AcboBooks on more than one computer: which setup fits you
Office PC and laptop, owner and bookkeeper, home and office, your accountant, a new computer: which setup to use, how many of your licence's computers it takes, and the steps.
6 min read · Updated 2026-11-14
The short answer
Your books live in one company file, on one computer. When more than one computer needs them, that computer hosts the file and the others connect to it over your office network. Everyone works in the same books, live, at the same time. Every computer that runs AcboBooks is activated with the same licence key: two computers are included, and each extra one is $149.99, once.
| Your situation | Setup | Computers used |
|---|---|---|
| Office PC or server, plus a laptop | The office PC hosts, the laptop connects | 2 (included) |
| Owner and bookkeeper in one office | One PC hosts, the other connects | 2 (included) |
| Three or more people | One PC hosts, the rest connect | 2 included, $149.99 each after that |
| Office and home | Host at the office, connect from home through a VPN | 2 (included) |
| One person, two computers, never at the same time | Hosting, or hand the file over with a backup | 2 (included) |
| Your outside accountant | Send an encrypted backup, or an Accountant Access invite | None of yours |
| Replacing a computer | Move the file, activate the new PC | Same as before |
What not to do: keep the company file in a OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive folder, or on a shared network drive, and open it from two computers. A sync service can copy the file halfway through a save and leave you with a damaged or "conflicted" copy. Hosting exists so that only one program ever touches the file.
Office PC or server, plus a laptop
The most common setup. The office computer stays on and keeps the books; you work on them from the laptop, and anyone at the office PC keeps working at the same time.
On the office PC or server
- Install AcboBooks and activate it: Help → License & Activation, paste your licence key.
- Open the company file and sign in as an administrator.
- Company → Multi-user Hosting → Start hosting. Leave the port at 4599. The screen shows this computer's address, for example
192.168.1.20. - When Windows asks whether to allow AcboBooks on private networks, click Allow.
- Set the computer not to sleep (Settings → System → Power), and leave AcboBooks open with hosting on.
On the laptop
- Install AcboBooks and activate it with the same licence key.
- On the welcome screen, click Connect to another computer, enter the office PC's address and port 4599, and sign in.
The laptop needs no company file of its own: everything you enter is saved on the office PC straight away. Take backups on the office PC (File → Back Up Company File…), and stop hosting before a backup or an update. The full detail, including the firewall rule and what only the host can do, is in multi-user over your office network.
Two or more people in the same office
The same setup as above, with one more step: give each person their own sign-in under Company → Users on the host, so the audit log shows who entered what. Pick the PC that is on most of the day, ideally on a network cable rather than Wi-Fi, as the host. When two people open the same invoice or bill, the second sees it read-only until the first saves; everything else is open to everyone at once. A licence includes two computers; add a third or fourth for $149.99 each, once, from Help → License & Activation or My licences. You can create as many user sign-ins as you like.
Office and home
Hosting is built for the office network. To reach the books from home, connect to the office network first with a VPN; most business routers include one, and your IT person can set it up in an afternoon. Once the VPN is on, the home computer clicks Connect to another computer exactly as it would at the office. Do not forward port 4599 on your router to the internet.
No VPN? If you and the office never work in the books at the same time, use the backup hand-off in the next section instead.
One person, two computers, never at once
For example, a desktop at home and a laptop you take on site, used one at a time. Two ways, both fine:
- Hosting, as above, if the desktop stays on and both are on the same network or a VPN. Nothing to copy, ever.
- Hand-off by backup. When you finish on one computer, File → Back Up Company File… to a USB stick or your sync folder, then on the other computer File → Restore from Backup… The working file always stays on the local disk; only the backup travels. Always continue from the newest backup, or work done on the other computer is lost.
Your outside accountant
Your accountant doesn't use one of your licence's computers. Either send them an encrypted backup of the file (they open it in their own AcboBooks and send adjustments back), or, if they come to your office or join your VPN, create an Accountant Access invite: a code with read-only or edit rights and an end date, under their own name in the audit log. See users, roles and the audit log and the accountants page.
Replacing a computer
Back up on the old computer, open Help → License & Activation there and remove the licence, then install on the new one, restore the backup and activate with the same key. If the new computer is the host, start hosting on it and give the other computers its new address. Step by step: install and activate.
Common questions
Does the host have to be a server? No. Any Windows 10 or 11 PC that stays on works; it doesn't need to be powerful. AcboBooks runs on Windows 10 and 11; if your server runs Windows Server, please ask us before you set it up.
Can the host computer be used at the same time? Yes. Whoever sits at the host keeps working in the books while the others are connected.
Wi-Fi or cable? Both work. A cable on the host makes things steadier when several people are connected.
What if the connection drops? The laptop returns to the welcome screen. Anything already saved is safe on the host; connect again once the host is back.
Does the laptop work without the office? Not while it is connected to the host: the books live there. For work away from the office without a VPN, use the backup hand-off.
How many people can work at once? As many computers as your licence covers. Each person signs in with their own username.
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