Typical Setup Order
The order to configure a new business so nothing you create later is blocked by something you have not set up yet.
After /setup, the rest of the configuration is done inside Settings and the modules. Trabalance does not show a checklist card for this on the dashboard — use this page as the checklist. The order matters because of dependencies: an invoice needs a customer and an item, a posting needs an account, an opening balance needs the chart of accounts.
The eight steps
| Step | Where | Why it comes here |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Business profile and currency | Settings → Profile · Settings → Currency | Name, logo and fiscal year start; the currency your books are kept in. Set the currency before you record anything — every figure is kept in it. |
| 2. Team and roles | Settings → Team · Settings → Roles | Users need accounts before they can do anything. Roles decide what each person can see and do — set them before handing work over. |
| 3. Chart of Accounts | Chart of Accounts | Every posting lands on an account, including your opening balances. Review the defaults and add what your business needs. |
| 4. Items | Items · Products & Services | What you sell and buy. Invoices and bills pick from this list, so it must exist before the first one. |
| 5. Customers and vendors | Customers · Vendors | A sale needs a customer; a bill needs a vendor. Add the important ones now; import a CSV for a long list. |
| 6. Opening balances | Opening Balances | What customers owe you, what you owe vendors, and your account balances as at your start date. Needs the chart of accounts. Skip it if you are starting with no history. |
| 7. Business units | Business Units | Only if you run more than one location: separate books per location, and transfers between them. |
| 8. Document templates | Settings → Templates | How your invoices, receipts and bills look, before the first one goes out. |
After setup: the first live transaction
Once the steps above are done, prove the configuration with four checks:
- Create and post a test invoice to a test customer — check the PDF, the journal it posts, and the email.
- Record a receipt against that invoice — check the invoice reads Paid and the customer's balance clears.
- Create and post a test vendor bill — check the payable appears in the ledger.
- Run a Trial Balance — debits equal credits, and your opening balances are where you expect them.
If all four pass, you are ready to go live.
Most settings can be adjusted after going live. Set the currency before the first transaction — every figure in the books is kept in it. Logo, roles, templates and team can be changed at any time.
Related
- Saving or skipping — what
/setupwrote before you got here - When the trial ends — what stays available if the fourteen days run out first
- Finance — Opening balances · Finance — Chart of accounts