Accounting Software Feature Spec Template

Start with your largest customer segment. If your customers are US-based SMBs, build for GAAP. If you serve international enterprises, consider IFRS first. Many products start with one standard and add the other within 12-18 months. The core double-entry bookkeeping logic is the same; the differences are in revenue recognition, lease accounting, and reporting format.

Define a functional currency (the primary currency for reporting) and allow transactions in any supported currency. Record the exchange rate at the transaction date. At period end, revalue foreign currency balances at the closing rate and recognize FX gains or losses. Store both the original currency amount and the functional currency equivalent on every transaction line.

Build CSV upload first. It is simpler, covers 100% of banks, and lets you validate your reconciliation logic before adding the complexity of real-time bank feeds. Add Plaid or Yodlee integration in a follow-up release once the matching engine is proven. Most customers will use both: automated feeds for primary accounts, CSV for smaller or international banks.

Use an append-only event log separate from the main transaction tables. Write audit events asynchronously (message queue or background job) so they do not slow down the user-facing write path. Index by user, timestamp, and entity type for fast retrieval. Partition by date for archival. The audit table will grow large, but reads are infrequent and can tolerate slightly higher latency.

Role-based access with at least these roles: Viewer (read-only reports), Bookkeeper (create/edit entries), Approver (approve entries above threshold), Controller (close periods, run reports, manage chart of accounts), Admin (manage users, integrations, settings). Combine with entity-level scoping if you support multi-entity so users in one subsidiary cannot see another's data.