Record books

The Record books screen is the documentary heart of the self-employed module. This is where the invoices and other tax documents of your activity live, organised into the mandatory ledgers your regime requires. Each document holds its own fiscal amount (base, indirect tax, withholding…), its classification and its link to the real movements that pay or collect it. With that, Cuéntamo computes your tax returns and summaries accurately.

It is important to grasp the difference with the Movements screen: a movement is money going in or out of an account; a tax document is the invoice that backs that operation. They don't always match one to one: an invoice can be paid in several instalments, and its fiscal amount may differ from the amount that actually moved the account (fees, rounding, exchange differences). The record books keep the accounting of the invoices; the movements, that of the money.

Cuéntamo automatically creates a tax document whenever you record a self-employed movement. So in day-to-day use many ledgers fill themselves and here you just complete the tax data that is missing. You can also create «orphan» documents (with no movement) or import your ledgers from a spreadsheet.

The four books

At the top there is a row of tabs, one per book. The names and the number of books depend on your tax regime (Cuéntamo's engine is configurable by country and regime), but the usual structure is four:

• Income: the invoices you issue to your clients. The third-party column is titled «Client».
• Expenses: the invoices you receive from your suppliers. The third-party column is titled «Supplier», and this book adds a registration date column.
• Capital assets: the assets you depreciate over several years (equipment, furniture, vehicles…). Here the value is recorded net (without the indirect tax, which is already deducted in the expense book) and depreciation columns appear: asset type, yearly rate and a progress bar.
• Provisions: provisions of funds and disbursements.

Switching tabs resets the search and quarter filters. The year is chosen with the arrows next to the title; the whole screen (records, coverage and summary) refers to that year.

Creating and importing documents

At the top right you have the main actions (on mobile they collapse into a three-dot menu):

• New record : creates an empty tax document of the active book's type (income or expense) and opens the editor for you to fill in. It's the way to register an invoice that has no associated movement yet.
• Find matches: appears in the income and expense books when there are documents with no linked movement. It opens a window that proposes, for each orphan document, the real movements in your bookkeeping that fit by amount and date, so you link them in one click. Detailed below.
• Import : upload your ledgers from a file (CSV/XLS/XLSX/ODS) with a detection, preview and column-mapping wizard. Useful if you come from another tool or from an export by your accountant.
• Export : download the active book of the current year as an Excel (XLSX) file, including orphan documents with no movement.

Next to these buttons is the coverage indicator («X of Y complete»): how many of the year's documents already have all their tax data versus the total. It's your «what's left to fill in» thermometer.

Search and filter

Below the tabs there is a filter bar that acts on the active book and year:

• Search: a free-text box that matches concept, third-party name and tax ID, invoice number, amount and dates.
• Quarter: «Whole year» or a specific quarter (Q1–Q4). Filters by the document's effective accrual date.
• Income-tax box: filters by the assigned income-tax box. It includes a «Unclassified» option to find documents you haven't boxed yet. The list of boxes adapts to the book's type (income or expenses).
• Third party: appears when the book has third parties; filters by a specific client or supplier name.

When there are visible rows, a summary appears just below with the total base, the breakdown of the indirect tax per rate (for example «VAT 21%», «VAT 10%») and the total, plus the number of records. The summary lives inside the sticky header, so it stays visible as you scroll the table. The capital-assets and provisions books don't show this tax summary.

The table (desktop)

On wide screens the documents are listed in a powerful table designed for reviewing many records:

• Frozen header: the column titles stay fixed as you scroll, so you don't lose the reference.
• Resizable columns: drag a header's edge to adjust its width. Each book remembers its widths in your browser; an «↔ Reset columns» link returns them to the default.
• Per-column wrap: you can make a specific column show its text across several lines instead of clipping it. The rest is clipped with an ellipsis and, on hover, shows the full text.
• Sorting: click a sortable header (dates, concept, invoice number, third party, tax ID, amount) to sort; click again to reverse. Ties break by invoice date and number.

Each row shows its sequence number, the dates, the concept, the invoice number, the third party with its tax ID, the income-tax box (as a small badge with the code) and the amounts (base, tax quota, withholding and total, depending on the book). The capital-assets book replaces those columns with the asset type, the yearly rate and a depreciation progress bar with its tooltip (base, rate, accumulated depreciation, net value and years).

