Everything users can do in CherryBank Money.

Pillar 1

UK Identity And Onboarding

This pillar creates the official finance profile for the organisation. It keeps setup simple for sole traders while giving companies, charities and VCSE organisations the extra identity fields they need for UK filing and governance.

1. Choose the organisation type. Select the type during signup so the first setup screen matches the user. Sole traders do not need Companies House fields, while registered companies and charities get official-number fields.
2. Add the official number where available. Companies use a Companies House number. England and Wales charities use Charity Commission details. Scottish charities use OSCR-ready fields.
3. Confirm the profile. Save the trading or registered name, registered office, company or charity type, SIC or purpose fields, and any available directors, trustees or PSCs.
4. Add key filing dates. Store accounts due date, confirmation statement date, corporation tax date, VAT dates and any charity reporting dates where they apply.
5. Save progress. The wizard is designed as a four-step flow, so users can complete setup gradually without losing entered information.

Pillar 2

Data Intake And Expenses

This pillar brings money-in and money-out records into CherryBank with the fewest possible fields. It supports CSV imports, receipt capture, manual expenses and plan-aware bank feed hooks for later Open Banking work.

1. Import a CSV. Upload the expense or transaction file, map the date, description, amount and supplier columns, then preview before saving.
2. Use CSV bank statements as the baseline. If the Open Banking provider is not connected yet, export a bank CSV and import it so cash movement can still be reviewed.
3. Capture a receipt. Upload or scan a receipt so the app can help suggest amount, date, supplier and category.
4. Add manual expenses. For quick entry, only record amount, date, supplier and category. Add VAT, project or fund fields only where they matter.
5. Review duplicate warnings. The duplicate check helps prevent the same receipt, expense or transaction being counted twice.
6. Use confidence badges. Records with low confidence should be reviewed before VAT reporting, payroll packs or charity reports are produced.

Pillar 3

AI-Assisted Bookkeeping

This pillar turns raw finance records into suggested categories and simple review tasks. The user only needs three main actions in Quick mode: approve, fix category or ignore.

1. Open the suggestion queue. Review records waiting for category approval or correction.
2. Check confidence. High-confidence suggestions can usually be approved quickly. Low-confidence suggestions should be checked carefully.
3. Approve clean suggestions. Approved records become part of normal reporting and VAT or expense packs where relevant.
4. Fix the category. Correct the category once, then use the correction as a learning signal for future suggestions.
5. Ignore irrelevant suggestions. Ignore records that should not affect bookkeeping or where the suggestion is not useful.
6. Keep the audit trail. Every suggestion action should show who approved, fixed or ignored it and when.

Pillar 4

Compliance And Reporting

This pillar converts day-to-day records into plain-English filing tasks and draft packs. It is designed to reduce accountant dependency for routine preparation while leaving edge cases ready for review.

1. Open the checklist. Review upcoming obligations and due dates in plain English rather than tax jargon.
2. Check source records. Confirm invoices, purchases, expenses and credit notes are complete for the period.
3. Generate draft packs. Create VAT summaries, expense packs and payroll packs for review.
4. Use VAT breakdown before submitting. Trace each VAT box back to the invoice, credit note, purchase or expense that created the amount.
5. Publish and lock reports. Once a report is approved, lock it so future edits do not quietly change a submitted or reviewed period.
6. Export where needed. Use CSV or PDF export for accountants, trustees, directors or internal records.

Pillar 5

Charity And VCSE Focus

This pillar supports organisations that must report beyond ordinary profit and loss. It helps charities and VCSE organisations track restricted money, donors, grants and trustee-ready reporting.

1. Confirm the VCSE organisation type. Use onboarding to select CIO, CIC, CLG, charity, trust or unincorporated association where relevant.
2. Create funds and projects. Set up restricted funds, unrestricted funds, grants, campaigns or projects before recording transactions.
3. Tag income and spending. Connect grant income, donations, expenses and invoices to the correct fund or project.
4. Review fund balances. Check restricted fund balances before spending or reporting to avoid mixing restricted and unrestricted money.
5. Prepare donor and grant reports. Export donor stewardship information, grant spending summaries and trustee finance packs when required.

Pillar 6

Governance And Access

This pillar controls who can see, change, approve and lock finance information. It is especially important for accountants, treasurers, directors, trustees and volunteer finance admins.

1. Invite or manage users. Add finance users and assign roles such as accountant, treasurer or volunteer finance admin.
2. Verify users where needed. If a user cannot verify by email, an admin can manually verify the account from the backend.
3. Use role-aware access. Only show actions appropriate to the user's role, plan and organisation type.
4. Review audit logs. Check who created, changed, approved, ignored, exported or locked important records.
5. Lock published reports. Protect reports after submission, trustee review or quarter-end sign-off.
6. Use bulk admin actions carefully. Bulk delete, verification and common setting updates should be used only after filtering the user list correctly.

Pillar 7

Insights And Cash Flow

This pillar turns finance records into forward-looking prompts. It helps users understand what changed, what cash is expected, which invoices need attention and which tasks should be done next.

