1. Before your first payday

Do these once. After that, payday takes a couple of minutes.

1. Apply for a federal EIN at irs.gov (free, takes about ten minutes online). You cannot pay anyone legally without one.
2. Register with your state for withholding and unemployment tax — search your state's name plus "employer registration".
3. Have each worker fill out Form W-4 (employees) or Form W-9 (contractors), plus Form I-9. All three are on the Payroll page under the IRS forms tab.
4. Open the Payroll tab and click New worker. Enter the name, how they are paid (hourly, salary, day rate or contract), and the rate.
5. Open the Tax rates tab and check the Social Security, Medicare, unemployment rates and wage bases. The defaults are the current federal figures; add your state rate.

Tip: Contractors are not employees. If you hire a contractor you do not withhold tax — you issue a 1099-NEC in January instead.

2. Running a payday

1. On the Payroll tab click Run pay.
2. Pick the worker. Their pay type and rate fill in automatically.
3. Enter the pay period dates and the hours, days or units worked. The gross pay calculates itself.
4. Check the withholding boxes — federal, state, Social Security and Medicare are filled from your rates. Change any of them if you need to.
5. Choose how you are paying: check, cash, direct deposit or transfer.
6. Click Save. The payment is recorded and shows in your Pay records list.

3. Paying the worker

1. Paying by check: click the check icon on the pay record, then Print. The check number comes from your checkbook automatically.
2. Paying by direct deposit: enter the worker's bank details once using the bank icon on the Workers tab, then click Bank file to create the ACH file your bank uploads.
3. Paying cash: nothing more to do — the record is your proof.
4. Click the printer icon on any pay record to print that worker's pay stub. Hand or email it to them.

4. Paying the tax you withheld

The money you withheld is not yours — it belongs to the IRS and your state. Set it aside every payday.

1. Open the Payroll taxes tab. The quarter table shows exactly what you owe and when.
2. Deposit federal tax (income tax withheld plus both halves of Social Security and Medicare) at EFTPS.gov. Most small employers deposit monthly, by the 15th of the following month.
3. File Form 941 each quarter — the IRS forms tab shows the numbers laid out line by line, ready to copy.
4. Pay your state withholding and unemployment on your state's website, using the same figures.
5. In January, file Form 940 (federal unemployment) and give every employee a W-2 — the W-2s tab has each one filled in.

Tip: Missing a federal deposit deadline is the single most expensive payroll mistake. Diary the 15th of every month.

1. Hiring someone

1. Form W-4 — the employee tells you how much federal tax to withhold. Collect it before the first payday, keep it in your files.
2. Form I-9 — proves the person can legally work in the US. Keep it for three years after hiring.
3. Form W-9 — for contractors instead of a W-4. It gives you their tax ID for the 1099 in January.

2. Every quarter

1. Form 941 — reports wages, income tax withheld, and Social Security and Medicare. Due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31.
2. The Payroll page's IRS forms tab prints your figures already arranged in 941 line order.

3. Every January

1. Form W-2 for each employee, plus Form W-3 to summarise them — due to workers and to the Social Security Administration by January 31.
2. Form 1099-NEC for each contractor you paid $600 or more — also due January 31.
3. Form 940 — federal unemployment tax for the whole year. Due January 31.

Tip: Open the Payroll page and click IRS forms to download any of these blank from irs.gov, with your own numbers shown beside them.

1. Get the file from your bank

1. Sign in to your bank's website and find Download, Export or Download transactions.
2. Choose the statement month and pick the format: QFX, OFX, QBO or CSV all work. Quicken users can export QIF instead.
3. Save the file somewhere you can find it, like your Downloads folder.

2. Run the reconcile

1. Open Bank Accounts and find the account card you want to reconcile.
2. Click Auto reconcile.
3. Choose the file you downloaded, and type the ending balance printed on your paper or online statement.
4. EZMunny ticks off every line that matches something already in your books.

3. Deal with what is left over

Anything that did not match falls into two short lists.

1. At the bank but not in your books — usually bank fees, interest or an automatic withdrawal you forgot. Click Add on each one and it is recorded.
2. In your books but not at the bank — outstanding checks and deposits still in transit. Leave these alone; they carry over to next month.
3. Check the difference at the bottom. Zero means you are balanced.
4. If it is not zero, the difference is nearly always one transposed figure — compare the amounts on screen to your statement and fix the one that is wrong.

Tip: Reconcile once a month, right after the statement arrives. It is the only way to catch a duplicate charge or a missing deposit.

1. Choosing a scanner

1. Buy any USB or Bluetooth scanner described as a keyboard-wedge or HID scanner. Most are $20 to $60.
2. A corded USB scanner is the simplest and never needs charging. A Bluetooth one is better if you walk the shelves.
3. You do not need a special brand, a licence or a driver. If it types the barcode like a keyboard, it works with EZMunny.
4. No scanner yet? Your phone camera works for the odd item — type the number in by hand.

