Frequently Asked Questions

Poof is an AI-powered bookkeeping platform built for small businesses. It automates transaction categorization, invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, budgeting, cash flow forecasting, and financial reporting — so you spend less time on books and more time growing your business.

Poof generates 13 financial reports: Income Statement (P&L), Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement, Trial Balance, General Ledger, Account Detail, AR Aging, AP Aging, Customer Sales, Vendor Expenses, Sales by Product/Service, Expenses by Category, and Budget vs Actual. You can toggle between accrual and cash basis, select custom date ranges, and export to PDF or Excel.

Yes. Poof supports team management with role-based access control. You can invite your accountant or bookkeeper with a specific role (Owner, Admin, Accountant, Bookkeeper, or Viewer) so they can review your books, run reports, and make adjustments as needed — with 26 granular permissions to control exactly what they can access.

Bookkeeping is the day-to-day recording of financial transactions — categorizing expenses, reconciling bank statements, and maintaining accurate records. Accounting is the higher-level analysis, reporting, and tax preparation based on those records. Poof automates the bookkeeping so you or your accountant can focus on the accounting.

For freelancers, the best bookkeeping app is one that automates the tedious work and doesn't require accounting knowledge. Poof is built specifically for solo founders and freelancers — AI categorizes your transactions automatically, sends recurring invoices on autopilot, scans receipts from your phone, and generates 13 financial reports including P&L and cash flow statements. It's $29/mo with everything included (no tiers), compared to QuickBooks which starts at $38/mo and locks features behind higher plans.

Yes. Many small business owners handle their own bookkeeping using AI-powered tools like Poof. The AI categorizes transactions, reconciles your bank accounts, generates financial reports, and even creates budgets — tasks that traditionally required a bookkeeper. You don't need accounting knowledge because Poof uses plain language, not accounting jargon. For year-end taxes or complex accounting questions, you can invite your accountant into Poof with role-based access so they can review your books and make adjustments.

A bookkeeper is a person who manually categorizes transactions, reconciles accounts, and prepares financial reports — typically costing $500-$2,000/month. Bookkeeping software automates those same tasks using AI. With Poof, the AI categorizes your transactions, reconciles your bank accounts, scans receipts, generates 13 financial reports, and even creates budgets from plain-English goals. You still review and approve the work, but the manual data entry is eliminated. Most small businesses save 5-10 hours per week by switching from a manual bookkeeper to AI-powered software like Poof.

Yes. Poof is designed for all types of small businesses. The AI generates a customized chart of accounts based on your specific business type and industry — whether you run a restaurant, ecommerce store, contracting business, or freelance practice. Poof's BRAID engine learns your unique transaction patterns over time, so it gets smarter about categorizing expenses specific to your industry. Features like receipt scanning, mileage tracking, recurring invoices, and expense categorization are especially valuable for service-based businesses, while inventory-related categorization and sales tracking help retail and ecommerce owners.

Poof keeps your books organized and tax-ready throughout the year, so you're not scrambling at tax time. It automatically categorizes deductible expenses, tracks mileage, generates P&L and Balance Sheet reports that your accountant needs for tax preparation, and maintains a complete audit trail of every transaction. While Poof doesn't file taxes directly, it produces the accurate financial records your CPA or tax preparer requires. You can invite your accountant into Poof with role-based access so they can pull reports, review categorizations, and make adjustments before filing.

Poof is a web-based application that works on any device with a modern browser — desktop, tablet, or phone. The interface is fully responsive, so you can review transactions, send invoices, scan receipts, chat with the AI assistant, and check your dashboard from your phone. Upload receipt photos directly from your mobile camera for instant OCR scanning and categorization. No app download required — just log in at app.poofai.com from any browser.

Poof uses the BRAID engine to analyze your bank transactions and automatically assign them to the correct categories in your chart of accounts. The AI learns your business patterns over time, improving accuracy with every correction you make. It also detects recurring charges and matches transactions to invoices and bills automatically.

Yes. Create budgets manually or describe your goal in plain English (e.g., '20% revenue growth') and AI builds the budget for you. Poof includes a variance dashboard with budget vs actual comparison, 12-month AI-generated cash flow forecasting with confidence bands, and proactive budget alerts when you're approaching spending thresholds.

