Knowledge base

Getting started

Your first day in Basmtak Books

The steps in order, from your first sign-in to your first real invoice and its journal entry.

4 min Read Getting started

A tour of the dashboard

How to read your numbers at a glance, and pick the view that suits your role in the business.

3 min Read Getting started

The setup checklist

Eight steps that tick themselves from your books, so you can see what is done and what is left.

3 min Read Getting started

Set up your company details

Your VAT number, CR number, national address and fiscal year start, and where they appear once saved.

4 min Read Getting started

Enter your opening balances

Bring every account's balance from your old system or an Excel file as one opening entry, reviewed before it is applied.

5 min Read Getting started

The assistant: ask your books

Ask about your figures in your own words, or ask it to record something, and review every change before it is written.

4 min Read Getting started

Quick search and keyboard shortcuts

Reach any customer, invoice or screen from where you are, without walking through menus.

2 min Read Getting started

Language, theme and guided view

Change the program's language, switch between light and dark, and choose how much the screen explains.

3 min Read Sales and customers

Add a customer

Create the customer card once, and their details and VAT number fill in on every invoice you raise for them.

3 min Read Sales and customers

Import customers and items from Excel

Already have a list? Paste it from Excel or upload a CSV, match the columns, and it all goes in at once.

4 min Read Sales and customers

Add a product or service

Each item carries its own price and tax, so writing an invoice is just picking it. If it is stocked, its quantity and cost are tracked for you.

4 min Read Sales and customers

Create a quote and turn it into an invoice

Send the customer a numbered quote, track their answer, and turn it into an invoice or sales order without retyping the lines.

4 min Read Sales and customers

Raise a sales invoice

From picking the customer to an issued invoice with its journal and QR code, and what to do if a refusal message appears.

5 min Read Sales and customers

Add a discount to an invoice

A percentage off one line, or an amount off the whole invoice. Either way the VAT is worked out after the discount.

3 min Read Sales and customers

Your own columns on invoice lines

Add columns such as number of employees and months, to print on the invoice or feed into the quantity.

3 min Read Sales and customers

Sales orders and reserving stock

Record the customer's commitment before shipping, hold the goods for them, then deliver in parts and invoice.

5 min Read Sales and customers

Delivery notes and invoicing them later

When goods leave before the invoice: record them on a delivery note, then bring one or more notes onto a single invoice.

4 min Read Sales and customers

Credit notes: cancel or correct an invoice, or take goods back

An issued invoice cannot be deleted. A credit note is the proper way to cancel all or part of it.

4 min Read Sales and customers

Record a customer payment

Record what came in, in full or in part, against one invoice or several, so the customer's balance falls and the bank rises.

4 min Read Sales and customers

A customer advance before the invoice

Took a deposit before invoicing? Record it on a receipt so it stays as customer credit, then apply it when the invoice is issued.

3 min Read Sales and customers

Recurring invoices

For rent, subscriptions and retainers: one schedule that raises the invoice on time every month.

4 min Read Sales and customers

Send an invoice by email or WhatsApp

Send an invoice or quote from inside Books, or copy the customer link and share it any way you like.

3 min Read Sales and customers

Get paid by card from the invoice link

Connect your payment provider account, and a pay button appears on the invoice link, with the payment recorded in your books automatically.

4 min Read Sales and customers

Customer statement

All of a customer's invoices, credit notes and payments with a running balance, ready to print or send on WhatsApp.

2 min Read Sales and customers

Receivables aging: who owes you and how late

One report that sorts what customers owe by how late it is, so you know who to chase first.

2 min Read Sales and customers

Price lists and quantity breaks

Set prices for a customer or a group of customers, and a lower price for large quantities, so they appear on the invoice by themselves.

4 min Read Sales and customers

Credit limits and customer credit hold

Set a debt ceiling for each customer, and choose whether the system warns you or blocks issuing when it is passed.

4 min Read E-invoicing (ZATCA)

Connect Books to the ZATCA Fatoora portal

Three steps inside Books and one code from the Fatoora portal. After that your invoices go to ZATCA by themselves.

5 min Read E-invoicing (ZATCA)

Renew your ZATCA certificate

The certificate has an end date, and invoices stop after it. Renew it before then with a fresh code from the Fatoora portal.

2 min Read E-invoicing (ZATCA)

Clearance and reporting: what is the difference

A tax invoice goes to ZATCA before the customer. A simplified one reaches the customer straight away. Here is what Books does in each case.

3 min Read E-invoicing (ZATCA)

Follow an invoice's status with ZATCA

Where to see what ZATCA said about each invoice, what every status means, and when you need to step in.

