Time to actually do it. This lesson walks you through your first hour in accounting software, using the flow shared by QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books and Tally alike. Names of buttons vary slightly; the three screens do not. Open a free trial (or Tally in education mode) and follow along — reading about swimming only gets you so far.
Screen 1: setting up the company
Every package starts by asking about the business itself:
- Name and address — appears on every invoice you send.
- Financial year start — when the annual books begin (January in much of the world; April in others, including India and the UK for tax). Reports and year-end totals hinge on this.
- Tax registration — whether the business charges sales tax / VAT / GST, and its registration number if so. Say yes and every invoice gains a tax line automatically (next lesson explains where that money goes).
- Base currency — everything is recorded in it; pick once, correctly.
The software then offers a ready-made chart of accounts for your industry. Take it — it is a sensible default — then spend ten minutes renaming and pruning it using the decision test from Module 3: a drawer earns its place only if someone will decide something by looking at it.