AE Connect

• Confirm whether the customer means AEC (AccountEdge Connect, in the browser) or AED (AccountEdge Desktop) -- the fixes are usually different depending on which side the issue is actually on.
• For Billing Schedule questions, remember that BS can mean Billing Schedule in AEC, not just Balance Sheet.
• If Apps4Rent/hosted support already worked the issue and sent the customer back, use the AE Hosted escalation template.

AccountEdge Connect is the name for AccountEdge's add-on service accessed via a web browser -- a collaboration tool for remote employees/vendors, or anyone in the office who doesn't want or need AccountEdge Pro on their computer. It works across all devices, but does not have the full functionality of AccountEdge Desktop. AEC allows entering sales, recording purchases and bills, emailing invoices so customers can pay online, spending and receiving money, entering time sheets and activity slips, and managing contacts. Think of it as a satellite to AccountEdge Pro on the desktop.

Not a standalone accounting solution -- it requires a copy of AccountEdge Pro to sync to. Not for running reports, payroll, or general accounting.

Makes the most sense for people who bill based on time -- lawyers, graphic designers, freelance IT support -- or anyone who just handles customer invoice creation but works outside the office.

AEC is hosted by Amazon. Data entered into AEC is encrypted in transit using 256-bit SSL (the same level used by banks). Sensitive data, including merchant account credentials, is encrypted using AES, and AEC does not store credit card numbers. AEC only stores certain data synced from the desktop -- it does not contain the complete company file.

Cost varies by the number of users entering information through AEC.

1. Sign up for an AccountEdge Connect account (if not already done).
2. After receiving the confirmation email, click the Activate link inside it.
3. In AccountEdge Desktop, with the company file open, go to Setup > AccountEdge Connect (top of the screen).
4. Enter the email address and password used when signing up for the AEC account.
5. Click Link to link the company file to the account.
6. Click Sync to perform the initial sync -- this may take a while depending on company file size (number of customers, items, jobs, etc.).
7. Once complete, click Close.

Once set up, log into AccountEdge Connect. Employee users can be activated so others can enter data -- only the admin (the account used to originally sign up) has access to AEC's settings and preferences.

Sync any time by clicking the cloud icon in the upper right of the Command Center, or Sync (bottom of Command Center) > AccountEdge Connect. AccountEdge Desktop sends updated/new data up to AEC and pulls down any new transactions and records (sales, customers, jobs, activity slips, payments, etc.).

All syncing between AEC and AccountEdge Desktop happens from the desktop side -- nothing needs to be done in AEC itself to sync (aside from entering new information). On the initial sync, all cards, items, sales (closed, open, and credit memos), and purchases (closed, open, and debit memos) sync over.

Any of these perform a standard sync: Setup > AccountEdge Connect > Manage AccountEdge Connect > Sync; or Sync > AccountEdge Connect from the bottom of the Command Center; or the AccountEdge Connect icon in the Command Center window (next to Card File). A standard sync picks up new changes since the last sync in both directions (cards created in either place, sales/activity slips created in AEC syncing down to desktop, etc.).

Setup > Preferences > Security > Connect Force Sync. A force sync repopulates AEC with all current master-list information (customers, items, etc.) -- existing transactions (sales, activity slips, etc.) already in AEC remain there.

Desktop can be unlinked from AEC. Unlinking and then re-linking removes all information from AEC, and any unsynced information in AEC is lost -- re-linking behaves as though the two had never been linked before (the initial sync happens again). To unlink: Setup > AccountEdge Connect > Manage AccountEdge Connect (menu bar or Connect command center icon) > Unlink.

The company file being synced is different from the one that last synced with AEC. Happens with multiple company files syncing to the same AEC account, or after changing the Company Name in Setup > Company Information (changing the file name itself has no impact -- only the Company Name field matters). Clicking OK removes all data from AEC and replaces it with the desktop's info, and any users will need to be reactivated. Clicking Cancel leaves AEC's data alone.

Same company file, but its information differs from the last sync. Caused by restoring a backup, or unlinking and re-linking to the same file. This also clears AEC and replaces it with desktop's data -- if unlinked without a prior backup, there's no way to relink without losing the Connect-only information.

AEC should respect item price levels and quantity breaks as set in AccountEdge Desktop. If discounted pricing (e.g. buy-5 discounts) isn't reflected in AEC, export the items and verify the quantity/price breaks are actually set up correctly in the export -- adjust and re-import as needed.

• What specifically isn't syncing -- does anything sync properly? Not everything syncs both ways: sales created in AccountEdge Desktop do not sync up to AEC, but sales created in AEC do sync down to desktop. Cards created in either place sync to the other.
• Any error messages? 401 means the username/password is wrong, or the account was never activated (also happens if Dropbox sync was selected but the AccountEdge version actually uses Direct Sync). 404 can mean the AEC server is down -- contact us via website chat.
• Can the customer reach the AEC site at all? A local internet connection problem will cause sync failures.
• Has sync ever worked on this machine? If never, a local firewall/antivirus may be blocking it -- try another machine if available.
• Does the email in Setup > AccountEdge Connect > Manage AccountEdge Connect match the Administrator login used on the AEC website?
• What OS is in use? AEC Direct Sync requires at least OS X 10.8 -- earlier versions have an encryption issue that blocks proper sync.

