Questions and answers

No. Home and Hearth Baker is licensed for a one-time fee of $119. New versions and state rule updates are included for life at no extra cost.

Because you can try the full program free for 30 days before you buy, all sales are final. If something goes wrong with your purchase, such as a double charge or a key that won't work, write to us and we'll make it right. See the Refund Policy.

Yes. If you teach, write or post for home bakers, you can earn $30 for every Home and Hearth Baker license and $5 for every book bought through your link. See the affiliate program.

It's made for bakers, but it works for any shelf-stable home food business your state allows, such as jams, candy, granola or honey.

No. Everything works without the internet. The program goes online only when you click Settings → Check for updates, and then it only downloads the list of updates. YouTube and Vimeo videos need an internet connection to play; video files saved on your computer don't.

Windows 10 and Windows 11. Mac and iPad versions are planned; watch this site for news. Your license covers up to two computers you own, such as a desktop and a laptop.

Set up your bakery name, address and logo in Settings, choose your state in My State, check the starter ingredients in the Pantry against your own packages, then add a recipe and print a label. Getting started walks through it.

Yes. Starting and Building a Home Bakery Business by Jeffrey Campbell, from Home and Hearth Press, teaches the business side step by step: cottage food laws, setting up, pricing, labels, selling and taxes. The program does the work the book explains. Find it at the book page.

Yes. Take the picture with your phone, then get it onto your computer: email it to yourself and save the attachment, or use OneDrive, iCloud for Windows or Google Photos. Then choose it with + Add photo… in Receipt from photo, Recipe from photos, or a recipe's Photos. iPhone photos: if your computer can't open them, set the iPhone's Camera → Formats to "Most Compatible".

My State summarizes your state's Cottage Food regulations from the latest publicly available laws, regulations and agency guidance: what you may sell, where and how, any yearly sales limit, registration and training, and the exact statement your labels must carry. Every state lists its official sources, so you can read them yourself.

It's a guide, not legal advice. Laws change, and your city, county, zoning or homeowners association may have its own rules. Always confirm with your state or local health department before selling.

Some states have more than one route, for example a cottage food registration and a separate exemption for farmers markets. Pick each one at the top of My State to compare what it allows, and choose the one you actually operate under. You can change it any time; your labels and sales limit follow your choice.

Each state shows the date its rules were last checked, at the top of My State and at the bottom of the menu. When a state changes its rules, Settings → Check for updates offers a state rules update, free, and shows you what changed before it's applied.

Most cottage food laws don't allow foods that need refrigeration for safety, and Home and Hearth Baker supports shelf-stable foods only. A few states allow more; My State shows what yours allows. Foods that need refrigeration usually require a licensed kitchen.

Yes. If your state has a limit, the Home screen shows your sales so far this year against it, and the bar changes color as you pass 80 percent. It counts the sales you record. Loans and money you put into the business aren't sales and don't count.

Yes. Each recipe can be measured by volume (cups and spoons) or by weight (grams and ounces), and you can switch between them. Behind the scenes the program turns every amount into a weight, using what a cup of each ingredient weighs, so it can cost the recipe and list ingredients in the right order on labels. See Recipes and costing.

An ingredient in that recipe is measured in cups or spoons, but the Pantry doesn't know what a cup of it weighs yet. Open the ingredient in the Pantry and fill in Weight of 1 cup. Common ingredients come filled in.

Enter your hourly wage and overhead per item once in Settings, and each recipe's time for one batch. The suggested price then covers ingredients, packaging, your time and overhead, plus a profit margin (20 percent unless you change it). Until you enter a wage, it leaves a margin on ingredients and packaging instead. It's a starting point; check what similar items sell for near you.

No. Change the price once in the Pantry, or use Restock when you buy more, and every recipe that uses it updates.

Yes. Click 📷 Receipt from photo on the Pantry screen and add a picture of the receipt. The program reads it on your computer, matches each line to your Pantry (it learns store shorthand like "GV UNSLTD BTR"), and you check it. Saving adds what you bought to what's on hand, updates the package prices so your recipe costs stay current, and records the expense in Bookkeeping with the receipt photo attached. See Restock from a store receipt photo.

