Minns
    Your money · Books & cash

    Books that are up to date when you ask, not when the year end forces it.

    Your assistant keeps the books in a proper double entry engine that does every sum. Bank lines are explained by your rules and matched to your invoices, and the ones it is unsure of are put to you in plain words. Ask for a report on a Tuesday afternoon and the numbers add up.

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    Works with Xero and QuickBooks, FreeAgent through your connected app, or bank statements as CSV or OFX.

    Bank lines as you see them: what each one probably is, how sure the assistant is, and why. Example names and figures.

    01 · From what you already use

    Your ledger brought in whole, then kept current.

    If you use Xero or QuickBooks, Minns reads the ledger itself through your connection: the chart of accounts, invoices, bills, credit notes and bank transactions, page by page, into its own accounting engine. You can set it to pull every night, and after the first pull it asks only for what changed. FreeAgent works through your connected app, and your assistant hands what it reads to the engine.

    If you do not use an accounting package, the books are kept here. Upload your bank statement as a CSV or OFX file, the export every UK bank offers, and lines already in the books are skipped, so importing the same month twice adds nothing.

    • A night with nothing new says so, and starts no work.
    • A connection that has stopped working is one message to you, not a silent gap.
    • A demo company with a quarter of books lets you watch it work before you connect your own.
    02 · Bank lines explained

    Sure lines post. The rest wait for you, once.

    Every line on the statement is explained in the same order every time. A rule you saved comes first. Then a payment of exactly an invoice or a bill is matched to it, and money moving between your own accounts is treated as a transfer. Whatever is left, your assistant suggests an account and a VAT code, says how sure it is, and says why.

    A suggestion posts on its own only when it is sure, the amount is small, and it goes to income or expenses. A loan, money from a director or a bigger sum always waits for you. When you answer, that answer can become a rule, so next month the same supplier is explained before anyone looks.

    • Posts on its own at 90% sure or more, on lines of £1,000 or less, to income or expenses only.
    • A rule is the words a description contains, money in or out, and an amount range if you want one.
    • The books are reconciled against the closing balance on your statement, and a difference is named.

    £184.20 including VAT at 20% is £153.50 plus £30.70 VAT.

    03 · Invoices and bills

    Raised, numbered and posted, with VAT on every line.

    Ask for an invoice in your own words and your assistant raises it in the books: the customer, the lines, the VAT code on each, the due date. Issued, it takes the next number in your sequence and posts. Supplier bills and credit notes go in the same way, so what you owe and what you are owed come from one ledger.

    Sending the invoice to your customer is a separate step through your own mail, and it asks you first. A debt you will never collect is written off by you, not the assistant: it tells you what is owed, since when, and whether VAT bad debt relief is due yet.

    • Credit notes carry their own CN numbers and are set against the invoice they credit.
    • Payments recorded against the invoice, so a part payment leaves the right amount owing.
    • An unpaid invoice can be voided; a mistake on a paid one is put right with a credit note.
    04 · The real reports

    The reports your accountant expects, for the period you ask.

    Profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance, a cash flow statement split into operating, investing and financing and reconciled to the bank, and aged debtors and creditors. The engine works them out from the ledger, so your assistant reads the figures to you rather than adding anything up itself.

    Behind every figure is the ledger: ask why motor costs are up and you see the postings. Months you have approved are locked, and every change to a journal, an invoice, a lock or a return is on an audit trail that says who did it and when.

    • Journals your assistant drafts wait for your yes before they post.
    • A locked day refuses changes; reopening it is your choice, and it is recorded.
    • Your VAT scheme, year end and invoice numbering are yours to set, never the assistant's.
    The use case: one week of bank lines

    From a statement to books you can rely on.

    One business account, one week. The engine explains what it can; your assistant suggests the rest; you answer a few questions once.

    1. MON

      The week comes in

      The overnight pull from Xero brings in 45 bank lines. Your saved rules, invoice matches and transfers explain 41 of them before you are up.

    2. MON

      Suggestions for the rest

      Your assistant suggests an account for the last four. It thinks DVLA is vehicle tax. The £1,500 from A J Coleman could be a loan, and money to a loan account always waits for you.

    3. TUE

      You answer in a minute

      Screwfix is materials, and you make it a rule. The £1,500 is a loan from you to the business, so it goes to your director's loan account.

    4. TUE

      Hale pays

      £2,640 arrives from Hale Homes. It pays invoice 1051 exactly, so it is matched and the invoice leaves your aged debtors.

    5. FRI

      Reconciled

      The books' bank balance agrees with the statement's closing balance. Nothing is left to explain, and the week is ready for the month end.

    Example names and figures.

    Who decides

    It does the work. You make the calls.

    What the assistant may do on its own, and what only you, or someone you choose, may do.

    The assistant may

    • Pull your books from Xero or QuickBooks, and import your bank statements.
    • Suggest an account for each bank line, and post the small ones it is sure of to income or expenses.
    • Save a rule from an answer you gave.
    • Raise invoices and record bills and credit notes.
    • Draft journals, accruals and prepayments for your yes.
    • Read you any report, with the postings behind it.

    Only you may

    • Approve a journal before it posts.
    • Place a bank line it is unsure of, or one to a loan, capital or your director's account.
    • Send an invoice to a customer.
    • Write off a bad debt.
    • Set your VAT scheme, year end and invoice numbering.
    • Open a locked period.
    Questions owners ask first

    Straight answers.

    Do I need Xero or QuickBooks?
    No. If you use them, Minns pulls the ledger from them. If you use FreeAgent, it reads it through your connected app. If you use none of them, the books are kept here from your bank statements, invoices and bills.
    Does the assistant do the maths?
    No. The accounting engine does every sum, every report and every VAT box. Your assistant reads the figures, explains them and drafts around them, and a figure the books do not hold is said to be missing.
    What happens to a bank line it is not sure of?
    It waits for you, with the assistant's best guess and why. Only lines it is at least 90% sure of, of £1,000 or less, to income or expenses, post on their own. Your answer can become a rule.
    Will it change my Xero books?
    Pulling only reads. Writing a journal back into Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent is a separate step through your connected app, and it asks you first.
    Can a closed month be changed by mistake?
    No. Approved months are locked, and a change to a locked day is refused. You can open a window for a correction, and the audit trail records who did it and when.

    Give your business an assistant.

    Connect your mail, calendar and books in a few minutes. It works the way you do, and asks before it acts in your name.

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