Frequently Asked Questions
Questions Answered.
No Sales Pitch.
Everything you need to know about how Helcyon works, what it costs, and how we protect your data.
The Basics
Helcyon is a financial diagnostic system for businesses. We connect to your financial data — whether that's accounting software, bank accounts, credit cards, or uploaded statements — and deliver a monthly "Health Digest" in plain English that tells you:
- Your five Business Vital Signs (health scores from 0-100)
- What's actually happening in your business financially
- Specific opportunities we've found (quantified in dollars)
- Red flags and anomalies that need attention
- What to do about all of it
Think of it as a CFO's analysis, delivered to your inbox every month. No dashboards to interpret. No spreadsheets to build. Just answers.
Just like your body has vital signs (heart rate, blood pressure, temperature), your business has five financial vital signs:
- Cash Pulse: How many days of operating cash you have at current burn rate
- Revenue Blood Pressure: How stable and predictable your income is
- Margin Temperature: Whether your profit margins are healthy or eroding
- Customer Heartbeat: Customer retention, concentration risk, and lifetime value trends
- Growth Oxygen: Whether you have the capacity and resources to grow
Each score is 0-100. Above 70 is healthy. Below 50 needs attention. We explain what's driving each score and what to do about it.
Your accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero, etc.) is a record-keeping system. It stores transactions. It generates reports. But it doesn't interpret anything.
Helcyon interprets.
We don't just show you that your revenue was $147,000 last month. We tell you that 34% of that revenue depends on three customers, one of whom has been paying slower for the last 90 days, and what that means for your cash position in Q3.
Your accounting software tells you what happened. Helcyon tells you what it means and what to do.
No. Helcyon works with your existing accountant and your existing software. We add a layer of intelligence on top of what you already have.
Your accountant handles tax filing, compliance, and legal requirements — things that require professional certification. We handle the interpretation layer: what your numbers mean, where the opportunities are, and what to do about it. That's what accountants typically don't have time for.
If you have an accountant, we make their job easier — clients come to them with better questions, and they can focus on strategy instead of explaining basic reports. Many accountants actually recommend us to their clients.
And if you don't have an accountant yet, we can still give you the financial clarity you need while you decide if and when you need one.
You're exactly who we built this for. Many businesses run on spreadsheets, bank statements, or basic record-keeping. We work with all of them.
If you don't have formal accounting software, we can:
- Connect directly to your bank accounts and credit cards — we use read-only access to see your transactions and build the picture from there
- Accept uploaded statements — bank statements, credit card statements, P&L exports, whatever you have
- Help you get set up properly — if you want, we can recommend a modern accounting system that feeds us automatically, so you get better records AND better interpretation going forward
Businesses without formal accounting often get the most value from Helcyon — because they've been flying blind the longest. We give you CFO-level clarity without requiring CFO-level infrastructure.
How It Works
Multiple options — use whichever works for you:
- Connect accounting software: QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, Wave, and 50+ others. Takes about 60 seconds.
- Connect bank accounts / credit cards: Read-only access through secure bank connections. We see transactions but can never move money.
- Upload files: Bank statements, P&L reports, spreadsheets — whatever you have. We'll extract what we need.
You can use one method or combine them. The more data we see, the more complete your diagnosis.
Setup takes less than 5 minutes. You'll receive your first Health Digest within 24 hours.
Your main Health Digest arrives on the 1st of every month. It covers the previous month's activity and includes your Vital Signs scores, opportunities found, red flags, and recommended actions.
But we don't just wait until the 1st. If we detect something urgent (significant anomaly, cash flow warning, unusual transaction pattern, potential fraud), we send an alert immediately. You don't have to wait for the monthly report to know something's wrong.
The Scenario Engine lets you model "what if" decisions before you make them:
- "What happens to my cash runway if I hire two people?"
- "What if I raise prices by 5%?"
- "What if my biggest customer leaves?"
- "What if I take on $50K in debt?"
- "What if I open a second location?"
We show you the projected impact on your Vital Signs, cash position, and profitability. You see the consequences before you commit — so you can make decisions with confidence instead of hope.
Available on Professional and Command plans.
Your Financial Immune System is our always-on defense against waste, fraud, and silent cash leaks. It includes:
- Duplicate payment detection: Catches accidental double-payments to vendors
- Merchant fee verification: Compares what your payment processors charge vs. what your contracts say
- Subscription audit: Finds forgotten recurring charges and unused services
- Vendor price creep: Alerts you when suppliers quietly raise prices
- Anomaly detection: Flags unusual transactions that don't match your patterns
Most businesses lose 3-5% of revenue to these silent leaks. We find them and help you stop them.
Security & Data
Yes. We take security extremely seriously:
- Read-only access: We can see your data but can never modify, delete, or move money
- 256-bit AES encryption: Same encryption used by banks
- AWS infrastructure: Enterprise-grade hosting with SOC 2 compliance
- No data sharing: Your data is never sold, shared, or used for AI training
- SOC 2 Type II: Certification in progress
We see your numbers. We never touch your money.
Only with read-only access — and only if you choose to connect them.
If you connect your bank accounts directly (instead of or in addition to accounting software), we can see your transactions to build a more complete picture. But we use secure, read-only connections. We have no ability to initiate transfers, make payments, or move money in any way.
Think of it like giving someone a view-only copy of your statement. They can see the numbers, but they can't touch the account.
Cancel anytime. When you cancel, we delete all your data within 30 days. You can also request immediate deletion at any time by contacting support.
