Quick Entry

Quick Entry is the fastest way to record transactions in NP Ledger. Pick what happened -- "I paid a bill," "I received a donation," "I received program/service revenue," or "I received an in-kind contribution" -- and NP Ledger fills in the right accounts automatically.

Every dollar your nonprofit receives or spends needs to be recorded. Quick Entry handles the accounting structure behind the scenes so you can focus on what happened, not which accounts to debit and credit.

• At least one bank account set up (created during onboarding or via Organization settings)
• At least one fund (an "Unrestricted (General)" fund is created automatically)
• An open accounting period that covers today's date

Recording a donation

1. Go to Quick Entry (in the sidebar under Transactions).
2. Select "I received a donation" from the four action cards at the top.
3. Enter the date the donation was received.
4. Enter the amount.
5. Select the fund this donation belongs to. Use your general (unrestricted) fund unless the donor restricted it to a specific purpose. A fund is like a separate bucket of money within your organization, each tracked independently.
6. Select the program this donation supports. If unsure, the default "Unassigned" program works.
7. Select the bank account (Deposited into) where the money went.
8. Select a revenue category. "Donation Revenue" is the most common choice.
9. Add a supporter name (optional). This links the donation to a supporter record for giving history and receipts. You can create a new supporter inline with the "+ New Supporter" button.
10. Select a donation type (optional). "Unconditional Contribution" is the most common. Use "Conditional Contribution" if the donor attached conditions to the gift.
11. Check "This is a recurring donation" if the gift is part of a regular giving pattern (monthly, quarterly, etc.).
12. Check "Send donor receipt email" if you want to email a tax receipt to the supporter.
13. Add a description (optional). Something like "Annual fund gift" or "Gala ticket purchase."
14. Click Record Transaction.

Recording a bill payment

1. Select "I paid a bill" from the action cards.
2. Enter the date, amount, and fund.
3. Select the bank account (Paid from) the payment came from.
4. Select an expense account (e.g., "Office Supplies," "Rent," "Professional Services").
5. Select the purpose: Program, Management, or Fundraising. "Program" serves your mission. "Management" keeps your org running. "Fundraising" is about raising money. This is the IRS Form 990 functional classification and determines how the expense appears on your Statement of Activities.
6. Add a vendor name (optional). You can create a new vendor inline with the "+ New Vendor" button. If this vendor is a contractor or consultant you pay $600+/year, mark them as 1099-eligible from the Vendor list.
7. Select a payment method (optional).
8. Click Record Transaction.

Recording program/service revenue

1. Select "I received program/service revenue" from the action cards.
2. Follow the same pattern: date, amount, fund, program, bank account (Deposited into), and revenue category.
3. This is for non-donation income -- things like program fees, event ticket sales, or service contracts.
4. Click Record Transaction.

Recording in-kind contributions (non-cash donations)

1. Select "I received an in-kind contribution" from the action cards.
2. Select the in-kind category (e.g., "Professional Services," "Supplies," "Equipment"). Categories are grouped by type (Product, Service, etc.).
3. For donated goods: enter the fair market value.
4. For donated services (volunteer hours): enter the number of hours and the hourly rate. NP Ledger calculates the total.
5. Add the supporter who donated the goods or services (optional).
6. Click Record Transaction.

Quick Entry supports two AI-powered shortcuts that fill in the form for you. Both require a Standard or Professional tier subscription.

Voice Entry

Click the microphone button at the top of Quick Entry and describe the transaction out loud. NP Ledger transcribes your speech and pre-fills the form fields. See Voice Entry for details.

Scan Receipt

Click the Scan Receipt button at the top of Quick Entry to photograph or upload a receipt. NP Ledger reads the image and extracts:

• Vendor name from the store header or logo
• Total amount from the receipt total line
• Date from the printed transaction date
• Expense account matched against your chart of accounts

The extracted fields pre-fill the form just like Voice Entry. You review, correct anything that's off, and save. The receipt photo is automatically attached to the transaction for your records.

On mobile, the Scan Receipt button opens your phone's camera (rear-facing by default). Photos are compressed before upload to keep things fast on cellular connections.

Supported formats: JPEG, PNG, and HEIC (iPhone default). Images are resized to 2048px max before sending.

Tip: Receipt Scanning works best with clear, well-lit photos. Blurry images or faded thermal paper receipts may need manual correction. The form is always editable -- OCR is a starting point, not the final answer.

• After saving, the transaction appears in Recent Transactions on the dashboard
• The bank account balance updates to reflect the new transaction
• If you sent a donation receipt, check Organization > Donation Notifications to confirm delivery
• If you used Scan Receipt, verify the extracted amount, date, and vendor are correct -- especially for receipts with multiple total lines (subtotal vs. total)

• Picking the wrong fund -- If a donor restricted their gift to a specific purpose, use the matching restricted fund, not your general fund. Using the wrong fund means your fund balance reports will be inaccurate.
• Forgetting the functional purpose on expenses -- "Program," "Management," or "Fundraising" is required for IRS Form 990 reporting. If unsure, most direct mission work is "Program."
• Recording a donation that was already auto-recorded -- If you have a donation connection set up, incoming donations may be recorded automatically. Check Recent Transactions first to avoid duplicates.
• Using Quick Entry for complex multi-line transactions -- Quick Entry creates simple one-line transactions. For split transactions (e.g., splitting an expense across multiple funds), use the full transaction form instead. Click "Switch to full transaction form" at the bottom of the Quick Entry page.

Accountant note: Quick Entry creates a balanced double-entry transaction behind the scenes. "I received a donation" debits your bank account (asset) and credits your revenue account. "I paid a bill" credits your bank account and debits your expense account. The fund tag ensures proper fund accounting per ASC 958.

Suggested prompts:

• "Should I use Quick Entry or the full transaction form for this?"
• "How do I record a donation that's split between two funds?"
• "How does receipt scanning work?"