AI bookkeeping uses artificial intelligence to automate routine bookkeeping tasks like categorizing transactions, scanning receipts, matching payments to invoices, generating budgets, forecasting cash flow, and creating financial reports. Instead of manually entering data, AI learns your business patterns and handles the work automatically — saving small business owners hours every week.

Yes. Poof generates AI-powered 12-month cash flow projections with confidence bands, seasonal adjustments, and rolling forecast refresh. See where your cash is headed and make informed decisions about spending, hiring, and growth.

Yes. AI bookkeeping tools like Poof can handle most of your day-to-day bookkeeping automatically — categorizing transactions, reconciling bank accounts, scanning receipts, matching payments to invoices, generating financial reports, and even creating budgets from plain-English goals. You still review and approve the work, but AI eliminates 90% of the manual data entry. For tax filing and complex accounting decisions, you can invite your accountant to collaborate inside Poof.

The Spend Score tool is a free AI-powered feature on poofai.com that lets you upload a bank statement (CSV, PDF, or image) and get an instant financial analysis. AI categorizes every transaction into spending buckets like Groceries, Dining Out, Subscriptions, and more — then writes a personalized narrative about your spending patterns and generates a shareable infographic. It takes under 60 seconds, and your statement isn't retained after your report is generated.

Yes. Poof includes full invoicing with PDF generation, email delivery, custom branding, payment tracking, credit notes, and a products/services catalog. You can start with an estimate or quote, convert it to an invoice when your client approves, and set up recurring invoices on weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly schedules with automated follow-up reminders for overdue payments.

Yes. Set up recurring invoices on weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly schedules. Poof auto-generates and auto-sends invoices on schedule, and includes automated follow-up reminders at due date, 3, 7, 14, and 30 days past due — with smart pause when payment is received.

Yes. Create professional estimates, send them to clients, and track status — Draft, Sent, Approved, Declined, or Converted. When approved, convert to an invoice with one click. The full workflow — Estimate → Approval → Invoice → Payment — is built in.

Poof is built specifically for small businesses that want AI-powered automation without complexity. Unlike QuickBooks, Poof includes a built-in AI assistant with 30+ tools that creates records, updates invoices, generates all 13 reports, and imports bank statement PDFs — all through conversation. Poof also offers AI-powered budgeting and cash flow forecasting, recurring invoices with automated follow-ups, estimates, auto-reconciliation, receipt scanning with OCR, recurring charge detection, smart transaction matching, report drill-down, scheduled report delivery, and a personalized dashboard with AI daily briefing. Poof starts at $14.50/month (all 69 features included) vs QuickBooks Simple Start at $38/month with tiered pricing.

No. QuickBooks is the default choice, but it's not the only option — and it's often more complex and expensive than small businesses need. QuickBooks starts at $38/mo with tiered pricing that locks features behind $65 and $200/mo plans. Alternatives like Poof offer AI-powered automation (transaction categorization, receipt scanning, recurring charge detection, budgeting) at $29/mo with every feature included in one plan. If you've tried QuickBooks and found it overwhelming, Poof is designed to be simpler.

Poof is $29/mo for all 69 features — compared to QuickBooks Simple Start at $38/mo, Essentials at $65/mo, and Plus at $200/mo. Poof includes features that QuickBooks locks behind higher tiers: AI-powered budgeting, cash flow forecasting, receipt scanning, recurring invoices, auto-reconciliation, and a built-in AI assistant. Poof also offers a 50% launch discount ($14.50/mo for the first 3 months) and a 30-day free trial with no credit card required.

Traditional bookkeeping costs vary widely: hiring a part-time bookkeeper typically runs $500-$2,000/month, while a full-time in-house bookkeeper can cost $3,000-$5,000/month plus benefits. Outsourced bookkeeping firms charge $200-$500/month for basic services. AI-powered bookkeeping software like Poof costs $29/month (or $14.50/month with the launch discount) and handles most of the work automatically — transaction categorization, bank reconciliation, invoicing, receipt scanning, and financial reporting. For most small businesses, Poof replaces the need for a dedicated bookkeeper at a fraction of the cost.

