In BillKit, everything revolves around businesses. A "business" is a container for all your financial data - expenses, categories, vendors, and invoice files. This guide will show you how to create, manage, and organise your businesses effectively.
What are Businesses?
A business in BillKit represents any entity you need to track expenses for. This could be:
- Your company - Track business expenses separately from personal
- Multiple companies - If you manage finances for several businesses (Pro tier only)
- Client projects - Separate expenses for different clients
- Personal expenses - Track household or personal spending
- Side businesses - Keep your side project finances separate
Everything is scoped to a business:
- Categories belong to a specific business
- Vendors belong to a specific business
- Expenses belong to a specific business
- Invoice files are stored in business-specific folders
When you switch businesses in BillKit, you're switching to a completely different set of data.
Creating a New Business
When you first open BillKit, you'll need to create at least one business before you can do anything else.
- Click "Businesses" in the sidebar
- Click the "+" button in the toolbar at the top right
- A form modal slides down with two required fields:
- Name - What you want to call this business (e.g. "Acme Consulting", "Personal")
- Currency - The default currency for this business (e.g. GBP, USD, EUR)
- Click "Add Business"
The modal closes and your business is created. When creating your first business, this is automatically set as your current active business.
What Gets Created Automatically
When you create a business, BillKit automatically sets up:
Uncategorized category
A system category for expenses that don't fit elsewhere
- You cannot delete this category
- It's set as the business's default category initially
Unknown vendor
A system vendor for when the vendor isn't recognized
- You cannot delete this vendor
- It's set as the business's default vendor initially
These system defaults ensure expenses always have a category and vendor, which are required fields.
Choosing Your Default Currency
The currency you select when creating a business becomes that business's default currency. This means:
- Invoice files without a clear currency will be assumed to be in this currency
- It's the currency pre-selected when creating manual expenses
Notes
- You can still handle expenses in other currencies, the default just sets the assumption.
- BillKit provides support for all global currencies.
- The currency dropdown is searchable - type to filter the list.
Business Limits
Basic Tier:
- You can create one (1) business
- If you try to create a second business, you'll see an upgrade prompt
Pro Tier:
- Unlimited businesses
- Manage multiple companies, clients, or projects easily
Switching Businesses
When you have multiple businesses (Pro tier), you need to select which one you're currently viewing.
Viewing the Business List
- Click "Businesses" in the sidebar
- You'll see a table listing all your businesses with:
- Business name
- Default currency
- Default category
- Default vendor
- Category count
- Vendor count
- Expense count
- "Current" indicator (shows which business is selected)
- Last updated date
The currently selected business is marked in the "Current" column.
Selecting a Business
Method 1: Context Menu
- Right-click any business in the list
- Choose "Set as active"
- The business is now selected
Method 2: Sidebar menu
- Select a business from the drop-down list at the top of the sidebar
- The business is now selected
When you switch businesses:
- The sidebar shows the new business name
- All lists (expenses, categories, vendors) update to show that business's data
- The dashboard updates to reflect the new business
- Your selection is remembered - BillKit opens to the last selected business next time
No Business Selected
In some situations, no business is selected:
- When you open BillKit and a business was not selected when it was last closed
- After deleting the currently selected business
When no business is selected:
- Most sidebar items are unavailable (greyed out)
- You can only access: Dashboard (showing all businesses), Businesses, Audit Logs
- The dashboard shows combined data across all businesses
Editing a Business
You can change a business's name, default currency, default category, and default vendor at any time.
To edit a business:
- Click "Businesses" in the sidebar
- Right-click the business you want to edit
- Choose "Edit Business" from the context menu
- A form modal slides down showing:
- Name - Change the business name
- Currency - Change the default currency
- Default Category - Choose from categories in this business
- Default Vendor - Choose from vendors in this business
- Make your changes
- Click "Save Changes"
Note about editing currency:
Changing the default currency doesn't convert existing expense amounts. It only affects:
- New expenses created after the change
- Invoice processing assumptions
Existing expenses remain in their original currencies.
Default Business Settings
Each business has two important default settings:
Default Category
The default category is used when:
- Creating a new manual expense (pre-selected in the form)
- AI processing fails to suggest a category
To change the default category
- Edit the business (see above)
- Select a different category from the "Default Category" dropdown
- Click "Save Changes"
The dropdown shows all categories for this business. You cannot leave this field empty as every business must have a default category.
Set the default via Category Management
Alternatively, while viewing categories for the active business, right-click on a category row and select "Set as default". This will set that category as the default for the current active business.
Tip: Set your default to the most common category for this business. For personal expenses, that might be "Uncategorized". For a business, it might be "General Expenses" or "Office Supplies".
Default Vendor
The default vendor is used when:
- Creating a new manual expense (pre-selected in the form)
- AI processing fails to match a vendor
To change the default vendor
- Edit the business (see above)
- Select a different vendor from the "Default Vendor" dropdown
- Click "Save Changes"
The dropdown shows all vendors for this business. You cannot leave this field empty as every business must have a default vendor.
Set the default via Vendor Management
Alternatively, while viewing vendors for the active business, right-click on a vendor row and select "Set as default". This will set that vendor as the default for the current active business.
Tip: Many users leave this set to "Unknown" since expenses should have the actual vendor, not a placeholder.
Deleting a Business
Deleting a business is permanent and irreversible. All related data is deleted.
What Gets Deleted
When you delete a business, BillKit deletes:
- All expenses for this business
- All categories for this business (including any you created)
- All vendors for this business (including any you created)
- All invoice files stored for this business
This cannot be undone. Make sure you've exported any data you want to keep before deleting.
How to Delete a Business
- Click "Businesses" in the sidebar
- Right-click the business you want to delete
- Choose "Delete Business" from the context menu
- A confirmation dialog appears asking you to confirm this action
- If you're certain, click "Delete*
- The business and all related data is permanently deleted
Warning: If you're deleting a business with hundreds of expenses, this might take a few seconds. Don't interrupt the process.
After Deletion
After deleting a business:
- If it was the currently selected business, no business is selected
- BillKit automatically switches to the Business list view
- The deleted business no longer appears in any list
- Storage space is reclaimed