---
key: set-up-bookkeeping
title: Set up bookkeeping
audience: staff
section: bookkeeping
routes: ["/bookkeeping"]
permissions: ["bookkeeping.reports.read"]
features: ["bookkeeping"]
since: 0.0.1
updated: 0.0.1
status: published
summary: "Turn on bookkeeping for your organization with one button, then read the year-to-date numbers on the Bookkeeping overview."
keywords: [books, accounting, ledger, chart of accounts, net income, year to date, start bookkeeping]
related: [add-a-ledger-account, enter-opening-balances, import-a-bank-statement, run-a-financial-report]
---

In the sidebar, open **Bookkeeping**, then **Overview**. The page address is `/bookkeeping`.

## Before you start

- Your organization's country and currency are already set in its settings. Bookkeeping uses them and you cannot change them here.
- Your role needs permission to manage ledger accounts to see the setup button, and permission to manage bookkeeping settings for the setup to go through. Owners and admins have both. If you only see the message asking you to contact an owner or admin, ask them to do this step.

## Steps

1. Open the page. Until bookkeeping is set up, it shows the heading **Bookkeeping** and, under **Organization bookkeeping pack**, the country pack and currency Nova will use, for example "CA — GST/HST + provincial PST/QST, recoverable ITC · CAD". Nova has packs for Canada and the United States.
2. Check that the pack and currency are right. The note under it explains that they come from the organization and cannot be overridden.
3. Press **Set up bookkeeping**. The button reads Setting up… while Nova builds your chart of accounts and then copies the invoices and payments already in Nova into the books, so the ledger does not start empty.
4. Wait for the message **Bookkeeping is set up.** The page changes to the overview with your year-to-date numbers.

## What you see

Once set up, the line under the heading shows the dates the numbers cover, from January 1 of this year to today. Five cards follow:

- **Net income (YTD)**: income minus expenses. It shows in green when it is zero or more and red when it is negative.
- **Income (YTD)** and **Expenses (YTD)**: the two sides of that number.
- **Total assets**: what the business holds, from the balance sheet.
- **Sales tax to remit (YTD)**: tax collected minus tax you can claim back.

Under the cards, buttons take you straight to **Transactions**, **Expenses**, **Receipts**, **Reports** and **Reconciliation**.

Your next steps are usually to enter what each account was worth on your start date (see [[enter-opening-balances]]) and to bring in your bank activity (see [[import-a-bank-statement]]).

## If something looks different

- The page says to ask an account owner or admin: your role cannot manage ledger accounts.
- Pressing **Set up bookkeeping** shows an error about a missing permission: your role can manage ledger accounts but not bookkeeping settings. Ask an owner or admin.
- **Set up bookkeeping** is greyed out and the line under **Organization bookkeeping pack** says no pack is available, or shows a message about the currency: the organization's country is not one Nova has a bookkeeping pack for, or its currency settings are incomplete. An admin fixes that under the organization's settings.
- A card shows a dash: that report has not loaded yet, or could not load. A year with nothing posted shows a zero amount, not a dash.

[[route:/bookkeeping|Open Bookkeeping]]