Your LedgerLite database is stored in a single file. To discover its location go to the Help menu, select About and look for the Database File. This is the full path to your LedgerLite.LLD file. (You need to ensure this file is included in your regular backup.)

It's a good idea to move both the database and the LedgerLite.EXE files to a location on your computer away from your desktop or download folder where they can be easily deleted. We suggest creating a new folder somewhere on your computer specifically to contain these two files (LedgerLite.EXE and LedgerLite.LLD.)

Then make a desktop shortcut to LedgerLite.EXE for easy access. (And please remember to add the new folder you created to your backup procedure!)

To backup LedgerLite simply copy the program file (LedgerLite.EXE) and the database file (LedgerLite.LLD) to a USB stick or external hard drive. These two files are all that's needed to run LedgerLite with your data on any Windows computer. Ideally you should try to make multiple copies on various media and put these in different locations. Do this on a regular basis.

If you're concerned about someone gaining access to your LedgerLite data you can encrypt your data by setting up a Database Authentication Password on the Global Configuration screen. This feature will prevent anyone from accessing your database without the password.

Yes you can. If you'd like more time trialling LedgerLite but the 30 days are up, then simply delete the LedgerLite.LLD file. When you restart LedgerLite a new empty database file will get created automatically and the free trial period will begin again.

Yes. You can share LedgerLite with a friend by simply giving them a copy of the program file LedgerLite.EXE. (Your financial and registration data are stored inside the LLD file, not the EXE file, so don't give them this unless you want them to have a copy of your data!)

LedgerLite is shareware and we'd be thrilled if you'd share it as widely as possible with anyone who could benefit from a copy of the world's simplest, most reliable accounting software. We don't have a marketing budget so our only means of promotion (apart from our website) is word of mouth and social media. However nothing beats a recommendation from someone they know and trust.

Whenever LedgerLite is run it creates a new empty LLD database file in the current folder if there isn't one there already. The creation date gets recorded inside this file in order to determine the 30-day free trial period. Once the 30 days have elapsed LedgerLite will refuse to allow access until a valid registration name/code combination are entered. Both the name and the code get recorded inside the database file and only need to be entered once to permanently unlock it.

For more information please see our YouTube video LedgerLite - Software Registration

Yes. It's easy. In fact you can create PDF files from any Windows application using this free PDF printer.

Yes indeed you can! Because LedgerLite uses only the most basic Windows API's it will run reliably on any version of Windows including WINE for Linux or any Windows emulator (& WineBottler) for the Mac (or any other operating system for that matter!)

Options include WineBottler (http://winebottler.kronenberg.org/) and CodeWeavers (https://www.codeweavers.com/).

The latest (and greatest!) release of LedgerLite.EXE is version 1.71.0.0.

It's simple - LedgerLite is so cheap because it's so reliable.

Most accounting software incurs a monthly subscription to cover ongoing maintenance and support. However, because LedgerLite is able to eliminate these issues entirely, we only charge a one-off registration fee. There are no ongoing costs for your continued use of LedgerLite so we have no reason to charge you. Of course we hope once you discover how good it is you'll want to share it with others who'll also become registered users.

We tried to make LedgerLite free but we had to at least cover the cost of hosting and maintaining our website and providing support for new users. However we've tried to keep this charge to an absolute minimum. After you've paid the initial registration fee LedgerLite is essentially free from then on.

It's simple - we don't and won't pay accountants to recommend LedgerLite. Most accountants recommend leading brands of software because they get a commission. However we're more interested in providing a permanent solution to your accounting problems than we are in making money!

You can't (at least not directly.) Because LedgerLite is a double-entry system you can't set the opening balance of a ledger account by itself. One of the first principles of double-entry bookkeeping is that the accounts must always balance. This means total debits must equal total credits.

If you want to set an account balance you need to create a ledger entry where the total debits equal the total credits. This means you need to set at least one other account balance at the same time. In LedgerLite the easiest way to do this is create a single ledger entry that sets all opening balances at the same time.

