Creating Initial Entries
Before recording your day-to-day transactions, it’s recommended to set up the essential records your business uses regularly. These include bank accounts, taxes, sales items, and customers.
Completing these initial entries helps streamline invoice creation and ensures your accounting records are organized from the start.
Before You Start
Make sure your company has already been created in Frappe Books before adding these initial records.
Add Additional Bank Accounts
If your business uses multiple bank accounts, add them to the Chart of Accounts before recording transactions.
Navigate to:
Setup → Chart of Accounts
Open the following account group:
Application of Funds (Assets) → Current Assets → Bank Accounts
To create a new bank account:
- Hover over the Bank Accounts group.
- Click Add Account.
- Enter the bank account name.
- Press Enter or click Save.
The new account can now be used for recording receipts, payments, and fund transfers.
Add Taxes
If your business charges or recovers taxes, create the tax templates you will use on invoices.
Navigate to:
Setup → Taxes
To create a tax:
- Click the + button.
- Enter a descriptive name such as GST 18% or Service Tax 5%.
- Add one or more Tax Accounts.
- Specify the applicable tax rate for each account.
- Click Save.
You can create multiple tax templates for different products, services, or tax combinations that your business commonly uses.
Add Sales Items
Sales Items represent the products or services you sell to customers.
Navigate to:
Sales → Sales Items
To create a Sales Item:
- Click the + button.
- Enter the item name.
- Specify the default selling rate.
- Select whether the item is a Product or a Service.
- Select the default tax template.
- Click Save.
You can also configure additional information such as the default income account, expense account, and item image.
Add Customers
Customer records store contact information and are used when creating Sales Invoices.
Navigate to:
Sales → Customers
To create a customer:
- Click the + button.
- Enter the customer name.
- Click Save.
You can update the customer later with additional details such as:
- Email address
- Phone number
- Billing information
These details can automatically appear on generated Sales Invoice PDFs.
What’s Next?
After creating your initial records, you are ready to enter your company’s opening balances and begin recording invoices and financial transactions.
Related Features
- Chart of Accounts
- Taxes
- Sales Items
- Customers
- Opening Balances
Best Practices
- Create all business bank accounts before recording payments and receipts.
- Use descriptive tax names that include the applicable tax rate.
- Assign default taxes to Sales Items to reduce manual work during invoicing.
- Keep customer contact information up to date for accurate invoices and communication.
- Complete these initial entries before entering opening balances or creating transactions.