Getting started with accounting
Set up your chart of accounts, opening balances and currency before the first invoice posts a journal entry.
Vendly's accounting is a full double-entry system. Every invoice, payment, payroll run, GRN and credit note posts a journal entry automatically — but only after the chart of accounts is set up. Get the foundation right and the rest of the product simply works.
1. Pick or import a chart of accounts
The chart of accounts is the list of every 'bucket' your money lives in: cash at bank, accounts receivable, sales revenue, salaries expense, output VAT, and so on. Vendly ships a Kenya SME default that you can start with and customise, or you can import your own.
Open Accounts
Open Accounts2. Record opening balances
On the day you go live, every account that already has a balance (cash in the bank, supplier you owe, customer who owes you, opening inventory) needs an opening balance. Use a single Opening Balances journal entry on the go-live date — debits to the asset / expense accounts, credits to liability / equity / income accounts, balanced.
3. Confirm tax accounts are linked
Output VAT, Input VAT, PAYE Payable, NSSF Payable, SHIF Payable, AHL Payable and Withholding Tax Payable all need a dedicated liability account so the system can post to them. Settings → Tax Compliance shows whether the mapping is complete.
Tax Compliance dashboard
Tax Compliance4. Choose your reporting currency
KES is the default. If you transact in USD / EUR / GBP, set up Exchange Rates so foreign-currency invoices and payments are posted with the right conversion. Reports stay in KES; foreign-currency line items show the original amount and the converted amount.
Set exchange rates
Exchange RatesWhat posts automatically
| Event | Journal entry |
|---|---|
| Invoice issued | Dr AR / Cr Sales + Output VAT |
| Payment received | Dr Bank or Cash / Cr AR |
| GRN approved | Dr Inventory / Cr GRN Clearing |
| Purchase invoice | Dr GRN Clearing + Input VAT / Cr AP |
| Payroll run approved | Dr Salaries Expense / Cr Net Pay + Statutory payables |
| Credit note approved | Reverses (partial or full) the original invoice |
Treat every event in Vendly as if it has an accounting consequence — because it does. Don't skip a payment receipt just to 'fix it later'; the books drift faster than you'd expect.
Kenya law that applies
- Income Tax Act, Cap 470
Primary statute for PAYE, allowable deductions, reliefs and benefit-in-kind valuation.