Yes. Click 📷 Recipe from photos on the Recipes screen. Printed and typed recipes are read for you, on your computer; nothing is uploaded. If the photos are on your phone, email them to yourself or use OneDrive, iCloud or Google Photos to get them onto your computer first. Handwritten cards can't be read reliably, so the photos show beside empty boxes and you type the recipe in. Always check a recipe read from a photo before you bake or print labels. See Recipes from photos.

The label maker fills in what cottage food labels usually need: the product name, ingredients by weight with their sub-ingredients, allergens, net weight, your name and address, and your state's required statement in its required type size. The label checklist shows anything missing.

Two things are up to you: check each ingredient's sub-ingredients and allergens against your own packages (brands differ), and weigh a finished item for the net weight.

Labels must list ingredients from the heaviest to the lightest by weight in the recipe. The program works out the order for you, so it may differ from the order you mix them in.

Ordinary printers with label sheets such as Avery, and label printers such as Rollo, Zebra, DYMO and Brother. If your size isn't listed, add it with + Add a label size. See Labels, label printers and signs.

Some states require a sign where you sell, or a notice on your online checkout page. If yours does, My State says so, and the Table sign tab in Labels & Signs prints one with the exact wording.

When money comes in. A deposit counts on the day it's paid, and the balance counts when you click Delivered / picked up & paid. An order with nothing paid yet doesn't count toward your sales or your state's limit.

Click Cancel order. If a deposit was paid, the program asks whether you're keeping it or refunding it, and records a refund in your books if you give it back. The order stays in your list under Cancelled.

No. The program records how each customer paid (cash, check, card or Venmo); the payment itself goes through your card reader or payment app. Record the payouts that reach your bank in Bookkeeping.

Yes. ✉ Email… saves a PDF and starts an email to the customer. With Outlook the PDF is attached for you; with other email programs a folder opens with the PDF selected, so you can drag it into the email.

Yes. Record allergies on the customer's page, and the program warns you if an order for that customer contains them.

No, but it gets you ready. The Profit and Loss report, the IRS-ready mileage log, the self-employment tax estimate and Export for your accountant give your tax preparer, or your tax software, what they need. It's a record for you and your accountant, not tax advice.

Move money from the business account to your personal account and record it in the register as Owner's draw. It isn't a business expense; your taxes are based on the bakery's profit, not on what you draw.

The IRS standard rate in effect on each trip's date. For 2026 that's 72.5 cents a mile from January through June and 76 cents from July 1. Program updates add each new year's rate. To use a different rate, enter it in Settings.

Add it under Bookkeeping → Loans. The loan isn't income; each payment is split into interest, which is a business expense, and principal, which lowers what you owe. See Business loans.

Yes. Bookkeeping → Balance Sheet shows your bank balances and cash on hand, what you owe on cards and loans, and your share of the business on any date, ready to print for your accountant or a lender. Each loan also has a Ledger of every payment and the balance owed. See Balance Sheet.

In one file on your own computer. There's no account and nothing stored online; your recipes, customers and records never leave your computer unless you copy them somewhere yourself.

In Settings, use Back up now, or set up Automatic backups to a OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive folder or a USB drive. On a new computer, install the program and use Restore from a backup. See Backups and moving to a new computer.

It stays yours. Even after a free trial ends without a key, you can open and look at everything, back it up and export it.

You can still look at everything, back it up and export it, but you can't add, change or print anything until you enter a license key. Everything you entered during the trial is kept.

No. Home and Hearth Baker is licensed for a one-time fee, with no subscription. New versions and state rule updates are included at no extra cost.

Up to two computers you own, for your own business. Please don't sell, share or give away the program or your key. The full terms are under Settings → License key → License terms.

Search your email for your license email, which has the key attached as a file. If you can't find it, write to support@HomeandHearthBaker.com with the name and email address you bought with, and we'll send it again.

Look through the how-to topics in Help, or write to support@HomeandHearthBaker.com. A person will answer.