Essentially you need to do these three things:
     - decide how you'd like the Balance Sheet to look at the opening date
     - edit your chart of accounts so that it matches your desired Balance Sheet
     - create a single multi-line entry that sets all account balances as at the opening date

For more information please see our YouTube video LedgerLite - Setting Opening Balances

LedgerLite is designed to work with multiple companies with each company's data stored in a separate file. When you first run LedgerLite it will create a file called LedgerLite.LLD. If you are using more than one company you need to rename this file keeping the LLD extension. For example rename it from LedgerLite.LLD to ABC Limited.LLD.

When you restart LedgerLite it will create another new file called LedgerLite.LLD. You can then rename this to the other company name you are using e.g. XYZ Limited.LLD. The next time you start LedgerLite it will notice there is more than one file and will prompt for which one you want to work with.

For more information please see our YouTube video LedgerLite - Multiple Companies

LedgerLite is designed to work with multiple users in a client/server configuration. To set this up you need to create two shortcuts to the LedgerLite.EXE file on your desktop. Rename these shortcuts LedgerLite Server and LedgerLite Client.

Right-click on the LedgerLite Server shortcut and select Properties. Then click on the Shortcut tab. In the Target field after the "...\LedgerLite.exe" filename (and outside the quotation marks) add the command line parameter /s and then click on the OK button.

Right-click on the LedgerLite Client shortcut and select Properties. Then click on the Shortcut tab. In the Target field after the "...\LedgerLite.exe" filename (and outside the quotation marks) add the command line parameter /c and then click on the OK button.

To run the LedgerLite server double-click on the LedgerLite Server shortcut. You should see the LedgerLite server icon appear on your system tray. You should then be able to double-click on this icon to display the LedgerLite server main screen. You can then go to the File menu and select Users to set up the users' names and passwords. You can specify which users are to have adminstrator privileges and, if subentities exist, you can set a default subentity for each user.

To run the LedgerLite client double-click on the LedgerLite Client shortcut. You will then be prompted to enter the LedgerLite server's IP address and port number which you can read off the LedgerLite server main screen. You will then be prompted to enter the user's name and password to initiate the connection.

NOTE: On each of the users' computers you only need to create the LedgerLite Client shortcut.

For more information please see our YouTube video LedgerLite - Multiple Users

LedgerLite allows you to maintain a table of subentities that can be used to keep track of projects, divisions or subsidiary companies. To create a new subentity go to the Maintain menu and select Subentities. Press the <Insert> key and fill in the Abbreviation and Name fields.

A new Subentities menu will appear allowing you to choose either an individual subentity or the consolidated accounts. When you select a subentity its name will appear in the title bar at the top of the screen and all screens and reports will show only those ledger entries that belong to that specific subentity. To work with all entries in the ledger select Consolidated from the Subentities menu.

On both the Entries and Cashbooks screens a new Subentity drop-down will appear allowing you to assign individual ledger or cashbook entries to specific subentities.

If you're using LedgerLite in a multi-user client/server configuration you can set a default subentity for each user and/or restrict them to a specific subentity on the Maintain Users screen of the LedgerLite server.

LedgerLite allows you to setup and maintain a table of taxes that can be applied to any ledger account. You can create as many of these as you need.

In the taxes table specify:
     - the ledger account the tax applies to
     - the ledger account to be debited
     - the ledger account to be credited
     - the tax rate as a percentage

Simply click on the Tax button when making a ledger entry. Or even easier, if you make an entry in a cashbook, the tax gets applied automatically.

For more information please see our YouTube video LedgerLite - Taxes

Here in New Zealand we have a tax on goods and services (GST) at the rate of 15%. To set this up in LedgerLite create two additional accounts in your chart of accounts:
     1. An expense account named GST Expense.
     2. A liability account named Provision for GST.

