Quick start
with SoloDesk

If your business isn't in the registry, or the search can't find it, enter the details yourself: name, street, postal code and city.

Add your VAT setup

If you're registered for VAT, SoloDesk finds your VAT number and the date your obligation started and fills that in. You choose whether VAT is counted when you invoice or when you're paid. If you're not registered for VAT, or you entered your details manually, that question doesn't appear.

Two more questions follow: whether this is your first business year, and, for a GmbH or AG, whether your business year ends on 31 December. Sole proprietors are always on the calendar year.

That's your business set up. You land on your main screen.

Enter your IBAN and SoloDesk automatically recognises your bank's name. Then give the account a name and a currency. Foreign currencies are fine, but choose carefully: the IBAN and currency lock once the first transaction is recorded.

You can add as many accounts as you need. The balance shows zero until you upload your first bank statement.

Cash account

Two cash accounts are set up for you in Treasury, alongside your bank accounts: one for cash sales and cash-paid receipts, and a private one for money you put in or take out personally. Both balances update as you record transactions. You can add more cash accounts there too.

SoloDesk accepts PDF, JPG, PNG and WebP files, up to 25 MB each. HEIC files aren't accepted, so if a photo is ever refused, save it as a JPG and upload that instead.

SoloDesk reads each document and files it, picking out the supplier, date, amounts, VAT and line items. If the supplier is new and the document carries enough detail, the contact is created for you. Once SoloDesk has everything it needs and knows who the supplier is, it posts the bookkeeping entry for you. Reading takes a few moments and happens in the background, so you don't need to stay on the page.

When SoloDesk isn't sure about something, the document waits under Items need your attention on your main screen.

Click Review, check the details, correct anything wrong, and confirm. A document with an open question stays out of your books until you've answered it.

SoloDesk finds the invoice or bill each payment belongs to. It uses the payment reference where there is one, and otherwise looks for an exact match on the payer and the amount. Where it can't be certain, it shows you its best guess and asks you to confirm.

Bank fees are recognised on their own, and money moved between your own accounts is paired up.

Any transaction SoloDesk couldn't match waits for you in Treasury. Open the transaction list there and switch it from All to Review. Open a transaction and SoloDesk suggests the documents it might belong to, so you pick the right one and confirm. If none fit, you can assign it to a category yourself, or record it as money you've taken out of the business.

If it's your first time invoicing this client, create the contact here: search the Swiss commercial registry by name or UID for a business, or enter the details yourself for a private client.

Then add the required details:

• The client
• Document date and due date, both pre-filled
• The line items you're charging for (description, quantity, unit price)
• The VAT rate on each line, where VAT applies
• The bank account you want to be paid into

The invoice number is assigned for you. If anything is missing, SoloDesk lists what to fix before letting you send.

A CHF invoice payable into a Swiss or Liechtenstein account carries a Swiss QR-bill. Every other invoice carries a Bank Transfer block with your beneficiary details instead.

Once done, you can preview the invoice, then send it through SoloDesk if the client's contact has an email address, or download the PDF and send it yourself. Either way the invoice is now issued: it's no longer a draft, it's recorded in your books, and it can't be edited. To correct one, delete it while it's still unpaid or issue a credit note.

The invoice status is tracked: Draft → Open → Overdue → Paid. A partly paid invoice stays Open or Overdue with the share paid shown beside it, and if you send reminders the status shows which stage it's reached.

Getting paid

An invoice stays Open until the payment shows up on a bank statement you've uploaded. When you upload the statement, SoloDesk recognises the QR reference your client used and knows which invoice it belongs to. If the amount matches exactly, that invoice turns Paid without you doing anything.

If your client paid you in cash, mark it as received on the invoice, or in Payments under Receivables, and choose your cash account. The invoice turns Paid straight away, with no statement involved.

When you need a specific period, or the statements your tax adviser will ask for, open Reports: profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance and VAT return, downloadable as PDF or Excel.