Revenue with no costs against it is not a profit figure, it is a turnover figure. This is the half that makes the reports mean something.
Two routes in, kept separate
| You did this | Record it as | What it recognises |
|---|---|---|
| Paid on the spot — card, bank transfer, UPI | Expense | The cost, on the day the money moved |
| Been invoiced, will pay later | Bill | The cost, on the bill date. Paying it later just moves cash |
Receipts, from your phone
Attach a photo or a PDF to either. Photos are shrunk in your browser before they are uploaded, so a full-resolution snap of a restaurant bill is fine to attach and your database never sees the four megabytes.
Tax comes out, not on top
You type what actually left the account, because that is what the receipt says and what your bank line says. The tax hiding inside it is divided out rather than added on, so the recorded total can never disagree with the statement.
Vendors
The mirror of clients, for money going out. What you owe them, what you have paid them, their tax number and the input credit it earns you where tax is recoverable, and the expense category their bills usually belong to.