Help
Help and FAQs
How to get started with the software, and answers to the questions practices ask most. Can't find what you need? Email hello@thefinancedesk.co.uk.
Getting started
Six steps to get a new trial running.
Sign up
Go to app.thefinancedesk.co.uk and sign up with your work email and a password, or with Microsoft. If you use a password, confirm your email from the link we send.
Set up your practice
Choose Set up a new practice and give it a name. You become its admin and the 30-day free trial of The Full Suite starts. Start with your own clients, or load the Kestrel Accountancy example to look round first.
Add your clients
In Clients and team, add each client once: type, year end, VAT quarters, manager and fee. Add your team and services there too. Every desk reads this list, and deadlines are worked out for you.
Invite your users
In Settings and data, under Team and access, enter a colleague's work email and choose their role: admin, desk editor or viewer. Ask them to sign up with that email; the invitation is waiting on their home page.
Work through your desks
The six desks are in the menu on the left, each with its 16 tools. During the trial they are all open. Once you choose a plan, desks outside it show as Locked.
Export or print
Every tool has Export to Excel. Tools with letters or records also download as Word or as a printable page you can save as PDF.
Questions and answers
Trial and billing
How long is the free trial?
Every new practice gets 30 days of The Full Suite for the whole team. No card needed.
What happens when the free trial ends?
Choose a plan and we send an invoice. Until it is in place, your data stays safe and read only, so nothing is lost and you can still download it.
How do we pay?
Software plans are paid yearly in advance by invoice. No monthly payments, no credit. Excel tools are paid once.
How many users are included?
One bundle includes 3 users, one whole desk 5 users and The Full Suite 15 users. More users are £150 a year each, on any plan.
Can we cancel?
Plans run for a year at a time. If you decide not to renew, the app goes read only at the end of the year and you can download everything first. We delete your data 90 days after that unless you ask us to keep it.
Do prices include VAT?
No. All prices exclude VAT. See the full price list.
Software or Excel
How is the software different from the Excel tools?
The Excel tools are workbooks you buy once and keep, one user each. The software is the same 96 tools as one connected app your whole team signs in to, with one shared client list, roles, change history and a live practice dashboard. It is a yearly subscription.
Do I keep the Excel tools?
Yes. Everything you buy is yours to keep, licensed to your practice, whether or not you take the updates plan.
How many users can use the Excel tools?
Each purchase is licensed to one practice for one user. If you need the tools for a larger team, talk to us, or look at the software, which is built for teams.
Does it replace our accounts or tax software?
No. It sits alongside your accounts, tax and bookkeeping software and gives you the controls around them: deadlines, jobs, compliance, fees, review and reporting.
Your data and security
Where is our data kept?
In the UK, in Google Cloud's London region. It is encrypted in transit and at rest. See Trust and security.
Who can see our clients' data?
Only the users your admin invites. Each practice is kept apart in the database, not just on screen, and we act as your processor under our data processing terms.
Can we get our data out?
Yes, at any time. Every tool has Export to Excel, and you can download a full backup of the practice from Settings and data.
Do you have answers for our supplier questionnaire?
Ask us at hello@thefinancedesk.co.uk and we'll send our security answers.
Using the tools
Can we try it with example data first?
Yes. When you set up a practice you can load Kestrel Accountancy, a fictional practice with 60 clients and a team of three, so every tool has something in it. You can replace it with your own clients later in Settings and data.
Can we move our client list across?
Yes. Send us your spreadsheet and we'll help you set it up. Or our set-up service loads your clients, year ends, VAT quarters, team and fees for you, from £1,500.
Can different users see different desks?
Yes. An admin makes each user an admin, a desk editor for chosen desks, or a viewer who can look but not change anything.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Add it to the home screen of a phone or tablet and it opens full screen with its own icon, and keeps working with a weak signal.
Can we print letters and records?
Tools with letters or records, such as engagement letters and review records, can be downloaded as Word or as a printable page you can save as PDF.
Getting help
How do we get help?
Email hello@thefinancedesk.co.uk with what you were trying to do. A screenshot helps.
Can someone show us round?
Yes. Book a demo: a 20-minute walkthrough on a video call, using your kind of practice.
Is there a monthly Q&A call?
Yes, for the Excel tools: a whole desk and The Full Suite include 12 months of updates and the monthly Q&A call, and the updates plan keeps them coming after that.
Still stuck?
Email hello@thefinancedesk.co.uk, or book a 20-minute walkthrough and we'll show you round.