3 min Read E-invoicing (ZATCA)

What to do when ZATCA rejects an invoice

Read the reason, find out what can be corrected, then file again once it is put right.

4 min Read E-invoicing (ZATCA)

Customer details a tax invoice needs

A valid VAT number and a complete national address. Complete them before you issue, because the invoice keeps them as they stand.

3 min Read Purchases and expenses

Add a supplier

Record a supplier once, with their name, VAT number and payment terms, and they are ready on every bill and purchase order.

3 min Read Purchases and expenses

Create a purchase order

Write down what you ordered from a supplier under a reference number, then receive the goods or turn it into a bill.

4 min Read Purchases and expenses

Record a supplier bill

Enter the supplier's invoice as you received it. It posts as expense or stock with input VAT, and shows what you owe.

5 min Read Purchases and expenses

Scan a supplier invoice

Upload a photo or PDF of the supplier's invoice. Books reads it and prepares a draft for you to check before posting.

3 min Read Purchases and expenses

Raise a debit note to a supplier

Returned goods, or a mistake on a supplier bill? A debit note corrects the bill, the stock and the VAT.

4 min Read Purchases and expenses

Pay a supplier

Record what you paid a supplier from the bank or cash, for one bill or for several under one payment.

4 min Read Purchases and expenses

Record a quick expense

A small bill you paid on the spot? Record the bill and the payment together in one step.

3 min Read Purchases and expenses

Receive goods against a purchase order

Bring goods into stock when they arrive, in full or in parts, before the supplier's bill does.

4 min Read Purchases and expenses

Spread landed costs over your goods

Add freight, customs and insurance to the cost of the goods themselves, so you know their true cost and your true profit.

5 min Read Purchases and expenses

Employee expense claims

An employee paid from their own pocket? Record the receipts, approve them, then repay by payment, from their custody, or with their salary.

5 min Read Purchases and expenses

Supplier statement

All of a supplier's bills, debit notes and payments with a running balance, so you know what you owe and can match it to their statement.

3 min Read Purchases and expenses

Accounts payable aging

Whom you owe and how late: a report that splits what you owe suppliers by days overdue, so you can decide who to pay first.

2 min Read Purchases and expenses

Recurring supplier bills

Rent and subscriptions repeat at the same value. Set a schedule once and their bills are recorded on time.

3 min Read Banking and cash

Add a bank account or cash box

Every bank or cash account in your chart appears on the Banking page by itself. Here is how to add a new one and complete its details.

3 min Read Banking and cash

Import a bank statement

Upload the file you downloaded from your bank and check what was read before a single line is added.

4 min Read Banking and cash

Bank rules for lines that repeat

Teach Books that «charges» means bank charges, and it prepares the account and VAT on every line that repeats.

3 min Read Banking and cash

Match bank lines to your books

Every line on the bank statement has an entry behind it. Match it to an existing one, create the entry from the line, and deal with differences.

5 min Read Banking and cash

Reconcile your bank account

Prove that the bank statement agrees with your books at month end, then close the reconciliation to freeze those lines.

5 min Read Banking and cash

Payment and receipt vouchers without an invoice

Record rent, fees, drawings or other income straight from a bank or cash account, and print the voucher with signature lines.

4 min Read Banking and cash

Transfer between your accounts

Move money from one bank to another, or deposit cash from the box into the bank, with one entry and no expense or income.

2 min Read Banking and cash

Post-dated cheques

Follow every cheque from the day you receive it until it clears or bounces, with the right entry at each stage.

5 min Read Banking and cash

Petty cash

A cash box with a set limit held by an employee: spent against receipts, and topped back up to the limit in one step.

4 min Read Banking and cash

Employee custody advances

Hand an employee money to spend for the business, settle it with their receipts and any cash returned, and see what they still hold.

4 min Read Banking and cash

Card payouts from your payment processor

The customer paid by card but the money has not reached the bank. See what the processor is holding and post its transfer net of the fee.

4 min Read Inventory and manufacturing

Add a warehouse

Record every place you keep goods, so the system knows how much of each item sits where.

3 min Read Inventory and manufacturing

Enter your opening stock

Record the goods already on your shelves on the day you start, with their quantity and cost, without inflating your first month's profit.

4 min Read Inventory and manufacturing

Move stock between warehouses

Move a quantity from one warehouse to another. Both balances change, and your total stock value stays the same.

3 min Read Inventory and manufacturing

Adjust stock: damage, shortage or surplus

Correct one item's quantity after damage, loss or a surplus, and the journal posts itself.

3 min Read Inventory and manufacturing

Stock count: match the shelf to the books

Count what is on the shelf, type the figures and post the differences in one journal that corrects quantities and books together.

