How the books work

DCManager keeps your firm’s books with double-entry bookkeeping — the same system real businesses have used for 500 years. It sounds fancy, but the whole idea fits in one sentence: every time money moves, write down both where it came from and where it went. No accounting background needed — this page explains everything the Books page shows you, with DemocracyCraft examples throughout.

Every entry has two sides

Money never appears from nowhere and never vanishes into nothing — it always moves from somewhere to somewhere. Double-entry bookkeeping just records both ends of that move, every time.

Say your firm sells a spare plot for $12,000. One thing happened in the game, but two things happened to your books: $12,000 arrived in the wallet, and $12,000 was earnedfrom a sale. Write down only one side and your books drift from reality; write down both and they check themselves. Here’s that sale as a journal entry — read the left column as where the money went and the right column as where it came from (their official names are decoded in part 03):

Sold plot x017

manual

Code	Account	Debit	Credit
1000	Cash — Operating	$12,000.00	—
4000	Sales Revenue	—	$12,000.00
Total		$12,000.00	$12,000.00

Both columns total $12,000.00. That’s the rule the whole system is built on: the two sides of every entry are always equal, so the books always balance — and if they ever don’t, you know a mistake happened somewhere. (In DCManager, the cash side of a sale like this posts automatically when the buyer’s payment arrives as a deposit — part 04 shows how your own entries connect to the automatic ones.)

The five account types

Every account in your chart belongs to one of five families. The account code's first digit tells you which.

Assets

1xxx

Things your business owns that have value.

In DC · Wallet cash, savings, plots, buildings, tools and gear, stock you plan to sell.

Liabilities

2xxx

Money your business owes to someone else.

In DC · Unpaid wages, plot tax that's due, a loan from another firm.

Equity

3xxx

The owners' stake — what would be left if you sold everything and paid every debt.

In DC · Money you deposited to start the firm, money you've drawn back out.

Revenue

4xxx

Money the business earns.

In DC · Plot sales, build commissions, rent from tenants, yield on savings.

Expenses

5xxx–6xxx

Money the business spends to keep operating.

In DC · Payroll, plot tax, platform fees, materials, donations to charity.

A handy mental model: assets and expenses are about where money goes (things you own, things you pay for); liabilities, equity, and revenue are about where money comes from (lenders, owners, customers).

Debits & credits, demystified

You already know the hard part. Every entry answers two questions: where did the money go, and where did it come from? Accountants just have 600-year-old names for the two columns.

Debit · DR · left column

Where the money went.Paying wages? Debit Payroll Expense. Cash arriving in the wallet? Debit Cash. It has nothing to do with debit cards, and it’s not “bad”.

Credit · CR · right column

Where the money came from.Out of the wallet? Credit Cash. Earned from a customer? Credit Sales Revenue. Also not “good” — just the other side of the story.

Try it yourself. Each example below is a real situation a DemocracyCraft firm runs into — flip between the plain-English story and the entry as it lands in the journal:

A payroll run

You ran payroll and Steve_Builds was paid his $250 salary. DCManager posts one entry like this per employee — $250 left the wallet, and in exchange the firm got a week of his work.

Where it went

$250 went to wages — the cost of keeping your staff mining, building, and serving customers.

Where it came from

$250 came out of the Operating wallet.

Flip to ledger view to see the entry as it lands in the journal.

A deposit

You ran /firm pay and put $1,000 of your own money into the business wallet to get things started.

Where it went

$1,000 landed in the Operating wallet — the business is now holding it.

Where it came from

$1,000 came from you, the owner. The books remember that this slice of the business is your stake, not money it earned.

Flip to ledger view to see the entry as it lands in the journal.

Buying a plot

Your firm withdrew $10,000 and bought plot x042. The withdrawal entry was posted automatically (a draw against Cash); you add one entry to put the plot on the books. The business isn't poorer — it traded cash for land it can use or resell.

Where it went

$10,000 became a plot the business now owns — one asset swapped for another.

