Knowledge base
Browse and search every tutorial and guide.
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 startedA 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 startedThe 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 startedSet 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 startedEnter 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 startedThe 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 startedQuick search and keyboard shortcuts
Reach any customer, invoice or screen from where you are, without walking through menus.
2 min Read Getting startedLanguage, 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 customersAdd 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 customersImport 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 customersAdd 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 customersCreate 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 customersRaise 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 customersAdd 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 customersYour 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 customersSales 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 customersDelivery 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 customersCredit 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 customersRecord 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 customersA 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 customersRecurring invoices
For rent, subscriptions and retainers: one schedule that raises the invoice on time every month.
4 min Read Sales and customersSend 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 customersGet 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 customersCustomer 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 customersReceivables 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 customersPrice 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 customersCredit 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 expensesAdd 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 expensesCreate 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 expensesRecord 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 expensesScan 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 expensesRaise 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 expensesPay 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 expensesRecord 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 expensesReceive 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 expensesSpread 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 expensesEmployee 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 expensesSupplier 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 expensesAccounts 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 expensesRecurring 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 cashAdd 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 cashImport 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 cashBank 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 cashMatch 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 cashReconcile 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 cashPayment 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 cashTransfer 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 cashPost-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 cashPetty 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 cashEmployee 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 cashCard 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 manufacturingAdd a warehouse
Record every place you keep goods, so the system knows how much of each item sits where.
3 min Read Inventory and manufacturingEnter 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 manufacturingMove 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 manufacturingAdjust 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 manufacturingStock 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 manufacturingReorder 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 manufacturingLots 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 manufacturingThe 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 manufacturingCosting 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 manufacturingStock 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 manufacturingPrint 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 manufacturingProduct 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 manufacturingBuild 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 journalsThe 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 journalsRecord 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 journalsReverse 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 journalsRecurring 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 journalsPrepaid 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 journalsClosing 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 journalsYear-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 journalsFixed 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 journalsCost 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 journalsBudgets 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 journalsWorking 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 journalsJob 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 journalsPayroll 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 ReportsA 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 ReportsThe 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 ReportsThe 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 ReportsThe 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 ReportsThe 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 ReportsThe 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 ReportsThe 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 ReportsThe 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 ReportsEmail 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 ReportsBreak-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 ReportsThe 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 ZakatPrepare 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 ZakatVAT 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 ZakatWithholding 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 ZakatPrepare 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 firmsThe practice board: every client on one screen
See which client needs you today without opening each set of books.
4 min Read Accounting firmsAdd 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 firmsClose 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 firmsShare clients out across your team
Name who prepares and who reviews each client, and see which client nobody is watching.
3 min Read Accounting firmsYour 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 BasmtakHow 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 BasmtakMove 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 BasmtakMove from Excel
Fill in the templates or upload your own sheets, match the columns and review before you apply.
4 min Read Moving to BasmtakMove 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 BasmtakWhat 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 appSign 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 appRaise 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 appPhotograph 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 appConnect 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 permissionsAdd 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 permissionsRoles and permissions
The difference between owner, admin, accountant and viewer, and what each of the six permissions allows.
4 min Read People and permissionsSuspend 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 permissionsApprove 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 permissionsThe 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 permissionsInvite 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 permissionsSigning 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 accountYour 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 accountAdd 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 accountAlerts and notifications
See what needs you in your books, and choose what reaches your inbox, phone and desktop.
4 min Read Business and accountRemind 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 accountPay 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 accountInvoice 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 accountExport your data
Download your reports as Excel, CSV or PDF and your documents as PDF, for your accountant or your archive.
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