With a single user licence, can I have multiple companies set up within the subscription?
Hi @Jennie Kemp
Can I just confirm whether this relates to a Reckon Accounts Hosted licence (which this post has been created under) or a Reckon One/Reckon Payroll licence?
The question is in regard to a Reckon Accounts Hosted licence.
Thanks @Jennie Kemp
You can create as many company files as you'd like however if you're providing payroll, bookkeeping, or accounting services for clients, then each client requires their own individually licenced Reckon software. This is consistent with the licensing for all Reckon products.
Alternatively, if you have multiple files and those files are being used for different legal entities, each entity does require its own individual licence. Again, this is consistent with the licensing for all Reckon products
If this affects you, we’d really encourage you to have a chat with our team so we can talk through your specific setup and work out the best path forward.
For many customers that are operating multiple entities, our teams are happy to have a conversation and open to discuss discounts etc to help manage costs. If you have any questions or want to discuss your options, please reach out to us on 1800 732 566.
Edit: Added additional context for clearer messaging.
Hi Rav,
I have a single-user licence and want to check we can manage several of our company files in the Reckon Accounts Hosted program just for our use.
I would appreciate a phone call.
Thanks,
Jennie
Hi Jennie
I have had the same problem with Accounts Hosted. I do not see why we have to pay Full License amount to have the Accountant, or bookkeeper access the system.
At a reduced rated maybe but not the full price
Thanks
Teresa
@agofarm why are you paying for your accountant? They should have their own licence themselves
I am not paying for the accountant. They need to contact me to get the Code to be able to get in, as does my bookkeeper. This is quite inconvenient for them
That sounds like they're just logging into your own account which isn't the point. They should have their own account that you share your file to like I do with my clients.
I've got my own MFA code and don't need to bother the client. This just sounds like the accountant is cutting corners
Hi Rav
Can you confirm that i can have multiple companies with Hosted using one licence. I don't use payroll or need accountant access
Hi Mick
Yes you can, you will have to set up the new companies through File New company
@Rav , could you please clarify how Reckon defines “clients” for licensing purposes?
For example, I have:
Both files are for entities under my own control, and I am not providing bookkeeping, payroll, or accounting services to any external clients.
In this scenario, would a single Reckon Accounts licence be sufficient, or would separate licences be required?
Thanks for the clarification. Sorry this is Accounts Enterprise installed locally too.
Hi everyone
I just want to jump on and provide some clarity for the folks in this thread.
There’s nothing stopping you from creating multiple company files in Reckon Accounts Desktop or Reckon Accounts Hosted. However if those files are being used for different legal entities, each entity does require its own individual licence. This is consistent with the licensing for all Reckon products however I can certainly understand this may come as a surprise for some.
thanks for jumping in and clarifying.
Is there an automated conversion tool available to move from Reckon Accounts Enterprise to Reckon Accounts Accounting or Reckon One?
In my case, some company files only exist because Enterprise / Hosted was already the product I had at the time. I think the frustration for many of us comes down to when this information becomes apparent. There’s no warning or prompt at the point of creating a new company file that says, “If this is a separate legal entity, an additional licence is required.” Had that been clear upfront, I would have made different decisions much earlier.
For those additional entities, I may have otherwise chosen Reckon One, which is significantly cheaper and would have been perfectly adequate. Now, years later, I’m effectively locked into Enterprise or facing manual conversion costs (assuming no automated tool exists) to move to a lower-cost product. When you look at that financially, the ROI on converting can easily stretch to 10+ years, which makes it difficult to justify.
This isn’t really about the rule itself — I understand the rationale. It’s more about the lack of visibility at the decision point. A simple warning or guidance during company file creation would go a long way toward preventing this situation.
I do appreciate that the team is open to discussions and discounts, but discounts typically solve the issue for a year or two. The product choice itself is something I’ll likely live with for 20+ years. Being told to “read the terms and conditions” feels disappointing when a simple, programmatic warning could have prevented this altogether. Given Reckon is already able to extract entity information from local environments whichi I'm told is new, it feels like there was an opportunity to better support customers here.
Thanks for listening.
That's totally fair and I completely understand where you're coming from @blairmuller.
I do like the idea of a message or prompt during the file creation process. I'm not sure what's technically possible here but I'll raise it with the product dev team for consideration.
To answer your question regarding migration to Reckon One, yes we do have a dedicated migration service which can transfer your data over to Reckon One so there's no need for any manual work there.
Its also free to migration your data over to Reckon One (with some limitations) and I'll add a link to some general info on our migration service to Reckon One here.
That link is more for general purposes so for our existing Reckon Accounts customers with multiple files/licences etc, I think its best to have a conversation with our specialists first so we can get a specific understanding your needs and requirements along with setting up the best solution for you if it comes to migration to Reckon One. On that note, I've asked our team to get in touch with you directly for a chat.
It has just come as a shock to be locked out of our company file this afternoon with no warning at all, and an even bigger shock to find that I have just had to pay for 1 renewal plus an additional two licences ($1064 x 3). We operate a management rights company so we have the one file that handles these company transactions, including payroll, plus an additional 2 files to manage our investment properties within the scheme (Investment Trust and SMSF). It seems they are treated as separate entities which I was not aware of after 13 years of use until this afternoon. We weren't given the opportunity to back up our files and look for alternate options - we were just told to pay the subscription costs which are non refundable to be able to access the account. Is there a discount for situations like this as we can't justify this additional cost just to be compliant with the ATO.
if they have different ABN’s they are considered separate entities. These new rules had a lot of adverse effects. We were all flabbergasted after so many years without this restriction. Not good that it had to happen to you the way it did. Had you downloaded any backups?
Hi @blairmuller
If you are currently using Reckon Accounts Enterprise or Reckon Accounts Hosted but do not rely on features that are exclusive to those versions (and not available in Reckon Accounts Accounting, Plus, or Premier), the Data Recovery Team can help downgrade your data file to a supported lower-tier version.
Data file would need to go through a data file downgrade service:
Reckon Accounts Enterprise/Hosted —> Reckon Accounts Premier
Reckon Accounts Enterprise/Hosted —> Reckon Accounts Plus
Reckon Accounts Enterprise/Hosted —> Reckon Accounts Accounting
Reckon Accounts Premier —> Reckon Accounts Accounting
Reckon Accounts Plus —> Reckon Accounts Accounting
Does not need to go through any data file downgrade service:
Reckon Accounts Premier —> Reckon Accounts Plus
Reckon Accounts Hosted —> Reckon Accounts Enterprise
Reckon Accounts Enterprise —> Reckon Accounts Hosted
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