Ringbook for Accounting Firms

This guide is for accounting and bookkeeping firms that look after many client companies. It explains the three things that make Ringbook efficient for a practice: buy AI credits once on the accountant (not on every client), get clients feeding in documents continuously instead of dumping a shoebox at year-end, and invite your own bookkeeper into each client's books to post the journals.

The short version: one login, every client's books in one switcher, your AI credits travelling with you across all of them, and documents arriving in real time over WhatsApp and email.

These guides are available in English and Traditional Chinese. The app also supports Japanese, Russian, Thai and Simplified Chinese.

Buy credits on the accountant, not on each client

A single accountant often serves dozens of companies. You don't want to top up AI credits separately inside every client's organization, chasing each client to pay for the AI you run. Ringbook lets you carry one personal credit balance across every set of books you touch.

Here's how credits are spent when you run an AI feature (drafting a journal from a document, auto-reconciling a bank statement, asking the companion):

The client organization's own balance is charged first. If a client has bought their own credits, those are used while they last.
Then it falls back to your personal credits. When the client's balance can't cover the operation, Ringbook draws the remainder from the acting user's personal wallet — i.e. you, the accountant running it — no matter which client you're working in. A single operation can even be split part-client, part-you.

This is what lets one accountant serve 50 companies on a single pre-paid balance: you buy credits once, on yourself, and they work everywhere you're invited.

Turning it on (two steps — don't skip the second)

Buy personal credits. From your profile / account, top up your personal credit balance (this is separate from any organization's balance and is billed to you, not the client).
Enable personal credit fallback. In your profile settings, turn on "use my personal credits" (personal credit fallback). This is off by default — until you switch it on, Ringbook will not spend your personal credits inside a client org, and AI actions will be blocked once that client's own balance is empty. This opt-in lives on your user account, so you control exactly when your own credits get used.

Roughly what AI actions cost

Credits are consumed per AI action. Indicative costs (subject to change in-app):

AI action	Approx. credits
Draft a journal entry from text/a document	50
Process / extract a document	50
AI bank reconciliation	150
Companion chat message	15

Note on automated/background jobs. If an AI action runs with no specific user attached to it (a pure background job), only the organization's balance can be used — personal fallback needs an acting user. In practice, anything you trigger yourself (in-app or over WhatsApp) is attributed to you and can use your personal credits.

Get clients sending documents continuously

The biggest time sink for a firm is receiving a year's worth of receipts in one box at year-end. Ringbook is designed so clients send each accounting event as it happens — a receipt, an invoice, a bill — straight into the client's Shoebox, where it waits to be turned into a journal.

Coach your clients to use whichever of these is easiest for them:

WhatsApp — the lowest-friction option for most clients. Each person links their own phone number to Ringbook (from their profile), then simply forwards or photographs a receipt to your Ringbook WhatsApp number. A document sent with no message text goes straight to the Shoebox. They can snap a photo at the till and be done — no app to open. (Phone photos in .heic are converted automatically when sent via WhatsApp.)
Email forwarding — clients forward supplier invoices and bills to the organization's inbound email address. Every supported attachment lands in the Shoebox by default, even when the mail client keeps the original subject; a leading /ring is required to post one for review.
Drag and drop in the app — for clients who prefer to upload directly: PDFs, images, Excel, and Word files.
Bulk upload — for catching up on a batch at once.

The win for the firm: documents arrive in small, dated, in-context pieces all year, so at period-end you're reviewing and posting — not data-entering from scratch. When you (or the client) are ready, the AI drafts a journal from each Shoebox item for you to review and post.

Tip for onboarding a client: in their first session, get them to link their WhatsApp number and send one test receipt. Once they see it appear in the Shoebox, they'll keep doing it.

Invite your bookkeeper into each client's books

You don't need the client to do the bookkeeping. The firm's own bookkeeper can be invited into each client organization and post journals there directly.

To invite someone into a client's books:

As an owner or admin of that client organization, go to Settings → Members.
Invite your bookkeeper by email. Existing Ringbook users get an accept-invite link; new users are taken through sign-up with the invitation attached.
Assign them the Accountant role, which can post and book journals (both in the app and via WhatsApp).

Repeat per client organization. Your bookkeeper then sees every client they've been invited to in their organization switcher and can move between them in one login.