Where it came from

From the money drawn out of the firm — the automatic withdrawal entry already recorded the wallet side.

Flip to ledger view to see the entry as it lands in the journal.

Walkthroughs

Four everyday tasks, traced from the click to the entry in your books. Wallet and payroll actions post their entries automatically — you never have to write those yourself.

One rule for manual entries

1000 Cash — Operating and 1100 Savings are managed by the app — deposits, withdrawals, payroll, and transfers post to them for you. Never pick them in a manual entry, or your books will disagree with your wallet. When cash is involved, let the automatic entry record the wallet side and connect yours through 3000 Contributed Capital or 3100Distributions & Draws, as the walkthroughs below show.

Deposit funds → see the journal entry

1Open your business’s Wallet page and choose Deposit.
2Pay the firm in-game with /firm pay, as instructed on screen.
3DCManager confirms the payment in-game and credits your wallet.
4Open Books → Journal — the entry below was posted for you, marked with a deposit chip.

Wallet deposit

deposit

Code	Account	Debit	Credit
1000	Cash — Operating	$1,000.00	—
3000	Contributed Capital	—	$1,000.00
Total		$1,000.00	$1,000.00

The money went into the wallet (debit Cash) and came from the owner (credit Contributed Capital) — so equity records that the firm owes its footing to you.

Run payroll → trace it to Payroll Expense

1Open Payroll and run the roster (or wait for the schedule to run it).
2Each employee is paid in-game from your wallet — one journal entry per employee.
3Open Books → Journal — every payment posted an entry like this one.
4Open Books → Reports — the P&L’s Payroll Expense line has grown by the wages paid.

Payroll: Steve_Builds

payroll

Code	Account	Debit	Credit
5000	Payroll Expense	$250.00	—
1000	Cash — Operating	—	$250.00
Total		$250.00	$250.00

Entries aren’t limited to two lines. If a platform fee ever applies to payouts, it appears as a third line debiting 6000Platform & Transaction Fees — and the rule still holds: total debits equal total credits.

Buy a plot → record an asset, not an expense

This one trips everyone up. Spending $10,000 on a plot feelslike an expense — but expenses are money used up. A plot isn’t used up: the firm still owns it and could sell it back. You traded one asset (cash) for another (land), so it goes to 1500 Property — Plots. Plot purchases happen in-game, so you record this one yourself:

1Withdraw $10,000 from your Wallet and buy the plot in-game. The withdrawal posts its own entry automatically — a draw against Cash.
2Open Books → Journal and choose New entry.
3Memo: “Purchased plot x042”. Debit 1500 Property — Plots, credit 3100 Distributions & Draws, both $10,000.00 — this turns the draw into a plot on the books.
4Post it. Your Balance Sheet now shows the plot under assets — total assets unchanged, just rearranged.

Purchased plot x042

manual

Code	Account	Debit	Credit
1500	Property — Plots	$10,000.00	—
3100	Distributions & Draws	—	$10,000.00
Total		$10,000.00	$10,000.00

Why credit Distributions & Draws and not Cash? The withdrawal already recorded the cash leaving — this entry just reclassifies it. (Paid with your own money instead? Credit 3000 Contributed Capital — you contributed an asset.) Plot tax, on the other hand, is an expense — that money is gone for good. Record it against 6300Government Taxes & Fees.

Add a custom account & post a manual entry

The seeded chart covers most firms, but say yours trades elytra and you want them tracked separately from general inventory:

1Open Books → Chart of accounts and choose Add account.
2Pick a code in the right family — 1450 sits nicely with the other 1xxx assets. Name it Inventory — Elytra, type Asset, normal balance Debit.
3Withdraw $2,000 and buy the elytra in-game ($1,000 each) — the withdrawal entry posts automatically.
4Open Books → Journal, choose New entry, and reclassify the draw into inventory. The Post entry button stays disabled until debits equal credits — the books won’t let you break the rule.

