Getting Started

Aarvo takes you from messy invoices and bank statements to closed books and filing-ready tax reports - with about 90% of the work handled automatically.

This guide walks you through setting up your workspace so the automation can start working.

Create your workspace

1
Sign up
Head to aarvo.com and create your account.
2
Choose your workspace type
Select how you operate: sole trader, limited company, partnership, or accounting firm. This determines which features and tax configurations are available.
3
Set your country
Choose the country where your business is registered and files taxes. This controls which tax systems, return types, and compliance features are enabled for your workspace. For example, a UK business sees MTD VAT and Self Assessment. A UAE business sees VAT and excise tax.

Configure your business profile

Once your workspace is created, set up the details that Aarvo uses across invoices, reports, and tax filings:

Business details - Your registered business name, trading name, address, and business type. These appear on invoices and official reports.

Tax registration numbers - Enter the tax identifiers relevant to your jurisdiction. Depending on your country and business type, this could include a VAT registration number, unique taxpayer reference (UTR), corporate tax ID, tax registration number (TRN), or other local identifiers. Aarvo only asks for what's relevant to your setup.

Accounting period - Set your financial year. Common examples: April to March (UK tax year), January to December (calendar year), or a custom period. This controls when returns are generated and how reports are dated.

VAT and tax rates - If you're VAT registered, confirm your VAT number and scheme. Aarvo comes pre-configured with standard tax rates for your country - you can adjust or add custom rates if needed.

Currency and preferences - Set your primary currency, date format, and display preferences. Light and dark mode are supported.

Connect your data sources

Aarvo works best when your financial data flows in automatically. There are three main ways to get data into the platform:

Connect your bank - Aarvo uses open banking to securely connect to your bank with read-only access. Once connected, transactions import and sync automatically. Most major UK banks are supported. If your bank doesn't support open banking, you can upload transactions via CSV.

Connect your email - Link your Gmail or Outlook account and Aarvo continuously scans for incoming invoices and receipts. Documents are downloaded, stored, and matched to transactions without you doing anything. This is one of the most powerful automations in the platform.

Upload documents manually - Drag and drop invoices, receipts, or any financial documents in bulk. Aarvo extracts the data and matches to bank transactions automatically.

Learn more about all connectors

Invite your team

Add team members from your workspace settings. Each person gets their own login and you control what they can access:

Owner - Full access to everything including billing and settings.

Admin - Full features and data, plus some settings management.

Member - Core features like reconciliation, invoicing, and reports.

If you're an accounting firm, team management works differently - see Firm Management.

Start reconciling

Once your bank and email are connected, head to Tasks. Aarvo has already started working - categorising transactions, extracting document data, and matching invoices to bank entries.

Your job is to review what Aarvo has done, confirm the correct matches, and handle anything it couldn't resolve automatically.

Learn how reconciliation works

What to explore next

How Aarvo Works - The drop, confirm, finalise workflow that closes your books.

Collect - Create and send invoices, collect payments, and track revenue.

Ask Aarvo - How AI automates your bookkeeping and surfaces financial insights.

Reports & Returns - P&L, Balance Sheet, tax returns, and exports.

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FAQs