First-Time Setup

Guide 2: First-Time Setup

Configure OtterLedger to match your financial life

Overview

After creating your OtterLedger file, taking a few minutes to configure the application will make your ongoing experience much smoother. This guide walks you through the essential settings and setup steps to personalize OtterLedger for your needs.

What you'll accomplish:

• Configure your account structure
• Set up categories that match how you think about money
• Configure backup settings to protect your data
• Customize the appearance to your preference

Time required: 15-20 minutes

Prerequisites

• OtterLedger installed and a file created (see Guide 1: Quick Start)
• A list of your financial accounts (bank accounts, credit cards, loans)
• An idea of how you want to categorize your spending

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Plan Your Account Structure

Before adding accounts, think about what you want to track:

Personal Finance Setup:

Business Setup (in addition to above):

[Screenshot: Accounts view showing a mix of personal and business accounts]

Step 2: Add All Your Accounts

1. Click Accounts in the sidebar

2. Click Add Account

3. For each account, enter:

   • Account Type - Select from the dropdown
   • Name - Descriptive name you'll recognize
   • Opening Balance - Current balance as of today
   • Opening Date - Today (or your chosen start date)
   • Account Number (optional) - Last 4 digits for reference
   • Institution (optional) - Bank name

4. Click Save and repeat for each account

[Screenshot: Add Account dialog with all fields visible]

Tip: For credit cards and loans, enter the balance as a positive number. OtterLedger knows these are liability accounts and will display them correctly.

Step 3: Review and Customize Categories

OtterLedger comes with default categories, but you may want to customize them.

1. Click Categories in the sidebar

2. Review the existing categories:

   • Income categories (Salary, Interest, etc.)
   • Expense categories (Food, Transportation, etc.)

3. To add a new category:

   • Click Add Category
   • Enter the name
   • Select the type (Income or Expense)
   • Choose a parent category for subcategories
   • Click Save

4. To edit or delete a category:

   • Click on the category
   • Click Edit or Delete

[Screenshot: Categories view showing hierarchy with Income and Expense sections]

Recommended Categories for Business Users:

Step 4: Configure Backup Settings

Protect your financial data with automatic backups.

1. Go to Settings → Backup

2. Configure backup options:

   • Auto-backup: Enable automatic backups
   • Backup frequency: Daily recommended
   • Backup location: Choose a folder (consider cloud-synced folder like OneDrive/Dropbox)
   • Keep backups: Number of backup copies to retain

3. Click Save Settings

4. Click Backup Now to create your first backup

[Screenshot: Backup settings panel with options configured]

Important: Store backups in a different location than your main file. A cloud-synced folder provides off-site protection.

Step 5: Customize Appearance

Make OtterLedger comfortable to use.

1. Go to Settings → Appearance

2. Adjust settings:

   • Theme: Light, Dark, or System (follows your OS)
   • Accent Color: Choose your preferred highlight color
   • Font Size: Adjust for readability
   • Date Format: MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY
   • Currency Symbol: $, €, £, etc.

3. Click Save Settings

[Screenshot: Appearance settings showing theme and color options]

Step 6: Configure General Settings

1. Go to Settings → General

2. Review and adjust:

   • Default Account: Account pre-selected for new transactions
   • Fiscal Year Start: January for most users, or your business fiscal year
   • Week Start: Sunday or Monday
   • Open Last File: Automatically open your file on launch

3. Click Save Settings

[Screenshot: General settings panel]

Step 7: Set Up AI Categorization (Optional)

OtterLedger can automatically categorize transactions using a 5-tier AI system that applies the best available method for each transaction.

How the 5-tier system works:

Each tier is only used if the previous tier is not confident enough. Most transactions are handled by tiers 1-3 without ever sending data to the internet.

To configure AI categorization:

1. Go to Settings → AI

2. Choose your AI configuration:

   • Rules Only: Use your custom rules (no AI)
   • Local AI: Uses your computer's resources (private, no internet required)
   • Cloud AI: Uses a cloud service (faster results, requires an API key)

3. If using Cloud AI, select your provider:

   • Claude (Anthropic) — Most accurate for financial categorization
   • Google Gemini — Good accuracy with a generous free tier
   • OpenAI — Popular choice if you already have an account

4. Enter your API key for the selected cloud provider

5. Click Test to verify the connection

6. Click Save Settings

[Screenshot: AI settings showing the 5-tier system configuration with provider selection]

Privacy Note: Tiers 1-3 run entirely on your device — no data leaves your computer. Tier 4 (Local LLM) also stays on your device. Only Tier 5 (Cloud AI) sends transaction descriptions to an external service.

Tip: You can enable Cloud AI as a fallback while keeping Local AI as the primary method. OtterLedger will only call the cloud when the local model is not confident.

Account Types Explained

Tips & Best Practices

1. Start simple - You don't need to add every account immediately. Start with accounts you use daily and add others later.

2. Use consistent naming - "Chase Checking" is clearer than "Checking 1". Include the institution name.

3. Match your statements - Use the same opening balance date as your most recent statement for easier reconciliation.

4. Customize categories gradually - Start with defaults and adjust as you see patterns in your spending.

5. Test your backup - After setting up backups, try restoring to verify it works.

Troubleshooting

Q: I added an account with the wrong opening balance.

A: Click Accounts → select the account → Edit. Update the opening balance and date.

Q: I can't find a category I need.

A: Click Categories → Add Category. You can create any custom category and optionally assign it to a tax line.

Q: My backup location shows an error.

A: Verify the folder exists and OtterLedger has permission to write there. Try selecting a folder in your Documents.

Q: AI categorization isn't working.

A: Check Settings → AI and verify your configuration. For cloud AI, ensure your API key is valid. For local AI, confirm the model has finished downloading.

What's Next?

With setup complete, start using OtterLedger:

• Guide 3: Interface Overview - Learn your way around
• Guide 5: Working with Transactions - Master transaction entry
• Guide 8: Importing Bank Files - Import existing transactions
• Guide 23: AI Categorization - Let AI help categorize

Need help? Visit the OtterLedger community at github.com/openledger or check the FAQ.