Local LLC Accounting System

A local-first accounting web app for a small LLC. It runs on your machine with SQLite and includes:

• Client management
• Invoice creation with line items
• Expense tracking with categories/accounts
• Automatic journal entries (double-entry style)
• Reports (P&L and accounts receivable aging)
• Visual charts for monthly trend and expense mix
• PDF downloads for invoices and reports
• CSV exports (invoices, expenses, journal)
• Recurring invoices and expenses
• Monthly close checklist tracking
• One-click DB backup/restore
• Edit/delete support for clients, invoices, and expenses
• Insights tab (local analytics or OpenAI-compatible API mode)

Tech stack

• Python 3.10+
• Flask
• ReportLab (PDF generation)
• SQLite (single local file: accounting.db)

Data persistence

Your data is persistent. The app stores everything in the local file accounting.db.

• Closing the app does not remove data.
• Restarting the app reuses the same DB file.
• Data is only lost if accounting.db is deleted or replaced.

Branding

• Company name defaults to "My Company LLC" and can be overridden with the COMPANY_NAME environment variable.
• Logo file is loaded from static/logo.png in the web UI and PDF exports.

Quick start

1. Create and activate a virtual environment.
2. Install dependencies.
3. Run the app.

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt
./scripts/run_local.sh

Your browser opens automatically. By default it uses http://127.0.0.1:5000 and falls back to the next free local port if needed.

For direct Flask development with hot reload, use:

FLASK_DEBUG=1 python3 app.py

Core workflow

1. Add clients at /clients.
2. Create invoices at /invoices/new.
3. Mark invoices as paid from the invoice detail page.
4. Add expenses at /expenses.
5. Manage recurring schedules at /recurring and run due items.
6. Complete month-end close checklist at /close.
7. Review reports at /reports.
8. Review AI/local insights at /insights.
9. Download invoice PDFs at /invoices/<id>/pdf.
10. Download report PDFs at /reports/pdf?start=YYYY-MM-DD&end=YYYY-MM-DD.
11. Review journal entries at /journal.
12. Create/restore backups from /data.

Accounting behavior

• Creating an invoice posts:
  • Debit 1100 Accounts Receivable
  • Credit 4000 Sales Revenue
• Marking an invoice paid posts:
  • Debit 1000 Cash
  • Credit 1100 Accounts Receivable
• Adding an expense posts:
  • Debit selected expense account (e.g. 5200 Software Expense)
  • Credit 1000 Cash

Export data

Use the export buttons from Invoices, Expenses, Reports, or Journal pages.

CSV endpoints:

• /exports/invoices.csv
• /exports/expenses.csv
• /exports/journal.csv

Backup and restore

• One-click backup creates timestamped .db snapshots in backups/.
• One-click restore can restore from any listed local backup.
• A safety snapshot is created automatically before each restore.
• In packaged mode, backups live under ~/.local-llc-accounting/backups (or ACCOUNTING_APP_HOME/backups).

Insights tab

• Local mode: analyzes the SQLite DB directly and produces actionable markdown insights.
• API mode: sends DB context (and optional markdown notes) to an OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions endpoint.
• Optional notes path defaults to insight_notes/ and supports .md file or folder input.
• insight_notes/Dynamic Insights.md is append-only from the UI (add/read enabled, no delete action).
• In packaged mode, notes default to ~/.local-llc-accounting/insight_notes.

Notes

• This is for internal bookkeeping and is not tax advice.
• Before filing taxes, have your CPA review account mappings and entries.

Package As Local App

Build a standalone local app bundle (no separate app.py terminal process required):

source .venv/bin/activate
python3 -m pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
./scripts/package_app.sh

After building, run:

./dist/LocalLLCAccounting/LocalLLCAccounting

Packaged mode keeps data local-first in ~/.local-llc-accounting by default. Set ACCOUNTING_APP_HOME to store the database/backups/insight notes in a different local folder.