Boxridge Software
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How to use Boxridge Ledger

Boxridge Ledger keeps a one-person business’s money in one place: time and mileage, expenses, invoices and a tax-time worksheet.

Read the complete Ledger & ShiftLog User Guide (every feature, the phone app and your crew, step by step) →

Just the phone: the ShiftLog User Guide (for your crew) →

1Install and set up

  1. Click Download free 30-day trial on the Boxridge Ledger page and run LedgerBox-Setup. It installs for your user only: no admin password and no Windows prompt. Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit).
  2. Every feature works for 30 days with no account and no credit card. After that your books stay open to view, print, export and back up, and adding or changing records asks for a license key.
  3. When you buy, your license key is shown right after payment, emailed to you and kept in your account. In Boxridge Ledger choose Help → Enter License Key, paste the whole block from -----BEGIN to END----- (or open the .key file) and click Activate. The PC needs the internet that first time; one license covers 3 of your PCs, and Remove License in the app (or My software on this site) frees a PC. After that it works offline and never expires.
  4. Open Settings and enter your business name, email, phone, address and logo. They appear on your invoices.
  5. Set your hourly rate, sales tax rate and IRS mileage rate.

2Log time, mileage and expenses

  1. Time & Mileage → + Add Time Entry: job, hours, time in and out, start and end miles.
  2. Expenses → + Add Expense: date, amount, category, vendor and job. Attach Photo… stores the receipt.
  3. Already using the ShiftLog phone app? File → Import ShiftLog CSV… brings everything in without duplicates.
Boxridge Ledger expense list with categories, vendors, jobs, how each was paid and receipt photos
Track expenses by job and category, with receipt photos, ready for tax time.

3Write an estimate and get it signed

  1. Estimates → + New Estimate. Pick the customer (or + New Customer for someone new) and type the job.
  2. Add the work: + Add Line, Add from Price List… for the things you charge for again and again, or Materials List… to add up materials (on an estimate they are not saved as expenses - nothing has been bought yet).
  3. Set Valid until, a Deposit to start (a % or a $ amount) if you want one, and the terms printed on it.
  4. Send to Client… emails the estimate as a PDF with a private link. Your client opens it on any phone or computer, signs with a finger or the mouse (or types their name), and taps Approve, or declines with a note. You get an email right away; open the Estimates tab (or click Check for Answers) and the signature comes in.
  5. With the client in front of you? Sign in Person hands them your screen to sign.
  6. When it is approved, Convert to Invoice: the whole job, or a deposit invoice now and the final invoice later, less the deposit.
  7. Price List… (on the Estimates tab) keeps the things you charge for; Add from Price List works on invoices too.
  8. On the go? Estimates tab → Phone… pairs your phone: your draft estimates are on it to add materials in the store or make last-minute changes, and they come back here within a minute.
  9. Add your Google review link in Settings; when an invoice is marked paid, Ledger offers to send the client a thank-you with it (or use More → Ask for a Review… on an approved estimate).

4Create and send an invoice

  1. Customers → + Add Customer (name, email, job).
  2. Invoices → + New Invoice, pick the customer and job.
  3. Pull Time & Expenses for Job/Period fills in the lines for you, or + Add Line by hand.
  4. Bought materials? Materials List… adds up each item and its cost (12.49*3 works too), adds your markup if you want one, and puts one Materials line on the invoice. The items are saved to Expenses for the job at what you paid.
  5. Create Stripe Payment Link or Create PayPal Invoice so the client can pay online.
  6. Preview Invoice to see it, Save as PDF or Print, or Email Invoice to open your mail app.
  7. Mark Billed Through remembers where you left off for that job.
Boxridge Ledger invoice list with paid, sent and draft invoices
Every invoice in one place: paid, sent or draft, with Stripe and PayPal payment links.
A clean invoice preview from Boxridge Ledger ready to print or save as PDF
Professional invoices you can print or save as PDF.

5At tax time

  1. The Dashboard shows the year at a glance: hours, miles, mileage deduction, expenses, invoiced and outstanding.
  2. Open the Tax Forms tab and pick the Tax year. The Schedule C Worksheet maps every expense category to its Schedule C line, adds your mileage deduction to Line 9, counts meals at 50%, and shows your total expenses and tentative net profit.
  3. Print / Save as PDF… gives you a copy for your accountant or tax software. It is a starting point, not tax advice: have a professional confirm the numbers before you file.
Boxridge Ledger Tax Forms tab: the Schedule C worksheet with every line totaled for the tax year
At tax time, the Schedule C worksheet totals every line for the year, ready to print or save as PDF.

6Use it on more than one PC

  1. Settings → Sync Across PCs connects Ledger to your own cloud database, so every PC sees the same records.

Questions

Is my data stored online?

By default everything stays on your PC, in your LedgerBox folder. Cloud sync is optional.

Can clients pay by card?

Yes. Add your Stripe or PayPal details in Settings and create a payment link on any invoice.

Still stuck? Send us a message and the person who wrote the software will get back to you.