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How Custom Domain Setup Works

You can run your bookkeeping portal on your own domain — for example books.yourcompany.com or portal.yourcompany.com. To do this you add one DNS record at whoever manages your domain (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, etc.). This guide walks you through it for every major provider. The whole process takes about 5 minutes. After you add the record, it can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours for the change to take effect.

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What you’ll add

In almost all cases you’ll create a CNAME record:
FieldValue
TypeCNAME
Name / Hostthe subdomain you want (e.g. books, portal, or app)
Value / Target / Points tocname1.bookeeper.ai
TTLAutomatic / Default (or 3600)
Tip: A subdomain (like books.yourcompany.com) is the easiest and most reliable choice. If you want to use your root domain with no subdomain (e.g. yourcompany.com itself), skip to Using a root domain.

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Choose your DNS provider

Jump to your provider:

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GoDaddy

  1. Sign in at godaddy.com and open My Products.
  2. Next to your domain, click DNS (or Manage DNS).
  3. Under Records, click Add.
  4. Fill in:
    • Type: CNAME
    • Name: books (or your chosen subdomain)
    • Value: cname1.bookeeper.ai
    • TTL: 1 Hour
  5. Click Save.

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Namecheap

  1. Sign in at namecheap.com and go to Domain List.
  2. Click Manage next to your domain, then open the Advanced DNS tab.
  3. Under Host Records, click Add New Record.
  4. Fill in:
    • Type: CNAME Record
    • Host: books (or your chosen subdomain)
    • Value: cname1.bookeeper.ai
    • TTL: Automatic
  5. Click the green ✓ checkmark to save.

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Cloudflare

  1. Sign in at dash.cloudflare.com and select your domain.
  2. In the left sidebar, click DNS → Records.
  3. Click Add record.
  4. Fill in:
    • Type: CNAME
    • Name: books (or your chosen subdomain)
    • Target: cname1.bookeeper.ai
    • Proxy status: DNS only (click the orange cloud so it turns grey)
  5. Click Save.
Important: The proxy must be set to DNS only (grey cloud). Leaving it proxied (orange cloud) will prevent your portal from loading correctly.

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Squarespace / Google Domains

Google Domains was acquired by Squarespace, so domains are now managed here.
  1. Sign in at account.squarespace.com and open Domains.
  2. Select your domain, then click DNS → DNS Settings.
  3. Under Custom Records, add a record:
    • Host: books (or your chosen subdomain)
    • Type: CNAME
    • Data: cname1.bookeeper.ai
  4. Click Add / Save.

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Amazon Route 53

  1. Open the Route 53 console.
  2. Go to Hosted zones and select your domain.
  3. Click Create record.
  4. Fill in:
    • Record name: books (or your chosen subdomain)
    • Record type: CNAME
    • Value: cname1.bookeeper.ai
    • TTL: 300
  5. Click Create records.

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Hostinger

  1. Sign in at hpanel.hostinger.com.
  2. Go to Domains → DNS / Nameservers.
  3. Under Manage DNS records, add a record:
    • Type: CNAME
    • Name: books (or your chosen subdomain)
    • Target / Points to: cname1.bookeeper.ai
    • TTL: 14400
  4. Click Add Record.

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Name.com

  1. Sign in at name.com and open My Domains.
  2. Click your domain, then DNS Records.
  3. Under Add Record, fill in:
    • Type: CNAME
    • Host: books (or your chosen subdomain)
    • Answer: cname1.bookeeper.ai
    • TTL: 300
  4. Click Add Record.

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IONOS / 1&1

  1. Sign in at ionos.com and open Domains & SSL.
  2. Click the gear/▾ next to your domain and choose DNS.
  3. Click Add Record and choose CNAME.
  4. Fill in:
    • Host name: books (or your chosen subdomain)
    • Points to: cname1.bookeeper.ai
    • TTL: 1 Hour
  5. Click Save.

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Bluehost

  1. Sign in at bluehost.com and go to Domains.
  2. Select your domain and open DNS (or Zone Editor).
  3. Add a record:
    • Type: CNAME
    • Host Record / Name: books (or your chosen subdomain)
    • Points To: cname1.bookeeper.ai
    • TTL: 4 Hours
  4. Click Add Record / Save.

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Wix

  1. Sign in at wix.com and go to your Domains dashboard.
  2. Select your domain and click Edit DNS / Manage DNS Records.
  3. Under CNAME (Aliases), click Add Record:
    • Host name: books (or your chosen subdomain)
    • Value / Points to: cname1.bookeeper.ai
    • TTL: 1 Hour
  4. Click Save.

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Other providers

Any DNS provider works — the steps are essentially the same. Find where you manage DNS records for your domain and add:
FieldValue
TypeCNAME
Host / Namebooks (or your chosen subdomain)
Value / Targetcname1.bookeeper.ai

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Using a root domain

Some people want their portal on the bare/root domain — yourcompany.com instead of books.yourcompany.com. Most DNS providers do not allow a plain CNAME on the root, so you have two options:
  1. Recommended — use a subdomain instead. Point books.yourcompany.com (or www) at cname1.bookeeper.ai using the steps above. This is the most reliable setup.
  2. Use CNAME flattening / ALIAS / ANAME. If your provider supports it, you can point the root at our target:
    • Cloudflare: add a CNAME on @ with target cname1.bookeeper.ai (Cloudflare flattens it automatically). Set proxy to DNS only.
    • Route 53: create an Alias record on the root pointing to cname1.bookeeper.ai.
    • Other providers: look for a record type called ALIAS, ANAME, or CNAME flattening and use cname1.bookeeper.ai as the target.
If you’re unsure, go with a subdomain — it always works.

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After you add the record

It will automatically generate a SSL certificate for your domain, and you can share your custom whitelabel URL with your clients.

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Troubleshooting

“This site can’t be reached” / domain doesn’t load
  • DNS may still be propagating — wait a bit longer and try again.
  • Double-check the record Type is CNAME and the Value is exactly cname1.bookeeper.ai (no extra spaces or a trailing dot issue).
Verify your record is live Run this from a terminal, replacing the hostname with yours: 
dig CNAME books.yourcompany.com +short
You should see cname1.bookeeper.ai in the output. You can also check using a free tool like dnschecker.org. Still stuck? Contact our support team with your domain name and we’ll help you get connected.