Accountant Tools

A dedicated workspace built for CPAs and bookkeepers who serve multiple clients from a single desktop.

Note: Remote Client Access is available with an Accountant Pro or Accountant Enterprise license. The remaining accountant features are included in Professional tier and higher.

Client Access - Connect to Client Books

Accountant Pro and Accountant Enterprise license holders can reach into a client's Kantivo installation over a private, encrypted tunnel. There is no need to exchange database backups or share login credentials -- an invitation-based system paired with Tailscale VPN handles the entire connection securely.

Prerequisites: Tailscale VPN (Free)

The connection layer relies on Tailscale, a zero-configuration VPN that is free for personal use. Both you and your client must have it installed.

New to Tailscale, or can't remember where the admin URLs are? See the dedicated Tailscale Setup page — a focused reference with the three URLs to bookmark, sharing walkthrough, and troubleshooting (including the Windows tray icon fix). The summary below covers the Kantivo-specific bits.

Why Tailscale? It delivers military-grade encryption without requiring network expertise. Data travels directly between two machines over a private mesh network; nothing is routed through public infrastructure. The free Personal tier covers all the functionality Kantivo needs.

Complete Setup: For Clients (Business Owners)

There are now two ways to connect, and the steps below are the longer one. Most businesses no longer need any of it. In Settings → Accountant Access, switching on the relay connection lets your accountant in with nothing but a short code — no Tailscale, no IP address, no device sharing. Follow the Tailscale route below only when you need the stricter guarantee that your books never pass through Kantivo's servers, which is usually a compliance requirement for legal, medical and public-sector work rather than a preference. The invitation email your accountant receives states which route applies to them.

Step 1: Install Tailscale

Grab the installer from tailscale.com/download
Run it and authenticate with your Google, Microsoft, or email account
Confirm you see the green "Connected" indicator

Step 2: Generate a Kantivo Invitation

Launch Kantivo and navigate to Settings → Accountant Access
Type in your accountant's email address and choose a permission level (Read-Only or Full)
Press Create Invitation
An email containing your Tailscale IP and a one-time Invitation Code is sent to the accountant automatically

Step 3: Share Your Machine on Tailscale

Visit login.tailscale.com/admin/machines
Find your computer in the device list and click on it
Press Share, then type in your accountant's email
Tailscale sends them a separate share-acceptance email

That covers the client side of the Tailscale route. Your accountant will receive two emails: one from Kantivo with the IP and invitation code, and one from Tailscale to accept the device share. After accepting both, the connection is live. On the relay route there is only one email and no device share — they enter the code and they are in.

Complete Setup: For Accountants

Step 1: Install Tailscale

Download from tailscale.com/download
Authenticate using the same email address your clients will share with
Wait until the status shows green and connected

Step 2: Accept the Client's Tailscale Share

Look for the Tailscale share invitation in your inbox
Click the acceptance link in the email
Alternatively, open the Tailscale admin panel → navigate to "Shared with you" → Accept

Step 3: Redeem the Kantivo Invitation

Open the Kantivo invitation email and note the Tailscale IP and Invitation Code
In your own Kantivo, go to Settings → Accountant Access
Scroll to Accept Client Invitation
Paste the client's Tailscale IP into the first field
Paste the Invitation Code into the second field
Press Accept Invitation

Step 4: Open Client Books

Open the Company Selector dropdown in the header bar
Your own companies appear alongside client companies, which are labeled with a "CLIENT" badge
Select any client company to load their data
A banner confirms you are currently working inside a client's books
Press Return to My Books whenever you want to switch back to your own data

Tip: The Tailscale device-sharing step only needs to happen once per client relationship. Going forward, all you need is for both Tailscale apps to be active to establish the connection.

Managing Access

Clients can:

Review outstanding invitations that have not yet been redeemed
See a list of every accountant who currently holds access
Revoke Kantivo access for any accountant instantly
Remove device shares from the Tailscale admin console

Accountants can:

Browse a unified list of all connected clients
Jump into any client's books with a single click
Sever a client connection when the engagement wraps up

Troubleshooting

Unable to reach a client?