Bought 2 elytras — $1,000 each

manual

Code	Account	Debit	Credit
1450	Inventory — Elytra	$2,000.00	—
3100	Distributions & Draws	—	$2,000.00
Total		$2,000.00	$2,000.00

The three reports

Every report on the Books page is just your journal entries, totalled three different ways. Each answers one question.

Trial Balance

“Do the books balance?” Every account's total, in two columns that must add up to the same number.

Total debits$13,250.00

Total credits$13,250.00

Difference$0.00

Profit & Loss

“Did we make money?” Everything earned minus everything spent over a period.

Revenue$12,000.00

Expenses$750.00

Net income$11,250.00

Balance Sheet

“What is the firm worth right now?” What you own, what you owe, and the owners' share — a snapshot, not a period.

Assets$13,250.00

Liabilities$0.00

Equity$13,250.00

Your starting chart of accounts

Every new business is seeded with these 33 accounts. The ones marked System are wired into the app — wallet, payroll, savings, and subscription activity post to them automatically, and they can't be removed. The rest are starters for you to use in manual entries.

Code	Account	Type	Use this when…
1000	Cash — OperatingSystem	Asset	Your firm's wallet. Every deposit, payout, and fee touches this automatically — never pick it in a manual entry.
1050	Cash Held In-GameSystem	Asset	Money sitting in your in-game Treasury account. Connected-business payments are recorded here automatically when they arrive; sweeping moves the cash to 1000. Also used by books migration.
1100	SavingsSystem	Asset	Money you've moved into savings to earn yield. Updated automatically — never pick it in a manual entry.
1200	Accounts Receivable	Asset	A customer owes you money you haven't collected yet.
1400	Inventory — Goods & Materials	Asset	Stock you're holding to sell later — blocks, gear, crops, potions.
1500	Property — Plots	Asset	Plots your business owns. Buying a plot goes here, not to an expense.
1600	Buildings & Improvements	Asset	Builds or renovations that add lasting value to property you own.
1700	Equipment & Tools	Asset	Long-lived gear the business keeps — beacons, elytra, farm machinery.
2000	Accounts Payable	Liability	You owe someone for goods or services you've already received.
2100	Wages Payable	Liability	Staff have earned wages you haven't paid out yet.
2200	Taxes Payable	Liability	Plot tax or other government charges that are due but unpaid.
2300	Loans Payable	Liability	Money you borrowed and still have to repay.
3000	Contributed CapitalSystem	Equity	Money put in by whoever owns the firm — sole owner, members, or shareholders. Wallet deposits land here automatically.
3100	Distributions & DrawsSystem	Equity	Money paid back out to them — draws, distributions, or dividends. Wallet withdrawals land here automatically.
3900	Opening Balance Equity	Equity	The balancing difference when you migrate your books. Reclassify it with a manual entry — to 3000 for owner contributions, or leave it as prior earnings.
4000	Sales RevenueSystem	Revenue	You sold goods — netherite, potions, a finished build.
4100	Service Revenue	Revenue	You were paid for work — builds, terraforming, legal services.
4200	Rental Income	Revenue	Tenants pay you rent for plots or shop space.
4800	Gain on Sale of Assets	Revenue	You sold a plot or equipment for more than it was on the books for.
4900	Yield IncomeSystem	Revenue	Yield earned on your savings balance. Posted automatically.
4950	Uncategorized IncomeSystem	Revenue	Incoming payments credited from your connected business land here automatically — recategorize them to the right revenue account with a manual entry.
5000	Payroll ExpenseSystem	Expense	Wages paid through payroll. Posted automatically on every run.
5100	Contractor Fees	Expense	One-off hires who aren't on your payroll roster.
6000	Platform & Transaction FeesSystem	Expense	Platform and payout fees when money moves. Posted automatically.
6100	Software SubscriptionSystem	Expense	Your DCManager plan charge. Posted automatically.
6200	Rent Expense	Expense	Rent you pay for a plot or shop you don't own.
6300	Government Taxes & Fees	Expense	Plot tax, permits, or other government fees you've paid.
6400	Materials & Supplies	Expense	Materials used up while operating — not stock you're reselling.
6500	Marketing & Advertising	Expense	Ads, sponsorships, event giveaways to win customers.
6600	Charity & Donations	Expense	Donations your business gives away.
6700	Legal & Professional Fees	Expense	Lawyers, accountants, consultants.
6800	Fines & Penalties	Expense	Court fines or government penalties the business paid.
6900	Uncategorized ExpenseSystem	Expense	Outgoing payments from your connected business account (a shop buying stock, for example) land here automatically — recategorize them to the right expense account with a manual entry.