In the taxes table create a new record as follows:
     Account: Sales Income Account
     Debit: GST Expense Account
     Credit: Provision for GST Account
     Rate: 13.0434783% (i.e. 15/115)

Also in the taxes table create additional records for each GST claimable expense as follows:
     Account: Claimable Expense Account
     Debit: Provision for GST Account
     Credit: GST Expense Account
     Rate: 13.0434783% (i.e. 15/115)

In Australia the goods and services tax (GST) is 10%. To set this up in LedgerLite create two additional accounts in your chart of accounts:
     1. A liability account named GST Collected.
     2. An asset account named GST Paid.

In the taxes table create a new record as follows:
     Account: Sales Income Account
     Debit: Sales Income Account
     Credit: GST Collected Account
     Rate: 9.090909% (i.e. 10/110)

Also in the taxes table create additional records for each GST claimable expense as follows:
     Account: Claimable Expense Account
     Debit: GST Paid Account
     Credit: Claimable Expense Account
     Rate: 9.090909% (i.e. 10/110)

NOTE: The above setup is for a 10% GST rate. For differing rates you need to set the Rate to the percentage the GST component represents as a fraction of the total GST inclusive price (e.g. if GST is 5.5% then the Rate should be 5.2132701% (i.e. 5.5/105.5).)

In Canada the goods and services tax (GST) is 5%. To set this up in LedgerLite create two additional accounts in your chart of accounts:
     1. An expense account named GST Expense.
     2. A liability account named Provision for GST.

In the taxes table create a new record as follows:
     Account: Sales Income Account
     Debit: GST Expense Account
     Credit: Provision for GST Account
     Rate: 4.7619048% (i.e. 5/105)

Also in the taxes table create additional records for each GST claimable expense as follows:
     Account: Claimable Expense Account
     Debit: Provision for GST Account
     Credit: GST Expense Account
     Rate: 4.7619048% (i.e. 5/105)

It doesn't exactly. It uses instead what we call a "group" on the Balance Sheet or Income Statement screens. A group allows multiple accounts to appear on the report as if they're a single account. Essentially groups are the same as subaccounts except the other way 'round. Consequently it may be helpful to think of a group as a kind of "superaccount."

The ability to create groups means you can create as many accounts as you like without the worry of cluttering up your reports. For example you could create a separate ledger account for each of your customers and then create a group called Customers on the Balance Sheet. Then drag and drop all the individual customer accounts into the Customers group so that it appears as a single Customers item on the Balance Sheet.

For more information please see our YouTube video Report Layouts

Create a new equity account in your chart of accounts for each type of restricted funds. Also create a new income account named Restricted Funds Released.

When you receive restricted funds debit the bank account (or cash account) and credit the relevant restricted funds account. If there's a mixture of restricted funds create a multi-line entry that splits the amount of the receipt into each of the relevant funds.

When you spend restricted funds debit the expense account and credit the bank account (or cash account) in the usual way. In addition also debit the restricted funds account and credit the Restricted Funds Released account.

LedgerLite doesn't have any built-in concept of "closing off" or "financial years." Reports can be produced for any arbitrary date or period without the need for a period close or roll-over which means you don't need to make closing entries unless you really want to.

However if you do wish to zero your income and expense accounts at a particular date (old habits die hard!) you can use this procedure:
     - create an equity account called Retained Earnings
     - create a multi-line entry that zeroes all I & E a/c's with the balance to Retained Earnings
     - on the Balance Sheet create a group called Retained Earnings
     - drag and drop both Retained Earnings items into this group

This last step will cause both Retained Earnings items to appear as a single item on the Balance Sheet. Of course the downside to zeroing your income and expense accounts is that any Income Statement produced for a period that spans the cut off date will no longer be meaningful. On the other hand this may not be an issue for you.

For more information please see our YouTube video Periods and Rollovers

Because LedgerLite is a truly generic accounting system it's suitable for any type or size of organization. It allows you to create and maintain a set of accounts and produce balance sheets and income statements. LedgerLite also lets you keep a set of cashbooks (journals) and reconcile these to your online bank accounts or bank statements. These functions are the same regardless of the type of business you're accounting for. And because LedgerLite is flexible and scaleable it can even be used to track the finances for a city or national government.

Please don't hesitate to email us directly at support@responsive.co.nz. That's what we're here for!