Security at BetterFinanceView
We handle sensitive financial data. Here's exactly how we protect it — no vague promises, just specifics.
We never write to your QuickBooks.
For QuickBooks Online, BetterFinanceView only calls read endpoints. The Intuit OAuth grant is the standard accounting grant, so our guarantee comes from BFV code: no create, update, or delete calls are implemented.
Read-only by design
For QuickBooks Online, BetterFinanceView uses Intuit OAuth to retrieve company data, but the read-only guarantee is enforced in our code: our QBO client only implements read endpoints and never calls create, update, or delete APIs.
Bank-level encryption
The credentials that let us connect to QuickBooks on your behalf are encrypted using AES-256-GCM — the same standard used by financial institutions — before being stored. The encryption key is kept separately from the data. Your QuickBooks username and password are never stored or transmitted to us at any point.
Desktop IIF retention is explicit
QuickBooks Desktop IIF uploads are full transaction source files, so they are handled separately from the QBO no-mirror promise. When Desktop IIF support is used, uploaded files are stored encrypted at rest in private storage for re-audit, with per-client deletion and firm retention controls.
Your data is completely isolated
Every query to our database runs through access controls that are enforced at the database layer itself — not just in application code. This means it is technically impossible for one firm's account to access another firm's data, even if there were a bug in the application.
Role-based access control
Team members are assigned roles: Owner, Admin, Reviewer, or Read-only. Each role has explicitly defined permissions. Reviewers can act on issues but cannot modify firm settings or billing. Read-only members can view but not change anything.
Infrastructure
Our application and database run on established, security-audited cloud infrastructure hosted in the United States. All data traveling between your browser and our servers is encrypted in transit. We do not operate our own physical servers.
Authentication
Passwords are never stored in plain text — they are run through a one-way hashing process before storage, so even we cannot read them. Accounts require email verification, and password resets are sent to your verified email address only.
Automatic connection health monitoring
The QuickBooks connection credentials we hold are short-lived and automatically renewed in the background. If a renewal fails for any reason, we flag the connection and alert you — we never silently retry or leave you with a stale connection you don't know about.
What we don't do
- ✓We do not sell your data or your clients' financial data to any third party.
- ✓We do not use your financial data to train AI models.
- ✓We do not store a QBO transaction mirror; Desktop IIF uploads are the explicit encrypted-retention exception.
- ✓We do not access payroll data, customer payment information, or data outside the general ledger.
- ✓We do not share data with advertisers.
A note on AI
When we spot a transaction that looks miscategorized or uncategorized, we ask Anthropic's Claude to suggest a better home for it. To do that we send the transaction's date, vendor, and amount, the account it's currently coded to, and your chart of accounts — the account names and codes — so Claude has a list to choose from. We don't send your client's name, and we don't use your data to train AI models. Anthropic processes it under their Privacy Policy. If you'd rather we didn't run AI over a particular client's books, email us and we'll sort it out with you.
Found a security issue? Please disclose it responsibly to [email protected]. We take all reports seriously and will respond promptly.