Got a 1099?
Your bookkeeping starts here.
PrivateBooks turns statement files you download from your bank into organized, reviewable books and a clear preparer handoff. The bookkeeping workflow stays on your computer: no PrivateBooks account, cloud bookkeeping service, bank login, telemetry, or automatic upload.
No verified public installer is available today. The workflow below describes the current v4 product under release testing.
- 0
- financial records automatically uploaded
- 8
- profession-specific bookkeeping guides
- 584
- built-in sorting rules
- once
- planned v4 purchase — no subscription
Why PrivateBooks exists
Your finances shouldn't have to leave your desk
just to get done.
Most bookkeeping apps ask for your bank login and copy every transaction to a hosted service. PrivateBooks keeps its database, attached receipts, settings, and recovery files in a local data folder. It has no background telemetry, cloud sync, or financial-data upload. A public help or IRS link opens only when you choose it; app-store install and update traffic is handled by the store.
How it works
From statement files to a clear handoff.
A guided four-stage workflow for business owners. Automation helps, but every important save and tax boundary stays visible.
Set up the work you actually do.
Driver, delivery, freelancer, creator, cleaner, handyman, tutor, pet sitter — pick yours and answer three plain questions. PrivateBooks adds common bookkeeping categories and merchant suggestions, each mapped to a Schedule C line for review. These are starting suggestions, not decisions about what you may deduct.
Suggestions first; you decide.
Preview before you import.
CSV is the recommended format. Common CSV layouts and text-based bank PDFs are supported, but PDF layouts vary; scanned, photographed, password-protected, or unreadable files stop with a clear next step. The preview shows column mapping, date/sign decisions, duplicate handling, source evidence, and optional balance arithmetic before you confirm any save.
Nothing is saved until you confirm.
Review, correct, and teach.
Built-in rules suggest categories and visibly flag uncertainty. Your manual choices are protected from later auto-sorting; Undo reverses a recent category change, and a learned merchant rule can be reviewed, edited, or deleted. Only matched or confirmed transfers stay out of income and expense totals.
Automation suggests; you remain in control.
Check the year, then hand it off.
Tax readiness reports what the app can prove from the records you loaded. For a supported 2025 Schedule C business, the package includes the ledger, P&L, versioned calculation, support notes, and PDFs for preparer review. A passed checklist is not proof of statement completeness, reconciliation, or professional approval.
Built-in checks passed still means preparer review required.
Owner bookkeeping tools
Small, simple, and surprisingly complete.
“Am I tax-ready?”
A year-specific checklist shows unresolved items in the records you loaded and explains what its passing state can — and cannot — prove.
Reports that make sense
Profit & loss, a cash-flow chart, your top vendors, and recurring subscriptions you forgot you're paying for.
Mileage & home office
Log business trips and home-office inputs; PrivateBooks applies supported IRS rates and stops instead of guessing when a required rate or owner confirmation is missing.
The platform's cut
Record the customer's gross payment and the platform fee separately, so gross receipts are not understated and the fee is available for eligibility review.
Split a charge
One purchase that was part business, part personal? Split it across categories — the parts always add up exactly.
Lock a filed year
Close a tax year and PrivateBooks protects it, so a stray edit or re-import can't change a number you already filed on.
Back up & restore
Create one portable archive containing the database, attached receipts, a versioned manifest, and integrity hashes; restore is previewed and keeps a recovery copy.
Answers where you need them
A “?” next to anything unfamiliar opens a plain-English explanation, and the complete in-app help centre is searchable offline.
See the shape of your year
Where your money came from — and went.
A clean cash-flow chart shows money in versus money out, month by month, so you can see at a glance whether the business is bringing in more than it spends. Transfers between your own accounts don't muddy the picture.
One charge, more than one thing
Split a purchase in seconds.
Bought supplies and something personal on the same receipt? Divide the charge into parts, each with its own category. PrivateBooks keeps the original for your records and makes sure the parts add up to the penny.
No accounting degree required
Answers right where you need them.
A little “?” next to anything unfamiliar opens a plain-English explanation, and a full help centre is one click away — written for business owners, not accountants. The in-app help centre is searchable offline.
Pricing
The v4 plan: pay once.
You're already paying subscriptions for things that used to be one-off purchases. Bookkeeping shouldn't be another one.
- Every v4 update included
- Unlimited businesses, accounts & transactions
- Every feature — nothing behind a “Pro” tier
- Your books and receipts stay in your local data folder
v4 is not released, submitted to either app store, or available as a verified public installer. The historical v3.4.2 macOS digest is preserved, but its exact public binary is unavailable.
Questions
Good to know.
What does it cost?
Where does my data live — does anything go to the cloud?
Do I have to connect my bank or enter a login?
Do I need to know accounting?
I got a 1099 and never tracked anything. Is it too late?
What do I hand my accountant?
Which computers does it run on?
Is this tax advice?
Know what you are choosing
See the whole workflow before release.
The guide shows every owner decision, import limit, readiness boundary, recovery path, and current release gate—not just the polished screenshots.
PrivateBooks produces a bookkeeping summary to assist tax preparation. It is not tax advice — review with your tax preparer before filing.