> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://www.zerabooks.com/help/llms.txt).

# Ledger & Categories

Journal entries, money in and out, and your chart of accounts.

- [Navigate the Ledger](https://www.zerabooks.com/help/ledger-and-categories/navigate-the-ledger): The Ledger shows every category's register for the period you pick, built from your categorized bank and card activity plus the entries you add yourself.
- [Record a journal entry](https://www.zerabooks.com/help/ledger-and-categories/record-a-journal-entry): Use a journal entry for adjustments that don't move money through a bank, such as accruals, prepaid expenses, depreciation or corrections between categories.
- [Record money in, money out and transfers](https://www.zerabooks.com/help/ledger-and-categories/record-money-in-money-out-and-transfers): Use Pay In, Pay Out and Transfer to record money that moved through a bank or card account before its statement arrives, such as a cash deposit or a check you wrote.
- [Import journal entries](https://www.zerabooks.com/help/ledger-and-categories/import-journal-entries): Bring in up to 100 balanced journal entries at once from a CSV or Excel file. ZeraBooks checks the whole file first, and if any entry fails, none are posted.
- [Edit or remove a manual transaction](https://www.zerabooks.com/help/ledger-and-categories/edit-or-remove-a-manual-transaction): Change or remove a journal entry, Pay In, Pay Out or transfer you recorded yourself. Removing one can be undone; a statement-matched entry must be unmatched first.
- [Transaction details and the activity log](https://www.zerabooks.com/help/ledger-and-categories/transaction-details-and-activity): Open any transaction to see where it came from, which category it's in and why, how often you pay the same party, and change its category.
- [Split a payment across bills or invoices](https://www.zerabooks.com/help/ledger-and-categories/split-a-payment): When one deposit pays several invoices, or one payment covers several bills, split the bank transaction across them so each balance is settled.
- [Understand the Category Manager](https://www.zerabooks.com/help/ledger-and-categories/understand-the-category-manager): The Category Manager is your chart of accounts: every category your transactions post to, grouped into eight types and numbered so reports stay in order.
- [Set up your chart of accounts](https://www.zerabooks.com/help/ledger-and-categories/set-up-your-chart-of-accounts): Start your categories one of three ways: let AI draft a chart for your business, import the one you already have, or build it yourself one category at a time.
- [Generate categories with AI](https://www.zerabooks.com/help/ledger-and-categories/generate-categories-with-ai): Describe what your business does and ZeraBooks drafts a complete, numbered chart of accounts for it. You review and edit every category before anything is saved.
- [Import a chart of accounts](https://www.zerabooks.com/help/ledger-and-categories/import-a-chart-of-accounts): Bring your categories over from QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, any spreadsheet or a PDF. ZeraBooks reads the file, you review every row, and existing categories are never overwritten.
- [Add, edit, deactivate and reactivate categories](https://www.zerabooks.com/help/ledger-and-categories/add-edit-and-deactivate-categories): Create a new category, change its name, parent or number, and turn off categories you no longer use. Categories are never deleted, so your history stays intact.