CobbleThis Privacy Policy explains how Steingard Financial ("Steingard", "we", "us") collects, uses, shares and protects information through Cobble Accounting ("Cobble"), the bookkeeping software available at cobbleaccounting.com and its subdomains. It covers information you give us and information we access from QuickBooks Online when you connect your company.
1. Information we collect
Account information
Your name, email address, business name, and the login details for your Cobble account. Passwords are stored as one-way hashes, never in readable form.
Data from QuickBooks Online
When you connect, you authorize Cobble through Intuit to access your QuickBooks Online company using the com.intuit.quickbooks.accounting scope. We read:
- Company information (company name and QuickBooks company ID)
- Chart of accounts
- Vendors and customers (names and the contact details stored on them)
- Classes, locations and other tracking categories
- Transactions such as expenses, deposits, transfers, bills and bill payments, including amounts, dates, payees and memos
We don't request access to QuickBooks Payroll or QuickBooks Payments, and we never see or store your Intuit password. Sign-in happens on Intuit's own pages.
Connection tokens
Intuit issues Cobble an access token and a refresh token for your company. We use these only to communicate with QuickBooks on your behalf.
Information you give us
Answers you submit to your bookkeeper's questions, notes and attachments you add, and messages you send to support.
Technical information
Basic server logs such as request times, pages requested and the IP address seen by our server (which may be a proxy rather than your own device). We use them for security and troubleshooting. We don't use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. Cobble uses a session cookie only to keep you signed in.
2. How we use information
- To provide bookkeeping services: syncing, reviewing, categorizing, reconciling and closing your books.
- To write approved corrections back to your QuickBooks company. Every write is approved by a person and recorded in a log.
- To ask you questions about transactions and to send you summaries of your books.
- To keep the service secure, prevent misuse and fix problems.
- To comply with legal obligations.
We do not sell your information, share it for advertising, or use your financial data to train AI models.
3. AI-assisted categorization
Cobble can suggest how to categorize a transaction. Suggestions come from rules your bookkeeper sets and, where your bookkeeper has enabled it, from a third-party AI model. When an AI model is used, we send it only what it needs for that suggestion: the transaction's date, amount, payee and memo, a list of candidate account names, and a few examples of how similar transactions were categorized before. We never send connection tokens, passwords, or bank or card numbers.
AI suggestions are never applied automatically. A person reviews and confirms each one before it affects your books.
Steingard staff also use an AI review assistant (xAI's Grok) that reads a limited summary of what needs attention: transaction date, payee, amount and the suggested category, plus status such as unreconciled accounts. It has read-only access and cannot change your books.
4. How we share information
We share information only with the service providers that help us run Cobble, and only as needed to provide the service:
| Provider | Purpose | Data involved |
|---|---|---|
| Intuit Inc. (QuickBooks Online) | Reading and updating your books at your direction | Your QuickBooks company data |
| Our hosting provider | Running the servers and databases Cobble runs on | All data stored in Cobble |
| AI model providers (currently OpenRouter, and Anthropic where configured) | Suggesting how to categorize transactions | Transaction details described in section 3 |
| xAI (Grok) | An internal review assistant Steingard staff use to see which transactions need attention and spot problems in the books | Transaction date, payee and amount, Cobble's suggested category, and summary bookkeeping status. No account numbers, memos or contact details |
| Email delivery provider | Sending questions and summaries | Your name, email address and message content |
We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect the rights and safety of our clients or others, or as part of a merger or sale of our business. In that case, this policy will continue to apply to your information.
Steingard Financial is your bookkeeping firm. Its staff who work on your account can see your books in Cobble.
5. How we protect information
- Separate databases. Each client's books are stored in a separate database, not in a shared one.
- Encrypted tokens. QuickBooks connection tokens are encrypted at rest. They are never sent to a browser, written to logs, or included in anything sent to an AI model.
- Encryption in transit. All connections to Cobble and to Intuit use HTTPS (TLS).
- Restricted network access. Cobble's servers can reach only an approved list of outside services.
- Access controls. Access to client data is limited to the people who need it to provide the service.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your information, we'll notify you as required by law.
6. Retention
We keep your information while your account is active. When you disconnect QuickBooks, we revoke our access with Intuit right away and stop syncing. Bookkeeping records we've already prepared may be kept as long as needed for the services we provided and as required by law or professional record-keeping obligations. You can ask us to delete them, subject to those obligations.
7. Your choices and rights
- Disconnect. You can disconnect Cobble at any time from the Apps section in QuickBooks Online, or by asking us to disconnect it.
- Access, correction and deletion. You can ask for a copy of your information, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it.
- California residents. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to know, delete and correct personal information, and not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined in the Act.
To make a request, email support@steingardfinancial.com. We'll verify your identity before acting on the request.
8. Children
Cobble is a business service and is not directed to children under 16. We don't knowingly collect their information.
9. Changes to this policy
If we make material changes, we'll update the effective date above and notify account holders by email or in Cobble before the changes take effect.
10. Contact us
Steingard Financial
San Jose, CA 95125, United States
support@steingardfinancial.com · (408) 596-3261