Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about VaultLedge. Can't find an answer? Contact support.
General
What is VaultLedge?
VaultLedge is an all-in-one financial operations platform that leads with AI-powered accounting — the AI categorizes transactions, reconciles accounts, and posts journal entries automatically while your firm reviews and approves — alongside payroll, invoicing, and practice management. It's built for small businesses and the accountants who serve them.
Who is VaultLedge for?
Small business owners who need payroll and invoicing, freelancers tracking expenses, tax professionals who want AI to handle the books for their clients, and CPAs managing multiple client companies from a single dashboard.
How is VaultLedge different from QuickBooks or Gusto?
QuickBooks handles accounting but not payroll natively. Gusto handles payroll but not accounting. VaultLedge combines AI-powered accounting — where AI categorizes, reconciles, and posts journal entries for your review — with payroll, invoicing, and practice management in one platform, so you don't need to pay for or juggle multiple tools.
Is VaultLedge available in my state?
VaultLedge supports payroll tax calculations for 21 states: CA, TX, FL, NY, PA, IL, OH, GA, NC, MI, NJ, VA, WA, AZ, MA, AK, NV, NH, SD, TN, and WY. We're actively adding more states. Federal payroll (income tax, Social Security, Medicare, FUTA) works nationwide.
Payroll
How does payroll work?
Add your company, add employees (or send them self-service onboarding invitations), set a pay schedule, and run payroll. VaultLedge auto-calculates federal and state taxes, generates pay stubs, and can send direct deposits via Stripe ACH.
Does VaultLedge support direct deposit?
Yes. Direct deposit is powered by Stripe Connect ACH. You connect a bank account through Stripe's secure onboarding, and employees receive same-day or next-day deposits on payday.
Can employees onboard themselves?
Yes. Send an onboarding invitation by email. The employee completes a 5-step wizard: personal information, W-4 tax withholding, state tax forms, direct deposit bank details, and document uploads — all without needing a VaultLedge account.
Does VaultLedge handle W-2s and 1099s?
VaultLedge tracks all YTD data needed for W-2 and 1099 generation. Pay stubs are generated as PDFs for every payroll run, and employees can access them through the self-service portal.
What about payroll taxes and filing?
VaultLedge calculates federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, FUTA, and state-specific taxes automatically. Quarterly 941 worksheets are pre-filled with YTD data. New hire state reporting is also supported.
Can I correct a payroll run after it's been processed?
Yes. VaultLedge supports payroll corrections including void with full reversal and adjustment runs. YTD balances are updated automatically when corrections are made.
How does PTO management work?
Create PTO policies with accrual rates, caps, and carryover rules. Assign policies to employees. Employees request time off, managers approve or deny, and balances update automatically each pay period.
Benefits
What benefits can I administer?
Health insurance, dental, vision, 401(k) retirement plans, HSA (Health Savings Accounts), and FSA (Flexible Spending Accounts). Set up plans with employer and employee contribution amounts, and deductions are calculated automatically in payroll.
Does VaultLedge handle ACA compliance?
VaultLedge tracks full-time equivalents and monitors eligibility to help with Affordable Care Act compliance. Enrollment tracking and reporting tools are included on the Advanced and Enterprise plans, and on Practice.
Invoicing
How do I create an invoice?
Use the invoice builder to add line items, set tax rates and discounts, choose payment terms (Net 15/30/60), and add custom notes. Invoices are auto-numbered and can be sent as PDF or paid online.
Can clients pay invoices online?
Yes. Invoices include a Stripe-powered payment link. Clients can pay by credit card or ACH bank transfer, and the invoice status updates automatically when payment is received.
Are recurring invoices supported?
Yes. Set up invoices on weekly, monthly, or custom schedules. They generate automatically and can optionally be sent to clients without manual intervention.
AI Bookkeeping
How does AI bookkeeping work?
VaultLedge's AI does your books end-to-end. Upload a bank statement CSV and the AI categorizes each transaction, reconciles it against your accounts, and posts the corresponding journal entries — automatically — so your books stay current with double-entry accuracy. Every step comes back for your firm to review and approve before anything is finalized.
How does smart categorization fit into AI bookkeeping?
Categorization is one part of full AI bookkeeping. The AI analyzes each transaction's description, amount, and context to assign the correct tax category with a confidence score, then uses that classification to reconcile accounts and post journal entries. You review and approve the suggestions at every stage.
How accurate is the AI, and who has the final say?
Every suggestion comes back with a confidence score so you know exactly when to double-check, and your firm always reviews and approves before the books are posted — VaultLedge is AI-assisted, not autonomous. The system gets sharper as you accept or correct its picks: your overrides feed the custom rules engine, so the same vendor is categorized correctly next time.
What is payroll anomaly detection?
Before you approve a payroll run, AI reviews it for unusual patterns — large pay changes, overtime spikes, duplicate payments, tax withholding anomalies — and flags them for your review.
