Accounting

Start your books in Magpie, or move them from QuickBooks or Xero.

Accounting keeps books for a team or Personal from a start date you choose. Setup will add a standard chart of accounts (the list of accounts the books record entries in), and the opening balances record what the business had and owed on that date. From QuickBooks, Xero or another program, import its chart of accounts and its trial balance (every account's balance on one date) as CSV files, and the opening balances will be filled in for you to check.

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Start date and currency

The first time Accounting is opened, it asks for the date the books start and the currency they are kept in.

Start date
Use the first day of your financial year, or the day you start keeping books in Magpie. No entry can be dated earlier.
Books currency
The books start in the team currency, or another you choose.
Fixed after setup
Neither the start date nor the books' currency can change after setup.
Financial year
The month the financial year starts can change at any time in Settings; it sets how reports group the entries.

Invoices, expenses and sales already in Magpie

Invoices, payments, expenses and sales already in Magpie will be added to the books if they are dated on or after the start date. With a start date in the past, such as the first day of the financial year, everything recorded in Magpie since then will be added.

Records dated before the start date are not added; their amounts belong in the opening balances. An earlier invoice that is still unpaid is part of Accounts receivable (what customers owe), and its payment, received after the start, will take the amount out again.

The standard chart of accounts

The chart groups accounts as assets (what the business owns), liabilities (what it owes), equity (what the owners have put in and kept), income and expenses, with accounts such as Bank, Credit card, Accounts receivable, Sales tax payable, Sales, Services, Rent and Software.

Rename, renumber and add
Each account's name, number and description change in place, and Add account adds another.
Used by Magpie
Accounts marked Used by Magpie are where invoices, payments and sales are recorded. They can be renamed and renumbered, and keep their type.

Opening balances

Opening balances are what the business had and owed on the start date: each bank balance, what is owed on each card, cash, unpaid invoices and bills, unsold stock, sales tax not yet paid, and every other asset, liability and equity account, such as Equipment and Loans.

They are saved as one entry on the start date, balanced against Opening balance equity, the account that takes the difference between what the business had and what it owed. Saving again will replace that entry with the new amounts.

Moving from QuickBooks, Xero or another program

The move takes two files exported from the other program as CSV: its chart of accounts and its trial balance.

  1. Set up the books

    Choose the start date and currency. The other program's balances on the day before the start date will become the opening balances.

  2. Import the chart of accounts

    Export it with a column for each account's name and one for its type; numbers and descriptions come too. Accounting lists each account with the type it will have in Magpie, and adds the ones you tick.

  3. Import the trial balance

    Export it as of the day before the books start, with Debit and Credit columns, and import it on Opening balances. The amounts will be filled in.

  4. Check and save

    Change any amount that is wrong. Nothing is saved until you choose Save opening balances.

What the import matches and leaves out

Accounts already in the chart
An account the chart already has, by number or name, is left as it is and not added again.
Trial balance rows
Each row is matched to an account by number, then by name. Rows that match no account are listed, to add the account and import again.
Income and expense rows
Income and expense rows are left out: profit or loss from before the start date is part of Opening balance equity.
Unpaid invoices and bills
Unpaid invoices and bills are not brought over one by one; their totals come over in Accounts receivable and Accounts payable.
Earlier entries
The import brings over accounts and their balances, not the entries behind them.
Bank and card accounts
The free plan includes 2 bank and card accounts, and paid plans have no limit. A bank or card account in the file beyond the plan's limit will be added as another asset or liability.

Your accountant

A team admin adds an accountant by email address or handle in Accounting Settings, in Personal too. The accountant keeps the books with you, including the import and the opening balances, and opens nothing else of the team. Accountants count as guests: 10 on the free plan and 100 on Pro and the Team plan.

Set up your books.

Create a Magpie account, open Accounting and choose the date your books start. Then enter the opening balances, or import them from the other program's trial balance.

Create account