Books is the accounting module built into Aspire. You can manage your account categories, track bills and invoices, match your bank transactions to the right records, and produce financial reports, all without leaving Aspire.
Because Books is connected to your bills, cards, expenses, invoices and payment links, the accounting records are created automatically as you work. In most accounting software, you enter a transaction once in your bank and once in your books. In Books, you don't: the record is created for you, and your job is mostly to confirm it.
Where everything lives
Click "Books" in the left navigation bar to open its menu: Chart of accounts, Reconciliation, Journal entries, Financial reports, Tax management and Settings. Bills are under "Spend" and invoices are under "Receivables".
If you're looking for a specific task:
Categorise your bank transactions: "Books" > "Reconciliation"
Check your profit or financial position: "Books" > "Financial reports"
See or edit your account categories: "Books" > "Chart of accounts"
Record a manual adjustment: "Books" > "Journal entries"
Terms you'll see in Books
You don't need an accounting background to use Books. These are the terms worth knowing:
Bill: money you owe to a supplier. In everyday speech this is often called "an invoice from a supplier"; in Aspire it is always a bill, and it lives under "Spend".
Invoice: money a customer owes to you. Invoices live under "Receivables".
Chart of Accounts: the list of categories everything is recorded under, such as "Office supplies" or "Sales". Often shortened to COA.
Journal entry: the accounting record behind every event. When a bill is approved or an invoice is paid, Books writes a journal entry for it. You rarely need to create one yourself.
General ledger: the full collection of your journal entries, organised by account. Your reports are built from it.
Debit and credit: the two sides of every journal entry. Each entry has at least one debit line and one credit line, and the two sides always add up to the same amount. As a rule of thumb, debits increase assets and expenses, and credits increase liabilities, equity and income.
Reconciliation: matching the money movements in your bank and card accounts to the right records in Books, so your books reflect what actually happened.
Accrual accounting: recording income and expenses when they are earned or incurred, not when the money moves. Books works this way.
Base currency: the single currency your reports are shown in, whatever currencies your transactions are in.
Q: Is Books available for my business?
Books is currently available for businesses registered in Singapore. We're working on bringing it to more countries.
Q: I can't see Books in my menu. Why?
There are two possible reasons. Books is only available for businesses registered in Singapore, and it isn't shown to users with the Employee role. If your business is in Singapore and you still can't see it, ask an Admin on your Aspire account to give you access.
Q: When does Books record my income and expenses?
Books uses accrual accounting, the method used by most accounting software and expected by ACRA in Singapore. Income and expenses are recorded when they're earned or incurred, not when money changes hands:
Bills: the expense is recorded when the bill is approved (status changes to Pending Payment), not when you pay it.
Invoices: the income is recorded when the invoice is issued (status changes to Due), not when your customer pays.
This gives you an accurate picture of what you owe and are owed at any point in time.
Q: How do the parts of Books fit together?
Your Chart of Accounts is the list of categories everything is recorded under.
When you approve a bill, issue an invoice or record a payment, Books creates the accounting records, called journal entries, for you.
Those journal entries feed your financial reports, such as your Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet.
Reconciliation is where you match your bank transactions to those records, so your books reflect what actually happened in your accounts.
As you go, the Classification agent suggests the right category and tax rate, so you rarely have to pick them yourself.
Questions? Chat with us by clicking on the messenger icon at the bottom right of the screen once you are logged in.