Quick Log — record almost anything

What Quick Log is

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. It is the fastest way to get something into Worklog: instead of finding the right tool and filling in a form, you say what happened — in plain words, out loud, or by snapping a photo — and Worklog works out what it was and fills in the entry for you to check and save.

It used to be for money in and out only. Now one note can become any of seven kinds of entry, and anything too big for a quick note gets pointed at the proper tool instead. You never have to decide which one first — you just describe it.

The seven things it can log

Quick Log reads your note and picks one of these on its own. You do not choose — you just describe what happened:

• Income — money that came in. "R450 cash from Thabo for the gate fix".
• Expense — money that went out. "Bought R200 fuel at Engen, paid card". A photo of a till slip is almost always an expense. Goods you bought for money, with no "add" and no price each ("20kg maize meal R210 from Shoprite, cash"), are an expense for the money paid. It is always asked before it is saved. Every typed money-out message is read back and waits for your yes, whatever the words say: on the card tap "Yes, it was paid" on the entry (Save all waits for it), and on WhatsApp reply YES to the read-back, or VAT or NO VAT when VAT is asked, or NO to drop it. A photo or PDF always asks too. When a word doubts the payment ("will pay", "pending", "due", "paid half", "cash or card?", someone else paying, a bill, invoice, quote or order word, a foreign currency, an approximate or before-VAT amount, "COD", "my card", a take-back word like oops or lol), it asks its own question first, with the same yes. A bill word (invoice, quote, order and the like) takes nothing away: the entry keeps its amount and waits for your yes like any other, with one added line, "If this is a bill you haven't paid yet, reply NO and add it under Bills." (on the card, the same hint under the question). Nothing is recorded as paid without your yes. For a VAT-registered business a reply of YES is not a VAT answer: the bot repeats the answers (VAT, the VAT amount, NO VAT). When the reading is zero-rated or exempt (diesel, basic foods, a taxi fare) it says so as a reading and offers only NO VAT or the VAT amount the tax invoice shows; a reply of VAT is not worked out (the bot will not calculate VAT against its own zero-rated reading), so give the amount if the invoice shows VAT, otherwise NO VAT. A list or basket that reads as zero-rated is refused a plain VAT reply the same way, in words that make no flat claim about the goods (some of it reads as zero-rated, so the bot will not work the VAT out); one that reads as carrying VAT gets the ordinary VAT question with the list hint. With a bill word and another amount in your words, the note gives both ways: if that amount is separate money, send it again on its own; if it is what the business actually paid on this, reply NO and send it again with only that amount. A staff advance is asked the same way. A reply to "Log it again?", a numbered pick, "I read the name as X", BUSINESS or PERSONAL, or the tax year of a payment of your own tax is itself the yes: each of those questions quotes the entry and says what the reply does (for a VAT-registered business a VAT question follows), so there is no second read-back. A different entry sent while a read-back waits does not drop it: the bot says the new one is not logged, and to send it again after. The total is worked out from your words, and it asks if the figures don't agree or it can't tell the amount or the day. A single figure on goods counted as more than one is the total only when it is in the part of your words that says you paid, as in "paid R840 for 12 boxes"; anywhere else it asks.If the goods are already on your stock list, the app card also offers "Also add 12 to Nappies", kept for you unless your words give another purpose ("for the office"). Saving records the expense, and the stock is added only if you keep that choice. When it is kept, the expense is filed under Stock / trading stock, unless you picked a category yourself. If your words say you still owe it ("on account", "haven't paid"), it is not logged as paid: the card keeps its "you owe the supplier" choice, and the bot says how to log the bill. Every amount in your words is used by an entry, quoted in the reply, or named in a note: Quick Log shows one note above the cards and the bot says it in its reply, whatever else it says. It finds an amount with or without an R (next to "paid", "cash", "kontant" or "rand", with cents or a thousands space, as "5 grand", "1.2m", "2 mln", "2 mio", "2 million", "2 bil", "2 billion", "1,5 miljoen" or "1 biljoen", or just a number, even glued to a word like "parking20" or in "800-900"). A word glued to an amount ("R5xyz") or a size word it does not read ("R5 thousand") is quoted as typed, and no value is worked out, so a note never shows less than your words say. It leaves out only a number of four digits or more straight after "inv", "PO", "ref", "nr" or "invoice no" at the very end of your message (when it is the second figure), a year from 2015 on beside a month or "in", and a figure that an amount that is logged carries: a count of 50 or less with no R, straight after "for", "vir" or "x" or straight before boxes, bags, units, pcs, packs or rolls (or the Afrikaans bokse, sakke, eenhede, stukke, pakke, rolle), in the same part of your words as the entry's amount, with no "and", "plus", "+", "&", "en", comma or new line between