Poof offers a 30-day free trial with full access to all 69 features — no credit card required to start. When your trial ends, you can subscribe at $29/month (or $14.50/month with the 50% launch discount for the first 3 months). If you choose not to subscribe, your data remains accessible in read-only mode so you can export your records. There are no long-term contracts — you can cancel anytime and your data stays yours.

AI bookkeeping saves money in three ways: it eliminates the cost of a dedicated bookkeeper ($500-$2,000/month), it reduces errors that lead to costly tax mistakes or missed deductions, and it frees up your time to focus on revenue-generating activities. Poof automates transaction categorization, bank reconciliation, receipt scanning, invoice follow-ups, and report generation — tasks that would take a bookkeeper hours each week. At $29/month, Poof replaces thousands of dollars in annual bookkeeping costs while delivering faster, more consistent results.

Yes, completely free. You can upload a bank statement and get your full AI-powered Spend Score report — including categorized transactions, a spending breakdown chart, a written narrative, and an AI-generated infographic — at no cost. You can generate up to 3 reports per hour. The tool is powered by Poof's AI to give you a taste of what automated bookkeeping looks like.

Yes. All data is encrypted in transit via HTTPS/TLS. Poof includes two-factor authentication (TOTP-based MFA with backup codes), role-based access controls with 5 roles and 26 granular permissions, audit logging with PII masking, session management, and email verification. Bank connections are read-only through Plaid — Poof never stores your bank login credentials or has the ability to move money.

Yes. Poof takes data security seriously. All data is encrypted in transit via HTTPS/TLS, and bank connections go through Plaid with read-only access — Poof never sees or stores your bank login credentials and cannot move money. Poof includes two-factor authentication, role-based access controls with 26 granular permissions, audit logging with PII masking, and session management. Your financial data is never shared with third parties or used to train AI models. You can manage active sessions, revoke access, and export your data at any time.

Your statement is sent to our AI provider (OpenAI) to generate your report and is not retained by Poof afterward or used to train AI models. The only information we store is your email address — and only if you choose to enter it to unlock or receive the full report. We don't sell your data.

Yes. Poof connects to over 12,000 financial institutions in the US via Plaid, syncing the last 30 days of transactions. For older transactions, you can upload CSV or PDF bank statements. You can manage multiple bank accounts and credit cards from one dashboard.

To automate your bookkeeping: (1) Connect your bank accounts so transactions sync automatically, (2) Use AI-powered software like Poof to categorize transactions, detect recurring charges, and match payments to invoices, (3) Set up recurring invoices so billing happens on autopilot, (4) Upload receipts for automatic OCR scanning instead of manual data entry, and (5) Use AI-generated budgets and cash flow forecasts to stay on top of your finances. With Poof, most businesses go from hours of manual bookkeeping to minutes of reviewing AI-categorized transactions.

Yes. Poof makes it easy to switch from QuickBooks. You can import your existing chart of accounts, customer and vendor lists, and historical transactions via CSV or Excel files. Poof's AI-guided onboarding walks you through the setup process, analyzes your uploaded documents, generates your chart of accounts, and calculates opening balances. Most businesses complete the migration in under an hour. You can also upload PDF bank statements and let the AI parse them directly in chat.

Yes. Poof supports importing financial data from QuickBooks and other bookkeeping platforms via CSV, Excel, and PDF files. Export your chart of accounts, transactions, customer lists, and vendor lists from QuickBooks, then upload them into Poof. The AI-guided onboarding process helps you map your existing accounts and calculates opening balances automatically. For bank statements in PDF format, you can upload them directly into the AI chat and Poof will parse and import the transactions for you.

Visit poofai.com/spend-score and upload your bank statement as a CSV file, PDF, or even a photo/screenshot. Poof's AI will automatically extract and categorize every transaction into spending categories like Income, Groceries, Dining Out, Transportation, Subscriptions, and more. You'll get a written financial narrative analyzing your spending patterns, a visual spending breakdown chart, and an AI-generated infographic you can share — all in under 60 seconds.