Administration

Control who has access, customize your company profile, configure networking, and manage your Kantivo license -- all from a single settings area on your desktop.

User Management

Adding Users

Because Kantivo runs on your local machine backed by PostgreSQL, user accounts are stored entirely on your computer. To bring someone new onto the system:

1. Open Settings and select Users
2. Press Add User
3. Provide a username, email address, and initial password
4. Assign the appropriate role (refer to the roles table below)
5. Press Create User to finalize

Deactivating Users

When a team member no longer needs access, deactivation locks their login while keeping their complete transaction history intact for auditing purposes.

The System Administrator

The first account created on an installation is marked the system administrator. Alongside the ordinary Admin role, that account may administer the roster of any company on the installation -- including companies it was never added to.

This resolves a scenario that would otherwise have no remedy: a colleague creates a company and omits the owner from it. Since the owner is absent from that company's roster, conventional permission rules would exclude them from the very entity running on their own installation. As system administrator, they may open the company from the Company Switcher (the company name at the top of the window), choose Manage Users, and then invite someone new, attach an existing account, or amend a role.

The elevation applies to roster administration alone. Transactions, invoices, customers, and reports for a company remain closed to anyone outside its roster, system administrator included -- so oversight of membership never becomes visibility into financial records.

Roles & Permissions

Kantivo ships with five predefined roles. A user can hold a different role in each company, giving you fine-grained control across multiple businesses:

Company Settings

How to get there: click ⚙️ Company Settings in the main navigation. Not on screen? Open More ▾ and take it from the overflow list — the ⚙️ button in that menu pins it to the navigation for good.

The page shows one section at a time, so use the Select a section… dropdown at the top to jump to what you want: 🏢 Company Information for the profile fields below, ⚙️ Company Preferences for how the app behaves, or 👥 User Management for people and permissions.

Company Settings applies to one company. Anything covering the whole installation — licence, backups, network access — is under 🔐 System Admin, which only the primary admin user can see.

Tailor the profile information that appears on your invoices, estimates, and printed reports:

• Company Name - Displayed on every document and report Kantivo generates
• Address - Your official business mailing address
• Phone/Email - Primary contact details for your organization
• Logo - Upload a graphic file to brand your outgoing documents
• Fiscal Year - Define your accounting year-end date for accurate period reporting

License Management

Entering or changing a licence key: from the sign-in screen, click 🔑 Manage License beneath "License expired or need a new key?". On a fresh install Kantivo asks for the key the first time it starts, so it can go in there instead. Licensing is installation-wide, so there is no licence section in ⚙️ Company Settings — it belongs to 🔐 System Admin and the activation screen.

Moving up a tier costs only the prorated difference for the months you have left, with your renewal date unchanged — email support@bizbooks.pro and the new key comes back the same business day (see Pricing).

Keep track of your Kantivo subscription status and feature entitlements:

• See which tier you are currently on and the features it includes
• Verify when your license expires
• Input a new license key when you renew or upgrade
• Move to a higher tier to unlock additional capabilities

Network Access

Kantivo supports multi-user access. Allow colleagues on your local network to connect to the same instance:

1. Navigate to Settings > Network Access
2. Press Enable Network Access
3. Other machines on your network can then reach Kantivo using your computer's IP address

Email Settings

Choose how Kantivo delivers invoices and other documents to your clients:

• Default Email: Opens the recipient's preferred email application on their machine
• SMTP: Dispatches messages directly from Kantivo without needing an external mail client
  • Your SMTP host address
  • Port number (587 is standard for TLS)
  • Authentication credentials (username and password)
  • The "From" address that recipients will see

Accountant Access

Provide your external accountant or bookkeeper with secure, credential-free entry into your financial data. Your login details are never shared.

How It Works

1. Generate a unique invitation code from within Kantivo
2. Deliver the code to your accountant through any channel -- email, messaging, or phone
3. Your accountant enters the code in their own Kantivo installation
4. A secure connection is established and they gain access to your books

Creating an Invitation

1. Open Settings > Accountant Access
2. Type in the email address of the professional you are inviting
3. Select the permission level:
   • Full Access - Permits viewing and editing of transactions, invoices, and other records
   • Read-Only - Allows inspection of reports, balances, and history without modification rights
4. Press Create Invitation
5. Copy the resulting code and forward it to your accountant

Managing Access

• Pending Invitations: Codes that have been generated but not yet redeemed
• Active Access: Professionals who are currently linked to your company data
• Revoke: Terminate access instantly -- the accountant is disconnected the moment you confirm