The AI assistant on Dashboard answers questions about vendors, totals, and due dates using invoices you already uploaded. It is available on Pro and Business plans.
What this guide covers
Opening the assistant, asking effective questions, and understanding what data it can access.
Before you begin
- Pro or Business subscription.
- At least a few processed invoices in Ledger.
Step-by-step: open the assistant
- Log in at /login and go to Dashboard.
- Find the AI assistant card below the stat tiles.
- Click the input field or suggested prompt chips.
- Type a question in plain language.
Step-by-step: ask useful questions
- Try "How much did we spend with Acme Corp this year?"
- Or "Which invoices are due in the next 14 days?"
- Or "What did we pay for software subscriptions in May?"
- Read the answer; click cited invoice links when shown to open Ledger or PDFs.
What the assistant knows
- Vendors, amounts, due dates, and categories from processed PDFs.
- Active profile scope (switch profiles before asking if you run multiple businesses).
- It does not read emails, bank CSVs, or files still stuck in Processing.
What you should see
- Short answers with numbers matching Ledger and charts.
- Suggestions to upload more PDFs when data is missing.
- No access on Free plan (card shows upgrade link).
Tips and common issues
- Upload backlog PDFs first; the assistant cannot summarize bills you have not processed.
- For tax estimates and P&L, use Tax estimates and Executive P&L on Business HQ.
- Do not paste sensitive passwords or unrelated personal data into the chat.
- English questions work best; vendor names should match Ledger spelling.
Related guides
Tip: Ask the assistant before month-end close to spot missing vendors you forgot to upload.
Example prompts
- "Top five vendors by spend this quarter"
- "List unpaid invoices due before the 15th"
- "Total software category spend in 2026"
- "Do we have an Amazon Web Services bill for May?"
Frequently asked questions
Does the assistant change invoices?
No. It is read-only over your ledger data.
Is chat logged for training?
Treat chat like support: no passwords or unrelated PII.
Scenario walkthrough
Imagine it is the 28th of the month. You log in at /login, land on Dashboard (/dashboard), and scan the stat tiles: Tracked spend, Estimated tax (if on Business), Account credit, and Open invoices for your FilePile subscription. You open the Upload tab, add any PDFs that arrived today, then switch to Processing until each row shows completed. You check Ledger for amounts and Browse for folder paths. If Business HQ (/account/business) applies to your plan, you open the relevant panel next. Finally you visit /docs if you need a deeper guide.
Glossary (FilePile terms)
- Dashboard: main workspace at /dashboard with Upload, Processing, Ledger, Tasks, Browse tabs.
- Business HQ: owner tools at /account/business including Payment Command Center, Email Invoice Inbox, Spend Budgets, Approval Workflows, Bank Reconciliation, Tax estimates, Executive P&L, and Accounting export/import.
- Profile: separate business archive under one login; see /account/profiles.
- Ledger: searchable table of processed vendor invoices.
- Tasks: review queue for missing fields or billing mismatches.
Keyboard and navigation habits
Use the left sidebar consistently: Dashboard for daily PDF work, Business HQ for payables and reporting, Reminders at /account/reminders for email preferences, Help center at /docs for articles like this one. The Invoice workspace never uses a tab named Process; uploads always start on Upload.
When to contact support
Contact support if a valid PDF fails after three retries on Processing, if team invites never arrive, if billing charges look incorrect on /account/invoices, or if Business HQ panels stay locked after a confirmed upgrade. Include your account email, active profile name, and screenshot of the error row.
Record-keeping reminder
FilePile sorts and extracts PDFs you provide. It does not replace professional tax, legal, or accounting advice. Keep original vendor emails and bank records alongside your FilePile Browse archive for audit readiness.
Ground truth rule
If the assistant answer disagrees with Ledger, trust Ledger and fix data via uploads or Tasks. The assistant summarizes processed rows; it cannot invent missing PDFs.
Quick reference card
| Item | Value |
|------|-------|
| Login | /login |
| Register | /register |
| Dashboard | /dashboard |
| Business HQ | /account/business |
| Company | /account/company |
| Reminders | /account/reminders |
| Help | /docs |
| Plans | Free (25/mo), Pro, Business |
| Upload types | PDF only on Dashboard |
| Workspace tabs | Upload, Processing, Ledger, Tasks, Browse |
Keep this table handy when onboarding teammates so nobody searches for a Upload tab that does not exist.