General Settings

Guide 35: General Settings

Configure OtterLedger to work the way you do

Overview

The General Settings page is where you set up the fundamental preferences that affect the entire application: how dates and numbers are displayed, which currency you work in, what OtterLedger shows when it first opens, and which optional features appear in your sidebar. Most changes take effect immediately without restarting the app.

Settings are stored per user account (not per database file), so they follow you regardless of which OtterLedger file you have open.

[Screenshot: General Settings page showing all sections]

Accessing Settings

Menu → Settings → General

Or press Ctrl+, to open Settings, then choose General from the left sidebar.

Display

The Display section controls formatting for dates, numbers, and currencies across the entire app.

[Screenshot: Display section showing Currency, Date Format, and First Day of Week]

Currency

The selected currency is used for new transactions and displayed throughout reports. Changing it after you have existing transactions does not convert historical amounts — it only affects how new amounts are labeled and formatted.

Tip: Currency is also saved per database file. If you use OtterLedger for both personal (USD) and a freelance client billed in EUR, you can maintain separate files with different currencies.

Date Format

Choose how dates appear throughout the app, in reports, and in exported files.

Important: The date format you choose here also affects how OtterLedger interprets dates during CSV and QIF imports. If your bank exports dates in a different format than your setting, you may see import errors or incorrect dates. Match this to the format your bank uses, or use yyyy-MM-dd (ISO format) which is unambiguous.

First Day of Week

Controls the starting column in calendar pickers and any weekly-grouped reports.

• Sunday — US default
• Monday — Most international calendars; ISO 8601 standard

Transaction View

These settings change how individual transactions are displayed in the register view.

[Screenshot: Transaction View section showing Amount Display and Category Display radio buttons]

Amount Display

Debit/Credit Columns mirrors the layout of a paper bank register. This is the default and is easier to scan at a glance.

Single Amount Column is more compact and convenient for exporting to spreadsheets — each row has exactly one numeric value you can sum without conditional logic.

Tip: If you came from Quicken or a traditional checkbook, Debit/Credit Columns will feel familiar. If you're comfortable with a spreadsheet-style ledger, Single Amount Column is more flexible.

Category Display

Full Path makes it immediately clear which parent category a transaction belongs to — especially useful when you have sub-categories with the same name under different parents (e.g., "Software" under both "Business Expenses" and "Home Office").

Leaf Name Only is cleaner and takes less column space.

Fiscal Year

[Screenshot: Fiscal Year section]

Fiscal Year Start

Select the month your fiscal year begins. This affects:

• Year-to-date calculations in reports and the dashboard
• "This fiscal year" and "Last fiscal year" date range presets
• The Budget vs. Actual report

Most freelancers and small businesses use January (a calendar year). If you file business taxes on a fiscal year different from January-December, set this accordingly so your reports align with what you file.

Defaults

[Screenshot: Defaults section showing Default Account and Default Date Range dropdowns]

Default Account for New Transactions

When you add a manual transaction without specifying an account first, OtterLedger pre-selects this account. Saves a step if you primarily enter transactions for one checking account.

Select (None) if you prefer to always choose the account explicitly — OtterLedger will prompt you.

Default Date Range for Transaction View

The date filter applied automatically when the Transaction view loads. Choose a range that matches how you typically review transactions.

Tip: If you do weekly bookkeeping, "Last 30 Days" or "This Month" are good choices. If you reconcile monthly, "Last Month" shows you exactly the period you need.

Startup

[Screenshot: Startup section with checkboxes and Update Channel dropdown]

Launch at System Startup

When enabled, OtterLedger starts automatically when you log into Windows. The app opens in the background and is available from the system tray without you having to find and launch it.

Start Minimized to System Tray

When enabled alongside "Launch at system startup," the app starts without displaying the main window. Click the tray icon to bring it up. Useful if you want OtterLedger always running for quick transaction entry without it taking up screen space every morning.

Check for Updates Automatically

OtterLedger checks for a newer version when it starts and periodically while running. You will see a non-intrusive notification when an update is available. You are always shown what changed before anything is installed.

Disabling this means you will only learn about updates when you manually check via Help → Check for Updates.

Download Updates Automatically in the Background

When a new version is found, OtterLedger downloads the installer in the background so it is ready to apply immediately when you choose to install. No waiting for a download at update time.

Disabling this means you will be prompted to start the download when you choose to install an update.

Update Channel

Warning: The Beta channel gives you early access to new features, but beta builds may occasionally have rough edges or unexpected behavior. Only switch to Beta if you are comfortable with that trade-off and keep backups current.

Setup Wizard

[Screenshot: Setup Wizard section]

Show Setup Wizard When Creating New Database Files

When enabled, a step-by-step wizard launches whenever you create a new OtterLedger file. The wizard guides you through connecting bank accounts, configuring AI categorization, and setting up backups.

Disable this if you are creating multiple test files or prefer to configure things manually at your own pace.

