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Bookkeeping Basics
This chapter covers all the features you use for day-to-day bookkeeping. Before you start, get to know a few core concepts of BookKeep — they determine how your entries are organized and analyzed.
Core concepts
| Concept | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ledger | A container that keeps entries separate; record different purposes in different ledgers | "Daily ledger", "2026 Trip" |
| Category | What each entry belongs to: three top-level groups — Expense, Income, Other — with subcategories supported | Dining, Transportation, Salary |
| Tag | A cross-cutting label on entries; one entry can have several | Business trip, Family, AA |
| Fund account | Where your money is kept | Cash, CMB payroll card, Alipay |
| Subtotal | Groups a set of related entries together to see their total | "Groceries this month" |
How they relate: the ledger decides which book an entry is recorded in, categories and tags decide how entries are grouped and filtered, fund accounts record where the money sits, and a subtotal is a temporary grouping view over entries you have already recorded.
In this chapter
| Page | Contents |
|---|---|
| Record an Entry | The complete flow of recording an entry: amount methods, optional switches, editing and deleting |
| Ledger Management | Separate ledgers, the default ledger, and switching between ledgers |
| Fund Accounts | Tracking cash, bank cards, credit cards and other accounts with their balances |
| Category Management | Custom categories and subcategories, and the category template |
| Tag Management | Using tags for flexible second-level grouping |
| Subtotals and Notes | Group a set of entries into a total |
| Refunds | Record returns and refunds to correct actual spending |
| Debt Management | Track mortgages, car loans, credit cards and other debts |
Tips for building a bookkeeping habit
- Pick the category first, then the amount: categories are the foundation of all statistics and analysis
- Write clear notes: for example, "dinner with coworkers" is far more useful when you look back than just "Dining"
- Record entries on the day they happen: logging as you go is more accurate than catching up on the weekend
- Make use of the sale price: recording the original price and what you actually paid separately makes your statistics more accurate