Make sure Tailscale is running and showing a connected status on both machines
Confirm the client has accepted the Tailscale share invitation
Verify the client's computer is powered on and Kantivo is actively running
Attempt to ping the client's Tailscale IP (addresses begin with 100.x.x.x) to rule out network issues

Invitation code rejected?

Invitation codes are valid for 30 days; the client can generate a fresh one if the window has passed
Double-check for copy-paste errors (codes are not case-sensitive)

Client Staff - Add Your Whole Team for Licensed Clients

Seats on a Kantivo plan cover the books you keep yourself. Colleagues who only touch licensed clients - the ones running their own copy of Kantivo, which you connect into remotely - fall outside the seat count entirely. Every accountant plan allows as many of them as you like, the free Partner plan included.

Creating one

Open ⚙️ Company Settings → 👨‍💼 Accountant Access. Under your list of connected clients you'll find Client Staff. Choose Add Client Staff, give them a name, an email address and a starting password, then tick the clients they're allowed into.

Access is granted client by client

Someone added this way begins with nothing assigned. Pick their clients one at a time, or switch on Every client this practice is connected to so future connections are included automatically. The Clients button beside each person reopens the list whenever the work shifts around.

Where the boundary sits

Books kept on your own installation stay off limits - those are what seats are for
Unassigned clients never appear in their list
Managing other staff is reserved for practice administrators

In practice. Priya's firm is on Accountant Pro: one seat, five hosted books. The firm's own ledger and four retainer clients sit in those. Fourteen further clients run Kantivo themselves. Priya brings in three colleagues as Client Staff at no cost and splits those fourteen between them. Each colleague sees only their own share, and the subscription stays exactly where it was.

Client Dashboard

The Client Dashboard provides a panoramic view of every company you manage:

All client companies displayed in a compact grid
Status badges that flag which books are current and which need work
Direct links to open any company without navigating through menus
Filtering options by status, industry, or date of last activity

Multi-Company Management

Transitioning between client entities is designed to be frictionless:

Open the company selector in the top header area
Pick the entity you want to work on
Every screen, report, and data view immediately reflects that company's records
Kantivo remembers your display preferences for each company separately

Tip: Press Ctrl+Shift+C on your keyboard for instant access to the company switcher without reaching for the mouse.

Multi-Tab & Multi-Window Isolation

You can open the same Kantivo session in multiple browser tabs or windows and work on a different company in each one. Each tab maintains its own independent company context:

Switching companies in Tab A has no effect on Tab B
Reports, transactions, and charts of accounts stay correctly scoped to each tab's selected company
New tabs automatically inherit your most recent company selection as a starting point
Works across multiple monitors — drag each window to a different screen for maximum visibility

Tip: Use Ctrl+Shift+N to open a new window, then select a different company in it. Both windows operate independently — ideal for side-by-side financial comparisons.

Batch Operations

Execute common tasks against several companies at once to save time:

Batch Close Period: Finalize month-end across multiple entities in a single pass
Batch Reports: Queue up report generation for your entire client list simultaneously
Batch Backup: Export data files for every company in one operation

Client Notes & Tasks

Organize observations and to-do items on a per-client basis:

Notes

Attach free-form notes to any company
Notes are private to accountant-level users and are not visible to business owners
Full-text search spans every note across all clients

Tasks

Create action items with specific due dates
Link tasks to individual companies or leave them as general reminders
Assign priority levels to stay focused on what matters most
Check off items as you complete them

Consolidated Reports

Produce unified financial statements that span multiple companies, including consolidated income statements, balance sheets, combined trial balances, comparative profit and loss views, and a client summary dashboard.

→ Read the full Consolidated Reports guide

Note: Consolidated Reports are restricted to True Enterprise and Accountant Enterprise license tiers.