Some per-row indicators:

• If the fiscal amount differs from what was actually paid or collected, a «Diff:» note with the difference appears under the total.
• On invoices with several tax rates, the tax column shows the list of rates («21% · 10%»).
• A «!» warning marks documents with no linked movement (orphans), with a button to delete them .
• A ⚠ symbol flags incomplete documents (missing some tax data).
• A ↻ icon indicates the document comes from a recurring template.

Clicking a row opens the document editor in a side panel.

Cards (mobile)

On narrow screens the table turns into cards. Each card summarises the concept (or the third party), the date and invoice number, the amount and some badges with the tax rate, the income-tax box, and warnings for «no linked movement», «incomplete» or «written off». Tapping the card opens the same editor. The checkbox lets you select several documents for batch assignment.

Batch classification and assistant

Each document is assigned to an income-tax box (the tax classification that feeds the annual income-tax summary). You can do it in three ways: in each document's editor, in bulk, or with a question-based assistant.

For batch assignment, check several rows (or «select all» in the header). A bar appears with the number selected, a box dropdown and a button to apply the box to all at once (or to clear it). From that same bar you can open the assistant.

The classification assistant is a questionnaire that leads you to the right box through questions. Each option carries examples and counter-examples on hover (or by clicking the «i»), has a «back» button to redo the path, and when it reaches a leaf it shows you the box code and assigns it. The question tree adapts to your jurisdiction and to the type (income or expense).

Forecast entries

Documents tied to a forecast movement (not yet real) and with no invoice date don't mix with the book: they are listed apart, at the bottom, under the heading «Forecast entries», in a faint style with a dashed border. They are invoices that will arrive but haven't accrued or been paid/collected yet; the income-tax summary doesn't count them until their date arrives. You can click them to edit them just like the rest.

The document editor: the summary card

Opening a document brings up a side panel. At the top, a visual summary card shows the essentials at a glance: an Income/Expense label, the third-party name, the tax ID · invoice number · date line, and the amounts block (base → tax → total, or just the total when there is no tax). Below, some status badges: the payment/collection status, whether the operation is exempt or not subject, the assigned income-tax box and, on expenses with non-standard deductibility, the affectation percentage.

Under the card, the rest of the editor is organised into collapsible zones (accordion): only one is open at a time, and each header shows a hint with its current content. The zones are: Identification, Amount and taxes, Deductibility, Depreciation, Linked movements and Notes. When done, the Save button at the footer confirms the changes.

Zone: Identification

The data that identifies the invoice:

• Third party: a field with autocomplete against your third-party directory. Picking an existing one fills its name and tax ID; if you type a new one, it will be created on save.
• The third party's tax ID (the label adapts to your regime) and the invoice number, on the same line.
• No invoice number: a checkbox for legitimate records without numbering (receipts, some expenses). When ticked, the number field is disabled and the document does not count as incomplete for that reason.
• Invoice date and, depending on the type, registration date (expenses) or due date (income). If the invoice date is from a year earlier than the book's, a warning is shown.

Zone: Amount and taxes

The document's fiscal core:

• Fiscal amount: the invoice total (with the indirect tax included). It's the document's own amount and may differ from the movement that pays it. If it differs, the difference is flagged. Below, Cuéntamo computes and shows the taxable base and the tax quota, and marks with a badge if the asset is of low value.
• Indirect tax (VAT or its equivalent depending on your regime): a dropdown with the available rates plus the Exempt and Not subject options. An «✨ assistant» button opens an interactive question that decides between exempt and not subject depending on whether it is income or expense; picking one of those options shows contextual help.
• Withholding (income tax): the withholding rate, on expenses only.
• Tax classification: the income-tax box dropdown, with the same question assistant described above («Not sure which? Let me help →») and the help text of the chosen box.
• Intra-community operation: when the third party is linked, a selector (services / goods / mixed) for EU operations. In the regimes that apply it, it warns about the tax reverse charge.
• Provision of funds: a checkbox on expenses to mark the document as a provision/disbursement.
• Operation date: an advanced, optional sub-block to set the accrual date when it differs from the invoice date; it determines which period it is imputed to.

Breakdown by tax rate (lines)

One invoice can mix several tax rates (for example, part at 21% and part at 10%). For that, in the Amount and taxes zone there is a «Break down by VAT rate» toggle. When you turn it on, instead of a single amount and rate, you edit a table of lines, each with:

• Concept, base and tax rate; the line's quota is computed automatically.
• On expenses, a deductible tax per line selector (inherit from the document, 100%, 50%, 0% or another percentage).
• An income-tax box per line (if you leave it on «inherit», it uses the document's).

