Log money in and out

What this does

Every rand your business takes in or pays out should be written down. In Worklog you do that in one place: Banking → + Add, where each payment is a line — 💰 In for money coming in, 💸 Out for money going out. Or use Quick Log (the gold button) when you just want to say what happened and let Worklog sort it out. They all save to the same place, so your Profit & Loss, cash flow and tax numbers stay up to date on their own.

Before you start

• Open Banking and tap + Add. That opens Capture bank lines on the account you were standing in, or on your default one. Each payment is one line; add as many as you like and save them together.
• Every line lands on a bank account — a till or a cash box counts too. If the business has none yet, the screen says so and links to + Add a bank account. With more than one, tap the one the money went through along the top.
• If you have added your VAT number in Tax & SARS, income you log is treated as VAT-inclusive and Worklog works the VAT out of the amount for you.
• Every entry gets its own reference number once saved — INC- numbers for income, EXP- for expenses (cash-ups get CSH- and transfers TRF-) — so you can point at a specific entry when talking to your accountant or checking a statement line, the same way you already can with an invoice number.
• You do not have to fill in every field. Amount is the only thing you must enter, except on a purchase when you are VAT registered: then Worklog also needs your answer under VAT to claim.

Log money coming in

Use this when a customer pays you — cash in hand, an EFT, a card swipe, anything.

1. Open Banking, tap Show ▾ and pick the account the money went into under Account, then tap + Add. Capture bank lines opens on that account.
2. On the line, tap 💰 In. Check the date — it starts on today.
3. In the first box, type who paid you — their name as it is on your invoices brings their invoices to the top. In Amount, type what you received, for example 450: the full amount that landed in your hand or account.
4. Sales reference is optional: the bank's reference for the line, or a note to yourself.
5. If the payment settles an invoice you sent, tap "Is this payment for an invoice?" under the line and pick it — the box shows once there is an amount and an invoice still owed. When the payment covers the invoice, Worklog ticks the option to mark it paid; leave it ticked, or untick it if you do not want that yet. A smaller amount comes off the invoice as a part payment.
6. If it is not against an invoice, tap More, then 🏷️ Set category under "What was this sale for?" and pick the heading this money falls under. That is what files it on your reports, and the line won't save without one — it says so on the line. A loan you received goes under Loans & Capital, which keeps it out of your profit.
7. If you are VAT registered, More also has VAT on this sale — Standard, Zero-rated or Exempt. Leave it on Standard for a normal sale. It isn't asked when the category is a loan, the owner's capital or a dividend: that money holds no VAT, and the line shows No VAT.
8. Putting your own money into the business? Tap More, then 👤 This is personal money, not business income. It is kept separate from your business totals and tax.
9. Tap Done to fold the line away, + Add line for the next one, and ✅ Save all lines when you are finished.

Log money going out

Use this for anything you pay for — fuel, stock, materials, a supplier invoice.

