How Hesabu Works: Recording Your First Transaction

Managing your business finances doesn't have to be complicated. Hesabu is built to help Tanzania businesses stay on top of their income, expenses, and compliance obligations, all in one place.

This guide walks you through the two core steps to get started: creating a financial account and recording a transaction.

But before we get into that, let's get to know what Hesabu is first.

What is Hesabu?

Hesabu is a simple accounting software built for Tanzanian business and startups so that they can stay on top of their income, expenses, and compliance obligations, all in one place.

Hesabu is built for founders. Founders who don't have the time to dive deep into accounting principles and spend hours learning accounting software.

Founders who'd rather focus on running and operating their business rather than spending their energy leaning complex accounting software.

What Hesabu is:

• A simple way to record your income and expenses
• A tool to track your account balances across bank, cash, and mobile money
• A VAT and withholding tax tracker that keeps you TRA-compliant
• A payroll manager for your employees
• A compliance dashboard that tells you what's due and when
• Built specifically for Tanzania. TZS-first, TRA-aware, local business types in mind.

What Hesabu is NOT:

• A replacement for a professional accountant or auditor
• An invoicing or billing tool (we focus on recording what has already happened)
• A bank or payment processor. It does not move money, it tracks it.
• Enterprise ERP software with hundreds of features you will never use

Who Hesabu is for:

• Early-stage startup founders who want to understand where their money is going
• Small business owners tired of managing finances in Excel spreadsheets
• Businesses that need to stay on top of TRA obligations, including VAT, withholding tax, and payroll taxes
• Founders who want clean financial records without hiring a full-time accountant
• Any Tanzanian business that operates in TZS or deals with multi-currency accounts

Who Hesabu is NOT for:

• Large enterprises that need complex ERP workflows or multi-entity consolidation
• Businesses outside Tanzania that need localisation for other tax regimes
• Teams that need built-in invoicing, inventory, or project management tools
• Anyone looking for a fully automated, hands-off accounting solution. Hesabu still requires you to record your transactions.

Step 1. Create a Financial Account

Every transaction in Hesabu belongs to a financial account. A financial account represents a real-world account you hold: a bank account, a mobile money wallet, a cash till, or any other place your money lives.

How to create an account

1. From the sidebar, navigate to Accounts.

2. Click New Account in the top-right corner.

3. Fill in the account details:
   • Name, a friendly label, e.g. NMB Business Current.
   • Type. Choose from Bank, Cash, Mobile Money, or Other.
   • Currency, TZS, USD, EUR, GBP, or a custom currency code.
   • Bank name & account number (optional), useful for bank accounts.
   • Opening balance, the balance when you start tracking this account.

4. Click Create Account.

Your new account will appear in the accounts table and is now ready to accept transactions.

Tip: Create one account per real-world account. If your business has a NMB account and an M-Pesa wallet, create two separate accounts so your balances stay accurate.

Step 2. Record a Transaction

Once you have at least one account set up, you can start recording transactions.

How to record a transaction

1. From the sidebar, navigate to Transactions.

2. Click New Transaction.

3. You will see three transaction types: Single, Transfer, and Upload. For now, we will focus on Single.
4. For a Single transaction, fill in:
   • Type, Income or Expense.
   • Date, when the transaction occurred.
   • Account. Select the financial account this transaction belongs to.
   • Amount, the amount, excluding VAT.
   • Description, a short note about what the transaction was for.
   • Category. Assign a category for reporting purposes.
   • Counterparty (optional), the person or business you transacted with.
   • Reference (optional), an invoice number, receipt number, or other reference.
   • Payment method, bank transfer, cash, mobile money, or cheque.
   • VAT. Toggle on if this transaction is VAT-able.
   • Withholding Tax (optional). Toggle on and select the type if applicable.

5. Click Save Transaction.

The transaction is now linked to your account and will appear in your account balance, VAT reports, and other dashboards.

Step 3. Record a Transfer

A transfer is when money moves between two of your own accounts, for example, withdrawing cash from your NMB bank account into your cash till, or topping up your M-Pesa wallet from your bank.

Transfers are different from transactions. They don't count as income or expense. They simply move a balance from one account to another.

How to record a transfer

1. From the sidebar, navigate to Transfers.

2. Click New Transfer and fill in the details:
   • From Account, the account money is leaving.
   • To Account, the account money is going into.
   • Date, when the transfer happened.
   • Amount, how much was transferred.
   • Exchange Rate (optional), if the two accounts are in different currencies.
   • Bank Charges (optional), any fees charged by your bank for the transfer.
   • Reference (optional), your bank's reference number for the transaction.

3. Click Save Transfer.

The transfer will appear in your transfers list and both account balances will update automatically.

Tip: Always record transfers instead of logging them as an expense and income separately. Doing it the wrong way will double-count the amount and throw off your reports.

What happens next?

Once you start recording transactions, Hesabu automatically:

• Updates your account balance after each transaction.
• Tracks VAT on vatable transactions, so you can generate VAT returns in a few clicks.
• Applies withholding tax rules where applicable.
• Populates your reports. Income statements, expense summaries, and audit logs.

Summary

That's it. Two steps and you're tracking your business finances the right way.

Ready to get started? Create your free Hesabu account.