SmokoBooks help

SmokoBooks runs on Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit. There is no Mac version.

1. Download the installer from your key email or the download page: SmokoBooks-Setup-1.5.2.exe, about 120 MB.
2. Double-click it. It installs for your Windows user only, so no admin password is needed, and adds SmokoBooks to the desktop and Start menu.
3. If Windows shows “Windows protected your PC”, click More info, then Run anyway.

Updates download in the background and install when you close SmokoBooks (Help › Check for updates checks now). Uninstalling or reinstalling leaves your data alone.

The first time it opens you can watch a three-minute video tour. The setup wizard then takes about five minutes: business details, licence key, logo, GST, bank details, numbering and email. Only the business name and the key are required; the rest can be changed later in Settings.

Your key looks like XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX. It's shown on screen when you subscribe and emailed with the download link. Lost it? Manage subscription emails it again.

Activation needs the internet. It sends our licence server your key, business name, email, ABN, trade and phone, the computer's Windows name and version, a computer ID and the app version. Your books are not sent.

SmokoBooks checks your licence once a day, sending your key, a computer ID, the app version and how many documents and jobs you have. If the check can't get through, the app keeps working and a banner counts down the days left. After 14 days without a successful check it locks until you reconnect and press Check again. Nothing is deleted while it's locked.

1. Old computer: Settings › Backup and data › Export backup, saved to a USB stick or cloud drive. To keep your existing PDFs, copy the documents folder too (File › Open data folder).
2. Old computer: Settings › Licence › Deactivate on this computer. That frees your key.
3. New computer: install SmokoBooks, run setup and enter the same key.
4. New computer: Settings › Backup and data › Import backup.

Old computer dead or stolen? Email admin@aenetworks.com.au with your key and we release it. A RAM upgrade, a new CPU or renaming the PC doesn't count as a new computer.

Choose a method in Settings › Email, which also shows whether Outlook is installed.

• Open in Outlook (you press Send): classic Outlook opens the email with the PDF attached, ready for you to check and send.
• Send now via Outlook: classic Outlook sends it straight away.
• Send now via SMTP: sends through your email provider's server. Enter the host, port, username and password, then press Test SMTP.
• Open my email app (attach the PDF yourself): opens your mail program with the message filled in and shows the PDF in File Explorer to drag in.

SMTP and app passwords

If your email account uses two-step sign-in, create an app password in its security settings and use that instead of your normal password. Your provider lists its SMTP host and port; tick Use SSL/TLS for port 465.

On Solo, your books are a data file in your Windows user profile. File › Open data folder opens it, Settings › About shows the path, and saved PDFs sit in its documents folder. On Solo + office PC the books live in the folder you chose in your own OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox. Your books are never sent to AENETWORKS.

The first time SmokoBooks saves each day, it writes a dated backup and keeps the last 30. If the data file is ever damaged, it opens the latest backup and tells you.

In Settings › Backup and data:

• Export backup: one file with every document, ledger entry, contact and setting. Keep a copy off this PC.
• Import backup: replaces the current data with a backup file. The current data is copied to the backups folder first.
• Export documents CSV: every document's type, number, date, customer, totals and status in a spreadsheet.
• Export Excel workbook: the full bookkeeping workbook, built from your data, for your accountant.

On Solo + office PC, both computers open the same books from your OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox folder, one person at a time. The two-computer setup page has the steps and a 90-second video.

The round ? button at the bottom right opens Help: tips for the screen you're on, common questions, the video tour and Send feedback, which goes straight to AENETWORKS. Show me around is a one-minute guided tour. Documents autosave a couple of seconds after you stop typing.

Manage subscription emails you your key and links to update your card, see invoices or cancel. No password needed. In the app, Settings › Licence has Card & invoices, Cancel plan and, on Solo, Upgrade to 2 computers; each opens Stripe's billing page.

When a plan ends

SmokoBooks keeps working until the end of the period you've paid for. Cancel a free trial before it ends and nothing is charged. If your subscription ends, the app locks. Your PDFs, data file and daily backups stay on your PC — export the Excel workbook before your plan ends.

Email admin@aenetworks.com.au. SmokoBooks is made by AENETWORKS in Queensland.

Attach a support file: Settings › About › Export support file. It holds your app version, licence status, settings (minus your email password), document and job counts and recent log lines, but not your customers or documents.