1. Back up the company file first.
2. Create a test entry in AEC for whatever isn't syncing (customer, activity slip, sale, item, etc.) and attempt to sync.
3. For non-transaction records (cards, items, jobs), also try creating the entry in desktop and syncing up.
4. If nothing syncs properly, try Force Sync.
5. If it still doesn't sync, unlink and re-link as a last resort -- this clears all AEC data (print anything unsynced to PDF first as a record; there's no way to actually save it) and deactivates all user accounts, which the admin will need to reactivate.
6. If none of this resolves it, contact us with as much detail as possible.

Have the user update their password in AED. This typically happens when a user changes their AEC admin password -- they need to make the same change in AED under Setup > AEC so the two stay in sync.

Some transactions don't sync correctly and have to be manually corrected in AccountEdge Desktop. Once resolved on the desktop side, the transaction can be manually marked as synced in AEC so subsequent syncs skip it rather than repeatedly flagging it as a sync error.

1. Log into AccountEdge Connect with the admin email.
2. Go to Settings > General (top left) > General Setting (bottom left) > enable Synced/Delete.
3. Find the failing transaction in AEC. Opening it reveals a drop-down preference at the bottom -- mark it as synced.

Once marked, the sync function skips that transaction on all future syncs to the desktop version.

AEC lets you set preferences for who customers see their invoices coming from, the reply-to address, CC recipients, the default email signature, and the default email body text.

1. Log in to cloud.accountedge.com with the Connect admin account.
2. Welcome > Settings (upper right) > General (upper left) > Email Configuration (left side, under General).

If a user can't email or download invoices through AEC, the invoice template's logo attachment is a likely cause. Swapping out or clearing the logo file has been known to resolve this.

1. Click the AccountEdge Connect logo (top left) and go to the General section.
2. Select PDF Customization on the left.
3. Click the dropdown arrow next to "Set your company logo and styling".
4. Either re-select the logo image file, or uncheck "Display Logo in header" to clear the logo from the template entirely.

The user should then be able to send and download invoices normally.

AEC receives its tax code list from AccountEdge Desktop. Currently, AEC only handles tax codes with decimal places (e.g. 9.5%) correctly when the computer's language is set to English -- if the language is French, the decimal point displays as a comma, and AEC will instead only pick up the whole-number portion (9.5% becomes just 9%).

1. Set the computer's language to English (needs to stay this way).
2. Lists > Tax Codes -- edit the tax code's name (e.g. add a "Z" to the end).
3. Sync with AEC.
4. Log out of AEC and back in.
5. Edit the tax code's name back to what it should be.
6. Sync with AEC again, then log out and back in.

1. Log into cloud.accountedge.com with the admin account.
2. Welcome > Settings (upper right) > Users (upper left).
3. Select the Employee or Vendor card file -- confirm it has an email address entered, since this becomes their User ID.
4. Click the green Activate button at the bottom.

A message confirms the activation instructions were emailed to the user. Have them check spam/junk if it doesn't show up, and follow the instructions there to activate the account.

If a sale was created in AccountEdge Desktop, synced to AEC, and paid in AEC, the payment must be voided in AccountEdge Desktop -- not in AEC. After the sale is paid in AEC, sync the payment down to desktop and void it there.

This only applies to sales that originated in AccountEdge Desktop. For any sale that started in AEC, the payment can be voided directly in AEC.

Zapier automates workflows between AccountEdge Connect and thousands of third-party applications. The integration is one-way: Zapier extracts data from AEC, it does not push data back into it. Since Zapier only integrates with web-based apps, it connects to AEC -- not directly to AccountEdge Pro on the desktop.

• An active AccountEdge Connect subscription.
• A Zapier account (free or paid).
• Login credentials for AccountEdge Connect.
• Permission to access integrations in Zapier.

1. Sign in to Zapier and go to App Connections.
2. Search for AccountEdge Connect in the app search bar and select it as the trigger application.
3. In AEC, go to Settings > General > Zapier Integration and copy the App Secret Key and Access Token.
4. Paste those credentials into the Zapier connection popup, then authorize Zapier to access the AEC data.
5. Back in Zapier, click Create Zap, search for AccountEdge Connect again, select it as the trigger, and test the trigger.
6. Set up the destination (action) app: choose where the data should go (e.g. Google Sheets, a CRM, email tool), choose the action event, map AEC fields to the destination fields, and test the action.

Customer, Lead, Vendor, Get Customer, Update Customer, Item Sale, Get Employee, Get Activity, Get Card.

Customer, Lead, Vendor, Time Activity, Update Card, Customer Search, Vendor Search, Account Search, Sale Search, Item Search.

• Confirm the AEC subscription is active.
• Re-authenticate AEC in Zapier if the Zap stopped running unexpectedly.
• Confirm the trigger event is actually occurring in AEC.
• Check Zapier's task history for detailed error messages/logs.

What's needed to get started? An AccountEdge Connect subscription and a Zapier account.

Any extra charge? Just the cost of the AEC and Zapier accounts -- no additional integration fee.

Does a free Zapier account work? Yes, though limited to 5 Zaps and no multi-step Zaps.

Are there templates? Yes, on our Zapier landing page, or Zaps can be built from scratch.

Will support teach me Zapier itself? Support can confirm the Zapier-to-AEC connection is working and explain the available Triggers/Actions, but general Zapier usage support is best sourced from Zapier's own University/Resources.