The story

Why a consulting company built Langbyrde

Langbyrde is made by Vyshynskyi Consulting Inc., a software consultancy in Toronto. Here is why a firm that builds software for other businesses built its own bookkeeping app, and what that means for you.

The problem we had

Vyshynskyi Consulting Inc. is a small Ontario corporation, and like every small corporation it has books to keep: invoices to clients, some in US dollars; expenses in more than one currency; HST to collect and to claim back; payroll remittances; a folder of receipts. For years its founder kept those books in a spreadsheet, and every month-end reconciliation took an evening.

The tools on the market asked for a subscription and kept the company’s records on their servers. For a firm whose work is building software for other people, that was the wrong trade: the records belong to the company, and paid-for software should keep working whether or not the vendor does. So the firm built the tool it wanted for its own books, then decided other small corporations might want it too.

What a consultancy brings to a product

Software built for a client has to be specified, tested and handed over so that someone else can rely on it. Langbyrde is built that way.

Its own books first

The first user is the company that makes it. Each feature replaced a step in the founder’s spreadsheet and had to work on real statements first.

Rules as data, tests as the specification

Sales-tax rules, filing dates and account codes live in one place, each dated from when it takes effect, so a rule change is a reviewable change to data. Tests pin the behaviour before habit does.

Honest scope

Consulting teaches you to say what is in scope and what is not. The roadmap says what works today, what does not yet, and what is planned, in order and without dates.

What that looks like in the app

Each of these is true of the version you can try today.

  • Your books are files you hold. One company file on your computer, your documents in a folder you choose, and a full export to a plain database and one CSV per table. Privacy and security lists every address the app can contact.
  • The figures can be checked. Each statement’s opening and closing balances are checked on import. The CPA package lists every file with a fingerprint, says what was left out and why, and names the version of the tax rules behind each figure. For accountants shows it file by file.
  • A licence you buy once. The licence file has no expiry date and is checked on your own computer. Updates within version 1 are free and optional. Without a licence after the trial, Langbyrde switches to read-only mode: you can still read everything, print and export your reports, export the CPA package and all your data, and make backups. Nothing is deleted.
  • Proposals wait for you. A suggested category, a suggested match or anything an AI model proposes stays a suggestion until you accept it, and that acceptance is recorded as yours. AI is optional: your own provider, or a model on your computer.
  • Closed periods stay closed. Once you close a period its figures stop changing, unless the owner reopens it for a written reason, which is kept with the books.

Why local-first, and why Ontario first

Local-first

Local-first means the app works on your computer, with your files, and a network connection is something you choose to use, not something it needs. The firm chose it because records outlive tools: a company file you can open, export and back up yourself is still yours when a vendor changes its plans. There is no account with us, and nothing about your books is sent to us.

Ontario first

Ontario is where the company is based and keeps its own books, so Ontario’s HST, CRA filing dates and account codes are the rules the firm uses itself every month. The rest of Canada follows province by province, each added as reviewed data before this site calls it working. Where Langbyrde is going has the order.

What Langbyrde is not

  • Not an accountant. Langbyrde organises and extracts your records. It is not tax, accounting or legal advice, and it does not file on your behalf. Your CPA stays your CPA, with better records to work from.
  • Not a consulting engagement. Buying Langbyrde does not make you a client of the consultancy, and you do not need to be one. Questions about the app go to support@langbyrde.app.
  • Not finished for everyone yet. Today it handles a corporation based in Ontario end to end. Who it’s for says who should look elsewhere for now.

If you need custom software

The same firm builds software for other businesses. Its own site lists three areas of work: “IT Consulting & Strategy”, “Custom Software Engineering” and “Digital Growth & Creative Studio”. Langbyrde is an example of how it builds: rules in data, behaviour held by tests, and the users’ records left in their own hands.

Custom software engineering and IT strategy at vyshynskyi.me

Who is behind it

Langbyrde is made by Vyshynskyi Consulting Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, founded and run by Kostiantyn Vyshynskyi, its principal architect. Purchases are handled by Paddle, the reseller that issues your receipt. Write to support@langbyrde.app about the app, or privacy@langbyrde.app about privacy.

Your books, in your files.

Try every feature for 45 days. No account, no card, and your books stay on your computer unless you choose to send them.

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