Bookkeeping Setup

Create the operating context that every later bookkeeping skill should use. Without this profile, agents guess about entity type, accounting method, tax treatment, approval boundaries, and chart-of-accounts structure.

Use this skill first for a new business, a new agent workspace, a messy catch-up project, or any workflow where the downstream skills do not yet know how the books are supposed to work.

Output

Produce a bookkeeping_context_profile and a short setup checklist. Store or return it in a reviewable format the user can reuse.

Minimum profile:

bookkeeping_context_profile:
  business:
    legal_name:
    trade_name:
    entity_type:
    jurisdiction:
    home_currency:
    fiscal_year_end:
  tax:
    country:
    filing_context:
    sales_tax_or_vat_registered:
    payroll_in_use:
    contractor_payments_expected:
  accounting:
    method: cash | accrual | unknown
    books_tool:
    bank_accounts:
    credit_cards:
    connected_sources:
    chart_of_accounts_baseline:
  operations:
    receipt_sources:
    bank_statement_sources:
    recurring_vendors:
    approval_thresholds:
    posting_policy:
    record_retention_policy:
  review:
    can_auto_draft:
    requires_user_approval:
    requires_accountant_review:
    open_questions:

Procedure

1. Check for existing context

Before asking questions, look for an existing bookkeeping context profile in the project, workspace notes, accounting export, onboarding doc, or prior agent output.

If a usable profile exists, summarize it and only ask for missing or stale fields. Do not restart setup from scratch.

2. Capture business identity

Record:

• legal name and trade name
• entity type, such as sole proprietor, single-member LLC, partnership, S corporation, C corporation, nonprofit, or unknown
• tax jurisdiction and home currency
• fiscal year end
• owner or finance contact

If entity type is unknown, keep it as unknown and route entity-specific tax treatment to user or accountant review.

3. Choose the accounting basis

Capture the accounting method:

Use the accounting method to shape downstream work:

• Cash basis: record most income and expenses when money changes hands.
• Accrual basis: track receivables, payables, accruals, prepaids, deferred revenue, and adjusting entries.
• Unknown: draft records, but flag method-sensitive decisions.

4. Define a starter chart of accounts

Create a practical baseline, not an overbuilt accounting system.

Core accounts:

• Cash and bank accounts
• Credit cards and loans
• Revenue accounts
• Cost of goods sold, if applicable
• Operating expenses mapped to relevant tax lines
• Owner equity, draws, and contributions
• Sales tax, VAT, payroll, or contractor liabilities when applicable

For US sole proprietors, align expense categories to Schedule C where practical. For other jurisdictions, keep jurisdiction-specific mappings explicit and mark them for review.

5. Capture tools and source systems

Record where evidence and books live:

• accounting software, spreadsheet, or ledger
• bank and credit card statement sources
• receipt and invoice sources, including email-native extraction
• payroll, invoicing, bill-pay, ecommerce, payment processor, or tax tools
• file storage or document archive

Prefer source systems with strong provenance. Use email-native extraction for receipts and invoices already in Gmail or Outlook when available.

6. Set approval boundaries

Separate safe drafting from risky finalization.

Safe to automate without asking first:

• collecting setup facts from available context
• drafting the context profile
• proposing a chart-of-accounts baseline
• identifying missing setup data
• preparing import maps, review queues, and draft rules

Require explicit user approval before:

• changing accounting-system settings
• creating, renaming, merging, or deleting accounts
• posting journal entries
• locking periods
• filing taxes, sales tax, VAT, payroll, or 1099s
• applying tax treatment to ambiguous items

Require accountant review when:

• entity type or tax election is unclear
• cash vs accrual affects material amounts
• inventory, payroll, sales tax, multi-entity, or international tax is involved
• owner transactions are mixed with business activity

7. Produce the setup checklist

End with:

• completed context profile
• missing information
• recommended next skill
• records or systems still needed
• approval boundaries

Use this handoff:

Setup checklist

Business identity captured: yes/no
Entity type confirmed: yes/no
Tax jurisdiction confirmed: yes/no
Accounting method confirmed: cash/accrual/unknown
Chart of accounts baseline drafted: yes/no
Source systems listed: yes/no
Approval thresholds set: yes/no
Record retention policy set: yes/no
Open questions:
- ...
Recommended next skill:
- ...

Agent metadata

skill: bookkeeping-setup
version: 3.0
default_output: bookkeeping_context_profile + setup_checklist
automation_boundary: draft-context-and-account-map
approval_required_for:
  - changing accounting settings
  - posting entries
  - creating or merging live accounts
  - filing or finalizing compliance work
next_steps:
  - receipt-processing
  - expense-categorization
  - bank-reconciliation
  - monthly-close
  - tax-prep