> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://smartbooks.gitbook.io/smartbooks-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://smartbooks.gitbook.io/smartbooks-docs/faq/exact-online-error-message-your-one-exact-identity-account-is-configured-for-multiple-users.md).

# Exact Online: error message "Your One Exact Identity account is configured for multiple users"

When you connect a Smartbooks entity to Exact Online, the connection may fail with a message similar to:

> *Your One Exact Identity account is configured for multiple users. API connections do not support this type of account.*

This page explains why the error occurs and how to resolve it.

### Why this happens

Exact uses **One Exact Identity (OEI)** — a single login that can give one user access to several Exact Online environments (and other Exact products) at once. That is convenient for logging in, but it is a problem for API connections.

A quick distinction matters here:

* An **Exact Online environment** is the customer's Exact Online instance — the subscription / tenant that belongs to a specific organization or accounting office.
* An **administration** is an individual set of books within an environment. One environment can contain many administrations.

When the OEI user you authorize with has access to more than one Exact Online **environment**, Exact's API cannot determine which environment Smartbooks should connect to. To avoid an ambiguous link, Exact blocks the connection entirely.

If the user you authorize with has access to only one Exact Online environment, this error does not occur and you can connect to Smartbooks as normal — even if that single environment contains multiple administrations. Multiple administrations within the same environment is **not** the trigger; multiple environments under the same OEI is.

### How to resolve it

The goal is simple: authorize with a user that maps to exactly one Exact Online environment. There are a few ways to get there, listed from the cleanest, most durable solution to the last-resort workaround.

#### 1. Use (or create) a dedicated connection user — recommended

Connect using an Exact Online user that has access to only the single environment you want to link to Smartbooks. If you do not have such a user, create one in Exact Online specifically for the Smartbooks connection.

This is the most reliable approach because it removes the ambiguity at the source and does not depend on changing your existing login. Because the user maps to one environment, the API knows exactly which environment to connect.

#### 2. Make sure it is a full user, not a client user

The user type matters. Authorize with a **full Exact Online user** that has sufficient rights on the relevant environment. Avoid using a client user (the MijnKantoor / accountant-portal type), as that user type has more limited rights and is not fully compatible with the Exact API — it can cause the connection to fail or to miss data even after the OEI issue is solved.

#### 3. Last resort: revert the OEI migration via Exact

Only if a dedicated single-environment user is genuinely not possible for technical reasons, you can ask Exact to help untangle the identity:

1. **Contact Exact Online support** and ask them to revert the One Exact Identity migration for the account you use to connect.
2. **Set up an email alias** that you will use exclusively for the Exact Online accounting environment.
3. **Re-activate One Exact Identity using that alias**, creating a separate OEI account that is tied to Exact Online only. With no other products attached, the API can connect without ambiguity.

This route works, but treat it as a fallback: it depends on Exact support, takes time, and changes the identity of a production account. The dedicated-user approach in step 1 is almost always the better path.

You can reach Exact Online support by phone, or from within Exact Online via **Support → Service and contact**. For Exact's own instructions on setting up an email alias, see the Exact Online knowledge base.