choose the correct account and category before you press Save. The app never posts a receipt by itself, and a warning never stops you from entering the details by hand and saving the original image.

Accounts hold money or debt

Checking, savings, cash, credit cards, loans, and equity are accounts. Their balances change when you save transactions.

Categories explain the reason

Income and expense categories explain why money came in or went out. A category is not a bank account.

Use Transfer when money changes accounts

Choose the account the money left and the account that got the money. A regular transfer is not income and is not an expense.

Do not enter it twice

Save one transfer. The app puts the matching entry in both account ledgers for you.

What is an Owner Draw?

An Owner Draw happens when you move business money to your personal account for yourself. It is not a business expense.

The easy, correct order

1. Put business income into the business bank account.
2. Record the income in the correct business category.
3. Choose Transfer and then Owner Draw.
4. Move money from the business account to your personal account.
5. Check the preview and save once.

Pick the kind of check you need

Reconciliation checks whether the balance in this app agrees with the balance from your bank or credit-card company. The page gives you two ways to check.

Quick Balance Check

Use this when you enter several days of charges at one time and want to see whether you are caught up through today.

1. Choose Quick Balance Check and pick the account.
2. Look at Last Entry in App. Start with the next day.
3. Use Batch Entry to add every posted charge, payment, refund, fee, and interest item.
4. Choose the date through which you entered transactions.
5. Copy the posted balance from the bank or credit-card website.
6. Enter that balance. For a credit card, enter the positive amount you owe.
7. When Difference is $0.00, the quick check is done.

Do not use a pending balance, available credit, or a pending transaction. Those numbers can change before they post. A Quick Balance Check helps you today, but it does not make a permanent statement report.

Statement Reconciliation

Use this for your official monthly check. It compares one real statement with the app and saves a report when you finish.

1. Get the oldest statement you have not finished.
2. Choose Statement Reconciliation and pick the account.
3. Copy the beginning date, ending date, beginning balance, and ending balance from the statement.
4. Press Match beside each app transaction that appears on the statement.
5. Leave a transaction open when it is not on the statement yet.
6. Finish only when Difference is $0.00.

Every Match saves by itself. You can stop and come back later. After you finish, the app saves a report that you can open and print.

When the difference is not zero

• Missing purchase: Add the purchase and the right expense category.
• Fee or interest: Add it as an expense.
• Missing payment: Add one transfer from the paying account to the credit card.
• Refund or credit: Add the refund or credit.
• Wrong entry: Look for a duplicate, wrong amount, or wrong date.
• Outstanding item: Leave it open when it has not reached the statement yet.

Why matched transactions are locked

A matched transaction cannot be edited by accident. During an open statement, remove its Match first. After a statement is finished, reopen only the newest statement, write the reason, make the correction, and finish at zero again.

Use Equity to fix a starting balance

Enter the balance that the account should have. The app finds the difference and makes one balancing equity entry. This is mainly for a starting balance or another real equity event.

Equity is not profit

An equity correction changes the balance sheet. It does not count as income or an expense on the Profit and Loss report. Do not use it for a missing purchase, bank fee, credit-card interest, refund, or payment.

How are my books protected?

Think of your live books as the notebook you use every day. A database backup is a protected copy of the written pages. A separate receipt backup protects the receipt pictures and PDF files that go with those pages.

Do I need to make these backups myself?

No. Best Darn Finance App runs the main backups for the whole service. This works the same whether you use a phone, tablet, or computer. Your device does not need to stay turned on.

What happens during a recovery test?

We open a backup in a separate test room and make sure the important pieces are there. The test copy does not replace or change the live app. We compare record totals and security rules, and we test receipt files separately.

Can I keep my own copy too?

Yes. Open Account, then Your Data, to download a copy of your own bookkeeping records and receipts. Your download is an extra copy for your records; it does not replace the service backups.

Set up your bills

1. Open Bill Desk from the menu. Pick Personal or the business House that owes the bill.
2. Press Add a bill. Enter its name, payment account, category, due date, and how often it repeats.
3. Pick Same amount for rent or other steady bills. Pick Amount changes for bills such as electricity. Enter an estimate for your budget.
4. When the bill arrives, edit it and enter this cycle's amount. Press Save and Close.

Record a payment

Pay through your bank or the company's website first. Open the bill, enter the amount paid, check the payment date and account, and press Save Paid Bill. The app records it in your books. It does not send money.

