Getting Started

This chapter is for everyone who is new to Structally: bookkeepers and controllers who will keep the books, project managers and estimators who will work with jobs, and owners who want to read the numbers. It explains what Structally does, how to sign in and move around, what the Home dashboard tells you, and the few accounting rules that make the rest of the product predictable. Company Admins also find the checklist for preparing a new company here.

No earlier accounting software experience is assumed, but the guide uses ordinary accounting words (debit, credit, accounts payable). Each is explained the first time it matters, and all of them are in the Glossary.

Read in This Order

1. Introduction to Structally: what the product covers, how companies and users relate, the sample company used in every example, and a map of every area.
2. Signing In: logging in, setting and resetting your password, and signing out.
3. Choosing a Company: the Your Companies page and switching between companies.
4. Finding Your Way Around: the navigation, the Create menu, lists, record pages, forms, pickers, drawers and attachments.
5. The Home Dashboard: every tile and card on the Company Overview.
6. How Structally Records Transactions: double-entry, posting, drafts, voids and reversals, the Books Closed date, dimensions and document numbers.
7. Statuses and Lifecycles: every status you will meet and how records move between them. Keep it at hand as a reference.
8. Setting Up a New Company: for Company Admins, the setup steps in order.

After that, go to the chapter for the work you do (for example Vendors & Bills or Jobs & Costing), or learn by doing.

Learn by Doing: the Training Exercises

The Training Exercises follow one contractor from an empty company to a finished project, one task at a time. Work through them in order once you have read the pages above:

1. A: Setting Up a New Company
2. B: Starting a New Project
3. C: Recording Project Costs
4. D: Billing the Customer
5. E: Managing Change Orders
6. F: Closing the Month
7. G: Correcting Mistakes
8. H: The Complete Project Lifecycle

What You Need

• A web browser and your company's Structally web address.
• An invitation from your Company Admin (or, for a new company, from Structally).
• For the exercises, a company you may practice in. Ask your Company Admin rather than practicing in your live books.

In This Chapter

Page	What It Covers
Introduction to Structally	The product, companies and users, the sample company, a map of the areas.
How Structally Records Transactions	The accounting rules behind every screen.
Signing In	Log In, Remember Me, password rules, password reset, signing out.
Choosing a Company	Your Companies, suspended companies, the company switcher.
Finding Your Way Around	The parts of every page and how to use them.
The Home Dashboard	The Company Overview, card by card.
Statuses and Lifecycles	Every status by kind of record.
Setting Up a New Company	The Company Admin's setup checklist.