The Settings area in CalCal (from the main menu) is where you configure your business profile, bank accounts, tax and VAT details, expense and income categories, stock valuations, and data export. Getting Settings right makes daily entries, reports, and HMRC submissions much smoother.
Opening Settings
From the menu, tap Settings. Cards group related options:
Business Details
- About You — business name, trade name, nature of business, address, phone, email, website
- Settings — invoice number prefix, default payment terms (days), legal form, VAT registered flag, CalCal start date, + button position (left/right)
- Tax — UTR, National Insurance number, date of birth, MTD accounting periods (hidden for limited companies on this card)
- VAT — default VAT rate, VAT number, direct debit account (shown when VAT registered)
Income and Expenses
- Expense categories → opens Budgets tab “Expense Types”
- Income types → opens Budgets tab “Sales Types”
- Stock — record stock valuations
Accounts
- Bank and cash accounts — add and edit accounts with opening balances
Data
- Export My Data — download CSV (ZIP) or Excel
About your business (invoices and PDFs)
Fields on About You and Settings appear on invoices, statements, and reports:
- Trade name and address — header on customer PDFs
- Telephone, email, website — contact block
- Prefix for Invoice Numbers — e.g. INV → INV00001
- Default Invoice Term — days until due (feeds invoice dating)
- Company number — shown for limited companies
Your verified mobile number for PIN security is not edited here — see the PIN guide.
Tax and VAT settings
Tax card (self-employed / sole traders):
- Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)
- National Insurance number
- Date of birth
- MTD accounting periods — sync from HMRC, change period dates, Late Accounting Date Rule (LADR) options where applicable
VAT card (when registered):
- Default VAT rate for new entries
- VAT registration number (VRN) — required for MTD VAT connection
- Direct debit from account — which bank account pays HMRC VAT
Turning on VAT registration makes the VAT menu and VAT columns in reports appear (on a qualifying paid plan). See VAT Returns and MTD.
Bank and cash accounts
- Settings → Bank and cash accounts.
- Each account shows type (cash, current, credit, savings, loan), nickname, and opening balance date.
- Edit: name, description, type, opening balance, balance date.
- Delete only accounts with no transactions — CalCal protects history otherwise.
Account balances feed the dashboard and appear when you pick To / From on receipts and expenses.
Budgets — expense and income types
Menu → Budgets or link from Settings. Two tabs:
Expense Types
Each category has:
- Name and description
- Tax type — HMRC expense category for SA
- Budget — monthly spending target (shows variance on Profit & Loss report)
- Out of scope for VAT — when applicable
- Optional opening balance for mid-year start
Sales Types (income types)
Each income type has name, description, tax type, and optional monthly Target.
Categories in use cannot be deleted until no entries reference them.
Stock valuations
Settings → Stock opens the stock valuation modal:
- History of stock takes with purchase and retail estimates
- Enter current stock value — total value, note, and date
- Delete non-opening entries if needed
The Daily Entries Stock tab shows history; new stock takes are entered here in Settings.
Export my data
- Settings → Export My Data.
- Choose Download as CSV (ZIP) or Download as Excel.
- File includes income, expenses, transfers, and assets.
- Save or share from your device when ready.
Useful for accountants, switching software, or your own spreadsheets. Large exports may take a moment.
Bank import (coming soon)
Bank statement import is planned for eligible paid plans. When available, imported lines will appear on the Daily Entries calendar with a grey dot for you to categorise. Until then, enter receipts and expenses manually or via your accountant’s export.
Multiple businesses
If your login manages more than one business, switch using the business name at the top of the menu. Each business has its own Settings, accounts, categories, and people.
Common questions
National Insurance number already in use
CalCal checks NI numbers against your account profile. A duplicate usually means another login exists — contact support rather than guessing.
I can’t change my accounting start date
CalCal start date is mostly fixed after early setup to protect submitted returns. Contact support if you entered the wrong year start before filing anything.
VAT registered checkbox is greyed out
VAT registration status may be locked after setup or submission. Contact support if you need to register or deregister in CalCal.
Can’t delete expense category
Entries still use that category. Reassign or delete those entries first, or leave the category unused.
When to contact support
Contact support for wrong business type after onboarding, export failures, MTD accounting period sync issues, or account structure changes the app blocks.
Related: Business setup · Daily Entries · VAT · Profile vs Settings
Quick reference
| If you say… | Try this |
|---|---|
| Change invoice address | Settings → About You |
| Invoice numbering | Settings → Settings → Prefix |
| New expense type | Budgets → Expense Types |
| Monthly budget target | Edit category → Budget field |
| Download all data | Settings → Export My Data |
| Add bank account | Settings → Accounts |
| VAT number | Settings → VAT |
| UTR / NI | Settings → Tax |
| Stock take | Settings → Stock |