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New here? Start with the complete guide below — it walks you through both ways of using Valo, whether you only want to track expenses or expenses plus profit & loss.

Your first day

Getting started, step by step

Valo is a notebook for your business money. You type what happens each day, and it keeps the totals for you. Nothing is connected to a bank — you are always the one writing it down.

  1. 1. Create your account

    Sign up with your email or your Google account. That account is yours alone — nobody else can see what you write in it.

  2. 2. Answer four short questions

    Your business name, the money you use (US dollars is the usual choice), what you want to call the things you spend money on (Vehicle, Shop, Machine — anything), and a name for your first book of records.

  3. 3. Choose how much you want to track

    Pick 'expenses only' if you just want to know what you spend. Pick 'expenses and profit & loss' if you also want to know what you earn and whether you made money. You can change this later in Settings — nothing gets deleted.

  4. 4. Open the Ledger and start your first day

    The Ledger is your daily book. Tap the button to add today. Type the money you are starting the day with, then write down each thing you spend as it happens. Tap save when the day is done.

Path A

I only want to know what I spend

The simplest way to use Valo. No earnings, no profit — just where your money goes.

  1. Start the day with your cash

    Open a new day and type how much money you have in hand to spend. The next day starts by itself with whatever was left — you never have to work it out again.

  2. Write down every spend

    Each line has three things: how much, what it was for, and which item it belongs to (for example 'Delivery bike'). That's all. Nothing else is needed.

  3. Add money during the day

    If you put more cash in to keep spending, add it as money in. In this mode it is simply more money to spend — it is not counted as earnings anywhere.

  4. Save and move on

    Tap save. The day closes with a clear total, and tomorrow opens where today ended.

  5. See where the money went

    Analytics shows your spending by day, by item and by description. No income, no profit — just spending, because that is all you asked for.

Path B

I want expenses and profit & loss

For when you also want to know what came in and whether the business made money.

  1. Everything above still works the same

    You keep the same daily book: opening cash, spending lines, save. Nothing changes about how you record a day.

  2. Record what you earn on the Revenue page

    When a customer pays you, add it on the Revenue page with the amount, the date and a short note. This is the money that counts as earnings.

  3. Money added inside a day is not automatically earnings

    Cash you drop into a day to keep spending is called float — it is only there to pay for things. If that cash really is a sale, tick the option to mark that line as revenue when you add it.

  4. Why we keep them apart

    If every dollar you put in your pocket counted as earnings, your profit would look much bigger than it really is. Keeping float and revenue separate keeps the profit figure honest.

  5. Read your profit

    The Dashboard and Analytics show money in, money out and what is left over — your profit or loss — for whatever period you choose.

The rest of the app

Helpful extras, whenever you need them

Maintenance

A service record for anything you own — a bike, a fridge, a machine, a phone. Write the date, what was done and the cost. You can also choose to add that cost to that day's report, and it will go into your Ledger by itself. The cost is only counted once, never twice.

Money owed

A reminder list, nothing more. Two sides: people who owe you, and people you owe. Add a name, an amount and a due date. When it is paid, tap the tick and it is ticked off. It never touches your balance, your expenses or your profit — if that money should count, type it into the day's report yourself.

Repeat expenses

Costs you pay again and again — rent, wages, fuel. Save them once in Settings, then add them to any day with one tap instead of typing them out.

Budgets

Set a monthly spending limit for the whole business, or for a single item. Analytics shows how close you are to it.

Reports

Any day can be saved as a PDF, and every list can be downloaded as a spreadsheet file — useful for an accountant or your own records.

On your phone

Open valofinance.app on your phone and add it to your home screen. It then opens full-screen with its own icon, just like any other app.

Words you will see

Plain meanings

Ledger
Your book of days. You can keep more than one — for example one for the shop and one for the house.
Opening balance
The money you start the day with. It fills in by itself from yesterday.
Float
Cash put in just to pay for things. It is not earnings.
Revenue
Money you actually earned, recorded on the Revenue page or ticked as revenue.
Asset
The thing a cost belongs to — a bike, a shop, a machine. You choose what to call these at setup.
Grand total
What is left at the end of the day. It becomes tomorrow's starting money.

Common questions

Still stuck? Write to us from the contact page.