Questions owners ask
Plain answers to what comes up before you hand over your books. If you want the technical detail behind any of these, the Security pages name the mechanism for each claim.
Your data
Where is my data stored?
For a client deployment, in its own PostgreSQL database hosted in the EU (Frankfurt). Each client has an isolated database and web server, so your data is never mixed with another client’s.
Is the connection to my accounting system read-only?
Yes. Clarity reads from your accounting system and copies the data into its own environment. It never writes, edits, or deletes anything in your books. You can revoke access from your accounting system at any time.
What do you pull in?
Invoices, bills, payments, contacts, journals, credit notes, bank transactions, the chart of accounts, and the P&L and balance sheet reports. The raw copy is kept as it arrived, then cleaned in a separate layer, so the original is always there to check against.
What happens if I revoke access?
The dashboard keeps working on the data it already has. Nothing new syncs until you reconnect, and reconnecting picks up where it left off. Revoking does not delete anything already in your database.
Can I take it with me if we stop working together?
Yes. The database is standard PostgreSQL and the dashboard is built on open tools. You can take a full export of your data, or take ownership of the hosting account. There is no proprietary format and no lock-in.
The AI analyst
Are the dashboard numbers AI-generated?
No. Every chart and figure is a plain calculation running over your data. The same inputs always give the same result. The AI is not involved in computing or storing any number on the dashboard.
So what does the AI actually do?
It is the part you talk to. You connect Claude to your data and ask questions in plain English: why margin moved, who pays late, what a number is made of. It reads the finished figures and explains them.
What if the AI gets something wrong?
It can. It is a language model, not a calculator. Three things keep that in bounds: it cannot change your data, every number it gives you comes from a query you can re-run, and the dashboard is the baseline. If an answer disagrees with the dashboard, the dashboard stands.
Does the AI make decisions for me?
No. It analyses and recommends. It does not send anything, change anything, or act on your behalf. A person stays in every decision.
Is the written analysis fully automated?
The number pipeline is automated. A written narrative report is an AI-assisted draft that a person reviews before it reaches you.
Trust and accuracy
How do I know the numbers match my own records?
Revenue is reconciled month by month against your accounting system’s own P&L report, and you can see the result on the dashboard. For profit, the dashboard reads your accounting system’s report directly rather than rebuilding it, because the transaction view leaves out things like payroll and accruals.
What if my books are not closed for the month?
Partial months are held back by default. A month with costs booked but revenue not yet in would make a healthy business look like it crashed, so a month is only shown once it is confirmed closed.
What are the known limitations?
The accounting P&L report covers a trailing window, so we use journal lines for longer history. Invoice-based revenue can differ from accrual-based revenue on timing. The live demo documents its own limitations page, and we walk through yours at onboarding.
Getting started
What do I need to provide?
A read-only connection to your accounting system, authorised through its own login flow. No exports, no spreadsheets, no IT project.
How long does it take?
You can connect in an afternoon and have a first dashboard to look at, then it refreshes each month-end. The deeper analysis is built with you over the first few weeks.
Does this replace my existing tools?
No. It runs alongside your accounting system and whatever else you use. Over time your team decides what each tool is for. There is no cutover event.
How is it set up?
Usually with your accountant. They know your books, and Clarity gives them and you the same clear view. Book a call and we will walk through it.
Still wondering about something? Book a call, or watch the walkthrough.