them, so "paid R840 for 12 boxes" is a count and "paid R840 fuel and 30 tolls" names the R30; a count times a price each, the total handed over less the change or a discount, parts that add up to the amount ("R840: R500 cash, R340 card"), the VAT in it, or a credit limit on a new contact. A full stop or comma after an amount does not hide it, and a message that is a question does not hide it. Figures that add up to an entry's amount ("R840 plus R40 delivery" read as R880) are carried by it. A figure after VAT ("VAT R20") is the VAT amount, offered beside the VAT question and never told to be sent again as money. A figure in another currency ("USD 50", "$50") is quoted as typed, never as rand. A bare number with no R, cents or money word ("size 4", "room 12") is quoted as typed in softer words ("I'm not sure about 4: if it is money, send it again"), and a year after a month name or inside a date is a date. Amounts written in words ("five thousand rand") are not read. With a bill word, the entry's own amount is carried; any other amount in the words is called an amount in your words. If the words say someone else paid, such as a customer, or "paid me", it is not money out: it asks. Words that say you will pay, paid part, or paid nothing also ask, and a part payment asks how much was paid.Words that sound like your own use ("for my baby", "my wife", "for the kids", "for home", "my own car", "own vehicle", "own bakkie") are never decided for you: the card shows Business and Personal with neither ticked, and Save waits for your pick; on WhatsApp reply BUSINESS or PERSONAL. Personal claims no VAT; business brings the VAT question back. The stock offer stays off. A new item is offered for Items as a stock item. The bot says when the item is on your stock list, so you add the quantity under Items. Several things bought together are one expense. A list or basket of several items ("maize meal and sugar", "nappies and veggies", "groceries") that reads as carrying VAT asks the VAT question like any other, with a hint: a basket can mix goods with and without VAT, so if only some of it carries VAT, give the VAT amount shown on the tax invoice. VAT on a typed message is always your answer, whatever the words say, and no list of goods answers it for you. Words like "incl VAT", "plus VAT", "no VAT" or "VAT R20", and anything the AI read from them, never claim it. The card asks "VAT to claim on a tax invoice?" with nothing ticked, and a third choice, VAT amount, for the VAT the tax invoice shows; the bot asks "Is there VAT to claim on a tax invoice from ...?" and takes VAT (15/115 of the total), the VAT amount (like R65,20, never more than 15/115 of the total) or NO VAT (VAT Act s16(2)(a): input tax needs a tax invoice held; s1(1): only tax actually charged). Goods that may be zero-rated (basic foods by their usual names in English and Afrikaans, fuel in any of its names, an international flight) still ask it, with a hint on the card; the lists only choose the hint and never the answer.It changes a zero rate to standard only for the goods the VAT 404 guide itself names as standard: white bread, duck or ostrich eggs, olive oil, motor oil and oil lubricants, aviation kerosene, and unmarked paraffin (illuminating paraffin is zero-rated, VAT Act s11(1)(l); a bare "paraffin" keeps the reading it was given, and only the words unmarked paraffin turn it to standard). Then no VAT is claimed until you answer the VAT question. A claim without a question stands only when the VAT the slip prints is held on that very card: it is then never more than that VAT, or 15/115 of the total if that is less, and a slip that prints R0 claims R0. A photo alone is not enough: with no printed VAT it asks. The printed VAT goes with the card into the in-tray and to a passed card, and after a YES on WhatsApp it saves the VAT the slip printed, not a figure worked out again. A photo read as VAT charged with no VAT printed asks, with one line or several. The bot's reply names the VAT printed on the slip.
• Appointment — set for a client, with no money paid yet. "Book Sarah for Friday 2pm, braai catering R1500".
• Stock — a new item for your price list, with how many you have and what one cost. "Add 20 bags cement at R80 each". It is for goods you add or receive ("add", "received", a price each); goods you paid money for are an Expense, above, even when the item is already on Items. If your words say you paid, the money is logged. If they don't, it stays stock. A name that is not on Items yet is added as a new item. If it is already there, the card asks how the extra came in (you paid, you owe the supplier, or you counted them) and adds to that item. When you tap that you paid, the money is priced on the count and unit on the card (2 kg at R120 a kg is R240, never R240 000), and it asks when it cannot tell. WhatsApp never adds to an existing item: it says so, and you change the Qty under Items.
• Trip — kilometres driven for the business, for your mileage log. "Drove 45km to Sandton for a site visit".
• Time — hours worked on a job. "3 hours plumbing for Mrs Khumalo".
• Contact — a new client or supplier to save. "Add a new supplier, BuildIt, 0123456789".

Four ways to tell it

• Type — write it in the What happened? box. Tap one of the example lines to fill the box, then change it.
• Speak — tap Speak and say it out loud. Worklog turns your voice into words for you.
• Camera — tap Camera to photograph a receipt, invoice or handwritten note. Worklog reads the total and the details off it.
• Upload — tap Upload to add a photo or document already on your phone.

