Glossary
Quick reference for terms used throughout this guide.
Sturdy ID
Section titled “Sturdy ID”Your one sign-in for every Sturdy product. SturdyBooks has no password of its own — you sign in with Sturdy ID.
Company
Section titled “Company”One business’s books. Each company’s books are completely separate. If you work for more than one, you switch between them from the company name at the top.
Seat and role
Section titled “Seat and role”A seat is one person’s place in a company’s books. Its role — Owner, Admin, Bookkeeper or Viewer — decides what they can do. See Roles & permissions.
Chart of accounts
Section titled “Chart of accounts”The list of every account your books post to — bank accounts, what customers owe, loans, income, job costs and expenses — grouped as assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, cost of goods sold and expenses. See Chart of accounts.
System account
Section titled “System account”An account SturdyBooks posts to automatically — Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Undeposited Funds, Sales Tax Payable and a few others. You can rename a system account, but not archive, delete or change its type.
Detail type
Section titled “Detail type”The kind of account within its type — for example Bank, Credit card or Owner draws. It decides where the account shows up (a bank account can take deposits; a credit card can pay expenses).
Debit and credit
Section titled “Debit and credit”The two sides of every posting. Every journal entry’s debits equal its credits, which is what keeps the books in balance. Assets and expenses grow with debits; liabilities, equity and income grow with credits.
To put a document into your books. A posted invoice, bill, payment or expense writes a journal entry; a draft doesn’t count anywhere until it’s posted.
Journal entry
Section titled “Journal entry”A dated record of debits and credits. Documents write their own; you can also post one by hand. See Post a journal entry.
Adjusting entry
Section titled “Adjusting entry”A journal entry an owner or admin can post into a closed month, to correct it without reopening it.
Reversal
Section titled “Reversal”The mirror image of an entry — every debit becomes a credit and vice versa — which cancels it out. Voiding a document, changing a posted one, and Reverse in the journal all post reversals, so nothing is ever erased.
Cancel a posted invoice, bill, payment or expense. It stays on file, marked Void, and its entry is reversed.
An invoice or bill you’ve saved but not posted. It doesn’t affect your balances or reports.
Accounts receivable (A/R)
Section titled “Accounts receivable (A/R)”What customers owe you — the total of their unpaid invoices, less any credits.
Accounts payable (A/P)
Section titled “Accounts payable (A/P)”What you owe vendors — the total of your unpaid bills, less any prepayments.
A/R or A/P split by how far past due each balance is: current, 1–30, 31–60, 61–90 and 90+ days. See A/R & A/P aging.
Payment terms (Net 30)
Section titled “Payment terms (Net 30)”How many days a customer (or you) has to pay. Net 30 means due 30 days after the invoice or bill date. Set per contact; the default is 30 days.
Apply (a payment)
Section titled “Apply (a payment)”Say which invoices (or bills) a payment settles, and how much of each.
Customer credit and vendor prepayment
Section titled “Customer credit and vendor prepayment”Money received from a customer (or paid to a vendor) that isn’t applied to an invoice (or bill) yet. It waits on the contact until you Apply credit.
Undeposited Funds
Section titled “Undeposited Funds”A holding account for payments you’ve received but not yet taken to the bank — a stack of checks, say. Record payments straight into the bank account when that’s where they went.
Accrual basis
Section titled “Accrual basis”Reporting that counts income when you invoice and costs when you’re billed, paid or not.
Cash basis
Section titled “Cash basis”Reporting that counts an invoice’s income when it’s paid, and a bill’s cost when you pay it. See Profit & loss.
Retainage
Section titled “Retainage”Part of an invoice a customer holds back until the job is signed off. On the cash basis it counts when you actually collect it.
Period (month): open, closed, locked
Section titled “Period (month): open, closed, locked”Each month of your books. Open takes anything; closed takes only an owner or admin’s adjusting entries; locked takes nothing. See Close the books.
Fiscal year
Section titled “Fiscal year”Your company’s accounting year. Reports use it for Year to date and Last year. New companies start their fiscal year in January.
Retained earnings
Section titled “Retained earnings”Every earlier fiscal year’s profit, kept on the balance sheet. It updates on its own at the start of each fiscal year.
Opening Balance Equity
Section titled “Opening Balance Equity”The account that balances your starting figures when you bring over balances from other books.
Gross profit and net income
Section titled “Gross profit and net income”Gross profit is income minus the direct costs of your jobs (materials, direct labor, subcontractors). Net income is what’s left after your overheads too.
Tax line
Section titled “Tax line”An optional tag on an account (like sch_c:9) that maps it to a line on a tax form.
1099 vendor
Section titled “1099 vendor”A vendor — often a subcontractor — you’ll send a 1099 form to at year end. Tick Gets a 1099 on the contact.
Receipts inbox
Section titled “Receipts inbox”Where receipt photos wait to be recorded as expenses: Not read, Reading…, Read or Couldn’t read, then Recorded or Dismissed. See The receipts inbox.
Category suggestion
Section titled “Category suggestion”An account SturdyBooks suggests for a bill or expense line — from one of your rules, or from AI when it’s on for your company. See Use category suggestions.
Categorization rule
Section titled “Categorization rule”“When the payee is (or contains) this name, use that account.” Rules answer before AI and always work. See Make a categorization rule.