5 min Read Inventory and manufacturing

Reorder levels and ready-made purchase orders

Set a minimum for each item, see what is short and how much to buy, then create one draft purchase order per supplier in a click.

4 min Read Inventory and manufacturing

Lots and expiry dates

Follow the lot number and expiry date from receipt to sale, and see what is close to expiry and who received each lot.

5 min Read Inventory and manufacturing

The item card and your stock value

See what your stock is worth, whether it matches the books, and follow every movement of any item with a running balance.

4 min Read Inventory and manufacturing

Costing method and negative stock

Choose how the cost of goods leaving is worked out, and whether the system lets you sell more than you hold or issue an expired lot.

4 min Read Inventory and manufacturing

Stock aging and slow movers

See how long your goods have sat in the warehouse, and which items are not moving and tying up your cash.

3 min Read Inventory and manufacturing

Print barcode labels

Print labels for your items with the name, code and price, on A4 sheets or a label printer roll.

2 min Read Inventory and manufacturing

Product recipes (bill of materials)

Write down what each product is made of and how much, and see its cost and expected margin before you make it.

4 min Read Inventory and manufacturing

Build orders: from parts to product

Draw the components from stock, add labour and overheads, and bring the finished product in at its full cost.

5 min Read Accounting and journals

The chart of accounts: read it and change it

The list every money movement in your business lands on. How to read the tree, add an account and stop using one.

4 min Read Accounting and journals

Record a manual journal

For adjustments, corrections and anything without a document. How to write a journal, balance it and post it to the books.

4 min Read Accounting and journals

Reverse a posted journal

A posted journal is not edited. Its effect is cancelled by a mirror entry that stays on record, then you write the right one.

3 min Read Accounting and journals

Recurring journals

A journal that repeats, like an accrual or an amortisation instalment. Set it up once and it goes out on time.

4 min Read Accounting and journals

Prepaid expenses and deferred revenue

Paid a year of insurance or collected a yearly contract up front? Book it on the balance sheet and let it release into expense or revenue month by month.

4 min Read Accounting and journals

Closing a month and fiscal periods

Once a month is reviewed, close it so figures you handed over cannot change. The difference between close, reopen and lock.

3 min Read Accounting and journals

Year-end close

At year end one journal moves the result into retained earnings and locks the periods. The checklist, the close and how to reopen.

4 min Read Accounting and journals

Fixed assets and depreciation

A vehicle, machine or furniture that serves you for years: register it, let depreciation spread its cost over its life, then sell or scrap it at the end.

5 min Read Accounting and journals

Cost centres: which branch makes money?

Split income and cost across branches, projects or departments, and see where you actually make or lose money.

3 min Read Accounting and journals

Budgets and budget vs actual

The year's plan month by month for each account, then a report that sets it against what actually happened.

4 min Read Accounting and journals

Working in foreign currencies

Turn on a second currency, enter its rate and bill in it while your books stay in one currency, with exchange differences worked out for you.

4 min Read Accounting and journals

Job and project costing

For each villa, contract or bespoke order: what you spent, what you billed and its margin, before it ends rather than after.

5 min Read Accounting and journals

Payroll journals from Basmtak HR

Choose how payrolls reach the books: automatically, as a draft for review, or by hand when you press the button.

3 min Read Reports

A guide to reports: which one answers your question?

Every report in one screen. What each one answers, how to set the period, open the detail, export and print.

3 min Read Reports

The trial balance

A list of every account and its balance. It proves debits equal credits and shows odd balances at a glance.

3 min Read Reports

The income statement: did you make a profit?

How to read revenue, costs, gross profit and net income, and what to look for even if you are not an accountant.

4 min Read Reports

The balance sheet: what you own and owe

A picture of your financial position on one day. How to read assets, liabilities and equity, and what deserves your attention.

4 min Read Reports

The statement of changes in equity

What went into and out of the owners' money over the period, and where the balance sheet figure came from.

2 min Read Reports

The cash flow statement: where did the money go?

Why does the bank balance differ from profit? This statement splits cash movement into operating, investing and financing.

4 min Read Reports

The account statement: the detail behind any figure

Every movement on one account with a running balance. This is where you find out where any figure came from.

3 min Read Reports

The month-end review

An automated reviewer runs twelve checks on the month: duplicate payments, numbering gaps, bank, VAT and stock differences. Fix them before you close.

4 min Read Reports

Email reports automatically

Have the income statement or aging reach you every week or month, as Excel or PDF, without opening the system.

2 min Read Reports

Break-even and sales analysis

How much must you sell to cover your costs? And where does your income really come from: which customer, item and month?

