Before you start, you'll need a current AccountEdge subscription and the email address on it. Here's the full setup, step by step.
Step 1 — Set up your account
Confirm your subscription. You need a current AccountEdge subscription to run AccountEdge AI. On Mac, click AccountEdge in the top menu bar, then click Check for Updates. On Windows, click Help > Check for Updates.
Add the AccountEdge AI plan. Log in to My Account and add AccountEdge AI to your existing subscription. Pick your plan — $50/month or $100/month for Plus. (Not sure which? AccountEdge AI Plans and Pricing has the comparison.) All plans start with a 7-day free trial — you won't be charged until the trial ends, and your first charge is prorated to align with your AccountEdge billing cycle.
Step 2 — Link AccountEdge AI
After signing up, you'll link AccountEdge AI to your company file. This authorizes a read-only connection — AccountEdge AI can see your data to build reports, but it can never change anything in your file.
Link AccountEdge AI. In AccountEdge, open the AI Command Center — the AI tab on the toolbar. Click Set Up AccountEdge AI, then click Link AccountEdge AI.
Verify your email. Enter the email address on your AccountEdge subscription. You'll get a 6-digit verification code by email. Enter the code and click Verify.
Create your workspace. The workspace name defaults to your company file name. Edit the name if you want something different. Click Allow Access to start your initial sync.
Confirm the sync. Return to AccountEdge and click OK. Once your initial sync completes, you'll see a date and time stamp.
Your first sync takes time based on the size of your company file. Once the date and time stamp appears in AccountEdge, the AccountEdge AI server ingests the data, which also takes time. While AccountEdge is sending, the AI tab shows syncing. If you open AccountEdge AI before ingestion finishes, you'll see Initial sync is still in process — once that clears, you're ready to go. After this, syncing follows the schedule you set — hourly by default — so your reports stay current.
Step 3 — Ask your first question
Open AccountEdge AI. Click Visit AccountEdge AI or go directly to app.accountedge.ai. Enter your email address — we email you a six-digit code to log in. AccountEdge AI works in any standard modern browser — Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox.
Create your first project. Type what you want to see in plain English — something like "Show revenue by month for the last 12 months" or "Give me an accounts receivable aging report with collection risk" — and AccountEdge AI builds it.
The result is called a Project. You can refine it with follow-up questions, and it saves automatically. Creating and Enhancing Prompts in AccountEdge AI has tips for getting the best results.
What you can do in Setup after your initial sync
Once you're linked, the AI tab shows your last sync and when the next one is due, plus three buttons: Sync AccountEdge AI to send your latest changes now, Manage AccountEdge AI to open Setup, and Visit AccountEdge AI. In Setup you'll find:
Sync timestamp — shows when you last synced.
Sync frequency — choose Manually, Hourly (default), Daily, Every Other Day, or Weekly. If you choose Hourly and close AccountEdge, the countdown keeps running in the background. Reopening the app does not reset it.
Advanced settings:
Batch processing — sets the number of batches synced at the same time. We recommend leaving this at the default. A higher number can speed things up for large syncs; if you run into errors, lowering it often helps.
Records per batch — sets the number of records sent in each batch during sync. We recommend leaving this at the default.
Initiate AccountEdge AI on startup — launches AccountEdge AI automatically when you open AccountEdge.
Force Sync Now — replaces all your AccountEdge AI data with your current AccountEdge data. Use this only if you see errors in your data or tech support instructs you to.
Open Log — view your sync history and troubleshoot errors.
Unlink — stops your company file from syncing with AccountEdge AI. Your company file in AccountEdge is never affected.
If you're on the Plus plan
You can connect up to 3 company files. The setup steps above get your first file linked — link each additional file the same way, then switch between them from the company-file selector in the top left. Users are added under Settings > User management inside AccountEdge AI. AccountEdge AI Plus — Teams and Multiple Files covers the details.