Questions

Short answers to the things people ask most, and real questions from Switchbooks users answered publicly by the founder.

Ask a question

Common questions

Getting started

I connected my bank and a thousand transactions landed in To Review. What now?
That is normal for a first connection. Nothing reaches your reports until it is posted, so take it in passes. Ask Elliott to post everything he is sure about, review what he lists as doubtful, and make a rule for any vendor that repeats. A few hundred rows usually takes one chat.
Why are new transactions blank when they arrive?
Rules run as soon as a transaction arrives, and the assistant fills empty categories and payees shortly after. If a row stays blank, it means nothing matched and the suggestion was not sure. Ask Elliott to categorize it, or make a rule for that vendor.
Does anything post by itself?
Only a rule with auto-post switched on. Suggestions fill fields and wait. There is no company-wide auto-post setting; when you want the queue cleared, ask Elliott.
I signed up through Claude and have no company. Where do I start?
Open Switchbooks in the browser, create your company, and connect a bank from the Banking page. Then go back to Claude and ask it to list your Switchbooks companies.

Working with Elliott

Elliott stopped and asked me instead of finishing. How do I get him to just do it?
Tell him. "Use your best guess, post all of them, I will fix anything later" works. He posts what he is confident about, lists the rows he was unsure of, and every change can be undone from the chat.
Elliott put client payments in a general revenue category instead of my specific ones.
He picks the most specific category he can defend from your history and the description. When the right category is one only you know, say so once, and ask him to make a rule so the next payment files the same way.
Elliott categorized everything but left payees blank.
He names a payee only when it is clear who was paid. Ask him to fill payees for a set of rows, or give him the vendor name once and ask for a rule.
Can I undo what Elliott did?
Yes. Ask him to list his recent changes and undo any of them. Unposting returns a transaction to To Review. Permanent actions, such as deleting or merging, only happen after you type yes.
Can I give Elliott a receipt, a statement, or a spreadsheet?
Yes. Drop PDF, CSV, Excel, OFX, or photos into the chat. A bank statement imports after a preview, a receipt attaches to the matching transaction, and a sheet of journal lines books as journal entries. He will say plainly if a file is unreadable.
Can Elliott check the books every week without me asking?
Yes, if you turn on the weekly books check in Settings under Automation. He reviews the books and leaves one short note only when something is new. On a schedule he only does work that can be undone.

AI assistants

Can I use Switchbooks from Claude, Cursor or Grok Bot?
Yes. In Claude, connect Switchbooks from the Claude directory at https://claude.ai/directory/switchbooks. In Cursor, add it from https://cursor.com/marketplace/switchbooks. In Grok Bot, install the Switchbooks plugin from the marketplace at https://x.ai/bot/plugin/71396845. Either one can read your books and, if you allow it, make changes you can undo.
What can a connected assistant not do?
It cannot connect a bank, send email or invitations, share a report, merge accounts, delete files, or remove teammates. Those happen in the app.

Bank connections

My bank balance in Switchbooks looks a day behind.
Balances are as of the last sync, and the bank reports pending charges separately. Pending rows show grayed in To Review and cannot be posted until the bank clears them. Click Update on the account to fetch a fresh balance.
My bank stopped syncing. What do I do?
Reconnect it from the Banking page, or ask Elliott for a reconnect link. Reconnecting keeps all history, and anything the bank replays is deduplicated.
How far back does a bank connection import?
Three months by default. The company owner can set the lookback per account from 30 days up to two years. Older history can be imported from statement files.
My bank is not supported. Can I still use Switchbooks?
Yes. Create a non-connected account and import statements as CSV, Excel, PDF, or OFX. Every import shows a preview before anything is created.
A transfer between my accounts shows as two transactions a week apart.
A week in transit is normal. Ask Elliott to match them as one transfer at their real bank dates. Never change a bank date to make them line up.

Migrating from QuickBooks

What do I export from QuickBooks Online?
Three CSV files: the Vendor Contact List, the Account List, and the Journal for the dates you want. Upload them in Settings, or drop them into the chat. Payees, accounts, and transactions come over with a preview at each step.
After importing, I have the same credit card listed several times.
QuickBooks often carries one card as several accounts. Connect the real card through your bank; Switchbooks links it to an imported account that shares the last four digits. Then use Merge Accounts on the Banking page, or ask Elliott, to fold the duplicates into it. History is kept.
After merging accounts my books are off by the starting balance.
The starting balance on a connected account is the bank's balance on the day you connected, not an opening. Ask Elliott to book the opening balance; he previews what ties the books to the bank and removes any entry that double counts.
I am coming from Xero, FreshBooks, or a spreadsheet, not QuickBooks.
The guided import is QuickBooks Online only. For anything else, export transactions as CSV or Excel and import them into the matching account. No column mapping to set up.

Accountants and clients

I am a bookkeeper. How do I ask my client what a transaction was for?
Select the rows in To Review and choose Add to request, then send it from the Requests page. Your client answers from an email link without logging in, and the answer lands on the transaction. You can ask for files the same way.
Can my accountant work in my books?
Yes. Invite them from the team settings the same way you invite anyone. Accountants work in every client company from one login with the same access to the books as a member, and can bring their own firm team in without you lifting a finger. Only the owner can delete the company or transfer ownership.
Can I see all my companies together?
Yes. Consolidated Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, and Snapshot are included for every company you can access, with a column per company.

Reports and sharing

How do I send reports to someone outside Switchbooks?
Share a live link to any report, export to Excel or PDF, or ask Elliott to email a Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, or Cash Flow PDF to a teammate.
Can I see the transactions behind a report line?
Click any line on a Profit & Loss or Balance Sheet to open the transactions behind it, with a running balance. Shared links support the same drill-down.

Pricing

What does it cost?
$25 per month per company, every feature included. Every company starts with a 10-day free trial and no credit card.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. There are no contracts.

Answered questions

How do I do a consolidated P&L for my three companies?

All three companies live in your one Switchbooks login, so there is nothing to export or map. Open the consolidated P&L, pick the companies you want to see together, and the report builds itself wi...

Asked by Ryland B. · Answered October 6, 2026

What happens if Elliott categorizes something wrong?

Tell him. "That Amazon charge was equipment, not supplies." He fixes the row, and if you want it to stick, he makes a rule so the same vendor lands right next time. Every change Elliott makes is re...

Asked by Ryland B. · Answered October 6, 2026

Can I use Switchbooks without connecting my bank?

Yes. You can import CSV, Excel, PDF or OFX files from your bank instead, and Elliott works through them the same way he works through a live feed. The bank connection is better, because it keeps th...

Asked by Ryland B. · Answered October 6, 2026

Your books, done.

$25/month. Every feature included.

Get started