Customize the navigation sidebar in SamBooks

Choose which sections appear in the left-hand menu: keep only the ones you actually use, for a cleaner interface. Hiding a section deletes nothing — you can turn it back on whenever you want.

What it's for

SamBooks covers a lot of ground: invoices, journal entries, VAT, financial statements, banking, inventory, tax filings. If you only need some of it, hide the rest and you'll work faster.

The reverse matters just as much, and it's the part people miss: some sections start out hidden and have to be switched on here, or they never show up in the menu at all. That's the case for Intrastat, described on the page as "Intrastat lists for intra-EU transactions", and for the habitual-exporter items Plafond and Letter of intent. They're niche features, and SamBooks would rather not crowd the menu of people who never touch them. So if you went looking for Intrastat and couldn't find it, it isn't missing from the product — it's switched off.

These preferences are yours, not the company's: everyone on the team shapes their own sidebar, and hiding part of yours changes nothing for your colleagues.

Step by step

1. Open the "Customize sidebar" page

Open your profile menu at the bottom of the sidebar and choose "Customize sidebar". The same page also sits in your personal settings, under "Personalization".

Don't go looking for it under the sidebar's Settings entry: that one opens your company settings, and this feature isn't there — precisely because the choice of visible sections is a personal one. You can also get there from the onboarding card on the dashboard by clicking "Personalize the navigation bar"; when you're done, use "Back to dashboard".

2. Read the list and the reason next to each item

You'll see every sidebar section with a short description and a toggle set to "Visible" or "Hidden". Next to several items there's a line explaining the current state, and that line tells you whether you can do anything about it:

• "Visible by default for your regime." — the section applies to you and is already on.
• "Optional: enable if you need it." — one of the sections that start out off, like Intrastat. Switching it on is up to you.
• "Hidden by you in these settings." — you turned it off earlier.
• "Not applicable for your tax regime." — this one isn't yours to change: see step 4.
• "The dashboard is always available." — the Dashboard can't be hidden.

3. Set the toggles and save

Set what you want to see to "Visible" and the rest to "Hidden", then click "Save". The menu updates straight away. Change your mind later and you can come back: hiding and restoring a section is reversible as often as you like, and it never touches the data that section holds.

If you're not sure where to start, the page offers to hand the job to Sam: "Not sure which sections you need? Let Sam set up your sidebar". Sam asks a few questions about how your company works — inventory, receipts versus invoices only, exports, projects — and proposes a setup, which you still confirm yourself.

4. Put everything back, or unlock what's locked

"Reset to default" returns every section to the state SamBooks considers normal for your profile, including the ones that start out off.

Some items, though, can't be changed here and read "Not applicable for your tax regime". That isn't an arbitrary lock: it follows the company's tax regime, and under the flat-rate regime several accounting areas genuinely don't apply. To change them you first have to update the regime in the company's tax profile — an accounting decision, not an interface preference.

One thing you won't find here

The tax calendar isn't a sidebar section, so there's no point hunting for it in this list to switch it on. You reach it from the Tax returns hub or from the deadlines panel on the dashboard. If you expected to find it among the sections you can enable, that's why.

If something doesn't work

• A section won't switch on — read the reason beside it: if it says "Not applicable for your tax regime", the company's regime is what excludes it, and that changes in the tax profile, not here.
• I can't find Intrastat in the menu — it starts out off: switch it on here and save.
• I hid a section by mistake — set it back to "Visible", or use "Reset to default". That section's data was never touched.
• I saved but the menu looks the same — check that you actually clicked "Save": moving the toggles isn't enough on its own.

Frequently asked questions

Does hiding a section delete data? No. It only hides the item from the menu. The data stays where it is and reappears the moment you switch the section back on.

Do my preferences apply to my colleagues too? No. They're your own display preferences for that company, and everyone personalizes their own sidebar.

Why can't I see Intrastat, Plafond or Letter of intent? Because they start out switched off — they're niche sections. Enable them on this page and they'll appear in the menu.

Can I hide the Dashboard? No, it's always available.

I looked for "Customize sidebar" inside Settings and it wasn't there. That's expected: the Settings entry opens your company settings. Sidebar customization lives in your profile menu at the bottom of the sidebar, or in your personal settings under "Personalization".

If I change tax regime, do my choices disappear? Sections the new regime excludes will go, because they no longer apply; the ones that remain available keep whatever you set.

Related guides

• Complete your SamBooks onboarding — every step to get started.
• Confirm your tax profile — the regime decides which sections are available.
• Calculate the Intrastat lists for a period — once the section is on, here's what you do with it.