Your first-day setup checklist

Overview#

When you sign up, your dashboard shows a Get set up checklist. It lists the handful of things a shop needs to run a real day in TradesWork: your company details, your team, prices, payments, texting, a first job, the field app and a first invoice. Each item ticks itself off when it's really done (for example, when a payment actually goes through), so the checklist always tells the truth about where you are.

Before you start#

• You need the Owner or Admin role. Other roles don't see the checklist.

• The checklist appears only for companies that signed up on their own. Companies set up by TradesWork support don't see it.

• Have handy: your main business phone, your sales tax rate, your usual invoice terms, and the email addresses of the people you want to invite.

Steps#

1. Open the Dashboard (the TradesWork logo in the top bar takes you there). The Get set up card is near the top.

2. Work down the list. Each item has a button that takes you straight to the right page:

   1. Company profile and hours (button Edit profile): your phone, time zone, sales tax, invoice terms and working hours. See Company profile and business hours.

   2. Invite your team (button Invite): office staff are free. Each person gets their own sign-in. See Invite your team.

   3. Add your technicians (button Add technicians): technicians use the field app and are your billed seats.

   4. Set up your price book (button Open price book): import your prices, or adjust the starter price book we made for your trade. If the starter prices are fine for now, press Keep the starter prices on the checklist.

   5. Connect payments (button Set up payments): connect your own Stripe account so customers can pay by card and bank. See Set up card and bank payments with Stripe.

   6. Connect a texting number (button Texting settings): appointment reminders, on-my-way texts and text-to-pay need a business number.

   7. Book your first job (button Book a job): pick a customer, job type, arrival window and technician.

   8. Try the field app (button Open field app): open a job on a phone and walk it through on my way, arrived, estimate, invoice and pay.

   9. Send your first invoice (button Go to jobs): finish a job and send the bill.

3. Optional items are marked optional:

   • Connect your apps (button Open connections) opens the Connections hub with a guide for every app. See The Connections hub: connect the apps TradesWork works with.

   • Import from ServiceTitan (button Switching kit). See Switch from ServiceTitan.

   • Connect QuickBooks (button Connect). See Connect QuickBooks Online.

4. Not ready to touch real data? Press Open sample company under Explore with sample data. It opens a separate sandbox company with made-up customers and jobs; your real company stays untouched. See Practice safely: sample data, sandbox companies and the practice company.

5. When every required item shows done, press Hide checklist to remove the card for good.

Settings that change this#

• Settings › Your Account › Company Profile & Business Hours: completes the profile item.

• Settings › People › Employees & Role Permissions: completes the team and technician items.

• Settings › Integrations › Payment Processing: completes the payments item once Stripe can take charges.

• Settings › Integrations › Connections: the first-day connections progress.

Tips#

• You don't have to finish in one sitting. The checklist remembers what's done because it reads your real data.

• Start with the profile and hours: they set the default working hours that online booking and technician capacity use.

• Office users are free, so invite your dispatcher and CSR early and let them help.

• Use the sample company to train new people without cluttering your real customer list.

Troubleshooting#

• An item won't tick off → it's checking for the real thing, not a click. → Finish the action itself: for payments, Stripe must switch card payments on; for the field app, a technician must use it on a job or record an arrival.

• Connect payments says it can't be done yet → card payments aren't switched on for this TradesWork server. → The item explains why. Record cash and check payments meanwhile, and contact support.

• Hide checklist doesn't work → required items are still open. → Finish the items not marked optional, then try again.

• I don't see the checklist → you aren't an Owner or Admin, or your company was set up by support, or someone already hid it. → Ask your owner. Everything on it is also reachable from Settings.

FAQ#

Do I have to use the starter price book? No. It's there so you can book and invoice on day one. Import your own prices any time from the price book or the switching kit, or press Keep the starter prices to mark that item done.

Does the sample company count toward my checklist? No. The sample company is a separate company. The checklist only reads your real company.

Can I bring the checklist back after hiding it? No. Every item lives in Settings, and the Connections hub keeps its own progress bar.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

ServiceTitan onboarding usually runs through an implementation team over weeks. TradesWork gives you a self-serve checklist instead, and the switching kit brings your customers and price book across from ServiceTitan exports. Your job types, business units and campaigns use the same names as ServiceTitan, so the setup should feel familiar.