If you already entered this payment in Quick Entry or Batch Entry, check the already-entered box. That marks the bill paid without entering it twice. Autopay is just a reminder that the company takes payment; it does not prove payment happened.

Credit cards and loans

For a card payment, choose Credit card or loan payment and select both the paying bank and the card being paid. This moves money between accounts. It is not another expense. For a loan, enter the interest portion; the rest reduces what you owe. Use zero interest if you already entered the interest separately.

Your budget and history

Cash Compass reads these same bills. Saving an unpaid bill does not create an expense in your books. Recording payment creates the entry and prepares the next due date. An overdue bill stays due until you handle it. Payment history links to each transaction. Archive a finished bill to hide it while keeping its history.

Use Overdue, 7, 15, or 30 days to focus your list. Needs amount finds changing bills without a confirmed amount. Print list prints the current filtered view. Upcoming account totals show the next unpaid cycle of each bill; they are not a bank balance forecast.

What does it do?

Two-step security puts two locks on your books. Your password opens the first lock. A six-digit code from an authenticator app opens the second lock.

How do I set it up?

1. 1. Sign in with your email and password.
2. 2. Open an authenticator app on your phone.
3. 3. Scan the private square shown by Best Darn Finance App.
4. 4. Type the six numbers shown on your phone and press the blue button.

What should I keep private?

Never send anyone your password, six-digit code, private QR square, or setup key. Best Darn Finance App support will not ask you to send those items.

What if I lose my phone?

Sign out and contact support. Support must confirm that you own the account before changing its two-step security. This keeps another person from pretending to be you.

Share books without sharing passwords

Open People & Access, choose one House, enter the person's email, and choose a role. Send the private invitation link to that person. They sign in with their own password and authenticator. Never give anyone your password.

Which role should I choose?

• Bookkeeper: Best for a professional bookkeeper. They can manage accounts, entries, receipts, reconciliation, and reports.
• Admin: Can do the bookkeeping and invite or remove other people. Give this only to someone you fully trust.
• Editor: Can add everyday entries and receipts, but cannot manage the House structure or other people.
• Viewer: Can look at the books and reports but cannot change them.

Keep client books separate

Access is given one House at a time. A bookkeeping firm can be invited to several client Houses, but each client stays separate. The audit history records which signed-in person made each change.

How does monthly billing work?

Open Membership and choose the monthly or yearly plan. Stripe opens a protected payment page. Your full card number goes to Stripe, not to Best Darn Finance App. After Stripe says the payment is complete, your membership turns on. The yearly plan saves $30.88 compared with paying monthly for twelve months.

How do I change or cancel it?

Open Membership and press Manage Billing. Stripe lets you change the payment method, read invoices, or cancel. The Membership page shows when your app access ends.

What are beta and lifetime access?

Beta access is a free test pass that ends on a date. Lifetime Free is a special pass with no ending date. The app owner gives these passes in the private Owner Command Center. They do not need a card and they do not create a Stripe charge.

You choose what you receive

Open Contact & Message Choices from the main menu. Add the email, phone number, and address you want connected to your account. Then choose email news, text news, both, or neither. You do not have to choose marketing messages to use the app.

How do I stop messages?

Return to the same page, remove the checkmark, and press Save. Marketing email will also have an unsubscribe link. When text sending is turned on, replying STOP will stop marketing texts.

What are service messages?

Service messages tell you something important about your own account, such as a receipt, security warning, payment problem, or account change. They are not advertisements.

How do I ask for help?

Open Contact from the main menu. Add your name, email, a short subject, and what happened. Press Send My Message. The app gives you a short reference number so your request is easy to find.

What happens next?

1. Your message goes into John's private Support Command Center.
2. The app gives John a follow-up time so your message is not forgotten.
3. Every call, email, note, result, and next step is saved with its date and time.
4. John can send you an update and set the next follow-up before closing your request.

Will I get an email?

When support email is turned on, the app sends a warm confirmation right after your message is saved. It tells you that your request was received and includes your reference number. If email cannot be sent, the app still saves your request and never falsely says that an email was delivered.

Keep business and personal money separate

Use a business bank account for business money. Use a personal account for personal money. This makes reports and taxes much easier to understand.

Keep proof

Add the date, full merchant name, amount, category, notes, and receipt when you have one. Good details help you explain a transaction later.