This guide covers implementation, configuration, daily use and troubleshooting for Small Business Management – Accounting Family.
Small Business Accounting: Editions, Concepts and Workflow Guide
This guide explains the Accounting product family before you begin clicking through screens. It defines the records, shows how information moves through the system, explains the difference between Free, Pro and Enterprise, and provides a safe upgrade path between editions.
The product is organised around business events: a customer asks for a price, the business issues a quote or invoice, money is received, costs are recorded, and reports summarise the result. You do not need to understand every accounting term before using the basic workflow, but you should understand what each record represents.
1. The business records and what they mean
Customer
The person or organisation that buys from you. The customer record supplies contact information to quotes, invoices, payments and statements.
Product or service
A reusable item you sell. It provides a code, name, description, price, tax treatment and optional stock behaviour.
Quote
A proposal. It describes what you intend to supply and the expected price. It does not mean the customer owes money yet.
Invoice
A formal request for payment. It creates an amount due and remains outstanding until payments or credits reduce the balance.
Payment
Evidence that money was received. Payments are linked to invoices so the invoice balance can be recalculated.
Expense
A cost incurred by the business. An expense can include supplier information, tax, an account classification and a supporting document.
Statement
A period summary of a customer account showing invoices, payments and the resulting balance.
Ledger
The double-entry accounting record available in Pro and Enterprise. Every posted transaction creates balanced debit and credit movements.
2. How the records connect
A quote can be converted into an invoice so the customer, line items, prices and tax treatment do not need to be typed again. A payment should be recorded against the correct invoice. The system then reduces the invoice balance and changes its status when appropriate. Expenses affect management reporting immediately and, in Pro or Enterprise, can also be posted into the accounting ledger.
Add this image immediately after completing or explaining the preceding section.
- Screen to capture: Create a labelled workflow diagram or composite using representative Accounting screens.
- Required state: Show Customer → Quote → Invoice → Payment → Statement and Expense → Reports. Use one consistent example customer and document number.
- Must include: Record names, arrows showing the direction of the workflow, and the point where money is actually received.
- Redact or avoid: Real customer details, bank details, email addresses and licence keys.
- Suggested caption: How the main Accounting records connect from proposal to payment and reporting.
Editor note: replace this complete placeholder with a responsive image and keep the suggested caption as the figure caption.
3. Document status is not the same as accounting truth
| Record | Typical statuses | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Quote | Draft, sent, viewed, accepted, rejected, converted | Tracks the sales proposal lifecycle. Only an accepted quote that is converted becomes an invoice. |
| Invoice | Draft, unpaid, partial, paid, overdue, void | Tracks whether the customer owes money and how much remains. |
| Payment | Recorded, gateway-verified or linked | Represents money received. A payment is not an invoice and should not be duplicated. |
| Expense | Captured and classified | Represents a business cost. A receipt image is supporting evidence, not the expense record itself. |
| Journal entry | Draft or posted, and possibly reversed | Represents ledger adjustments in Pro and Enterprise. Posted entries should not be edited casually. |
4. Free, Pro and Enterprise
| Capability | Free 1.0.22 | Pro 1.2.34 | Enterprise 1.1.19 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business scope | One company on one WordPress site | One company on one WordPress site | Multiple companies on one WordPress installation |
| Customers, products, quotes, invoices, manual payments, expenses | Included | Included | Included per company |
| Statements, payment follow-up, VAT Lite and basic reports | Included | Included with automation and advanced reporting | Included per company with Enterprise controls |
| Subscriptions, recurring billing and reminders | Not included | Included | Included per company |
| Bank CSV imports, rules and reconciliation | Not included | Included | Included per company |
| Chart of Accounts, journals, General Ledger, Trial Balance and Balance Sheet | Not included | Included | Included per company |
| Customer portal | Not included | Included | Included with company-aware access |
| Multi-currency | Limited to configured document currency behaviour | Included | Included per company and sales channel |
| Multiple companies and company permissions | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Sales Channels and scoped API keys | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Licence required | No | Yes | Yes |
Pro replaces Free. Enterprise replaces both Free and Pro. The editions are not intended to run side by side. Always back up the database before changing editions.
Add this image immediately after completing or explaining the preceding section.
- Screen to capture: Capture the three Accounting edition cards or the website comparison table.
