Almost every entry in an estate is an opening balance, an income or expense item, or a transfer. Learn to enter these by hand before you rely on Import with AI. You will then know why each entry belongs where it does, and you can check the AI's suggestions with confidence. Matters with few entries are often quicker to enter by hand anyway.

Watch the walkthrough: Entering transactions, 10 minutes. The video predates some changes to the app. Where they differ, follow this page.

Set up the chart of accounts first. See Plan your chart of accounts.

How entries work

You enter transactions from an asset or liability account. Open the Transactions tab and choose the account in View transactions for. Each row you add names the other account involved, and Estate Bookkeeper records both sides. An entry in one account always has an equal entry in another. That is what keeps the books in balance.

The example below uses the decedent's checking account. The date of death is January 2.

Opening balance

The first entry in each of the decedent's asset accounts is its value on the date of death. An accounting covers everything from the date of death until the money reaches the beneficiaries, so this entry is the starting point.

Date. The date of death.
Description. Something like Date of death balance. It is a note for you and does not appear in the income or expense sections of a report.
Amount. The balance on that date, in the Deposit column. In the example, $20,000.
Account. Opening Balance Equity.

Opening balances are the one time you choose an equity account while entering transactions. An account opened after the date of death, such as the estate checking account, has no opening balance. Its first entry is the first deposit or transfer into it.

Income or expense

Income. Enter the amount in the Deposit column and choose an income account. In the example, a $15 interest deposit goes to the Schedule C interest account.
Expense. Enter the amount in the Payment column and choose an expense account.

Write a clear description. Depending on how your accounts are set up, it may appear on reports. See Set up accounts so reports are ready to file. Add tags if they apply, such as Taxable.

Transfer

A transfer moves money from one asset account to another. To close the decedent's checking account into the estate checking account, enter the amount in the Payment column and choose the estate checking account. In the example, the payment is $20,015.

You enter a transfer once. It then shows in both ledgers, as a payment in one and a deposit in the other. The description is a note about where the money went or came from.

Paying off a loan works the same way. Enter a payment and choose the liability account.

Check the running balance

The Balance column is a built-in check. The example account started with $20,000, received $15, and paid out $20,015. Its balance is zero, so nothing is missing.

If the interest had been typed as $150, the account would still show money after the transfer out. A balance left in an account that should be empty means an entry is wrong.

The transfer should also match the bank statement for the estate checking account. If that statement shows no $20,015 deposit, money left one account without arriving in the next, and the difference has to be accounted for.

Where each entry shows up

Opening balance. It sets the account's value on the Inventory Report. To see the entries themselves, choose Account Ledgers under Views and open Opening Balance Equity.
Income or expense. It appears in the Account Ledgers view under its income or expense account, and in the Income Statement and Combined Account under that account. Expand the account on the report to see the description and amount.
Transfer. It appears in the ledgers of both accounts. It does not appear in the income or expense sections of a report.

Opening balances, income, expenses, and transfers