What are AI monthly snapshots?
AI-generated monthly briefings that summarize revenue trends, expense changes, cash flow, and key financial metrics. Accountants can share these with clients before monthly review calls.
Accounting
Does VaultLedge include accounting features?
Yes. VaultLedge includes a chart of accounts, journal entries (manual or auto-generated from payroll), and bank reconciliation — everything you need for double-entry bookkeeping.
Can payroll journal entries be generated automatically?
Yes. When you run payroll, VaultLedge can auto-generate the corresponding journal entries with proper debits and credits for wages, tax liabilities, and bank accounts.
Practice Management (for Accountants)
What is practice management?
The Practice tier ($149/mo) includes tools for CPAs and bookkeepers managing multiple clients: a multi-client dashboard, client portal with invitations, firm-to-client billing, and practice-wide reporting.
Can my clients access their own data?
Yes. Invite clients to collaborate through the client portal. They get controlled access to their company while you maintain oversight of all accounts from your practice dashboard.
How does firm billing work?
Track billable items per client — services rendered, employee count, or flat monthly fees. Generate firm invoices based on actual usage or fixed agreements.
Integrations
Does VaultLedge integrate with QuickBooks?
Yes. You can export chart of accounts, journal entries, and customer data to QuickBooks Online via OAuth-connected sync.
What about Xero?
VaultLedge connects to Xero for account sync, contact management, and journal entry export. The connection uses OAuth for secure authorization.
Can I import data from another payroll provider?
Yes. VaultLedge includes import tools for Gusto, ADP, and QuickBooks Payroll. Upload a CSV export from your current provider and VaultLedge maps employee data and YTD balances automatically.
Is there API access?
Yes. Programmatic access to transactions, payroll data, and invoices is available with API key authentication on Business and higher plans.
Pricing & Plans
Is there a free plan?
Yes — a sandbox tier for kicking the tires. 1 company, manual transactions only, no payroll or bank feeds, capped at 100 transactions. Use it to explore the UI before starting a 60-day free trial of a paid tier.
What's included in Starter ($35/month)?
Starter covers 1 company, up to 5 employees on payroll, single-state filing, 25 invoices/month with Stripe payments, AI bookkeeping (categorize, reconcile, and post journal entries automatically), bank feeds, and reports. Includes a 60-day free trial.
What's included in Plus ($99/month)?
Plus is our most popular tier. 1 company, up to 25 employees, 3-state payroll, 5 user seats, 200 invoices/month, e-signatures, tax filing tracker, time tracking, audit trail, and QuickBooks IIF import. Includes a 60-day free trial and free migration from QuickBooks.
What's in Advanced ($249/month)?
Advanced fits growing teams: 3 companies, up to 100 employees, 15-state payroll, 25 user seats, 1,000 invoices/month, QuickBooks Online + Xero sync, benefits administration, client portal, custom reports, API access, and webhooks.
What's Enterprise ($499/month)?
Enterprise replaces QuickBooks Enterprise Gold: 10 companies, unlimited employees, unlimited users, inventory tracking, SSO, audit trail, dedicated success manager, and premium support. State payroll tax is supported in 21 states today (more added regularly); federal payroll works nationwide.
I'm an accountant — what do I pay?
One flat Practice subscription — $149/mo, no per-client fees. It enables the full bookkeeping and payroll toolset across unlimited active client workspaces, plus the multi-client dashboard, e-sign, doc requests, client portal, and practice management. You can also bill your own clients for your services directly from VaultLedge. Starts with a 60-day free trial.
What is Founding 50?
The first 50 paying customers on Plus, Advanced, or Enterprise lock in a 30% lifetime discount (Plus → $69, Advanced → $179, Enterprise → $349 per month, forever) in exchange for a public testimonial within 30 days of signup. After 50 redemptions the program closes.
Can I change plans at any time?
Yes. Upgrades take effect immediately. Downgrades take effect at the end of your billing period. Switch from Billing settings.
Do you offer annual billing?
Annual billing with a 17% discount (two months free) launches alongside the founding 50 program. Pick monthly or annual at checkout.
Security & Privacy
Is my financial data secure?
Yes. VaultLedge uses AES-256-GCM encryption for sensitive data like bank account numbers, TLS 1.3 for all data in transit, and row-level security policies that enforce strict tenant isolation at the database level.
Does the AI store my data?
No. Our AI provider operates under zero data retention. Your transaction data is processed in memory and never stored by the AI provider after the API call completes.
Where is my data hosted?
VaultLedge runs on SOC 2 Type II certified cloud infrastructure for both the application and the database, with enterprise-grade reliability and uptime. Our subprocessors are listed in our Privacy Policy.
Can other users see my data?
No. Row-level security policies ensure every database query is scoped to your user ID. Other users cannot access your companies, employees, or transactions under any circumstances.
Still have questions?
Get started for free or reach out to our support team.