Balancivo · Help Center
Balancivo Help Center
Step-by-step guides and short narrated videos for every part of Balancivo, from connecting your bank to closing the month, payroll and church funds. Free to read, no sign-in needed.
56 guides, each with a short video (captions and transcript included). Videos are recorded in Balancivo with sample organizations. Signed in to Balancivo? The same guides are under Help and videos in the menu.
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Getting started
- Create your account and set up your books ▶ 46 secSign up for Balancivo, confirm your email, and create the organization whose books you'll keep.
- Turn on two-step sign-in ▶ 54 secProtect your books with a code from an authenticator app like Microsoft Authenticator, save recovery codes, and trust your own devices.
- Add a bank or card account by hand ▶ 48 secAdd a checking, savings, card or loan account with the date your books start and the balance on that day.
- Connect your bank ▶ 58 secLink your bank through Plaid so new transactions arrive every morning, and learn what each connection status means.
- Your free trial, plans and usage ▶ 1:04How the 7-day free trial works, what each plan includes, and how to read the usage panel and subscribe.
- Add or switch organizations ▶ 59 secKeep books for more than one business, church or nonprofit, and move between them from the side menu.
- Rate Balancivo and send feedbackRate Balancivo, report a problem, or suggest an idea, and see what we've done with each message you send.
Everyday bookkeeping
- Import bank and card statements ▶ 58 secBring in PDF statements or CSV, OFX and QFX downloads, check that each one ties out, and import them safely.
- Categorize and review transactions ▶ 56 secGive each transaction a category, let Balancivo remember your choices for each merchant, and mark them reviewed.
- Search and filter in Review ▶ 54 secFind transactions by date, description, account, amount, category or note, and review a filtered group at once.
- Split a transaction ▶ 43 secDivide one deposit or payment among several categories or funds, such as tithes and offerings in one deposit.
- Write and track checks ▶ 49 secRecord checks in the register when you write them, see which are outstanding, and add checks the bank already paid.
- Set up your chart of accounts ▶ 49 secAdd accounts with numbers, group them under parent accounts and your own types, and hide or delete ones you don't use.
- Print checksPrint checks from the register on pre-printed voucher check stock, with the payee's address for a window envelope and two stubs.
Money in and out
- Track a loan or mortgage ▶ 42 secSet up a loan's rate and payment so payments split into principal, interest and escrow, and check the balance against the lender's statement.
- Add fixed assets and track depreciation ▶ 45 secSpread the cost of computers, equipment and furniture over the years you use them, and record when an asset is sold or retired.
- Plan a budget and compare it to actual ▶ 45 secEnter the year's planned income and spending by category, then print the Budget vs. actual report to see how you're doing.
- Create an invoice and send it ▶ 52 secBill a customer with an invoice, then print it or save it as a PDF to email or mail.
- Record a payment on an invoice or bill ▶ 46 secLink the bank deposit or payment to an invoice or bill so Balancivo marks it paid and counts it in your books.
- Enter a bill from a vendor ▶ 45 secEnter a vendor's bill so you can see what you owe and when it's due.
- Add customers, vendors and donors ▶ 52 secKeep a list of the people and businesses you bill, pay or receive gifts from, and let Balancivo tag their bank transactions.
- Add receipts and match them to transactions ▶ 52 secUpload or photograph receipts, attach each one to the transaction it paid for, and find larger expenses still missing a receipt.
- Get receipts from your email ▶ 1:02Forward receipts to a private address or connect a mailbox, so Balancivo reads them, keeps a PDF and attaches each one to its charge.
- Keep track of subscriptions ▶ 1:00See every charge that repeats, catch price increases and duplicates, and get an email before renewals.
- Bring in Zelle memos ▶ 58 secGet the memo people type on Zelle payments, like "tithe" or "invoice 1042", onto the matching transaction in Review.
Payroll and taxes
- Set up payroll and add an employee ▶ 50 secAgree to the payroll terms, check your unemployment tax settings, and add each employee from their Form W-4.
- Run payroll ▶ 57 secStart a pay run, calculate suggested paychecks, review and sign off, post it to the books, and print pay stubs.