You can add and remove lines; the base, tax and total are totalled at the bottom. With lines active, the document's amount becomes the sum of the lines and the single rate is cleared; the summary card shows the list of applied rates. It's the model compliant with invoicing rules (a multi-rate invoice is a single entry with a breakdown). Without lines, the document works exactly as before, with its single amount and rate.

When a document has lines, its tax data is edited here, in the document, not in the movement: the movement editors show a read-only notice that links to the document.

Zone: Deductibility (expenses)

On expenses, this zone controls to what extent the document is deductible, with a situation selector:

• Inherit (if there is a profile by category or tag): uses the percentages you defined in Settings. It shows where it inherits from.
• Fully deductible: affectation and deductible tax at 100%.
• Vehicle (50/50): 50% affectation and 50% deductible tax, the typical mixed-use vehicle case.
• No deductible tax: 100% affectation but 0% deductible tax (meals, for example).
• Partial use: two fields to set by hand the affectation % (income tax) and the deductible tax %.

This document's percentages are an override on the inherited profile. The effective-deductibility rule and its effect on the computations are explained in detail in Deductibility. In short: the non-deductible tax becomes part of the deductible cost for income tax, and depreciable assets depreciate on that cost.

Zone: Depreciation (expenses)

If the expense is a capital asset that depreciates over several years, tick «depreciable». A small depreciation assistant unfolds:

• You choose the asset type (equipment, furniture, vehicles…) from your regime's official tables.
• Cuéntamo proposes the default yearly rate (the table maximum) and you can adjust it with min/max shortcuts. If the regime allows it and you are a small-sized company, it offers accelerated depreciation (by a factor). It warns if the percentage falls outside the table range and estimates in how many years the asset will depreciate.
• For low-value assets under the yearly cap, it automatically proposes free depreciation (deducting 100% at once). It also offers free depreciation in the cases the regime contemplates (R&D, for example), with its warning.

On save, the asset moves to the capital-assets book, where you'll see its schedule and depreciation progress.

Zone: Linked movements (payments)

An invoice can be paid or collected in several movements (deferred or partial payments). This zone shows a progress bar (paid over the fiscal total) and the list of linked payments, each with its concept, date and amount, and buttons to edit the movement or unlink it. Payments that are still forecast are marked as such.

To add a payment, the «Link existing movement» button opens a candidate finder: you filter by real/forecast, text, date range and amount, and Cuéntamo prioritises the ones that fit (marking exact or approximate matches). If the movement was already linked to another document, it asks to confirm the reassignment; if it's a personal movement, it warns before linking it. When the invoice and its payments don't reconcile due to an exchange difference, it offers to create an automatic adjustment.

Below, a payment status selector lets you leave it on automatic (computed from the payments) or force it to unpaid, partial, paid or written off (with a reason). And a deferred payments sub-block configures the number of instalments and their frequency; it can even generate a recurring template that creates the future instalments. All of this is explained in depth in Deferred payments.

Zone: Notes

A free-text field for any note about the document (internal references, clarifications, etc.). When you mark a document as written off, the reason is also stored here.

Find matches: linking orphan documents

When you import invoices or create documents with no movement, they remain orphans (marked with «!»). The «Find matches» button opens a window that, for each orphan income or expense document, proposes the real movements in your bookkeeping that fit by amount and date. Each candidate shows its concept, amount and date, and warns if it's a forecast or a personal movement (in which case it asks for confirmation). Clicking «Link» marries the document and the movement and removes them from the pending list.

You can also delete an orphan document directly from its row if it doesn't correspond to any movement.

Import and export Excel

The export downloads the active book of the year as an XLSX file with all its columns, including orphan documents. It's what you can hand to your accountant or keep as a copy.

The import (income and expense books) uploads a CSV/XLS/XLSX/ODS file and processes it with a step wizard: format detection, preview of how the rows were interpreted, column mapping (invoice date, amount, concept, number, third party, tax ID, tax rate, withholding…) and apply. During the preview, Cuéntamo detects rows that already exist or that can be paired with movements and lets you decide what to create, link or skip. It's different from the bank statement import: here you import invoices, not account movements.

A configurable module

Everything that depends on the country and tax regime —the number and names of the books, the indirect tax (VAT or another), whether there are withholdings, the available rates, the income-tax boxes, the depreciation tables, the tax-ID label— comes from your active regime, it isn't hard-coded. The record books and their editor adapt to whatever applies to your activity.

The record books are part of the self-employed module. Its activation, the regime and the module's overview are explained in Self-employed; the computations fed by these books (quarterly returns and income-tax summary), in Tax forecast.