Buying and Updates & Cloud Services
Is this a subscription?
No. Solid Accounting is a one-time purchase: $349 for Standard, $499 for Professional, $699 for Accountant. You keep using the version you bought. Each purchase includes year 1 of Updates & Cloud Services (optional, yearly). Renewing after that is optional. Compare tiers.
What does Updates & Cloud Services include?
It's optional and yearly: $99 for Standard, $129 for Professional, $179 for Accountant (year 1 is included with the purchase). Every tier gets new releases, tax table updates, bank feeds (3 / 5 / 10 bank logins by tier), encrypted cloud backup (3 / 5 / 10 GB), Cloud Invoicing, and support — standard email on Standard, priority email on Professional and Accountant. It also covers the Accountant’s Copy transfer service: every tier can send copies and get edits back when their accountant has the service, and the Accountant tier receives and returns client copies. Extra bank logins are $3/month each.
What if I stop renewing?
Stop paying and the version you bought keeps working. New releases, bank feeds, encrypted cloud backup from Solid Accounting, and Cloud Invoicing need Updates & Cloud Services; your existing cloud backups stay restorable. Your own AI assistant and QuickBooks migration keep working. Renewing Updates & Cloud Services.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. 30-day free trial. 30-day money-back guarantee. The trial is the full app with every feature, for 30 days.
What's the refund policy?
30-day money-back guarantee from the date of purchase. Email support@solidaccounting.com, or reply to your receipt, with your license key or order number for a full refund. A reason is optional. Once the refund is processed, your license is deactivated and your copy stops working; your company file stays on your computer. Refunds.
How many people can use it?
Standard includes up to 3 users, Professional up to 5, and Accountant up to 10. Extra users are $100 each on any tier, one time. A user is a person signed in at the same time, so one person on a laptop and a desktop counts once. Add-on users.
Can I install it on more than one computer?
Yes. Activate each computer with your Solid Accounting account or your license key. Your account page lists the computers where your license is active. To move to a new computer, choose Settings → License & Updates → Deactivate on the old one first, then activate the new one. License keys.
Why do bank feeds need Updates & Cloud Services?
Each live bank connection costs us money every month, so bank feeds come with Updates & Cloud Services: 3 / 5 / 10 bank logins by tier, and $3/month for each extra login. Importing statement files (OFX, QFX, CSV, PDF statements) works on every tier, with or without Updates & Cloud Services. Bank feeds.
Can I transfer my license to another person?
No. A license stays with the person or business that bought it and can't be transferred. A new owner buys their own license; you can hand over the company file itself.
Features
How does multi-user work?
Standard: Up to 3 named users on one computer, each with their own sign-in. Professional and Accountant: Share the company file with other computers on your network (up to 5 / 10 named users). On Professional and Accountant, the computer that holds the company file shares it with the others, which pair once with a code; that computer has to stay on while others work. Roles (Admin, Bookkeeper, Accountant, Read Only) are built in. Setting up multi-user.
Is Cloud Invoicing an add-on?
No. Creating, printing, and emailing PDF invoices is built in. With Updates & Cloud Services, invoice emails also carry a link to view the invoice online. Card payments from that link are coming soon; your payment processor's card fees will apply.
Can I use AI with my books?
Yes. Connect your own AI assistant: Claude or ChatGPT on every tier, Gemini and other MCP apps on Professional and Accountant. On-device AI is coming soon. Your assistant can answer questions about your books, work your bank feeds, and fix a mistake in the original transaction after you approve it. AI assistants.
Does it run payroll?
No. You run payroll with your payroll provider, and Solid Accounting posts the results to your books. Import your provider's export (Gusto, OnPay, and ADP exports are recognized) or enter a pay run by hand in Payroll → Payroll Center. Both work on every tier. Payroll.
Is there an API?
Yes. Professional and Accountant include a local REST API (Settings → AI & Integrations → Apps & API). It stays off until you start it or create a key, and it only accepts connections from your own computer. REST API.
What computers does it run on?
Windows 10 or later (64-bit). macOS 10.15 or later on Apple Silicon or Intel; the Mac app isn't signed by Apple yet, so the first launch needs Open Anyway in System Settings → Privacy & Security. 64-bit Linux, as an AppImage for most distributions or a .deb for Ubuntu and Debian. You need 4 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended) and 500 MB of disk space. Installation.
Do I need an internet connection?
Solid Accounting doesn't need a constant internet connection: day-to-day bookkeeping works without a continuous connection. Bank feeds, cloud backup, and Cloud Invoicing need internet when they run. Activating a license also needs the internet.
Moving your books
Can I move from QuickBooks® Desktop?
Yes. Choose File → Import → QuickBooks® Migration… (or Migrate from QuickBooks® Desktop on the Welcome screen). The Migration Tool reads your QuickBooks® company without changing it and turns it into a new Solid Accounting company file: accounts and lists, customers, vendors, items, and transactions. It ends with an account-by-account comparison against QuickBooks® so you can check the numbers. Migrate from QuickBooks Desktop.
What about QuickBooks® Online, Xero®, FreshBooks®, or Wave?
Those don't give you a company file to take away, so the move is a cutover. Pick a date, save your reports from the old software, enter opening balances from its trial balance in Company → Opening Balances…, then import bank and card activity from that date on with File → Import → Import Transactions…. Your account with the old software isn't changed. All migration paths.
How long does moving from QuickBooks® Desktop take?
For a typical small-business company file, minutes to import, then an hour or two checking balances against your old books. Large files with many years of history take longer to check.
How does Solid Accounting compare to QuickBooks®, Xero, or FreshBooks?
The switch pages for QuickBooks Online, Xero, and FreshBooks set the two side by side: what the other product does well, its list price over five years, and how to move your books. If you're still unsure, email support@solidaccounting.com and we'll tell you honestly which fits you better. Compare and switch.
Your data and backups
Where is my data stored?
In your company file on your computer. New company files go in Documents\Solid Accounting unless you choose another place. Keep it on a local drive: to work from several computers, share it over your network from inside the app, not from a shared folder. Don't keep the file you work in inside a sync folder like Dropbox or OneDrive.
Can you read my books?
No. The company file is encrypted on your computer, and we don't have your password or your recovery phrase. Encrypted cloud backup is encrypted on your computer before it uploads, with a key only you hold. Security whitepaper.
How do I back up my books?
Choose Company → Back Up Company File… and turn on backup. Send backups to encrypted cloud backup (included with Updates & Cloud Services: 3 / 5 / 10 GB by tier), a folder or USB drive, or your own S3-compatible storage. Backups are encrypted on your computer before they leave it. Write down the recovery phrase the app shows. Backing up your books.
What if I lose my password?
For cloud backups, the recovery phrase (12 words; 24 for backups set up before version 26.10) gets you back in. For the company file, use its recovery phrase if you created one (Forgot password? Use recovery phrase). If you lose both the password and the phrase, the data can't be recovered.
Can I get my data out?
Yes. Reports export to PDF and CSV, and tax data exports to TXF. For your accountant there's File → Export → Year-End Package… and File → Accountant's Copy → Export Accountant's Copy…. Even if your trial ends or your license stops working, you can open your company file and export a copy.
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