Questions, answered plainly

Yes. The core features — invoicing & payments, point of sale, payroll, expenses, income, mileage, 1099 & W-2 prep, time tracking, inventory, jobs, scheduling and bookkeeping — are free. No credit card to sign up, no ads, and we never sell your data. See pricing for the full picture.

The essentials are designed to stay free. Businessily is independent and bootstrapped, and the on-device design keeps our server costs near zero. Optional paid power-features (like card processing) could help fund the project later, but the everyday tools you run your business on are meant to remain free.

There isn't a hidden one. We don't run ads, we don't sell or rent your data, and we don't require a credit card. The honest part: we're an early, bootstrapped company, so we're young — no large support team and no formal SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audits yet. We'd rather say that plainly. More on how we think about this on the security page.

US solopreneurs, freelancers, independent contractors and small teams who want simple, private business management — invoicing, expenses, mileage, scheduling and tax prep — without subscriptions or data harvesting. Browse the full feature list to see if it fits.

On Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac — coming soon) your data is stored fully on-device with SwiftData and works offline; sync is opt-in via your own iCloud or an optional cross-platform private cloud. In the web app, your data lives in a private PostgreSQL database (Supabase) protected by row-level security, so only your authenticated account can read your rows. Nothing leaves your Apple device unless you turn on cross-platform sync.

No account to start — a new business opens instantly and your data is usable right away. You only add a sign-in when you want your books to sync to your other devices. You can connect any combination of Email (a one-time magic-link code, or a password), Google, and/or Apple; any one of them then signs you in everywhere, so you're never locked out. Google and Apple use standard OAuth, so we never see those passwords, and changing your email or password never affects your Google or Apple sign-in. On Apple devices you can sync through your own private iCloud and skip a Businessily account entirely; on the web and Android you sign in to claim your private, row-level-secured cloud row. You can disconnect any method as long as one remains, export everything in a tap, and delete your account from inside the app — no lock-in. See how sign-in & syncing works.

No. We do not sell, rent or trade your data, and there are no ads anywhere in Businessily. The product is funded by being lean and independent, not by monetizing you.

Yes, and no — the AI runs entirely on your device. On iPhone, iPad and Mac (iOS 26 / macOS 26) Businessily uses Apple's on-device Foundation Models to power "Ask your books" natural-language Q&A, draft invoice and proposal text, and a smart expense categorizer that learns your vendors. Your books power it and nothing leaves your device to make it work. It's Apple-only and app-only by design: that's the only way to do it privately. The web and Android apps don't include it — we won't route your data to a cloud model to fake the feature.

No. We don't use bank-login aggregators like Plaid, and your banking credentials never touch Businessily. Instead you import a statement file (CSV, OFX or QFX) that is parsed and auto-categorized locally — in your browser or on your device — before anything is saved.

Yes. Businessily imports IIF (QuickBooks Desktop), QIF (Quicken, GnuCash), QBO / OFX / QFX, CAMT.053 / ISO 20022 and MT940 (bank), CSV / TXT and Excel — so you can switch from QuickBooks, Quicken, Xero, Wave, FreshBooks, Zoho or your bank in minutes. Files are parsed in your browser (or on your device) and you review each transaction before importing. Proprietary QuickBooks files (.QBW / .QBB) aren't a public format — export them to IIF or CSV from QuickBooks first.

Yes. One tap builds an Accountant Pack — a multi-tab Excel workbook and a print-ready PDF (income, expenses, Schedule C, mileage, 1099s). You can also export everything to QuickBooks IIF, Quicken QIF, CSV or Excel, so you're never locked in.

A contractor's or employee's full SSN or TIN is never stored in the cloud — only a masked last-4, enforced by the database schema itself (there is no column for the full value). On the Apple apps the full value is encrypted on the device. Your own business EIN is stored in full, because it's a public payer ID that prints on your invoices and 1099s. So: no full SSN or contractor TIN in the cloud, ever.

Yes — it's your data. You can export records such as mileage logs and tax reports as IRS-ready CSV and PDF, and you can delete your data and your account whenever you want. We don't lock you in. See our privacy policy for details.

In the web app, your data is encrypted in transit over HTTPS/TLS and at rest by the cloud provider, with row-level security limiting access to your account. On Apple devices, iCloud sync is encrypted by Apple. To be honest: the web tier is not end-to-end-encrypted "zero-knowledge" — the cloud can technically process your non-secret business records (clients, invoices, income, expenses, appointments, masked tax-id last-4) to sync them. It cannot see full tax IDs, which are never stored, and row-level security stops anyone else from reading your rows. We explain the full threat model on the security page.

Yes. You can create and send invoices — including recurring invoices, installments and late fees — and accept payment several ways through your own accounts: card via Stripe Connect, in-app Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App Pay (via Stripe), or Wise / bank-transfer instructions. Money goes directly to you — Businessily never holds your funds and never stores your Stripe secret keys. Tap to Pay on iPhone is built and coming, pending Apple's entitlement.

Yes. Businessily includes a built-in POS: a register with barcode scanning, multiple tenders, refunds and open tabs, optional sales tax and tips, and printed or texted receipts. Each sale depletes inventory and posts to your income automatically, so your books stay in step with the counter.

Yes — free. You can manage employees, capture W-4s and run payroll, then generate W-2 and W-3, quarterly Form 941 and annual Form 940 as ready-to-file PDFs. For contractors there's 1099-NEC prep and a self-serve W-9 link. Full SSNs are never stored in the cloud (only a masked last-4) and are encrypted on Apple devices. E-file to the IRS via IRIS is built and coming, pending our IRS API access; until then you can file the PDFs by the normal channels. Businessily organizes the records — it isn't tax or payroll advice.

Yes. Log time by hand or with a live timer, then turn billable hours straight into an invoice. You can add team members with roles, let them clock in and out, and on iPhone use geofenced auto clock-in (location is read on-device only).

Yes. Businessily helps you organize the records behind 1099 and W-2 tax preparation, along with income, expenses and mileage, so your numbers are ready at tax time.

Mileage uses year-aware IRS standard rates and produces IRS-ready CSV and PDF exports. On iPhone there's optional on-device GPS auto-tracking, so trips can be logged automatically without sending your location anywhere.

No. Businessily organizes your books and tax records and makes them export-ready, but it is not tax, legal or accounting advice and it doesn't replace a qualified professional. For your specific situation, please talk to an accountant or tax advisor.