Books privacy policy
Last updated: 30 October 2026
This policy covers Localdesk Books: the phone app and service that connects to your QuickBooks to file receipts, send quotes and invoices, chase payments, show profit per job, prepare a pack for your accountant and send you a monthly summary. Our main privacy policy covers everything else we do.
Who we are
Localdesk is a trading name of Gio Petrucci, a sole trader based in Saltash, Cornwall ("we", "us"). Contact: hello@localdeskai.co.uk.
For the information in your QuickBooks we act as a processor: you (the business owner) stay in control of it, and we only use it to run Books for you, as set out in your service agreement.
What Books can see in QuickBooks
When you click "Allow" for Localdesk Books, Intuit gives us access to your QuickBooks Online company's accounting data. We use:
- Your company name and settings, chart of accounts and VAT codes, so expenses land in the right place
- Suppliers, customers and their contact details, so we can file expenses and send or chase invoices
- Expenses, quotes (estimates), invoices, payments and the profit and loss report, for your monthly summary, the tax-quarter figures, profit per job and the "who owes you" list
- Attachments, so receipt photos are stored with the right expense
We don't access your bank login, your payroll or anything outside QuickBooks accounting data.
Receipts, voice notes and texts
- Receipt photos and PDFs are read by an AI model run by Cloudflare (our hosting provider) to pick out the supplier, date, amount and VAT. The photo is then saved into your QuickBooks. We don't keep our own copy.
- "Say it" notes (typed, or spoken using your phone's own speech-to-text) are read in the same way to create an expense for you to check.
- Monthly texts are sent through Twilio to the mobile number you give us.
- Invoice and quote emails and reminders are sent by QuickBooks itself to the email address on them.
- Logging in: the first time you use the app on a phone, we text a 6-digit code to your mobile. The phone then stays logged in for up to a year. We store only a scrambled (hashed) copy of the code and of the login, never the code itself.
- Accountant pack: when you tap "Send to accountant" (and once a quarter by text), we make a private link to your figures, expenses with receipt photos, and invoices for that period. Anyone with the link can view it, so only share it with your accountant. Links stop working after about 13 months. If you save your accountant's email in the app, we keep it with your details.
What Books keeps itself
Your accounting records stay in QuickBooks. Books keeps a small amount of its own information, so the app can work:
- Your contact details and settings: your name, mobile number, accountant's email, VAT and chasing choices, and which extras you have.
- A change log: a short line for each thing Books does for you (for example "Filed Shell £40.00"), so you can see it and undo it. This can include supplier names and amounts.
- Your mileage log: the date, miles and reason for each trip you add.
- Log-in records: scrambled (hashed) copies of login codes and of each phone that is logged in.
- Notification details, if you turn notifications on: the address your phone's notification service gives us, so we can send you alerts.
- The free demo: to stop misuse, the demo keeps a scrambled copy of a visitor's internet address for a few hours, and nothing typed into the demo is kept for your own use.
- Links: the private links for accountant packs and for invoices and quotes you send to customers. Anyone with a link can view that page, so only share it with the person it is for. The pages show the figures or invoice straight from QuickBooks at the time they are opened.
Who else is involved
| Provider | What they do |
|---|---|
| Intuit (QuickBooks) | Holds your books. We connect to it with your permission. |
| Cloudflare | Runs the Books app and connector, stores the connection securely, and runs the AI that reads receipts. |
| Apple, Google or Mozilla | Run the notification service on your phone or browser. They deliver Books alerts if you turn them on. |
| Twilio | Sends your login codes, the monthly text and the quarterly accountant-pack text. |
| Stripe | Takes your payments for Books (setup fee and monthly fee) and holds your card details. We never see or store your full card number. |
Some of these providers may process data outside the UK. Where they do, they use legal safeguards approved under UK data protection law.
We never sell your data, use it for advertising, or use it to train AI models.
How long we keep things
- Your QuickBooks connection (the access tokens Intuit gives us) is kept until you disconnect or your service ends. It is then deleted: straight away when we end your service, or at our next daily check if you disconnect in QuickBooks yourself.
- When your service ends, access stops at once. Your QuickBooks connection, logins, notification details, app link and shared links are removed immediately.
- Your name, mobile number, accountant's email and settings, your mileage log and your change log are then held for 30 days, so we can give you a copy if you ask, and deleted after that. You can ask us to delete them sooner. The change log only ever keeps the last 90 days.
- Short technical logs may be kept by Cloudflare for a few days to keep the service running and secure.
- Accountant-pack and invoice or quote links stop working after about 13 months, or as soon as your service ends.
- Old log-in codes, unused invitations (which hold a name and mobile number) and usage counters are cleared out automatically.
- Everything filed into QuickBooks stays in your QuickBooks. That's yours.
Disconnecting
You can stop Books at any time: in QuickBooks go to Settings → Apps → Localdesk Books → Disconnect, or ask us and we'll do it for you. Once disconnected we can no longer see or change anything in your books.
If you want a copy of what Books holds about you (your mileage log and change log, for example), ask before you leave and we'll send it.
Your rights
You can ask for a copy of the information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, or object to how we use it. Email hello@localdeskai.co.uk. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.