Run Setup Wizard Button

Launches the setup wizard manually at any time — useful if you skipped it during file creation and want to go back and configure bank connections or AI settings. The wizard does not reset any existing configuration; it simply walks you through each area so you can review and adjust.

Database Provider

[Screenshot: Database Provider section — only visible when FeatureMultiProviderEnabled is on]

Note: The Database Provider section is a feature-gated option that is hidden by default. It becomes available when multi-provider support is enabled.

OtterLedger supports three database backends. The choice is made when you create a new file and cannot be changed afterwards for an existing file.

SQLite is the right choice for almost all freelancers and small business owners. Your data lives in a single .db file in Documents\OtterLedger\ that you can copy, back up, or move like any other file.

SQL Server or PostgreSQL make sense only if multiple people need to access the same data simultaneously, or if you are running OtterLedger data in a hosted environment.

When multi-provider support is enabled, the New File wizard shows a provider selection step. You will need to supply a connection string for SQL Server or PostgreSQL.

Feature Flags

Feature flags let you show or hide major features in the sidebar navigation. Hiding a feature does not delete any data — it just removes the navigation entry until you turn it back on.

[Screenshot: Feature Flags section with toggles]

Tip: If you are a freelancer who does not send invoices through OtterLedger, turning off Invoicing removes clutter from the sidebar. The feature and any existing invoice data are untouched — just hidden.

Note: The AI Re-categorization feature is off by default because it is still in beta. It runs AI categorization in bulk across your transaction history. Enable it only if you specifically want to experiment with bulk categorization.

Logging

[Screenshot: Logging section]

Minimum Log Level

Controls how much detail OtterLedger writes to its log files. Log files are stored in %LOCALAPPDATA%\OtterLedger\logs\.

For day-to-day use, leave this at Information. If you are troubleshooting a problem and working with support, switch temporarily to Debug or Verbose, reproduce the problem, then share the log file from %LOCALAPPDATA%\OtterLedger\logs\.

Tip: Log files roll daily and are named openledger-yyyyMMdd.log. Old logs are cleaned up automatically.

Settings Storage

All settings are stored in a SQLite database at:

%APPDATA%\OtterLedger\settings.db

On Windows, %APPDATA% resolves to C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\OtterLedger\.

What this means in practice:

• Settings follow your Windows user account, not the machine
• Settings persist across OtterLedger updates and reinstalls (as long as you do not delete the AppData folder)
• If you use OtterLedger on multiple machines, settings are per-machine — they do not sync automatically
• To migrate settings to a new PC, copy the entire %APPDATA%\OtterLedger\ folder

Note: The appsettings.json file you may see in the OtterLedger install directory is for development defaults only. Do not edit it to change user settings — any changes there will be overwritten by updates.

Tips

• Settings apply immediately — you do not need to click Save or restart the app. Changes take effect as soon as you make them.
• Date format affects imports — if you are importing a CSV and seeing wrong dates, your date format setting may not match what the CSV contains. Switch temporarily, import, then switch back.
• Hiding features is reversible — toggling a feature flag off and back on does not affect data. No transactions, invoices, or budgets are deleted.
• Try Beta cautiously — switch to the Beta update channel only if you keep regular backups. You can always switch back to Stable.
• Fiscal year ripples everywhere — changing the fiscal year start month will change what "This Year" and "Last Year" mean across all reports immediately.
• Default account speeds up data entry — if 90% of your manual transactions are in one checking account, set it as the default and skip that dropdown on every entry.

Troubleshooting

Settings are not being saved between sessions

Verify that OtterLedger has write access to %APPDATA%\OtterLedger\. If OtterLedger is installed in a restricted environment (e.g., a locked-down corporate machine), the AppData path may be redirected or read-only. Contact your IT administrator.

Date format changed but dates still look wrong in the transaction list

Dates in the transaction list reflect when the transaction was recorded. Changing the display format updates how new dates are shown; existing transactions will also update their display format since this is purely cosmetic. If dates look structurally wrong (e.g., month and day swapped), check whether imported transactions were imported with the wrong format setting active.

I cannot see the Database Provider section

The Database Provider section is hidden by default because most users do not need it. It is a feature-gated option. If you need multi-provider support (SQL Server or PostgreSQL), contact support or check the release notes for how to enable it.

The "Launch at startup" checkbox has no effect

On some Windows configurations, registering a startup item requires elevated permissions. If the checkbox appears to save but the app does not launch at startup, try running OtterLedger once as Administrator, then enabling the option. On managed corporate machines, startup programs may be controlled by Group Policy.

The setup wizard does not appear when I create a new file

Check that "Show setup wizard when creating new database files" is enabled in the Setup Wizard section. If it is enabled and the wizard still does not appear, click Run Setup Wizard to launch it manually.

See also:

• Guide 36: Appearance Settings — themes, density, and visual preferences
• Guide 37: Backup & Restore — protecting your data
• Guide 38: AI Configuration — setting up AI categorization

OtterLedger User Guide — Settings