Migrating from a spreadsheet

Already keeping books somewhere else? Two tools on the Journal tab bring them over — without re-typing history one entry at a time.

Migrate booksposts your opening balances: pick a migration date, enter each account’s balance from your old books, and one balanced entry is posted. Any difference between the two sides lands in 3900 Opening Balance Equity — reclassify it to 3000for owner contributions, or leave it as prior earnings. It’s one-shot — if you got it wrong, reverse the entry and run it again.

Import CSVbrings in full entry history. Use the template (same shape as the Journal export), check the dry-run report, and post — the whole file goes in atomically, and a bad import can be reversed in one click. History dated before your opening-balance date is rejected — it’s already inside those balances, so posting it again would double-count. Use opening balances at a cutoff or full history for a period — never both.

Cash deserves a moment of care: 1000 Cash — Operating mirrors your DCManager wallet and is posted only by wallet activity, so migrated cash goes to 1050 Cash Held In-Game instead (the import does this for you). When you later deposit that money into your wallet, clear it with a manual entry — debit 3000, credit 1050.

Glossary

Every term the Books page uses, in plain English.

Account: A labeled bucket money is tracked in, like 1000 Cash — Operating or 5000 Payroll Expense.
Account code: The number on an account. The first digit tells you its type: 1 assets, 2 liabilities, 3 equity, 4 revenue, 5–6 expenses.
Balance Sheet: A snapshot report: what you own (assets), what you owe (liabilities), and the owners' stake (equity) right now.
Chart of accounts: The full list of accounts your business uses. Yours starts pre-seeded and you can add more.
Credit (CR): The right-hand column of an entry — "where the money came from". Shorthand, not a judgement of good or bad.
Debit (DR): The left-hand column of an entry — "where the money went". Nothing to do with debit cards.
Double-entry: Recording every money event in two places — where it went and where it came from — so the books always balance.
Entry (journal entry): One recorded money event. Always has at least two lines, and its debits always equal its credits.
Equity: The owners' share of the business: everything it owns minus everything it owes.
Folio: An old bookkeeping word for the ledger page an entry was copied to. You'll see it on classic ledgers — same idea as an account's page here.
Journal: The chronological diary of every entry, newest first. The Journal tab on your Books page.
Ledger: All of one account's lines gathered together, so you can see that account's history and balance.
Line (journal line): One half of an entry: a single account plus a debit or credit amount.
Memo: The human-readable note on an entry — "Payroll — 3 employees". Write these for future-you.
Net income: Revenue minus expenses for a period. Positive means profit, negative means loss.
Normal balance: The side an account usually grows on. Assets and expenses grow on the debit side; liabilities, equity, and revenue grow on the credit side.
Posted: An entry that's final and counted in every report. Posted entries are never edited or deleted — mistakes are fixed with a new correcting entry.
Profit & Loss (P&L): The report that answers "did we make money this period?" — revenue minus expenses.
Reversal: A mirror-image entry that cancels an earlier one. The original stays in the books, so the history is never rewritten.
Source: What created an entry: deposit, withdrawal, transfer, payroll, payment, subscription, interest, adjustment, opening balance, import, firm activity (connected-business payments), sweep, or manual (you).
System account: A seeded account DCManager posts to automatically (marked with a System chip). It can't be removed — the app depends on it.
Trial Balance: The report that checks the books balance: every account's total, with the debit and credit columns adding up to the same number.