2. Plugging it in

1. USB: plug it into the computer. Your machine recognises it as a keyboard within a few seconds.
2. Bluetooth: hold the pairing button, then pair it from your computer's Bluetooth settings.
3. Open a blank note or any text box and scan a barcode. The digits should appear followed by the cursor jumping to the next line. That is all EZMunny needs.
4. If nothing appears, scan the USB-keyboard setup barcode printed in the scanner's leaflet. That single scan fixes nearly every scanner.

3. Putting barcodes on your products

1. Open Products and edit an item.
2. Click into the barcode or SKU box and scan the item's existing barcode — the number types itself in. Save.
3. For items with no barcode, make one up (a short number is fine) and print a label.
4. Repeat for each product. From then on the scanner finds that item instantly anywhere in EZMunny.

Tip: Do your busiest twenty products first. They cover most of your scanning within a day.

1. Before you start

1. Make sure your scanner is plugged in and tested — see the scanner setup guide.
2. Make sure your products have barcodes saved on them in the Products section.

2. Ringing up a sale

1. Open Point of Sale.
2. Click once in the search or scan box so the cursor is blinking there.
3. Scan the item. It drops into the sale with its price, and the box clears ready for the next one.
4. Scan the same item twice for two of them, or type the quantity.
5. Scan everything in the basket, then choose the customer if you want the sale on their record.
6. Take payment — cash, check or card — and print or email the receipt.

Tip: If a scan does nothing, the cursor has usually jumped out of the box. Click the box again and re-scan.

3. What happens behind the scenes

1. Stock for each scanned item drops by the quantity sold.
2. The money lands in your bank account register and in your income reports.
3. Sales tax is calculated at your rate and added to what you owe on the Sales Tax page.

1. Receiving a delivery

1. Open Inventory.
2. Click in the scan box and scan the first item off the pallet.
3. Type how many arrived and record it. Stock goes up by that amount.
4. Work through the delivery item by item, then compare the total against the supplier's packing slip.

2. Counting the shelves

1. Walk the shelves with the scanner (a Bluetooth one earns its money here).
2. Scan each item and enter the number actually on the shelf.
3. EZMunny shows the difference between what it expected and what you counted.
4. Save the count. The corrections are recorded so you can see shrinkage over time.

Tip: Count your high-value items monthly and everything else once or twice a year.

3. Finding an item fast

1. Scan any barcode into the search box on the Inventory or Products page to jump straight to that item.
2. You see the cost, the price, how many are left and when you last sold one.

1. Setting up

1. Open Products and add each thing you sell: name, what you pay for it, what you sell it for, and its barcode if it has one.
2. Open Inventory and enter how many of each you have on hand right now — that is your starting count.
3. Set a reorder point on each item: the number at which you want to be warned.

2. Keeping it accurate day to day

1. Every sale you ring up on the Point of Sale page takes stock down automatically.
2. Every delivery you receive on the Inventory page puts stock up.
3. Breakages, samples and theft get recorded as an adjustment so your count stays honest.
4. Items at or below their reorder point are flagged at the top of the Inventory page.

3. Getting value out of it

1. The Inventory page shows the total value of everything on your shelves — that figure goes on your year-end accounts.
2. The Reports section shows best and worst sellers, so you know what to reorder and what to stop buying.
3. Ask the AI Accountant "what is sitting on my shelves not selling?" for a plain answer.

Tip: Accurate stock counts are what make your profit figure real. Guessed counts make every report wrong.

1. The basics

1. Open Reports.
2. Pick the report you want: profit and loss, income by source, expenses by category, customer balances, sales by product, payroll or sales tax.
3. Set the date range — this month, this quarter, this year, or any two dates you choose.
4. The figures rebuild instantly as you change the range.

2. Narrowing it down

1. Filter by customer to see everything one customer has ever bought and paid.
2. Filter by category to see every dollar spent on one thing — fuel, rent, supplies.
3. Filter by bank account to see one account's activity on its own.
4. Compare two periods side by side to see whether you are up or down.

3. Printing, saving and sharing

1. Click Print on any report — choose Save as PDF in the print dialog to make a PDF.
2. Click Export to get a spreadsheet file you can open in Excel or send to your accountant.
3. For the whole year in one go, use the Annual Report tab: it writes the narrative, draws the charts and produces the accountant's copy for you.

Tip: Cannot find the cut of the numbers you want? Ask the AI Accountant in plain English — it reads your real books and answers.

1. What it shows

1. Money in and money out for the period, side by side, with the difference at the bottom.
2. Cash in hand today across all your bank accounts and the petty cash drawer.
3. What customers still owe you, and roughly when it should arrive.
4. Bills and payroll coming due, so you can see a squeeze before it happens.

2. Using it

1. Open Cash Flow and choose the period — the current month is the most useful view.
2. Look at the running balance line. A dip below zero is a warning to chase invoices or delay a purchase.
3. Click into any figure to see the transactions behind it.
4. Chase the overdue invoices it shows you — the Invoices page will email a reminder in one click.

Tip: Profit and cash are not the same thing. A profitable month can still leave you short if nobody has paid you yet — that is exactly what this page catches.

