Getting Help

NP Ledger gives you three built-in ways to get help without leaving the app: an AI assistant that knows your data, a searchable user guide, and a step-by-step getting started walkthrough. You don't need to set anything up -- help is available from every page.

No setup needed. All help features are available immediately after you log in.

Using AI Help

The AI assistant understands your organization's specific data -- your accounts, funds, transactions, and settings. It gives answers tailored to your books, not generic advice.

1. Click the AI Help button in the bottom-right corner of any page. The help panel slides open.
2. Type your question in plain language. Examples:
3. "How do I record a donation?"
4. "Why doesn't my trial balance match?"
5. "What does 'no open accounting period' mean?"
6. Review the response. The AI may include:
7. Step-by-step instructions
8. Links to relevant user guide pages
9. Analysis based on your actual data (if you're asking about a specific report or transaction)
10. Ask follow-up questions. The AI remembers the last 3 messages in each conversation, so you can drill deeper into a topic.
11. Start fresh by clicking New Conversation if you want to change topics.

Tip: The AI Help panel has tabs at the top. The Guide tab shows user guide excerpts relevant to the page you're currently viewing -- check there first for quick answers before typing a question.

Using the User Guide

The user guide has step-by-step instructions for every major feature, organized by topic.

1. Click Help > User Guide in the sidebar. This opens the guide index.
2. Browse by section:
3. Getting Started -- setup and orientation
4. Recording Transactions -- Quick Entry, Voice Entry, imports
5. Donations and Fundraising -- connections, routing, giving statements
6. Managing Your Books -- reconciliation, funds, chart of accounts
7. Reports -- all 14 report types
8. Tax and Compliance -- 990 filing, compliance checks
9. Nonprofit Accounting Basics -- concepts explained in plain language
10. Troubleshooting -- error fixes, donation issues, payout mismatches
11. Use the search bar to find pages by keyword. The search is synonym-aware -- typing "webhook" finds "donation connection," and "COA" finds "chart of accounts."
12. Each page has a Related Pages section at the bottom linking to the next logical step.

Using the Getting Started Guide

If you're new to NP Ledger, the getting started guide walks you through initial setup in 7 steps.

1. Click Getting Started in the sidebar.
2. Follow the steps in order -- each one builds on the previous:
3. Setting up your organization
4. Understanding the dashboard
5. Recording your first transaction
6. Connecting a donation platform
7. And more
8. You can return to the guide anytime to review a step you've already completed.

• AI Help shows the page name at the top of the panel -- responses are tailored to the page you're currently on
• Guide search returns results even with different wording -- if one search term doesn't work, try a synonym
• The guide updates automatically when new features are added to NP Ledger

• Asking the AI about features you haven't set up yet. The AI works best with your actual data. If you haven't set up bank accounts yet, asking "reconcile my bank account" won't have useful context.
• Skipping the guide for step-by-step tasks. The AI gives concise answers, but the guide provides complete workflows with all the edge cases. For multi-step processes like 990 filing, the guide is more thorough.
• Not using the Guide tab in AI Help. The Guide tab auto-loads relevant excerpts for the page you're on. It's faster than searching and already filtered to your current context.