Your first transaction

The simplest transaction to start with is opening capital: telling the books how much cash you started the business with.

Walking through it

1. In the sidebar, click Transactions under Books.
2. Click New transaction in the top right.
3. Fill out the form:
   • Date — today (or whatever date the money first existed in the business).
   • Reference — leave blank for now.
   • Description — "Opening capital."
4. In the first line:
   • Account — pick 1000 Cash (or 1010 Checking Account if it was already in a bank).
   • Debit — type the amount, e.g. 5000.
   • Leave credit blank.
5. In the second line:
   • Account — pick 3000 Owner's Equity.
   • Credit — same amount, 5000.
6. The "Totals" strip at the bottom should say Balanced ✓ in green.
7. Click Post transaction (or hit ⌘↵).

That's it. You've just done your first double-entry journal entry.

What just happened

You told the books two things at once:

• "Cash went up by $5,000."
• "I (the owner) am owed $5,000 by the business."

Both statements are true the moment you put money in. Double-entry just makes you say both, so the books can never be "off."

Now look at a report

Open Books → Reports → Balance sheet. You should see:

• Assets → Cash $5,000
• Liabilities → empty
• Equity → Owner's Equity $5,000
• Total liabilities + equity → $5,000

Assets equal liabilities + equity. The books balance. That's the fundamental accounting equation, and it'll hold for every transaction you post from now on.

What next?

• Intro to accounting if any of this felt weird.
• Posting transactions for common recipes — sales, expenses, transfers.