Note: only owners and admins can invite members, and you can't invite someone directly as an owner or admin — those are reserved and assigned within the organization. Invite at the Accountant (or other) role, and promote later if needed.

One Ringbook user can belong to many organizations. Each client company is its own organization (with its own base currency, fiscal year-end, chart of accounts, and ledger), and you switch between them using the organization switcher in the header. Your active organization determines which books you're posting into.

You can also switch organizations over WhatsApp: send /org (or /organization) to list the organizations you belong to, then reply with the number to switch the one your messages post into.

There is no separate "firm" or "practice" account to set up — the firm workflow is the combination of (1) belonging to many client organizations and (2) carrying your personal credits across all of them.

Roles and access rights

When you invite team members and clients, assign roles to control what each can do. The roles most relevant to a firm:

Accountant — a bookkeeping role with journal-posting capabilities, subject to the organization’s access-right settings. Use this for your firm's bookkeepers and accountants.
Auditor — view-only. Good for a reviewer or an external auditor who should see the books but not change them.
Contractor — can submit/book journals via WhatsApp only, not in the app. Useful for a client contact who should be able to fire in receipts and simple entries without touching the full ledger.
CEO / CFO — oversight roles that can view but don't post journals.

Owners and admins manage members and can fine-tune individual permissions under Settings → Access Rights (for example, who can book journals in the app vs. over WhatsApp, who can import, and so on).

Recommended firm setup

Each accountant buys personal credits and turns on personal credit fallback in their profile.
Each client company set up as its own organization (correct base currency and fiscal year-end).
Firm bookkeeper invited into each client org as Accountant (Settings → Members).
Client contacts onboarded to send documents continuously — WhatsApp number linked, one test receipt sent.
Client's supplier/invoice email forwarding to the Shoebox address set up where useful.
Roles assigned: Accountant for firm staff, Auditor for reviewers, Contractor for WhatsApp-only client contacts.

FAQ

Do I have to top up credits in every client's organization?

No — that's the point. Buy credits on yourself (personal balance) and enable personal credit fallback. When a client's own balance is empty, your personal credits cover the AI you run inside their books, across every client you're invited to.

My AI actions are being blocked in a client org even though I have personal credits — why?

You almost certainly haven't enabled personal credit fallback. It's off by default. Turn it on in your profile settings; until then, Ringbook won't spend your personal credits inside someone else's organization.

Can a client still pay for their own AI usage?

Yes. A client organization can buy its own credits, and those are always spent first. Your personal credits only kick in once the client's balance runs out (and only if your fallback is enabled).

How do clients get documents to me without an app?

WhatsApp. Each person links their phone number once, then sends or photographs a receipt to your Ringbook WhatsApp number. A document sent with no caption goes straight to that organization's Shoebox. Email forwarding goes to the Shoebox by default (add a leading /ring only to post a ring), and in-app drag-and-drop is also available.

Can my bookkeeper post journals in a client's books?

Yes. Invite them (as an owner/admin of that client org, under Settings → Members) and assign the Accountant role, which can book journals both in the app and via WhatsApp.

How do I move between clients?

Use the organization switcher in the header to change your active organization, or send /org over WhatsApp to switch the organization your messages post into.

Something doesn't tie out — who can help?

Email samyip@ringbook.io with your organization ID (from your profile) and a description of the issue, and we'll help.

A practical client review cycle

Collect receipts through the client’s connected messaging/email channels, Shoebox or Google Drive picker.
Review Pending Rings, Not Sure classifications and Book entries missing supporting documents.
For unclear bank movements, export the statement client workbook. Ask the client to fill Client description, preserve its identity columns, then import it into the same statement and review the answers.
Drill from report figures into journals, source Rings and evidence. Check segment allocations, unusual balances and remaining open items.
Export complete journals using Book’s Xero, QuickBooks Online or MYOB format, or prepare a company backup under Settings → General for handover. Dedicated accounting exports use base amounts and no-tax defaults; review the destination’s import requirements.

Company search, recent history and sorting help you switch clients. Connected companies can share selected Rings without opening their entire books. Public professional profile details are opt-in; review what you choose to publish.

Permissions can be customized. Check the actual invitation, import, reconciliation, posting and document rights for the client organization rather than treating the Accountant role as unrestricted access.