How it works, step by step

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. Tell it what happened — type it, tap Speak, or tap Photo / PDF. Say it naturally; mixing English, Afrikaans, isiZulu or other languages, and short SMS-style spelling, are all fine.
3. Tap Log it. Worklog reads it and shows a card with what it worked out — for example Income detected, Appointment detected or Trip detected — with the amounts and details filled in.
4. Check the card. Money out you typed asks Did the business pay it? Tap Yes, it was paid, or Save all waits. Tap anything it read to put it right — the amount, a name, the day — at no extra AI Quick Log. For money you can also change the category, link the invoice or supplier invoice it pays, and pick the bank account. Tap 📝 Add a note for the bookkeeper to leave a note with the entry.
5. Tap Confirm & Save to keep it, or Discard to throw it away and start again.

Money on the card

• Category — Worklog fills in the category you used for this payer or payee last time, marked for example "from Engen last time". Tap it to change it.
• Paying a supplier invoice — for money out, pick the supplier invoice it pays under "Is this paying a supplier invoice?". It already claimed its VAT, so the payment claims none, and Worklog ticks the option to mark it paid when the payment covers it.
• VAT — if you are VAT registered, money in shows its VAT treatment, which you can change. A purchase asks VAT to claim: No VAT to claim, or Tax invoice — claim (only on a tax invoice from a VAT-registered supplier; at R50 or less, a till slip that shows the VAT). Used goods bought from a private seller have a claim of their own, made in Money Out only (notional VAT, which needs the seller's signed paperwork). The card asks until you answer, unless the slip or your words already show whether VAT was charged. Wages and payments to SARS are never asked — there is no VAT in them.
• Date — every card with a day shows it (money, appointments, trips and hours): the one you named ("yesterday", "last Friday"), the date on the slip, or today. Tap it to change it. Money, trips and hours can't be put on a day still to come; an appointment can.
• Logged it already? — before money is saved, Worklog looks for the same amount on the same day to the same person or shop. If it finds one it asks: Same — skip it, or Twice — save it.
• Slip checks — when a photo's items and VAT don't add up to the total it read, the card shows both figures and asks which one you paid. A purchase over R5 000 that claims VAT asks whether you have the full tax invoice SARS needs (with your business's name, address and VAT number on it); if not, save it without VAT for now. Not when the photo is that full tax invoice: then nothing is asked, and on Team and Complete its proof sign stays Confirm full tax invoice until you say you have it, from the entry in Banking. The R5 000 includes the VAT, and at exactly R5 000 nothing is asked. Banking → + Add, an imported bank statement or CSV file and the WhatsApp bot ask the same question, and so does a payment opened in Banking when you change it to claim VAT over R5 000.

When it hands you to a bigger tool

Some jobs need a proper document or a few more details than a quick note can hold. When you describe one of these, Quick Log does not save it for you: it opens the document's own form filled in with what you said, for you to check and save — or, for a job only the full tool does, opens that tool. You can also leave it for later.

• Making an invoice → the invoice form opens with the customer and a line of what for at the amount you said (before VAT, if you are VAT registered — the form adds the VAT).
• Making a quote → the quote form opens filled in the same way.
• A purchase order → the purchase order form opens with the supplier and a line.
• Recording a supplier's invoice → the supplier invoice form opens on the supplier, with your photo kept on it; copy the lines and VAT from the invoice.
• Adding a staff member → the Staff form opens with their name filled in.
• A customer statement → opens Statements, on that customer when you name one.
• Running payroll or a payslip → opens Pay Run, where pay runs are worked out and approved.
• Anything about VAT or tax → opens SARS.

Snapping receipts and photos

A photo is often the quickest way of all — no typing. Point the camera at a till slip or supplier invoice, or upload one you already have, and Worklog pulls out the total, what it was for, and who it was from. You can add a line of extra detail underneath, like "paid by card, from Sipho", before you tap Log it.

When Worklog recognises a photo as a supplier's own invoice, it reads the invoice's lines instead of logging a payment. The card says how many lines it read. Tap "Check and save the invoice →" to open the Supplier Invoices form with the lines filled in and your photo kept on the supplier invoice. Nothing is on your books until you check it and save. Supplier Invoices is part of Team and Complete.

Good to know

• Always check the card before saving. If Worklog is not sure, it puts a small "double-check" label on the card — look twice at the amount and the name.
• For income, the amount is the full amount that came in; Worklog takes any VAT back out for you, and the Tax Jar works out what to keep aside for SARS.
• Reading your words or a photo uses AI, which has a monthly limit on each plan. When you reach it the AI reading pauses, but you can always keep logging money by hand — see How many AI Quick Logs you get.
• If AI features are switched off for the business, Quick Log shows a note instead of reading anything. The owner can switch AI back on under Business Hub → Business details.
• Quick Log is a shortcut, not a separate set of records. Everything it saves lands in the same place as the normal tools, so your reports and tax numbers stay right.