Learning centre · Together · 6 min · screens from October 2026
A budget for the business
Jordan works as a contractor. His invoices are paid whenever they are paid (nothing in April, three in June), and the tax on that income is not his to spend. The envelope method was made for income like that. A separate budget for the business, with its own accounts, gives every dollar a job before it is spent, and keeps the business apart from the household's budget.
What you'll do
- Start a second budget for the business, separate from the household's
- Begin from the starter envelopes for a small business, then adjust them
- Set the tax aside on the day an invoice is paid
- Bring a bookkeeper or a partner in with their own sign-in
Step 1
A budget of its own
On Budgets, choose + Budget, give it a name, leave Start from on Blank, and choose Create and open. Its currency is set in Settings, on the Budget tab. A budget keeps its own accounts and transactions, so the business chequing account and the business card are kept here and nowhere else, and nothing in one budget shows up in the other. Switch between budgets from the sidebar. Budgets never cost extra; only bank connections do.
new budget called Reyes Contracting, in CAD, empty
Step 2
Start from the small-business envelopes
A new budget's setup starts with the money: first where it is, then the envelopes. The envelopes step offers starter sets, and the small-business set has People (payroll, professional services), Running costs (software, rent, utilities, supplies and inventory, office, marketing, travel, equipment, bank and fees), Set aside (taxes), and To sort for anything you are not sure about yet. Rename them to match your accountant's categories, and delete the ones a contractor never needs.
set up envelopes for a one-person contracting business. Ask me questions first.
Step 3
Set the tax aside first, the day the money arrives
A paid invoice goes to Ready to assign, just like a paycheque. Its first job is the tax: give Taxes its share before anything else, so money you will owe in April is never spent in June. A target on Taxes (as a balance, set to the year's estimate) shows how much of it you have set aside so far. Uneven months are exactly what this is for: a big month fills next month's envelopes in advance, and a quiet month runs on what the big one set aside.
an invoice for $4,200 was paid. Put 25% in Taxes and tell me what's left to assign
Step 4
Let a bookkeeper or partner in
Everyone in a household sees every budget in it. So if a bookkeeper or a business partner should see the business but not the family's groceries, give the business a household of its own: choose Start a household from the switcher, create the business budget there, and invite them, on the Household plan. They sign in as themselves, file and assign, and every entry shows who made it. Only the admin can delete accounts, remove a bank, or close the budget.
Read next
Starting next year's budget from this one
Copy your budget's structure and only the accounts you choose. Envelopes, targets, bills, goals, and assumptions come across, and every envelope starts at zero.
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Sharing one budget as a household
Start a household from your own budget, give each person and each chat its own key, see who entered every transaction, and use Activity to catch up on what everyone did.
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