1. Open Banking, tap Show ▾ and pick the account the money came out of under Account, then tap + Add. On the line, tap 💸 Out.
2. Check the date, type who you paid in the first box — a supplier's name as it is on their invoices brings their supplier invoices to the top — and the Amount you paid. Purchases reference is optional.
3. If this payment settles a supplier invoice you recorded, tap "Is this paying a supplier invoice?" under the line and pick it. When the payment covers the whole amount, Worklog ticks the option to mark it paid for you. If it is over your approval limit, only someone with approve rights on Supplier Invoices can mark it paid — the payment still saves, linked to it.
4. If it is not against a supplier invoice, tap More, then 🏷️ Set category under "What did you buy?" and pick the heading this spend falls under, so it lands in the right place on your reports. The line won't save without one. Paying back a loan's capital, or a company paying its shareholders a dividend, goes under Loans & Capital: it isn't a cost, so it stays out of your profit. The interest on a loan is a cost — file it under Interest paid on loan.
5. Some categories get a note under them. Fuel, interest, a municipal account and a few others often carry no VAT to claim, so a note says to check the slip. A big enough equipment purchase is flagged as looking like an asset: save it as normal and it waits in your Asset Register under To add.
6. If you are VAT registered, More also has VAT treatment — Standard, Zero-rated or Exempt. Leave it on Standard for a normal purchase. Neither VAT question appears once the category is Wages & salaries paid, a payroll tax (PAYE, UIF, SDL or COIDA), a director's or member's salary, a payment to SARS, a loan repayment, a dividend paid or a donation (with or without a section 18A receipt): none of those is a purchase, so there is no VAT in it to claim, and a note under the category says so.
7. On a standard-rated purchase, VAT to claim appears under it, with two answers: No VAT to claim and Tax invoice — claim. If you have paid this supplier before under the same name and their saved contact has a VAT number, it starts on Tax invoice — claim; otherwise nothing is picked and the line won't save until you choose — it says so on the line. Choose Tax invoice — claim when you have a tax invoice from a VAT-registered supplier, and the VAT inside the amount is claimed back on your VAT201. Choose No VAT to claim when the supplier isn't VAT-registered, there's no tax invoice, or what you bought is exempt or zero-rated. On a small purchase of R50 or less SARS does not require a tax invoice, so a till slip that shows the VAT is enough to claim. A payment saved with No VAT to claim, here or from an imported bank statement, opens on No VAT to claim again when you edit it.
8. Over R5 000 and claiming VAT, the line also asks "Over R5 000: can you claim the VAT?" Above R5 000, SARS needs a full tax invoice — with your business's name, address and VAT number on it — before you claim the VAT; a till slip isn't enough. Tap I have the full tax invoice — claim, or Not yet — save without VAT for now, which saves it on No VAT to claim: when the invoice arrives, tap the payment in Banking, choose VAT on a tax invoice — claim it and answer the same question there — if that period's VAT201 is already marked filed by then, the VAT counts on your next return instead. A split payment's VAT can't be changed once it's saved, so the line says so: to claim one later, delete it in Banking (that needs full access) and capture it again — without its stock bought, which was counted the first time and stays counted. The line won't save until you tap one, and says so. The R5 000 includes the VAT, and on a payment split into parts it is everything the payment bought that counts, together — not each part, and not a wage, tax or loan repayment paid in the same payment. At exactly R5 000 or less nothing is asked: a shorter (abridged) tax invoice, without your business's details, is enough there.
9. Bought used goods from a person who charges no VAT — a private seller? Tap "Bought second-hand from a private seller?" instead of answering VAT to claim. You can then claim notional input tax (VAT Act section 20(8)): the tax fraction (15/115) of the lower of the price you paid and what the goods would sell for on the open market, with no tax invoice. SARS wants paper instead, kept for five years, so the panel asks you to tick five boxes (the seller is not charging VAT, lives in South Africa, the goods are here and were used, you paid money, you use them in the business — not animals, and no gold, which used computers, phones, medical equipment and jewellery contain, and not a motor car as the VAT Act defines it: a car, station wagon, minibus or double cab; a company seller is allowed with its representative's ID and a paper showing its registration number; land and buildings are allowed once the property is registered in your name; in a trade-in only the money you paid counts, so type that as the price; an auction that gave you a tax invoice is claimed on the invoice instead), to type the seller's name, what and how many you bought, the price, the day you got it and what it would sell for, to say whether the seller is a relative, partner, staff member or your own company (then you type the market value and a reason), and to attach two photos: the VAT 264 the seller signs (the panel links to SARS's form) and the front of the seller's South African identity document or ID card — nothing else is accepted. Both photos show the seller's ID number and address, so they open only for the owner and for logins with full access to Money Out who also hold the Proof of purchase permission, are never read by the AI, and only those logins can keep a new purchase. You claim only what you have paid: pay R400 of a R600 fridge and claim 15/115 of R400 now, then the rest with the next payment (tap "Another payment for an earlier one"); the claims never add up to more than 15/115 of the whole. The VAT goes in field 15 of your VAT201, whatever the category. If you bought the goods to sell, type the stock item's cost without the VAT you claim: that VAT comes back to you, so it is not part of what the stock cost, and the full price would make your stock look worth more than it is. If your business shares costs with exempt supplies or private use, the panel also asks how you use the goods, as any purchase does. Not yet? Tap "Not yet - save without VAT": the payment saves with no claim, and you can add the second-hand paperwork to the saved entry later (if its VAT201 is already marked filed, the claim counts on your next return). Worklog can't check that the seller isn't VAT-registered: you carry that risk. Not covered — ask your accountant: the seller refunding part of the price later, selling the goods abroad, or using them differently later.
10. In More, under Keep the supplier's tax invoice, 📷 Photograph it or 📎 Attach the file attaches the document itself — the supplier's tax invoice, or a till slip — to the payment. The line then shows Tax invoice on file, the document is kept when you save the line, and anyone with the Proof of purchase permission can open it. Nothing attached? The payment saves anyway and waits in Banking under 📄 Needs proof, where you can attach it later (tap the entry) or tick "I have a receipt or proof for this" if the paper is in a folder. Save the line within 6 days: a document waits 6 days for its line to be saved, and after that the line asks for it again. A cost sent to the WhatsApp bot as a photo or PDF keeps its document the same way, on the entry the photo shows. If your words described other payments too and the bot can't tell which one the photo is, it keeps it on none, and the payment waits under 📄 Needs proof rather than carrying the wrong slip. A supplier invoice keeps its own tax invoice, on the supplier invoice itself rather than on the payment: if you are VAT registered you claim that input VAT from the invoice date, paid or not, so the document belongs with the supplier invoice that claimed it. Supplier credit notes keep theirs too. Photos are shrunk before they are stored, so a phone picture is a few hundred KB. A scanned PDF that is too big to keep — an office scanner at 600 dpi colour easily is — is shrunk page by page on your own phone or laptop before it goes, so you do not have to rescan it. Very long scans, over 15 pages, are the one thing Worklog asks you to split up first.
11. Taking money out for yourself? Tap More, then 👤 This is personal money, not a business expense. It is kept separate from your business totals and tax.
12. Tap Done, then ✅ Save all lines.