4 min Read Reports

The cash forecast

Where is the bank balance heading over the coming weeks? A forecast built from your invoices, cheques and payroll, with three scenarios.

4 min Read Tax and Zakat

Prepare your VAT return

Books fills the return's boxes from your invoices. Review them, file on the Fatoora portal, then record the filing in your books.

5 min Read Tax and Zakat

VAT rates: 15%, zero-rated, exempt and out of scope

Where VAT rates are set, and how Books treats each category on the invoice and on the return.

4 min Read Tax and Zakat

Withholding tax on payments to non-residents

If you pay a non-resident supplier, record its residency. Books works out the withholding on each payment and builds the monthly return.

6 min Read Tax and Zakat

Prepare the zakat working

Once the year is closed, Books builds the zakat base from your ledger, line by line. Review it, confirm what needs your decision, then sign it off.

6 min Read Accounting firms

The practice board: every client on one screen

See which client needs you today without opening each set of books.

4 min Read Accounting firms

Add a client to your board

The client invites you into their books. Here is how the invitation works and what you see after it.

3 min Read Accounting firms

Close the month for several clients from one screen

A checklist read mostly from the books, then posting and closing for several clients at once, with a result per client.

5 min Read Accounting firms

Share clients out across your team

Name who prepares and who reviews each client, and see which client nobody is watching.

3 min Read Accounting firms

Your referral link and commission statement

Share your link with businesses and follow what your firm is owed on each subscription payment they make.

3 min Read Moving to Basmtak

How moving your books to Basmtak works

What moves, how to pick the start date, and why nothing is written until you have reviewed it.

4 min Read Moving to Basmtak

Move from Qoyod

Pull your accounts, contacts, items and open invoices directly with an API key, then fix the balance date with a trial balance.

4 min Read Moving to Basmtak

Move from Excel

Fill in the templates or upload your own sheets, match the columns and review before you apply.

4 min Read Moving to Basmtak

Move from Zoho, Xero, QuickBooks or Odoo

Export your files from your current system, and the wizard recognises their usual columns.

3 min Read Moving to Basmtak

What to check after a migration, and how to undo it

Match your figures against the old system before you start working, because undoing is simple only while the books are unused.

4 min Read Mobile app

Sign in to the mobile app

Sign in on iPhone or iPad with your usual account, and turn on Face ID or fingerprint unlock.

3 min Read Mobile app

Raise an invoice on your phone

Write the invoice, save it as a draft, issue it, then share it with your customer from your phone.

3 min Read Mobile app

Photograph a receipt or supplier bill

Photograph the receipt and record it as a paid expense with its image, or let the app read it into a draft supplier bill.

3 min Read Mobile app

Connect your business to Fatoora from your phone

Finish the phase 2 connection from your phone in four steps, then follow each invoice's status.

4 min Read People and permissions

Add a person to your team

Send an email invitation, choose which businesses the person may open and their role, and track whether it arrived.

4 min Read People and permissions

Roles and permissions

The difference between owner, admin, accountant and viewer, and what each of the six permissions allows.

4 min Read People and permissions

Suspend someone or revoke their access

An employee left or an accountant finished? Close their access at once, and your books stay as they are.

2 min Read People and permissions

Approve documents before they post

Make any document above a limit wait for someone else's approval before it enters the books.

5 min Read People and permissions

The audit trail: who changed what, and when

Review every action in your business, see values before and after a change, and trace any document's history.

3 min Read People and permissions

Invite your accountant to your books

Give your accountant or accounting firm direct access to your business, with the permissions you choose.

3 min Read People and permissions

Signing in and your password

The two ways in, what to do if you forget your password, and the fix for the most common sign-in messages.

3 min Read Business and account

Your logo and invoice design

Add your logo and colour, choose a document layout, and see the invoice before you save.

3 min Read Business and account

Add a second business

Run another company or branch with separate books under the same account, and move between them in one click.

4 min Read Business and account

Alerts and notifications

See what needs you in your books, and choose what reaches your inbox, phone and desktop.

4 min Read Business and account

Remind customers about overdue invoices

Polite notes sent automatically in your business's name at steps you choose, with the invoice's own link.

3 min Read Business and account

Pay your subscription by card

Subscribe or renew by mada, Visa or Mastercard, and your subscription activates the moment the payment succeeds.

3 min Read Business and account

Invoice terms, notes and footer

Write your terms once so they appear on every invoice and quote, and adjust them on any document.

3 min Read Business and account

Export your data

Download your reports as Excel, CSV or PDF and your documents as PDF, for your accountant or your archive.

3 min Read