- Required state: Show the current Free v1.0.22, Pro v1.2.34 and Enterprise v1.1.19 product names.
- Must include: The boundary between operational accounting, advanced accounting and multi-company accounting.
- Redact or avoid: Prices if they are still being reviewed or any customer-specific discount.
- Suggested caption: Choose the Accounting edition that matches the business scope.
Editor note: replace this complete placeholder with a responsive image and keep the suggested caption as the figure caption.
5. Which edition should you choose?
- Choose Free when the business needs reliable customer, quote, invoice, payment, expense and basic reporting workflows without recurring billing or a full ledger.
- Choose Pro when one business needs automation, bank imports, reconciliation, recurring billing, customer portal, advanced reporting and full ledger controls.
- Choose Enterprise when one WordPress installation must keep separate books for multiple legal entities, brands or operating companies, or when products must be supplied to remote sales-channel websites through scoped APIs.
6. Roles and responsibility
| Role | Typical responsibility | Important boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Business owner / administrator | Company setup, permissions, backups, tax settings, licence and integrations | Should not share administrator credentials with daily users. |
| Accounting Manager | Daily accounting supervision, approvals, reporting and reconciliation | Should review changes and exceptions. |
| Accounting user | Customers, quotes, invoices, payments and expenses according to company procedure | Should not change structural settings without approval. |
| Accounting Agent | Restricted accountant/bookkeeper access in Pro and Enterprise | Cannot access all WordPress or commercial automation settings. |
| Enterprise company administrator | Creates/switches companies and assigns company access | Must confirm the active company before every structural action. |
7. Safe upgrade path
Move from Free to Pro
- Create a complete WordPress database and uploads backup.
- Confirm Accounting Free is healthy and export key records for reference.
- Upload the current Accounting Pro ZIP without deleting accounting data.
- Activate Pro. Current builds resolve the edition conflict before Pro-only files load and deactivate Free safely.
- Refresh the administration once so pending setup and database upgrades complete.
- Activate the Pro licence through Small Business Management Hub → Licences.
- Run Setup Health and Release Readiness QA, then test one quote, invoice and payment end to end.
Pro is the active edition, existing compatible Free data is retained, and the advanced menus become available.
Move from Free or Pro to Enterprise
- Create and verify a full backup.
- Document the current company identity, currency, numbering and email settings.
- Upload and activate the current Enterprise ZIP. Enterprise deactivates the lower edition before shared constants are used.
- Refresh once to complete Enterprise setup.
- Activate the Enterprise licence.
- Confirm the original business appears as an Enterprise company and verify Company Settings.
- Create additional companies only after the migrated company has passed a full transaction test.
Enterprise is active, the original company is retained, and each additional company can be configured independently.
8. Backups, retention and legal responsibility
Accounting records are business records. A plugin ZIP is not a backup of those records. Back up the WordPress database and the uploads directory, because expense documents, logos and generated product images may be stored in WordPress media. Keep backups according to the legal and operational requirements that apply to the business.
The software records and reports the information entered by authorised users. It does not determine whether a transaction is legally deductible, whether a customer should be charged tax, or how a jurisdiction requires a return to be filed. Use a qualified accountant or tax adviser where necessary.
9. Common workflow example
From enquiry to paid invoice
- Create customer Bright Path Consulting with the billing email used for documents.
- Create a service called Website Support Retainer with the approved price and tax treatment.
- Create a quote for one month of support and send the public quote link.
- After the customer accepts, convert the quote into an invoice.
- Review the due date and payment instructions, then send the invoice.
- When the bank receipt appears, record the payment against that invoice or match it through the Pro/Enterprise bank feed.
- Confirm the invoice balance is zero and the customer statement shows both invoice and payment.
The customer record now contains a complete commercial trail: quote, invoice, payment and statement movement.
