A white-label glossary for accountants, in plain words

These terms describe how the arrangement is structured and paid for. Knowing them helps you compare offers accurately and ask vendors precise questions. Misunderstanding one of them can lead to a very different cost picture than you expected, so it is worth checking how each vendor defines them in writing.

Note that HelloBooks uses both of the first two arrangements as separate offers: a free Partner Program for reselling and a White-Label License for branding. The remaining terms apply across most vendors in some form, though the exact meaning can shift between contracts, so confirm definitions before comparing prices.

• White-label: software presented under the firm’s brand rather than the vendor’s
• Reseller: a firm that recommends a vendor’s own branded product, often for a discount
• Flat license: a fixed fee that does not change with staff numbers
• Per-seat pricing: a charge for each user who signs in
• Client plan: the subscription attached to each client’s books

These terms come up when setting up web addresses and email. You do not need to master the technology, but knowing what each term means helps you follow instructions and brief whoever manages your domain. Most of these become relevant at full launch, when a firm’s own domain and email can be connected.

If any of these terms feels unfamiliar, the person who manages your firm’s website or email is usually the right one to ask. They will likely have dealt with similar records before and can check changes before they are saved.

• Subdomain: the part of an address before the main domain name
• DNS: the system that maps web addresses to servers
• SPF: a DNS record listing services allowed to send mail for a domain
• DKIM: a digital signature proving an email was authorised and unaltered
• DMARC: a policy telling receivers how to treat mail that fails checks

These describe how the software fits into day-to-day firm work. They appear in vendor demos and in internal process discussions. Understanding them helps you evaluate whether a platform supports how your team actually runs client books, rather than how a sales presentation imagines it.

In HelloBooks, the firm console shows client close status and items waiting, and firms own their data with the ability to export it. Those two ideas, oversight and ownership, run through most operational discussions about client software, and they are worth raising early in any evaluation.

• Firm console: a view across all clients for managers and partners
• Close status: how far each client’s month-end has progressed
• Items waiting: tasks or questions needing action
• Data export: taking a complete copy of records out of the platform
• Onboarding: the setup period before clients begin using the software

One flat license covers your brand, unlimited staff and the firm console. Your clients stay on published HelloBooks plans, and your firm gets 20% off each one. Founding firms go live first on a firm subdomain; your own domain and email from your domain follow at full launch.