> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://zenofirm.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Choose a local or hosted connection > Compare how Zeno connects to QuickBooks and choose the setup that fits where the company runs. Zeno works the same way wherever it runs. The connection runs wherever the ledger can be reached safely: in the hosted firm workspace for cloud APIs, or on a Windows workstation for QuickBooks Desktop. ## The short version | Where it runs | Reaches | Best for | Hosted account | | - | - | - | - | | [**Hosted firm workspace**](/docs/cloud) | QuickBooks Online | Cross-client queues, documents, review, and firm memory | Yes | | [**Zeno for QuickBooks Desktop**, on the workstation](/docs/quickbooks-desktop) | [One open Desktop company file at a time](/docs/quickbooks-desktop/companies) | Work that must execute beside the Windows-only ledger | Only for the connectors add-on | Hosted or local ## Run locally when Your books live in QuickBooks Desktop and you want an AI doing bookkeeping in them — coding a month of card activity, entering a stack of bills, cleaning up a miscoded quarter. Zeno installs on the workstation, talks to QuickBooks on that machine, and keeps its history locally. It works on its own; a Zeno account is needed only for the [Desktop connectors add-on](/docs/quickbooks-desktop/bank-feed#a-live-bank-connection), which gives the workstation live bank feeds. The company file is never a book in the hosted workspace. Every batch is proposed, shown to you as a table, and posted after you approve it. ## Use the hosted firm workspace when You need one place to see and approve work across clients, or the client's ledger exposes a cloud API such as QuickBooks Online. The workspace holds the queues, source documents, plans, reviews, firm memory, and work record. Ledger-native accounting remains in QuickBooks. ## The steps do not change Both follow the same steps: 1. Read the authoritative ledger and prepare a plan. 2. Resolve names, accounts, duplicates, and client rules. 3. Put the plan in front of the responsible person. 4. Apply only the approved changes. 5. Preserve the run record and a path through reversal. The same steps in both places ## Running local services together QuickBooks serves one caller at a time. If another scheduled service also uses the company file, coordinate its schedule with interactive Zeno work. See [running alongside the QuickBooks sync](/docs/quickbooks-desktop/alongside-qbwc). This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.