10. Glossary
| Term | Plain-language meaning |
|---|---|
| Accounts receivable / debtors | Money customers owe the business. |
| Accounts payable / creditors | Money the business owes suppliers. |
| Base currency | The main currency in which the business keeps its books. |
| Exchange rate | The conversion factor between a transaction currency and the base currency. |
| Chart of Accounts | The structured list of asset, liability, equity, income and expense accounts used by the ledger. |
| Debit and credit | The two sides of double-entry accounting. Every posted journal must balance. |
| Reconciliation | Comparing accounting records with an external record, usually a bank statement, and resolving differences. |
| Period lock | A control that prevents ordinary changes to a completed accounting period. |
| Idempotency | A safeguard that prevents the same remote payment or order from creating duplicate transactions. |
| Sales Channel | An Enterprise connection that exposes selected products to a specific remote marketplace or website. |
11. How totals are calculated and why records should be linked
A document total is built from line quantity, unit price, line discount, invoice-level discount and tax. The outstanding balance is then the invoice total minus payments and approved credits. Because the balance is derived from linked records, changing a status label without the underlying payment or credit creates an inconsistency. Always use the workflow action that represents the business event.
| Business event | Correct record/action | Incorrect shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| Customer pays an invoice | Record or match a payment against that invoice. | Change the invoice status to paid without a payment. |
| Customer receives a price reduction after invoicing | Create an approved credit note in Pro/Enterprise or follow a documented correction in Free. | Delete the original invoice. |
| Business buys now and pays later | Capture a supplier bill in Pro/Enterprise, then pay it later. | Record a paid expense on the bill date when no payment occurred. |
| Bank statement shows a receipt | Match it to the existing invoice/payment workflow. | Create a second invoice or payment because the description looks familiar. |
12. Tax-inclusive and tax-exclusive thinking
Before entering prices, determine whether the amount is tax-inclusive or tax-exclusive under the company configuration. If a line is tax-exclusive, tax is added to the net amount. If a line is tax-inclusive, the system derives the tax portion from the entered gross amount. Mixing the two assumptions is a common reason a customer-facing total differs from a supplier quotation or contract.
Document whether product prices are maintained inclusive or exclusive of tax. Train all users on the same convention and verify the public document preview before sending.
13. The difference between operational and ledger accounting
Operational accounting answers practical questions: what did we quote, what did we invoice, what did the customer pay and what did we spend? The Pro/Enterprise ledger answers structural accounting questions: which asset, liability, equity, income or expense accounts were debited or credited? A small business can begin with the operational workflow in Free, while Pro and Enterprise add the double-entry structure required for deeper financial control.
| Operational record | Possible ledger effect in Pro/Enterprise |
|---|---|
| Sales invoice | Debit Accounts Receivable; credit Sales/Income and tax liability where applicable. |
| Customer payment | Debit Bank/Cash; credit Accounts Receivable. |
| Paid expense | Debit Expense and input tax where applicable; credit Bank/Cash. |
| Supplier bill | Debit Expense/Asset and input tax; credit Accounts Payable. |
| Supplier payment | Debit Accounts Payable; credit Bank/Cash. |
| Credit note | Reverse or reduce the original receivable, income and tax effect according to the transaction. |
14. Records, documents and evidence
A record is the structured data stored by Accounting. A document is the customer- or supplier-facing representation of that record. Evidence is an external item such as a bank reference, receipt or supplier invoice. Good accounting links all three: the invoice record creates the customer document; the payment record stores the bank reference; the expense record holds the supplier document.
15. A practical first-month learning plan
- Week 1: Configure the company, users, categories and products. Create draft documents only.
- Week 2: Process a small number of real quotes and invoices, and verify every public document.
- Week 3: Record payments and expenses daily. Review customer statements and outstanding balances.
- Week 4: Review tax summaries and reports, export records and reconcile totals to external evidence. Pro/Enterprise users also complete bank reconciliation and ledger review.
16. Decision tree for common tasks
| You need to… | Use… | Because… |
|---|---|---|
| Tell a customer the expected price before they commit | Quote | It is a proposal, not yet an amount owed. |
| Request payment | Invoice | It creates the receivable and due date. |
| Record money already received | Payment | It reduces the linked invoice balance. |
| Record a cost already paid | Expense | It represents the business cost and payment together in the simple workflow. |
| Record a supplier obligation not yet paid | Supplier Bill in Pro/Enterprise | It separates the obligation from the later payment. |
| Correct an approved invoice | Credit Note/Refund in Pro/Enterprise or controlled correction in Free | It preserves history. |
| Explain the customer’s account over a period | Statement | It combines invoices and payments in one account view. |
| Prove the bank balance | Bank Reconciliation in Pro/Enterprise | It compares Accounting to the external statement. |