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Help centre

Answers, in the order you'll need them

Step-by-step guides that name the actual menus, the questions we get most, and a human to email when the guide doesn't cover it.

Getting set up

Installing, activating, and where your books actually live.

Install AcboBooks, activate your licence, and move it to a new PC

The installer, the SmartScreen prompt, where the trial clock lives, pasting your licence, and what to do when you replace your computer.

Getting set up · 6 min read

Your company file: where it is, how to back it up, how to restore

One .acbo file holds everything. How to find it, the automatic Backups folder, encrypted backups you can email, and restoring from any of them.

Getting set up · 7 min read

Every day

Invoices in, bills out, and the money in between.

Invoices: create, send, get paid, and deposit the money

From estimate to invoice to payment to bank deposit, with the two mistakes that make Undeposited Funds pile up.

Every day · 8 min read

Bills: enter, pay, print cheques, and track what you owe

Entering bills when they arrive, paying several at once, printing cheques, purchase orders, vendor credits and 1099s.

Every day · 7 min read

Banking

Statement lines in, reconciled every month, tax paid on time.

Bank feeds and reconciliation: match, add, rule, reconcile

Getting statement lines in by OFX file or Direct Connect, matching them to what you entered, rules for the regulars, and a clean reconciliation every month.

Banking · 9 min read

Sales tax: US state tax and Canadian GST/HST, from setup to payment

Setting up rates, taxable items and customers, what prints on the invoice, the liability report, and paying the agency.

Banking · 6 min read

Protect your books

Who can do what, and more than one person at once.

Users, roles, passwords and the audit log

The first administrator, adding staff with the right role, the accountant invite, what the audit log records, and the one password that cannot be recovered.

Protect your books · 6 min read

Two or more people at once: multi-user over your office network

One PC hosts the file, the others connect over the LAN. Setting it up, the firewall rule, record locking, what only the host can do, and when to stop hosting.

Protect your books · 7 min read

Closing the books

Month-end, year-end, and working with your accountant.

Month-end and year-end: the checklist, the closing date, and the year-end close

A month-end routine that takes an hour, locking closed periods, giving your accountant what they need, posting their adjustments, and closing the year.

Closing the books · 8 min read

Troubleshooting

The messages you might see, and what to do about each.

Troubleshooting: the messages you might see and what to do

Database is locked, out of balance, a file that will not open, a closed period, a missing bank line, a stuck sample company, and what to send support.

Troubleshooting · 7 min read

Longer guides

The four big ones

Each is a full walkthrough rather than a how-to: read once, then come back to the help articles above for the details.

Getting started

Your first hour: company setup, opening balances, first invoice, first reconciliation.

Move from QuickBooks

IIF export, live pull, what maps, how to verify the totals.

Payroll & year-end

Employees, withholding, pay stubs, W-2 e-file, AccuWage.

For accountants

Sharing the file, multi-user on the LAN, closing periods.

Quick answers

The questions we answer most

Company → Company Settings shows the full path. It's a single .acbo file; copy it to back it up. AcboBooks also keeps automatic backups beside it before any migration or year-end close.

Install AcboBooks on the new PC, copy your .acbo file over, open it, and paste your licence under Help → License. The old installation can simply be uninstalled.

On the host PC: Company → Multi-user Hosting → Start hosting. On the other PC: Connect to a host on the welcome screen. Records lock while someone edits them; everyone else keeps working.

Every entry must have equal debits and credits. The form shows the difference at the bottom; fix the line amounts or add the missing line. AcboBooks never saves an unbalanced entry.

That period is closed. An administrator moves the closing date back under Company → Company Settings, you make the change, and the audit log records it.

Match the downloaded line to the transaction you already entered instead of adding it. If you already added it, delete the added one and match the feed line.

It cannot be recovered — not by us either. Restore from a backup made before the password was set, or re-import your data into a new company.

Still stuck?

Email us with what you were doing, what you expected, and what happened. Screenshots help. We reply within one business day; licence holders get priority.

info@acbobooks.com

Never email your company file or passwords. We'll tell you exactly what to send if we need more.