1. What it is

1. A bookkeeper you can ask anything, that has already read every invoice, sale, check, bill and pay record in your account.
2. It answers with your real numbers — not general advice — and shows the customers, amounts and dates behind them.
3. Your figures are read on the server and are never used to train anything.

2. Things worth asking

1. "Who owes me money right now?"
2. "Where did my money go last month?"
3. "Am I doing better than last year?"
4. "What bills are coming due?"
5. "What is my biggest expense and can I cut it?"
6. "How much should I set aside for tax?"

3. When it hands you off

1. Anything that is a tax or filing decision gets flagged rather than guessed at.
2. It writes the question out for you, dollar figures included, in a box marked "Ask a licensed accountant".
3. Save it and it joins your Questions for my accountant list, ready to print or email at year end.

Tip: Ask it once a week. Most owners find something — an unpaid invoice, a subscription they forgot — within the first few questions.

1. Setting up your accounts

1. Open Bank Accounts and click Add account.
2. Give it a name, the account type, and the balance showing today.
3. Repeat for every account — checking, savings, a second business account, a card.
4. Click Add petty cash to create a cash drawer, and put in the cash you are starting with.

2. Recording transactions

1. Each account has a lined register. Type straight into the highlighted line: date, payee, category, amount.
2. Type a payee you have used before and the last amount and category fill themselves in — tab past to accept or type over.
3. Press Record. The running balance updates down the right-hand side.
4. Anything you record elsewhere — sales, invoice payments, checks, payroll, bills — lands here automatically.

3. Checks and petty cash

1. To simply write a check to pay for something, open Bank Accounts and click the Write a check button beside the account pills.
2. The check number comes up automatically, and the payment is recorded as you print.
3. To fix or delete a check you already wrote, use the pencil beside it in the checks list — or click the pencil on its line in the register. Change what you need and press Update check, or press Cancel edit.
4. The trash icon beside a check removes it and the matching expense from your books.
5. When the cash drawer runs low, click Replenish on the petty cash card — it moves money from checking and records both sides.

4. Bringing in history

1. Click Import transactions on any account to load a QFX, OFX, QBO, CSV or Quicken QIF file.
2. Anything already in your books is skipped, so you cannot double up.
3. Then run Auto reconcile each month to tick everything off against the statement.

1. Sending an invoice

1. Add your customers on the Customer list page, or add one as you go.
2. Open Invoices and click New invoice.
3. Pick the customer, add the items or services, and set the due date.
4. Sales tax is added at your rate automatically.
5. Click Email to send it, or Print for a paper copy. Attach your logo first on the Attach your logo page.

2. Getting paid

1. When money arrives, open Receive a Payment, choose the customer and the invoice, and record it.
2. A deposit recorded in Bank Accounts that matches an open invoice marks it paid on its own.
3. Card payments taken at Point of Sale are matched the same way.

3. Chasing late payers

1. Overdue invoices are flagged in red on the Invoices page and on Cash Flow.
2. Click the reminder button to email a polite nudge with the invoice attached.
3. Ask the AI Accountant "who owes me money right now?" for the full list with amounts and ages.

1. Setting your rate

1. Open Settings and enter your sales tax rate, or pick your state.
2. Mark any product that is exempt on the Products page so it is never taxed.

2. Day to day

1. Tax is added automatically on every sale and invoice.
2. The Sales Tax page shows how much you have collected and not yet paid over.
3. Remember: collected tax is not your money. Keep it aside.

3. Filing

1. Open Sales Tax and choose the filing period your state uses — monthly, quarterly or annually.
2. Use the totals shown to fill in your state's online return.
3. Record the payment so your books and your bank agree.

1. Producing it

1. Reconcile your bank accounts first so the year is accurate.
2. Open the Annual Report tab and pick the year.
3. Click Build my report. It gathers your income, expenses, payroll, tax and stock, then writes the narrative.
4. Read it through — it explains in plain English what happened to the business this year.

2. Getting it out

1. Download it as Word to read, edit and print.
2. Download the Excel version for your accountant to work the numbers.
3. Download the PDF if you need a fixed copy for a bank or a loan application.

Tip: Send the Word and Excel files together to your accountant in January — it is most of what they will ask you for.

1. Day one

1. Open Settings and enter your business name, address and sales tax rate.
2. Open Attach your logo and upload your logo so invoices and checks look like yours.
3. Open Bank Accounts and add each account with today's balance.

2. Day two

1. Add your customers on the Customer list page, or import them.
2. Add what you sell on the Products page, with cost, price and barcode.
3. Coming from QuickBooks or Quicken? Use Import from QuickBooks and follow the import guide instead of typing.

3. The rest of the week

1. Send your first invoice, or ring up your first sale at Point of Sale.
2. Add your workers on the Payroll page if you pay anyone.
3. Import last month's bank file and run Auto reconcile so your starting point is exact.
4. Ask the AI Accountant "how are we doing?" to see it all come together.

Tip: Stuck anywhere? The 24/7 Live Chat tab answers questions about any section, day or night.