Adding Your Bank Accounts

Your bank accounts in NP Ledger represent the real accounts where your nonprofit holds money — checking, savings, PayPal, and so on. Adding them is one of the first things to do after setting up your organization.

Every transaction in NP Ledger needs to reference a bank account — whether you're recording a donation deposit, paying a bill, or reconciling your books. Without your bank accounts set up, you can't record where money came from or where it went.

• Know which bank accounts your organization uses (checking, savings, PayPal, etc.)
• Have the account names handy so you can label them clearly
• If you're migrating from spreadsheets, have your current balances ready for opening entries

1. Go to Bank & Cash (in the sidebar). This shows all your bank and cash accounts.
2. Click "New Account." This opens the account creation form.
3. Enter a name that you'll recognize — for example, "Main Checking" or "PayPal."
4. Select the account type. Common choices:
5. Checking — your primary operating account
6. Savings — reserve or savings accounts
7. Cash — for petty cash or cash received at events
8. PayPal — if you receive donations or make payments via PayPal
9. Venmo — if your organization uses Venmo
10. Mercury — if you bank with Mercury
11. Credit Card — for organizational credit cards
12. Other — for any account type not listed above
13. Add the institution name (optional) — the bank or service provider (e.g., "Chase," "Bank of America").
14. Add the last 4 digits of the account number (optional) — helps distinguish accounts at the same bank.
15. Click Save.
16. Repeat for each bank account your organization uses.

Tip: If you completed onboarding, your first bank account was already created. Check Bank & Cash before adding duplicates.

• Each bank account appears on the Bank & Cash page with the correct name and type
• Your bank accounts appear as options when recording transactions in Quick Entry
• The dashboard shows your bank balances under Bank & Cash (balances start at zero until you record transactions or enter opening balances)

• Creating duplicate accounts — If you completed onboarding, you already have one bank account. Check Bank & Cash before adding another with the same name.
• Using the wrong account type — Pick the type that matches the real account. Using "Checking" for a PayPal account makes reconciliation confusing later.
• Forgetting about transit accounts — If you set up a donation connection, NP Ledger automatically creates a "Donations in Transit" account. You don't need to create one yourself.
• Not entering opening balances — Your bank accounts start at zero in NP Ledger. If you're migrating mid-year, you'll need to record opening balance entries so your books match your actual bank balances.