How Hora works, screen by screen.
Everything below is the current build — what it does, what it asks of you, and what it will never do with your data. Spanish: switch the language at the top.
Getting started
Download Hora from your account page (Windows: run Hora-Setup.exe — one click, no admin rights). Sign in with the same email and password as on the website. The first time, choose "Set up my company" and write down the recovery key: it is shown once and is the only way to open your data if you forget the password.
Hora opens on "What do I need to do now?": TODAY · THIS WEEK · MONITOR, then up to three cards with one main action each. Change the start screen to Hora AI in Settings.
1. Download Hora from this website (Download, or your account page) and run Hora-Setup.exe. 2. Windows may show "Windows protected your PC" (SmartScreen) because the installer is not yet signed with a code-signing certificate: choose "More info" → "Run anyway" only if you downloaded it from this website. 3. On first start Hora may ask for your server address — enter this website's address (https://…). 4. Hora then shows "Server key: XXXX-XXXX-…". Compare it with the server key published by your Hora provider; continue only if they match. Hora remembers that key and stops with "Server key changed" if it ever changes — don't sign in then until your provider confirms the new key, and only then use License → "Reset server connection". 5. Sign in with your Hora account (create one on this website first).
Zoom, full screen, reload, the data folder, License & updates, this guide, support and About live in the ⋯ menu at the top right. Keyboard: Ctrl +/−/0 zoom, F11 full screen, Ctrl L lock.
Business Passport
Company, owners, people, locations (with full address), licenses, tax accounts and activities. Every section shows where the data came from (you, CSV import, Gusto, Hora AI) and when it was last verified; "Passport health" counts verified, stale and missing facts. Hora asks you to re-verify data nobody has looked at for 180 days.
Hired someone, opened a location, changed address? Use "Report a change" (or tell Hora AI). Hora re-runs the rules, shows exactly what was added ("You hired John · 4 obligations created"), and you can undo. "What if…" previews a change without saving it.
Action Center and dates
Every item shows What · Why (the rule and its source) · Due · Evidence required · one Next action. Date tags mean different things: LEGAL DEADLINE (required by law), ESTIMATED (exact deadline unavailable), RECOMMENDED (Hora suggestion), INTERNAL (your target), MONITOR (no fixed date). "Why" opens the decision chain and the calculation ("start date + 3 business days, excluding holidays").
Full state rule sets exist for CA · TX · FL · NY · DE · WA · GA · IL · PA · NC. Anything else is marked "Coverage incomplete" and must be confirmed with the agency before you close it. Hora never says "you are compliant": it counts verified requirements, needs-confirmation and coverage-incomplete items.
Documents and filing
Hora pre-fills forms from the passport and checks fields, meaning (employee state vs form state) and the official form edition — an expired edition blocks submission until you regenerate. You file on the agency portal or by mail and record the confirmation; enter the receipt and Hora verifies its fingerprint with the server and closes the obligation with evidence. Rejected? Hora opens a corrective filing and recomputes the deadline where the agency allows a grace period.
Hora AI
Hora Business answers with your company context (a minimized summary — never names or tax IDs). Hora Personal (DMV, housing, bills…) sends no company data at all. Answers carry source tags (Business rule · Official source · AI explanation) and clickable citations; sensitive numbers are masked before anything leaves your computer and again on the server.
Team, security, privacy
Team & access → invite by email with a role (admin, operator, reviewer, viewer, CPA, attorney). The data key is wrapped on your computer with a one-time access code you give them by phone — the server never has it. Advisors expire on the date you set. Removing someone ends their access at once; "Revoke & wipe" also deletes the local copy on their computer, then rotate the data key.
Hora emails you before deadlines and when something is overdue — the server only ever learns dates and counts, never what the items are. Choose daily or weekly digests, blackout periods and who gets escalations.
The desktop app keeps working briefly without a connection and locks after 15 minutes until it can check your license again. Hora in the browser (your account page → "Open Hora in the browser") can be added to your home screen and opens read-only without a network from the last copy saved in that browser.
Privacy & data → "Data Processing Center" lists it exactly: your vault only as ciphertext; compliance metadata minimized (states, rule ids, hashes); AI opt-in with masked numbers; integration events held briefly until your app picks them up; reminder dates and counts; who is on your team. It also says what happens to each kind of data when you delete it.