Your first week: a checklist

The order to set up Todah in, from your logo to your first matched bank line, with a link to the article for each step.

You do not have to do all of this in one sitting. Doing it roughly in this order means each step is ready for the next one, and nothing is emailed to a client before you mean it to be.

Day 1: make it look like your business

1. Settings → Business: check your display name, add your address, phone and logo, and choose your colours. See Set up your business.
2. Still on the Business tab, choose a look for your invoices and quotes under Invoice & Quote Design. See Choose how your invoices and quotes look.
3. Settings → Email: type the From Name and From Email your clients will see and reply to, then Save Changes and Send Test Email. You cannot email an invoice until the From Email is set. See Email settings.
4. Settings → Books & Tax: check your sales tax. A new workspace has GST at 5%. If you are in a province with HST or PST, use Set Up from a Province. See Set up your sales taxes.
5. Still on Books & Tax, in Fiscal Year and GST/HST Number, choose the month your Fiscal Year Starts In and type your GST/HST Registration Number if you have one, then choose Save Books Settings. The number then prints on your invoices, quotes and credit notes. See Settings → Books & Tax: every control explained.
6. If you are continuing from another system or a paper book, set your next invoice number in Settings → Books & Tax so the numbers carry on. See Invoice and quote numbers.

Day 2: bring in who you work with

1. Clients → New Client for each client you bill, with their email and payment terms. If your clients are already in a spreadsheet, use Clients → Import Clients with a CSV file instead. See Import clients from a spreadsheet.
2. Vendors → New Vendor for the suppliers you pay often. Give each one its payment terms, so bills from them get the right due date.
3. Products → New Item for anything you sell again and again.
4. If you are moving from another tool, read Bringing your books in before you go further. An owner or admin enters your starting figures in Journal Entries → Enter Opening Balances. See Opening balances.

Day 3: get paid

1. Settings → Payments → Set Up Card Payments, if you want clients to pay by card from the invoice. See Set up card payments.
2. Create your first invoice and send it, or send a quote first. See Create and send an invoice, and Quotes, acceptance and converting to an invoice.
3. For an invoice your client already has from before (for example one you are copying in from your old system), choose Mark as Sent instead of Send, so nothing is emailed. See Mark an invoice as sent without emailing it.
4. When a payment arrives by cheque, cash or e-Transfer, use Record Payment on the invoice.

Day 4: record what you spend

1. Bills → New Bill for each unpaid supplier bill, or Scan Bill or Receipt to photograph one. A new supplier can be added from the bill form with + New Vendor.
2. Mark Paid when you pay one, with the date, how you paid and the amount. If you pay only part, the bill shows Partially Paid. Or leave that to bank matching on day 5.

Day 5: check against the bank

Banking is for owners and admins only.

1. Banking → Import Bank Statement with a statement file from your bank, or connect your bank on Business.
2. Match each bank line to its invoice or bill. Auto-match does the obvious ones.
3. For lines with no invoice or bill behind them, use the other choices in the Match window: Transfer for money moved between your own accounts, Record Income from This Deposit for money in with no invoice, or Create a Bill from This Entry for a cost. See Match bank lines to invoices and bills.

When your books are current

1. Decide on automatic client emails: payment reminders and receipts. They start off. See Turn on reminders and receipts for your clients.
2. Settings → Notifications: set your time zone and when reminders go out.
3. Team → Add Person to invite anyone who helps you, such as your bookkeeper. Each person signs in with a temporary password and chooses their own the first time.
4. Turn on two-step sign-in in Settings → Account & Security.
5. Open Reports and look at your Profit and Loss.