Getting Set Up is a checklist of the six things every new company has to do before its books are right: business details, a chart of accounts, the posting map, tax rates, opening balances and a first invoice. Nothing on it is a tick box. Each time you open it, SeroBooks looks at your data and works out which steps are done, so the list is always true: if you delete every account after seeding a chart, the chart step shows as not done again.
Use it when you first set up a company, and come back to it whenever something changes. It never has to be dismissed.
Opening the checklist
Choose Help ▸ Getting Set Up. The checklist opens in its own window, titled Getting set up, with "n of 6 done" under the title.
What the screen shows
- Refresh (top right) works the list out again. Press it after finishing a step in another window.
- A note under the title: "Worked out from your data every time — nothing here is a tick-box somebody can tick."
- A green banner when every step is done: "Everything is set up. Invoices post to the ledger by themselves, and the books will be right without anybody thinking about them."
- A red banner when a step that must come first is not done and no invoice has been raised yet. It says what is wrong and what to do.
- A progress bar, blue while steps remain and green when all are done.
- One card per step, in order. Each card shows:
- an icon: a green tick when the step is done, a red exclamation mark when it is required first and not done, an empty circle otherwise;
- the step's title, and a red Required first label on a step that blocks invoicing;
- one line saying where things stand (for example "54 account(s)" or "Not yet mapped: Sales revenue.");
- one line saying why the step matters, shown even on finished steps;
- a Do this button on a step that is not done, which opens the screen where you do it.
The six steps
| Step | Done when | Do this opens |
|---|---|---|
| Business details and province | The company has a name, and its location has a province or state and a country. Until then the card reads "Still needed: …" and names what is missing. | Company ▸ Accounting Setup |
| Chart of accounts | The company has at least one account. The card shows how many. | Lists ▸ Chart of Accounts |
| Posting map (required first) | Automatic posting is on and the required accounts are mapped: Accounts Receivable, Sales revenue and GST/HST payable. The card says "Posting is on and every required account is mapped.", "Automatic posting is switched off." or "Not yet mapped: …". | Company ▸ Accounting Setup |
| Tax rates confirmed | At least one tax rate exists. The card reads "n rate(s) set up — check they match your province." SeroBooks can tell that rates exist, not whether they are the right ones; that check is yours. | Vendors ▸ Sales Tax ▸ Manage Sales Tax |
| Opening balances | Opening entries are in the books, a QuickBooks import has been committed, or you have said the business is starting from nothing. | File ▸ Import from QuickBooks |
| First invoice | At least one final sales invoice exists. | Customers ▸ Create Invoices |
Why each step matters
- Business details and province. Canada is four tax systems, and which one a sale falls under is decided by where it is supplied. Without a province on the location, every out-of-province sale is taxed at the wrong rate.
- Chart of accounts. Every figure in the books lands in one of these. Seeding the Canadian set takes one click and can be edited afterwards.
- Posting map. This decides which ledger account each kind of transaction lands in. Until it is complete nothing reaches the general ledger: the invoices print, and the books stay empty.
- Tax rates. GST, HST, PST or QST, depending on where you are.
- Opening balances. What the business owed and was owed on the day it started in SeroBooks.
- First invoice. The step that proves the other five: an invoice raised with everything above complete posts to the ledger by itself.
The posting map comes first
The Posting map step is the only one that stops anything. Until it is done, and until the company has raised its first invoice, the checklist shows the red banner, and a new invoice is refused with the same message:
Open Company ▸ Accounting Setup, map the required accounts, make sure automatic posting is on, and save. Then press Refresh on the checklist. See Accounting Setup (posting accounts).
If you have no opening balances
A brand-new business has nothing to bring across. On the Opening balances card, click We are starting from zero. SeroBooks records that as your answer (it is not a way of hiding the step), shows a confirmation, and the card then reads "Starting from nothing — no opening balances needed."
If you do have balances to enter, use File ▸ Import from QuickBooks or Company ▸ Enter Opening Balances. See Import from QuickBooks and Enter Opening Balances.
Permissions
Getting Set Up is a screen in its own right, and a role must be allowed to see it for it to appear in the Help menu. If your role cannot see the screen a Do this button leads to, that screen shows "Your role does not have access to this screen." and "An administrator can grant it under Admin › Roles." Ask whoever manages your company's roles, or ask them to finish that step. See Permissions: "you do not have access".
Common problems
A step still shows as not done after I finished it. Press Refresh. If it is still not done, read the step's middle line: it says exactly what is missing (for example, which posting accounts are not mapped).
The Business details step is not done, but my company information is filled in. This step reads the location, not only the company: the location needs a province or state and a country. See Business and location settings.
Tax rates shows as done, but my invoices charge the wrong tax. The step only checks that rates exist. Review them in Tax rates and tax groups and Sales Tax Code List.