Bookkeeping for Main Street, done by talking

Drop in your statements. Answer a few questions. Books done.

MainStreet Books AI is a bookkeeper you talk to, built for shops, cafés, contractors and service businesses. Hand it bank statements and payout reports; it matches every Shopify, Square or eBay deposit to a channel, sorts inventory, fees, payroll and sales tax, and comes back with a short numbered list of the decisions only you can make. Sales by channel, gross margin and a Schedule C-ready P&L fall out the other end.

Start for $5 Try the sample bike shop

Shops & online sellersCafés & restaurantsContractors & tradesSalons, studios & servicesAny Schedule C business

Simple monthly plans, cancel anytime. Works with any bank, PayPal, Venmo, Shopify, Square, eBay, Stripe and more.

MainStreet Books assistant · Spoke & Saddle Bikes

Here's September from the bank and the card, plus the Shopify payout report.

chase-4471-sep.csvamex-0918-sep.pdfshopify-payouts-sep.csv

Imported 74 transactions. I sorted 69 of them: Square, Shopify and eBay payouts to their channels, QBP and Trek to inventory, USPS and Pirate Ship to shipping, Gusto to payroll, the state sales tax payment to sales tax payable, and the card payment paired with checking. What I need from you: 1. $1,849 to Park Tool on Sep 4 — shop equipment (depreciated) or supplies? I'd guess equipment. 2. $1,200 check #2081 on Sep 8 — who was that to? 3. $486 at Home Depot on Sep 3 — repair, or the new display shelving?

Set 24 transactions to Sales (Storefront, Shopify, eBay)

Set 9 transactions to Inventory purchases

Paired 2 transfers between your accounts

1 is equipment. 2 was the sign guy — advertising. 3 is shelving, call it equipment too.

Ask, or tell me what to change…Send

Made for how small businesses actually get paid

Most bookkeeping tools assume one clean bank feed and a bookkeeper on staff. A shop owner has payouts from four platforms, a card that pays for inventory, and a Tuesday.

Money lands from Square, Shopify Payments, eBay, PayPal and Stripe — all net of fees, none labeled.

Every payout is matched to its channel and counted as sales for the month, with fees split out when you want them.

Inventory, supplies and equipment all look like "purchases" on the card statement.

Distributor purchases go to cost of goods sold, hardware runs to supplies or equipment, so gross margin is real.

Sales tax collected looks like income; sales tax paid looks like an expense.

Both post to a sales tax liability, so your P&L and your year-end aren't inflated.

Owner money in and out through personal accounts; Schedule C gets pieced together in March.

Draws and contributions are recognized automatically, and every category carries its Schedule C line all year.

How it works

Pick your kind of business

Shop, café, contractor, services or other. That choice sets the chart of categories, the tax lines, what the tracking dimension is called — channel, location, job — and the words the assistant uses.

Drop in what you have

Bank and card statements, PayPal exports, Shopify, Square or eBay payout reports, loan statements, even a photo of a statement. The assistant reads them and sets up accounts, channels and payout sources for you to check.

Answer in plain English

"1 is equipment, 2 was the sign guy, the Chipotle was personal." Every change is listed under the reply and can be undone. Then ask for sales by channel, the P&L, the balance sheet or an owner snapshot.

One product, tuned to your trade

Every business gets the same engine — imports, matching, a double-entry ledger, the assistant. The industry pack changes what it tracks and how it talks.

Shops & online sellers

Sales by channel (storefront, Shopify, eBay, Amazon, Etsy), payout matching, inventory as cost of goods, shipping, marketplace fees, sales tax. Gross margin by channel.

Cafés & restaurants

Sales by location, Square and Toast payouts, DoorDash and Uber Eats fees, food and beverage cost, food-cost percentage.

Contractors & trades

Job profitability: customer deposits and progress payments, materials and subcontractors as job costs, equipment rental, permits.

Services & studios

Revenue by service line, retainers and recurring clients tracked month by month, booking-app fees, contractors.

Any Schedule C business

The full Schedule C chart with line numbers, cost of goods, owner draws vs wages, equipment vs repairs.

Real books underneath

Double-entry ledger per entity, balance sheet, month-by-month bank reconciliation, and branded PDF reports your tax preparer and lender accept.

Pricing

Billed monthly, cancel anytime from the app. No contracts.

Starter

$5 first month

then $75/month

Up to 300 transactions a month
Statement and payout imports, AI sorting, rules
Sales by channel, P&L with Schedule C lines
The assistant, with file drop
PDF reports

Start for $5

Growth · most popular

$5 first month

then $125/month

Up to 1,000 transactions a month
Everything in Starter
Ledger, balance sheet, reconciliation
Owner and personal money tracked across entities
Owner snapshots for partners and lenders

Start for $5

Pro

$5 first month

then $200/month

Unlimited transactions
Everything in Growth
Bookkeeper seats for your accountant
Priority support

Start for $5

Behind on the books?

Add a one-time cleanup at checkout — $199 for up to 6 months behind, $399 for up to 12, $699 for two years or more. The AI and the assistant work through the back months with you, and your monthly plan starts when the cleanup window ends (30–60 days).

Every plan includes a monthly AI allowance sized to the plan; extra usage can be bought any time.

Questions

Do I need QuickBooks?

No. MainStreet Books AI keeps a full double-entry ledger on its own — P&L, balance sheet, reconciliation and a CSV of every transaction your accountant can use.

What documents can it read?

PDF and CSV statements from any bank, card, PayPal or Venmo; payout reports from Shopify, Square, eBay, Amazon, Stripe and Toast; loan statements; leases; contracts and invoices; LLC paperwork. Scanned PDFs and photos work too.

Does it handle inventory?

Purchases for resale are booked as cost of goods sold on a cash basis, which is how most small retailers run during the year. Your tax preparer can adjust for inventory on hand at year end, and the P&L note says so.

Does the AI decide things for me?

It sorts what it can with a clear reason and asks about the rest. You confirm, it remembers. Anything the assistant changes is listed and can be undone.

Is this tax or legal advice?

No. MainStreet Books AI organizes your records and produces reports. Confirm tax treatment with your CPA; the reports are built to make that conversation short.

Can I try it without signing up?

Yes. Open the app and explore the sample book: a bike shop with a storefront, a Shopify store and eBay, six months of messy statements.