Stock you sold or bought

If you sell or buy Products or Materials, each 💰 In and 💸 Out line in Banking → + Add has a folded-away section in More, under the category — 📦 Stock sold on money in, 📦 Stock bought on money out. Open it, pick each item and how many, and save. A sale takes them off your Price List and a purchase adds them, so the next stock count knows what to expect. It is optional: leave it closed and nothing about stock changes. Once a line is folded away, it shows 📦 and how many items it carries.

• It only appears if you have Products or Materials on your Price List, and never on personal money or a move between your own accounts.
• It isn't offered when the money settles an invoice or a supplier invoice — that document already moved the stock when it was raised.
• Whole units only, the way the Price List keeps quantities. A line with an item but no count, or a count but no item, won't save until it is finished, and says so on the line.
• Switching a line between In and Out clears its items: items sold are not items bought.
• The stock moves once, when the line is saved. Editing the entry later can't change it, and deleting the entry doesn't put stock back — change the quantity on Items instead.

Move money between your own accounts

Moving your own money from one account to another — cash into savings, a top-up from the cheque account — is a transfer, not income and not an expense. It never touches your Profit & Loss or your tax; it only shifts each account's balance. You need at least two accounts saved in Bank accounts for this.

1. Open Banking and tap Show ▾. Under Account, pick the account the money is leaving, then tap + Add at the top right. That opens Capture bank lines on that account.
2. Check the account along the top is the one the money is LEAVING — it is already set to the one you tapped. Tap another if you need to.
3. On the line, tap 🔄 Move.
4. Under "Into which account?", pick the account the money is going into.
5. Type the Amount, and check the Date.
6. Add a Reference if you like, for example moved to savings.
7. Tap Save all lines. Moving a few amounts at once? Tap + Add line for each one first, and they all save together.

The transfer then sits in your Banking list with everything else that moved, marked with a Transfer tag, and the balance on the count line under Show ▾ and Sort ▾ moves the moment it saves while you are in either account. Tap the transfer to change any of it and tap Save changes, or open Show ▾ and pick 🔄 Transfer to see only transfers. To remove one logged by mistake, tap the × on its row. A team member needs Edit access to Money in or Money out to move money between accounts or change a transfer — someone who can only look at them sees the transfers but not the 🔄 Move button — and removing one takes Full access to Money in.

Quick Log — the fastest way

Quick Log is the gold button: ✨ Log in the middle of the bottom bar on a phone, or "Just tell me" on the home screen on a computer. Instead of filling in a form, you tell Worklog what happened in plain words — or show it a receipt — and it fills in the entry for you to check. For money, it works out on its own whether it was income or an expense.

Quick Log is not only for money any more. From the same box it can also make an appointment, add stock, log a trip or hours worked, or save a new contact — and when you describe something bigger, like an invoice or a pay run, it points you to the right tool instead. The full Quick Log guide lists everything it handles; this section covers the money side.

1. Tap the gold ✨ Log button in the middle of the bottom bar on a phone, or "Just tell me" on the home screen on a computer. A window titled Quick Log opens.
2. Choose how you want to tell it: type in the What happened? box, tap Speak to say it out loud, or tap Photo / PDF to photograph a receipt or add a photo or document you already have.
3. For typing or speaking, say it naturally, for example: R450 cash from Thabo for the gate fix, or Bought R200 fuel at Engen yesterday, paid card. There are example lines for your kind of business you can tap to fill in the box.
4. Tap Log it. Worklog reads it and shows a card marked Income detected or Expense detected, with the amount, what it was for, who it was from or to, the payment method and the day.
5. Check the details. You can change the category — Worklog fills in the one you used for this payer or payee last time — link the invoice a payment settles or, for money out, the supplier invoice it pays, and choose the account. If you are VAT registered, a purchase may ask VAT to claim: choose No VAT to claim or Tax invoice — claim (only on a tax invoice from a VAT-registered supplier), as on a money-out line in Banking → + Add.
6. Tap ✅ Confirm & Save to keep it, or Discard to throw it away and start again.

Good to know

• The amount you type is always the full amount that changed hands. For income, Worklog takes any VAT back out of it — you do not add VAT on top.
• The personal-money buttons under More on a line — "This is personal money, not business income" on money in and "This is personal money, not a business expense" on money out — are for when you put your own cash in or take it out for yourself. Worklog keeps those out of your income, expenses and tax, so your profit stays right.
• Linking a payment to an invoice or a supplier invoice matters: it stops the same money being counted twice on your reports. Only link it when the payment really is for that document.
• Under the Banking list, 📄 PDF and 📊 CSV / Excel print every row it holds, as you have searched, narrowed and sorted it — date, number, in, out or transfer, who or what, the account (when you are on All accounts), category, how it was paid, whether it is reconciled and the amount — with money in, money out and the net at the bottom. Transfers between your own accounts are listed but left out of those three.
• Worklog is record-keeping software, not a tax adviser. The VAT and tax-jar figures are estimates to help you plan. For your own situation, check with SARS or a registered tax practitioner.