We comply with GDPR and CCPA. Your data, your control.
Pricing & Plans
Plans start at $147/month:
- Essentials ($147/mo): Monthly Health Digest, 5 Vital Signs, opportunity identification, red flag alerts
- Professional ($297/mo): Everything in Essentials, plus Scenario Engine, Financial Immune System (fraud/waste detection), and priority support
- Command (Custom): Everything in Professional, plus live CFO calls, multi-entity support, custom integrations, and dedicated account management
Annual billing saves ~17%. All plans include a 30-day money-back guarantee.
For comparison: a fractional CFO costs $3,000–$8,000/month. Helcyon delivers the interpretation layer for a fraction of that.
We don't offer a traditional free trial because our value comes from the full monthly analysis — not a quick demo.
Instead, we offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. Sign up, connect your data, receive your first Health Digest. If you don't find it valuable, email us within 30 days for a full refund. No questions asked.
This way, you get to experience the real product with your real data — not a sandbox demo.
Yes. No long-term contracts. Cancel anytime from your account settings. Your access continues until the end of your current billing period, and we delete your data within 30 days of cancellation.
Most businesses that use Helcyon find opportunities or stop waste that exceeds the cost within the first 1-2 months. Common examples:
- Finding a duplicate payment to a vendor: $2,400 recovered
- Discovering payment processor overcharges: $800/month saved
- Identifying customers that cost more than they pay: $15,000/year margin improvement
- Catching subscription services no longer used: $400/month saved
The average client finds more than enough in the first report to cover a full year of Helcyon.
But the bigger value isn't the one-time finds — it's the ongoing clarity. Knowing your cash runway. Understanding your real margins. Seeing problems 60 days earlier than you would have. That's what prevents the expensive emergencies.
Who It's For
Any size. We work with businesses from startup to $50M+ in revenue.
The businesses that get the most value typically:
- Have enough transactions to analyze (at least a few months of history)
- Want to understand their finances better than they do today
- Make decisions based on financial health (hiring, pricing, expansion, etc.)
- Don't have a full-time CFO interpreting their numbers
If you're small today, that's fine — in fact, it's better. Getting financial clarity early helps you grow with confidence instead of discovering problems after they've become expensive.
The best time to understand your financial health is before you need to. We help businesses at every stage see clearly.
All of them. The Vital Signs framework applies across industries — cash flow pressure, margin erosion, and customer concentration don't care what you sell.
Our clients include:
- Professional services (agencies, consultancies, law firms)
- Restaurants and food service
- Retail and e-commerce
- Healthcare practices
- Construction and trades
- Manufacturing and distribution
- SaaS and technology
- Real estate and property management
If your business has financial transactions, we can diagnose it.
Helcyon transforms how you serve clients — and the value you can offer.
The problem you know too well: You spend hours reviewing client financials, trying to spot patterns, preparing reports that clients barely read, and answering the same questions about "what does this mean?" You have dozens of clients, and there aren't enough hours to give each one the strategic attention they deserve.
What Helcyon does for you:
- Instant interpretation: What takes you hours to analyze, Helcyon does in minutes — across all your clients simultaneously
- Early warning system: Get alerts when a client's financial health changes, so you can reach out proactively instead of reactively
- Higher-value conversations: Walk into client meetings with insights already prepared, not spending the meeting explaining basic reports
- New revenue stream: Offer Helcyon as a premium advisory service — either white-labeled under your brand or co-branded with us
- Client retention: Clients who understand their finances better stay longer and refer more
You become the accountant who sees things coming before they happen. The one who calls clients with opportunities, not just tax bills. The one clients can't imagine leaving.
Advisor program benefits:
- Multi-client dashboard to monitor all accounts
- Volume pricing that improves your margins
- White-label options for your brand
- Marketing materials and sales support
- Priority support and dedicated account manager
Yes. If you own or manage multiple businesses, our Professional and Command plans support multi-entity monitoring. You get a unified dashboard with separate Vital Signs for each entity, plus consolidated views where relevant.
For accountants and advisors managing client portfolios, we offer dedicated multi-client dashboards with volume pricing.
Getting Started
Less than 5 minutes.
If you're connecting accounting software: about 60 seconds to authorize the connection.
If you're connecting bank accounts: 2-3 minutes to link through our secure banking connection.
If you're uploading files: however long it takes to export and upload your statements.
Once connected, we begin analysis immediately. Your first Health Digest arrives within 24 hours.
No. Once you connect your data sources, Helcyon runs automatically. Your Health Digest arrives every month. Alerts come when needed. You don't have to log into dashboards, run reports, or remember to check anything.
Of course, you can log in anytime to use the Scenario Engine, review past reports, or explore your data. But you don't have to. The insights come to you.
Every plan includes email support. We typically respond within a few hours on business days.
Professional plans include priority support with faster response times.
Command plans include scheduled CFO calls where you can discuss your reports, ask strategic questions, and get personalized guidance.
Here's exactly what happens:
- Connect your data — accounting software, bank accounts, or file uploads (takes 2-5 minutes)
- We analyze — our system processes your financial history and calculates your Vital Signs
- First Health Digest arrives — within 24 hours, you receive your first report via email
- Ongoing monitoring begins — we watch continuously and alert you to anything urgent
- Monthly reports continue — on the 1st of each month, your full Health Digest arrives
You're always in control. Cancel anytime if it's not valuable.
Still Have Questions?
We're happy to answer anything not covered here.