1. Keep the core records current. Cash-flow insight is strongest when invoices, payments, expenses and due dates are up to date.
2. Open the finance cockpit. Review finance, invoice, expense and payroll tiles for current status and quick actions.
3. Review cash-flow signals. Check expected money in, expected money out, overdue invoices, VAT due, payroll cost and near-term filing tasks.
4. Review UK banking readiness. Check whether the organisation is using CSV statements, a provider sandbox, or a live AISP feed, then clear unmatched bank rows before relying on cash-flow insight.
5. Use the banking workbench. Open UK banking and reconciliation to compare cash in, cash out, net movement, unpaid invoice totals and current-month expenses in one review screen.
6. Follow the reconciliation checklist. Match customer receipts to invoices, supplier debits to expenses or purchase bills, then confirm VAT treatment before using the VAT return boxes.
7. Use the money score. The score is a simple health signal that can highlight late invoices, missing records or upcoming cash pressure.
8. Act on next-best prompts. Send reminders, import expenses, review smart coding, prepare VAT, update onboarding or connect a finance reviewer.
9. Use weekly digest emails. Where enabled, the weekly finance digest summarises cash flow, uncategorised items, duplicate expenses, missing receipts and smart suggestions waiting.
10. Share insight outputs. Export or share summaries with accountants, trustees, directors or finance leads before review meetings.

Client And Product Setup

Set up clients, products and tax settings first when you want invoices to be quick, consistent and less prone to mistakes.

1. Create or check the client. Open Manage Clients, add the customer name, email, phone and billing details. Use clear names because invoices, quotes and payment records reuse this client record.
2. Create products or services. Open Manage Products and add reusable services, product names, descriptions and standard prices. This helps the invoice form fill line items faster.
3. Check tax settings. Open Manage Tax and confirm the VAT rate that should apply to normal UK sales. For EU goods sales, choose the EU goods VAT treatment on the invoice so the sale is zero-rated and mapped to VAT Box 8.
4. Review the invoice template. Open Invoice Templates and make sure the logo, address, payment wording and document style match the organisation brand.

Quote To Invoice Flow

Use quotes when the customer needs to approve price or scope before you raise an invoice.

1. Create the quote. Open Manage Quotes, choose the client, add products or services, set the quote date and expiry date, then add notes or terms.
2. Preview before sending. Use the quote preview to check customer details, pricing, discounts, VAT and terms.
3. Send or share the quote. Email the quote where email delivery is configured, or download/share the document through your normal process.
4. Track status. Keep the quote status up to date so the dashboard reflects pending, accepted or declined work.
5. Convert accepted work. When the customer approves the quote, convert it into an invoice so the same customer, line items, pricing and notes carry forward.

Full Invoice Flow: Create Invoice To Getting Paid

This is the end-to-end path for raising an invoice, checking VAT treatment, sending it, recording payment and keeping the dashboard clean.

1. Start from the dashboard or menu. Click New Invoice from the top bar, or open Manage Invoice and choose the create invoice action.
2. Select the client. Choose an existing client. If the client is new, add the client first or use the add-client option in the invoice form where available.
3. Confirm invoice number and dates. Check the invoice number, invoice date and due date. The due date drives overdue tracking and customer follow-up.
4. Choose the template. Select the invoice template that should be used for the customer-facing document. Templates keep logo, layout and terms consistent.
5. Choose VAT treatment. Use Standard UK sale for ordinary UK VAT sales. Use EU goods sale - zero rated for qualifying EU goods sales. EU goods sales should show zero VAT, keep the invoice total net of VAT, and feed VAT Box 8 in the VAT breakdown.
6. Add products or services. Pick products from the product list or add line details manually. Enter quantity, unit price and any discount. The invoice total recalculates from these line items.
7. Add notes and terms. Add payment instructions, customer references, purchase order numbers or special terms before saving.
8. Save and preview. Save the invoice, then preview it. Check the customer name, line items, VAT treatment, VAT amount, total, due date and payment instructions before sending.
9. Send the invoice. Email the invoice where email delivery is configured, or download/share it manually. If email fails, check Brevo or SMTP configuration and confirm the client email address.
10. Track status. Use Manage Invoice to review unpaid, paid and overdue invoices. The dashboard invoice tile highlights unpaid and overdue work.
11. Record payment. When money arrives, open Manage Payments or the invoice payment action and record the paid amount, payment date, method and reference. Partial payments can be tracked until the balance is cleared.
12. Handle corrections. If the invoice was wrong after issue, use a sales credit note for refunds, cancellations or corrections instead of deleting important records.
13. Review VAT boxes. Use HMRC - Fill VAT Details and click VAT breakdown for the same date range. This lets you check whether standard UK sales, EU goods sales, purchases and credit notes are flowing into the expected VAT boxes before HMRC submission.

Getting Paid And Recording Payments

Payment records keep invoice balances, overdue totals and cash-flow views reliable.

1. Find the invoice. Open Manage Invoice and locate the unpaid or partially paid invoice.
2. Record the payment. Use the payment action or Manage Payments to enter the amount received, date, payment method and reference.
3. Check the balance. Confirm whether the invoice is fully paid or still has a balance remaining.
4. Follow up overdue invoices. Use due dates and status filters to identify invoices that need chasing.
5. Reconcile later. When bank-feed or CSV bank data is available, match received payments against invoice records to keep the sales ledger clean.

Credit Notes And Corrections

Use credit notes when an issued invoice needs to be reduced, refunded or corrected while preserving the audit trail.

1. Start from the affected invoice. Identify the invoice that needs correction and confirm the amount to reverse.
2. Create a sales credit note. Use Sales Credit Notes to record the credit amount, date, customer and reason.
3. Check VAT treatment. Make sure the credit note uses the same VAT treatment as the original sale where appropriate.
4. Review VAT breakdown. Confirm that the credit note reverses the correct VAT boxes for the period.
5. Share with the customer. Send or download the credit note so the customer has the correction record.

Invoice Templates

Templates control how invoices and quotes look when customers receive them.

1. Open Invoice Templates. Review available templates and choose the one that best fits the organisation brand.
2. Check branding. Confirm logo, business address, contact details and footer text are correct.
3. Check payment wording. Make sure bank details, payment terms and support contact details are clear.
4. Preview with a sample invoice. Create or preview an invoice to check how the template looks with real line items.