> ## Knowledge Base Index > Fetch the complete knowledge base index at: https://help.booksgpt.ai/sitemap.xml > Use this file to discover available pages before exploring further. > Pure-Markdown content can be obtained by appending a '.md' suffix to the content URLs listed in the sitemap (without the trailing slash). # Copilot: the basics Copilot is the AI bookkeeper built into BooksGPT. It reads your books (transactions, invoices, bills and reports) and answers questions about them in plain language, the way a bookkeeper would if you leaned over and asked. Copilot can also change your books when you ask. Some changes it makes right away; others arrive on a card for you to approve first. If Auto-post is on (open **Settings** in the left sidebar, then **AI preferences**), BooksGPT also files the categories it is sure of without asking. ${youtube}[Watch: How to ask Copilot about your books in BooksGPT](oZ8-EgMmSSI) ## Open Copilot - Click **Home**, or the BooksGPT logo, in the left sidebar. The chat fills the page, and each visit starts a fresh chat. - On any other page, click the round BooksGPT button at the bottom left, just outside the sidebar. Copilot opens over the page you are on. - Earlier conversations are under **Chats** in the left sidebar. - On Home, **Chat** and **Panel** at the top switch between the chat and your numbers. A personal workspace says **Overview** instead of Panel. ## Ask a question 1. Type your question in the box at the bottom, in your own words. For example: *How much did we spend on software last quarter?* 2. Press Enter, or click the arrow button (**Send**). 3. Copilot reads the parts of your books it needs. A line above the answer says how many things it checked. Click it to see what it read. 4. The answer appears under your question. A question about a report often brings a chart under the answer. ![Copilot on Home: the question How much did we spend on software last quarter? on the right, the answer under it, the Profit & Loss chart for July to September, and Follow-ups with Categorize 12 transactions](https://booksgpt.ai/help/copilot-the-basics/ask-and-answer-2026-10.png) Questions that make a good start: - What was my profit last month? - Which invoices are overdue? - Where do I reconcile? (Copilot answers with a link to the page.) | Copilot answers from your books as they stand right now. Transactions still waiting for review are counted under Uncategorized, so a question about one category can miss them. Clear the review inbox first for the best answers. ## Ask about the page you are on When you open Copilot over another page, a chip in the message box names that page, such as **Customers** or **Account register**. Copilot then knows what you are looking at, so you can ask *Which of these customers owes us the most?* without explaining where you are. - Click the **X** on the chip to leave the page out of your next message. - Click **Use this page** to put it back. ![Copilot open over the Customers page, with the Customers chip in the message box and recent chats under it](https://booksgpt.ai/help/copilot-the-basics/beside-a-page-2026-10.png) ## Ask for a change Ask in your own words, for example *Add a vendor called Harbor Print.* Copilot makes these changes right away, by the same rules as the pages (closed periods and reconciled lines stay protected, and it only does what your role allows): - Add or change accounts (opening balances too), customers, vendors, products and services, and classes and tags. - Post a journal entry, or reverse or correct one already posted. - Add a transaction by hand, or delete one. Everything else, such as bank transaction categories, invoices, bills, merges, reconciliations and rules, arrives as a card that shows exactly what would change. Click **Approve** to make the change, or **Reject** to drop it. Asking to categorize many transactions opens a review pop-up instead. A bar above the message box counts this chat's changes, with **Undo all** to remove what it added. Cards, History and **Undo all**: [Approve, undo, or ask Copilot for a change](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/approve-undo-or-ask-copilot-for-a-change-n09dte/). The categorize pop-up: [Review what Copilot suggests](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/review-what-copilot-suggests-1ox2ljh/). One transaction or a split: [Edit a transaction from chat](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/edit-a-transaction-from-chat-7a8j4s/). ### Enter a file in your books In a business workspace, Copilot can read a file in almost any layout, such as an export from another accounting program, and enter it for you. Click **+**, then **Add files**, then **Any file** (up to 100 MB), or drop a JSON, XML, IIF or QIF file into the chat. Copilot checks that every entry balances before it says the books are in. ## Follow-ups After an answer, Copilot may list up to three next steps under **Follow-ups**, worded from your books, such as **Categorize 12 transactions** or **Show 5 open invoices**. Click a row to ask for it, as if you had typed it. ## Needs attention and the daily briefing The clipboard icon at the top right opens **Needs attention**: the work waiting for you, most urgent first. Its green number counts transactions waiting for review. - **Fix first**: problems that affect your books, such as a bank feed that needs you. - **Transactions to review**: opens the Review inbox. - **Next up**: everyday work, such as unsent invoices or bills due in the next 7 days. - **Worth a look**: what Copilot noticed overnight. Click one to open the **Daily briefing** chat. || **You are all caught up** means no task is waiting right now. It does not mean your books are reconciled. ## What Copilot does not do - **Billing, cancelling, refunds, or reaching a person.** Messages in the Copilot chat don't reach our team. Click **Message us**, which Copilot offers, to open our support chat. - **Anything your role cannot.** A viewer can ask questions but cannot make or approve changes, and Copilot only links pages your role can open. ## If something goes wrong - **An answer looks wrong.** Ask Copilot which report or account it read, then open that report and compare. Usually a transaction is uncategorized or still waiting for review. - **A reply stopped partway, or you stopped it.** See [Stop a response and what Copilot just did](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/stop-a-response-and-what-copilot-just-did-1czkgbl/) before you ask again. - **You can't find a file you uploaded.** Ask Copilot where it went. It names the page that holds it, such as **Receipts**. ## More about Copilot - [Create or send an invoice from chat](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/create-or-send-an-invoice-from-chat-4hy7ny/) - [Drop a bill into Copilot](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/drop-a-bill-into-copilot-11p0ssr/) - [Analyze a document with Copilot](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/analyze-a-document-with-copilot-1d47tyo/) - [Copilot's books checkup](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/copilots-books-checkup-1vacire/) - [Draft and download your tax return with CPA-GPT](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/draft-and-download-your-tax-return-with-cpa-gpt-1hsx6pk/)