How It Works

How It Works

Secure, simple connections to your business data

Overview

Our applications connect to your existing business systems through secure, industry-standard protocols. This page explains how the connection process works and what happens to your data.

The Connection Process

Step 1: Create Your Account

Start by creating a free account on our platform. This establishes your identity and creates a secure space for your data and preferences.

  • Enter your email address and create a password
  • Verify your email to activate your account
  • Access your personal dashboard

Step 2: Authorize the Connection

When you’re ready to connect a data source like QuickBooks®, we use OAuth 2.0, the same secure authorization protocol used by major banks and financial institutions.

What happens during authorization:

  1. You click “Connect” in our application
  2. You’re redirected to the data source’s official website (e.g., Intuit’s QuickBooks login)
  3. You log in with YOUR credentials directly on THEIR site (we never see your password)
  4. You review and approve the specific data access we’re requesting
  5. You’re redirected back to our application, now connected

You Control Access

You explicitly approve what data we can access. You can review these permissions before authorizing.

No Password Sharing

Your login credentials are entered only on the official provider's website. We never see or store your password.

Revocable Anytime

You can disconnect the integration at any time, either from our app or from your account settings on the provider's site.

Limited Scope

We only request access to the data we need. For BizAnalyzer, that's read-only access to financial reports.

Step 3: Data Retrieval

Once connected, our application retrieves data on your behalf:

  • On-demand: Data is fetched when you access dashboards or reports
  • Cached smartly: Recent data is temporarily cached to improve performance
  • Read-only: We only retrieve data; we never modify your records
  • Encrypted: All data transmission uses TLS encryption

Step 4: Analysis & Insights

Your data is processed through our analytics engine to generate:

  • Financial statements and reports
  • Key performance indicators
  • Trend analysis and visualizations
  • Automated insights and recommendations

All processing happens securely, and your original data source remains untouched.

What We Access

BizAnalyzer (QuickBooks® Integration)

When you connect BizAnalyzer to your QuickBooks® account, we access:

Company Information:

  • Business name and legal entity details
  • Fiscal year settings
  • Company address (for report headers)

Financial Data (Read-Only):

  • Chart of accounts
  • Transaction history
  • Balance Sheet data
  • Profit & Loss data
  • Cash Flow data
  • Customer and vendor names (for receivables/payables analysis)

What We Don’t Access:

  • Banking credentials or bank account numbers
  • Tax filing information or tax returns
  • Payroll details or employee Social Security numbers
  • Credit card numbers

Security Measures

Our security architecture protects your data at every stage:

Encrypted Transmission

All data between your browser, our servers, and data sources is encrypted using TLS 1.3.

Encrypted Storage

OAuth tokens and sensitive data are encrypted at rest using AES-256 encryption.

Token Security

Access tokens are short-lived and automatically refreshed. They're never exposed to your browser.

Audit Logging

We maintain logs of all data access for security monitoring and compliance.

Managing Your Connections

Viewing Connected Services

Your dashboard shows all connected data sources, including:

  • Connection status (active/expired)
  • Last successful data sync
  • What data is being accessed

Disconnecting

You can disconnect any integration at any time:

  1. Go to Settings in your dashboard
  2. Find the connected service
  3. Click “Disconnect”
  4. Confirm the disconnection

When you disconnect:

  • We immediately lose access to retrieve new data
  • Cached data is purged according to our retention policy
  • You can reconnect anytime by going through the authorization process again

Revoking from the Provider

You can also revoke access directly from your account at the data provider:

  • QuickBooks®: Go to apps.com and manage connected apps
  • This immediately invalidates our access tokens

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you make changes to my QuickBooks® data?

No. Our integration is read-only. We can only retrieve data; we cannot create, modify, or delete any records in your QuickBooks® account.

What happens if my QuickBooks® password changes?

OAuth connections don’t use your password directly. However, if you change your password and Intuit invalidates your sessions, you may need to reconnect by going through the authorization flow again.

How long do you keep my data?

We cache data temporarily (typically 5 minutes) for performance. Detailed data retention policies are in our Privacy Policy. When you delete your account or disconnect, your data is removed from our systems.

Is my data shared with anyone?

No. Your financial data is never shared with third parties, sold to advertisers, or used for any purpose other than providing analytics to you. See our Privacy Policy for complete details.

What happens if Second Difference Solutions goes out of business?

Your data on your source systems (QuickBooks®, etc.) is yours and is not affected by our service. We would provide advance notice and data export options before any service discontinuation.

Ready to Connect?

Get started with secure access to your financial analytics in minutes.

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QuickBooks® is a registered trademark of Intuit Inc. Second Difference Solutions, LLC is an independent software provider and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Intuit Inc.