- Prepare the Form 941 worksheet ▶ 1:05Fill in your quarterly Form 941 figures from posted pay runs, record tax deposits, sign off, lock and mark it filed.
- Find vendors who need a 1099 ▶ 49 secSee who you paid enough by check or bank transfer to need a Form 1099-NEC, track W-9s, and download the list.
Churches and nonprofits
- Set up funds for restricted gifts ▶ 51 secCreate funds like a Building fund or Missions, choose which gifts go to each, and see every fund's balance.
- Move money between funds ▶ 48 secRelease restricted money when it's spent for its purpose, or set money aside, by moving an amount from one fund to another.
- Print year-end donor statements ▶ 50 secPrint or email a year-end contribution statement for each donor, with your logo, listing every gift, including ones imported from a spreadsheet.
- Pay a minister with a housing allowance ▶ 55 secAdd a pastor or other minister to payroll with a housing allowance, and see how their taxes are handled.
Reports
- Print a financial statements package ▶ 53 secPut your profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow statement, and notes into one document for your CPA, a lender, or a grant.
- Run a profit and loss report ▶ 52 secSee income, expenses, and net income for any period, by month, or next to the same dates last year, then print it or download a CSV.
- Run a balance sheet ▶ 44 secSee what your organization owns, owes, and is worth on any date, then print it or download a CSV.
- Run a cash flow statement ▶ 44 secSee where your cash came from and where it went for any period, then print it or download a CSV.
Month-end
- Reconcile an account to a bank statement ▶ 51 secCheck off each deposit and payment on your bank or card statement until the difference is zero, then finish the reconciliation.
- View a reconciliation report or undo a reconciliation ▶ 54 secPrint the report for a finished reconciliation, read its outstanding items, and reopen the latest one if a checkmark needs fixing.
- Close and reopen a month ▶ 54 secLock a finished month so reports you've shared can't drift, and reopen the latest closed month when something needs fixing.
- Post a journal entry ▶ 46 secRecord an accrual or correction with balanced debits and credits, save it as a draft, and post it when it's ready.
- Reverse a journal entry ▶ 47 secCancel a posted journal entry with a mirror entry, then post a corrected one, keeping both in the books.
- Run a trial balance and general ledger ▶ 45 secSee every account's debit or credit balance on a date, confirm the books tie out, and drill into any account's activity.
- See change history and restore a change ▶ 43 secFind who added, edited or deleted something and when, then put back a deleted record or undo an edit.
Settings and security
- Add, rename, or hide categories ▶ 56 secKeep your category list tidy by adding the categories you need, renaming them, and hiding the ones you don't use.
- Add a chart of accounts template ▶ 51 secAdd a ready-made set of categories for a business or a church in one click, without losing the ones you already have.
- Change what Balancivo has learned ▶ 50 secSee the merchants Balancivo files on its own, change where they go, or stop filing them automatically.
- Invite your team and manage access ▶ 1:00Invite a bookkeeper or another owner, change someone's role, resend or withdraw an invitation, and remove people.
- Choose what each bookkeeper can do ▶ 44 secTurn on or off what a bookkeeper may do beyond the basics, such as posting journal entries, voiding checks or deleting transactions.
- "Owners and bookkeepers: who can do what" ▶ 52 secA plain list of what owners can do, what bookkeepers can do, and which actions only an owner can take.
- Turn features on and offHide the parts of Balancivo your organization doesn't use, like invoices for a church or donor statements for a business.
- Set up two-step sign-in and automatic sign-out ▶ 52 secProtect your books with a code from your phone, and choose how long Balancivo waits before signing an idle computer out.
- Sign in with a passkey (fingerprint or face) ▶ 37 secCreate a passkey so you can sign in with your fingerprint, face or device PIN instead of typing your password.
- Manage your subscription and plan usage ▶ 52 secSee your plan, how much of it you've used, and how to subscribe, upgrade, or change billing.
- Delete a company ▶ 48 secPermanently delete an organization's books, files, and bank connections when you no longer need them.
- Ask Charis, the Balancivo assistant ▶ 53 secTurn on Charis to get quick answers about using Balancivo and general bookkeeping questions, and know what it can and can't see.