The following content is to answer any questions on how the app works, with better explanations and demonstrations of the app’s features.

1. Under The Hood (Concept)

“Under the Hood” is ‘How the app works’. A deep dive for the technology curious: Small Business Owners, Accountants, Bookkeepers, as well as Excel and accounting students, who want to see the engine! A look ‘Under The Hood!‘

Professor Stingray’s YT Channel: This app is the one I’m using on my YT Channel, Professor Stingray’s: Small Business Bookkeeping, Made Easy! Using the app as very colorful chalkboard/overhead projector to teach Accounting & Bookkeeping.

What makes this app different: I have dyslexia, which means years of experience with learning/teaching/training aids and mnemonic devices. Having just spent the last 4 years becoming an expert in the bookkeeping field. This gave me a unique perspective to create a one-of-a-kind bookkeeping app, for my own personal use. The concept was to automate the bookkeeping cycle, using ‘UI User Interface’ to enter transactions, with the entire bookkeeping cycle (The HARD part) being fully automated. I used locked cells, formulas, and SUM-IF’s, to do the bulk of the work. Many Built-in safety features to limit mistakes and finding any errors more easily.

Post-Concussion Syndrome! I am also recovering from Post-Concussion syndrome, and used programming the app as way to gain bookkeeping experience. Painstakingly spent four months researching each topic one at a time, in accounting textbooks and websites to learn the concept, correctly, then program into my app and test. Creating my own AI to ask bookkeeping questions!

Bookkeeping, Made Easy!: A cool feature is the app allows a transparent bookkeeping cycle. Entering any single transaction, allows it to be followed throughout entire cycle. Created a fluid bookkeeping database, my own AI! For Example: Going from a revenue transaction, to Income Statement, thru RE Retained Earnings, ending with owners paying themselves thru Owners Draw.

Artist touch: Combined Computers and art skills. finding typical accounting worksheets look boring, white paper and black ink for cells, $ Dollar signs and numbers. Which tend to run together the more you look. Difficult to separate for the brain. I used my art talents to add colors, make spreadsheets more colorful to look at, easier on eyes and brain, easier to follow.

Training/Teaching Tool: A Great companion to use while learning accounting or bookkeeping. Have a hands on training aid to reenforce or to better demonstrate accounting concepts.

Compilation All ‘Under The Hood’ Videos from this page: Under The Hood Series (1-15)

2. Under The Hood (Origin)

Used Two college level bookkeeping case studies as framework (Outline).

The journey to become a bookkeeper started with returning to college and spending 2 years earning a bachelors’ degree in Accounting, during 2020 – 2020 Global Pandemic!

Hobby of building (Gaming PC’s) and programming Excel Workbooks to perform complicated Accounting tasks.

Researched the Bookkeeping cycle, Financial Statements interconnectivity, and how QuickBooks software handles the bookkeeping cycle.

3. Under The Hood (CoA Chart of Accounts)

4. Under The Hood (Drop-Down Menus)

The (User Interface) are the (3) three transaction pages, Opening, Monthly, and Adjustments. Entering Numbers in the Debit or Credit, and assigning an account from the ‘Transaction Type’ Drop-Down Menus.

Opening Balances
Monthly Transactions
Adjustment Transactions

Transaction Journal

Drop-down Menus

The five Drop-Down Menus uses this ‘List Page’ for data!

5. Under The Hood (Parent/Subs/Totals)

Seven (7) Parent Accounts
Sub Accounts
Parent acct (Totals) is the sum of Sub-Accounts
A/R Accounts Receivable
A/P Accounts Payable

(101 Cash and Cash Equivalents) is a parent account, is only the sum total of the Sub-accounts (102-110).

(111 Accounts Receivable) is a parent account, is only the sum total of the Sub-accounts (112 – 118)

6. Under The Hood (Sum/Sumif’s Engine)

Download screen shot of : List of Accounts Drop-Down Menus

The ‘Sumifs’ engine is what powers the app, and reason behind the “Under The Hood” title in the first place. Using ‘Sumifs’ to funnel data from the ‘UI Transaction Journals’ into corresponding ‘T-Accounts’. The Sumifs adds all ‘Debits’ & ‘Credits’ (Sums) transactions, that match a certain (If) criteria, which is each account name.

Sum – adds all ‘Debits’ or ‘Credits’.

Sumif’s – add a ‘Criteria’ to sort which cells to sum. “Cash”

=SUMIFS(‘C10:C5000, E10:E5000,”Cash”)

7. Under The Hood (Internal Controls)

Features to limit mistakes and errors!

Accounting and Bookkeeping are prone to making errors, programmed many safety features to limit those errors and make finding any errors much easier and faster to locate!

8. Under The Hood (General Ledger)

The T-Accounts (Debits/Credits) are summed for all accounts using (Sumif’s).

The General Ledger is the end of the original concept of this app, too categorize, sort, sum all transactions. Starting with entering transactions, funneling into T – Accounts, summing up all Debits and Credits to get totals, for every account.

General Ledger is the my ‘Needle in The Haystack’ page, as I call it, for the reason of finding any errors or mistakes in entering transactions, will show up here, like a ‘Glow in the Dark’ needle, in a large haystack.

This is the End of Phase #1

General Ledger (All T-Account totals), used to generate bookkeeping financial statements.

9. Under The Hood (Automation)

10. Under The Hood (Ending Permanent Accounts)

Next 5 steps are interconnected!

11. Income or Revenue.
12. Net Income closes to RE Retained Earnings (Fluid)
13. RE Retained Earrings to Owners Equity
- Owners Distribution Calculator
14. Owners (Fluid) Equity
15. Owners Draw

11. Under The Hood (Revenue)

12. Under The Hood (RE Retained Earnings)

The end of every period, Revenue – Expenses = Net Income. All (Revenue & Expense) Temporary accounts are closed, zeroed out. The Net Income/Net Loss is posted to the permanent account of (RE Retained Earnings).

There 2 Types of RE Retained Earnings!

Accumulative (Corporations)
Fluid (Small Business)

13. Under The Hood (Owners Distribution Calculator)

The next step of this phase, is not a difficult concept to understand. The reason every business has opened, since the beginning of… to earn a living. Process of posting (RE Retained Earnings) to use a business capital and draw a salary. I programmed a unique page (Owners Distribution Calculator) to make this step easy, “Made Easy!” Used the $70,000 from RE Retained Earnings. The page only display how to make transactions next month. The (ODC) is technically outside the bookkeeping cycle, and is ‘in-between‘ two bookkeeping cycles. An Advisor on (How-to-Move) RE into Owners Equity, in next month’s bookkeeping cycle.

14. Under The Hood (Owner’s Distribution)

The Owner’s Distribution Calculator is a guide to move Capital (RE Retained Earnings) to (Equity), in the next month’s transactions. RE is a Credit balance, Debit RE to decrease, Credit an Equity account equal amount.

15. Under The Hood (Owner’s Draw)

Owners Equity 1 & 2 are similar to a business savings account. Equity is a Credit natural balance, RE and Owners Contributions (+) Increase, Owner’s Draw & Distributions (-) Decrease equity.