Notifications Module
Your Notification Bell
The bell icon in the top bar — real activity that involves you, plus the occasional word from us about what’s new, all in one unread list.
The bell
1What’s in the bell
Click the bell icon in the top bar to open the panel. It shows a single combined unread list, newest first.
Two different kinds of things land here, merged into one list: real activity notifications generated by other modules — right now that’s task completions, see Notification types — and unread Team Chat messages (direct messages, group chats, and the company room). They’re stored separately behind the scenes, but you only ever see one bell and one unread count.
This is a short, unread-only list of things meant for you specifically — it isn’t a record of everything that’s happened in your company. For that, see the System Logs guide.
2Opening a notification
Click any item in the list. A task completion notification takes you straight to that task. A chat notification opens that conversation in Team Chat. Either way, that one item is marked read and drops out of the list — there’s no “keep for later” option.
3Marking as read
Click Mark all as read at the bottom of the panel to clear everything at once — every unread chat thread and every pending activity notification, in one click. There’s no per-item “dismiss without opening” — you either open an item (which reads just that one) or clear everything together.
Common tasks
How often it checks for new ones
You don’t have to do anything — the bell checks for new activity notifications automatically, about every 5 minutes, for as long as this browser tab is the one you’re actively looking at. It pauses while the tab is in the background, so it won’t do any work you can’t see.
Opening the app fresh also checks right away, so you’re never waiting a full 5 minutes on first load. Team Chat’s own unread count updates on its own, faster cadence — see the Team Chat guide for that.
Getting a popup even with the tab closed
The first time you open the bell, your browser may ask permission to show notifications. Allowing it lets certain events — new chat messages and task due-date reminders — pop up as a real operating-system notification even when this tab isn’t the one you’re looking at. This permission is optional and shared across the app; declining it doesn’t stop anything from appearing in the bell itself, it only stops the OS-level popup.
Install the app for the most reliable alerts. On a computer, Chrome and Edge show an install icon in the address bar, and Safari on a Mac has File → Add to Dock. Either gives FinAccounting its own window and taskbar or Dock icon. On Android you can download the FinAccounting app; on iPhone and iPad, use Safari’s Share → Add to Home Screen. The Get the App page has step-by-step instructions for every device. The app also offers to install itself the first time you use it on a device that supports it.
Check it works, or fix it: open your profile picture menu → Notifications. It shows whether this browser can alert you, lets you turn notifications on, and sends a test notification so you can check it arrives with FinAccounting minimised.
- You blocked notifications earlier and now want them: browsers don’t let a website ask again, so the Notifications window shows the exact steps for your browser or phone. Usually you click the padlock at the left of the address bar, set Notifications to Allow, then reload.
- Windows: in Settings → System → Notifications, make sure notifications are on for Chrome or Edge, and that Do not disturb is off. For alerts with the browser closed, turn on “Continue running background apps” in Chrome (or Edge) settings.
- Mac: in System Settings → Notifications, allow your browser, or the FinAccounting app in your Dock, and check that no Focus mode is on.
Reference
Notification types
| Type | When it fires |
|---|---|
| Task completed | A task you’re assigned to, or one you originally created, gets marked Done. Both people get a notification (deduplicated, so a task you assigned to yourself only sends one), worded differently depending on whether you’re the one who marked it done. |
| Welcome note | A one-time note the first time you join a company, pointing out that this bell exists and what it’s for. |
| What’s new | Whenever FinAccounting ships a meaningful update, a short, plain-English note about what changed lands here too — routine bug-fix releases stay silent, so this only fires for real new features. |
| Chat messages | Any unread direct message, group chat, or company room message — handled by Team Chat, shown in this same panel. |
What this module doesn’t do
Reading (or clearing) a notification removes it from the panel for good — there’s no history or archive of past notifications to revisit later.
You can’t turn off just task-completion pings while keeping chat notifications, or the other way around — everything shares one bell and one “mark all as read.”
Task completion is currently the only activity notification other than the welcome note and What’s New updates — most modules don’t push anything into this bell yet.