Overview

In this Getting Started section you'll learn how to:

• Create a User
• Set up your Beeswax Account (Company File)
• Add your Logo
• Update your Company information such as address and payment terms
• Add Items (e.g. your services and rates)
• Update your Chart of Accounts (e.g. Cheque Account Details)
• Invite Users

We'll also cover some optional things that you might like to do if migrating from another accounting system:

1. Adding Opening Balances to match your existing Chart of Accounts
2. Entering any outstanding Invoices or Expenses that still require payment so that you can track them in Beeswax.

Attention XERO Users

If you currently use XERO then you can continue to manage your accounts in Xero by setting up the integration to you XERO Account. This you'll find under Settings / Connected Apps. You will be able to choose a time that suits you to transition completely to Beeswax. For instance, at the end of a financial quarter or financial year.

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Create a User

STEP 1

Firstly, you'll need a Beeswax User before you can do anything. You will be prompted to create a Beeswax User when you click on the Free Trial button in the navigation.

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What if I already have a Beeswax User?

If you've received an invitation to Beeswax (and have also accepted the invitation) then you will already have a Beeswax User . This will have been created the moment you set your password. If this is the case then you’ll simply need to sign in to Beeswax and go to the Launch Pad where you’ll be able to create an Account of your own by clicking on the Create Account button.

If you’re not sure if you have a Beeswax User then you can try to reset your password. From the sign in screen you can click on the Forgot Password text / button under the password field. You’ll be taken to a form where you will be required to enter your email address. An email will be sent to you with a reset password link if you have a User otherwise the system will let you know that no User exists with that email.

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STEP 2

When you click on the Free Trial button you will be taken to a form where you will be asked to enter some User details. When done click on the Let's Go button.

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STEP 3

An email will be sent to you once you've successfully completed the form. The email will look like the one below. Click on the Activate Account button. This will immediately Activate your account and you will be taken back to the sign in page. Use the email and password to sign into Beeswax

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STEP 4

Once you've signed in you'll be taken to the Account set up Wizard.

Note that you can have as many Beeswax Accounts as you like.  As in each Beeswax Account relates to a specific business or company each with their own subscription and plan. In other words, having a Beeswax User is free but having an Account requires a subscription.

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Setting up your Beeswax Account

When you log in you will need to run through a 3 step setup wizard where you will be required to add or confirm a few important pieces of information about your Company.

1. Your Country (for currency and tax terminology purposes)
2. Financial Year
3. Company Name

After you've completed the Setup Wizard your Beeswax account will be created and you will have the following things set up for you:

• Your first Project
• Your Company (under Companies & People)
• Some starter Items (things you Sell and / or Buy)
• Chart of Accounts, which includes a Bank Account (Asset Account) and Credit Card Account (Liability Account)

Now technically you can just go for it and start using Beeswax without any further set up but you will more than likely wish to update or add a few things first.

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Add your Logo

Upload your company logo so that you can brand your documents. This will appear on all documents, such as Invoices and Quotes, etc. While it makes sense to upload your logo for branding purposes you don't have to upload one. Your company name will still appear on all your Invoices and Quotes.

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STEP 1

Go to Settings / Preferences under the main menu. Here you will see at the top a Choose File button.

STEP 2

Select the PNG or JPG logo file and remember to click on the Save button at the bottom of the page. You may have to scroll down to see it.

Note:
Your logo should be no more than 500 pixels wide and no more than 200 pixels high depending on the aspect ratio. Ideally it will have a transparent (PNG) or white background (JPG). There isn't any point making it too large as it will be reduced in size to fit in the various places that it will be displayed. It should be in either a PNG or JPG format.

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Update your Company information

You will need to add you company details in order form them to appear on your Invoices and Quotes.

STEP 1

Go to your Company details page. You do this by using the main navigation on the left hand side and clicking on Companies & People.

STEP 2

This is where all the Companies that you create will appear. Given you're doing this for the first time you will only see your own Company. Click on the name to take you to the Company details page.

STEP 3

To update the details such as address and phone number, click on the Pencil icon next to your Company name.

STEP 4

This will bring up a sidebar window where you can update any or all the details you like for your Company.

In certain countries like Australia, if you operate a company it is important to include your ABN (Australian Business Number) on all Invoices. In fact it is a legal requirement, which means you will need to add this to your Company details so that it appears on all your Invoices.

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Add Items

Add Items specific to your business. These will be the Services or Products that your business sells and / or buys. Think of these as mini Line Item templates. They are essentially the building blocks of your Quotes, Invoices and Expenses.

Go to know:
Users who are assigned the Manager role are assumed not to know anything about Tax or Accounting. Therefore these users are not able to change the Tax or Account allocation on Line Items when preparing Quotes, Invoices or Expenses. In other words, each Line Item will use the Items default Tax and Account. Owners, Super Admins and Accountant users can however change these defaults if necessary. Although that kinda defeats the purpose of setting Items up in the first place. In any case, it's important to get this right. You should consult your Accountant or your Book Keeper if you're not sure what Tax or Account allocation each Item should be assigned to.
Learn more about Items here

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Update your Chart of Accounts (e.g. Cheque Account Details)

An initial Chart of Accounts are created for you as a starting point.

You will want to work with your Accountant or Book Keeping to determine what additional Accounts, if any, you wish to add, remove or change. These will not only be specific to your business but every Accountant or Book Keeper will have their own thoughts as to what your Chart of Accounts should look like.

You can find your Chart of Account under Money in the main menu.

Of course you will want to get paid so it probably makes sense to update your Bank Account details. You’ll want to add the BSB and Account Number plus perhaps update the Bank Account name. These details appear on your Invoices so make sure you add these before you send your first Invoice.

We don't provide a means by which your invoices can be paid online. We believe the fees charged by the card vendors and the payment gateways are simply too high for this to be necessary for the type of businesses using Beeswax. Beeswax businesses are likely to be invoicing reasonably significant amounts at a time and it doesn't make send to give up to 5% of an invoice just so you can get paid. Wouldn't you rather keep that money.

Also the US there is no such things as a Bank to Bank transfer. Well there is but it's called a "Wire transfer" and it's surprisingly expensive. Unlike Australia and other countries where bank to bank transfers are free, the US still charge up to US$35 to do a Bank to Bank (wire) transfer. Cheques are still being used heavily as a result.

Some other things that you should probably do early on:

1. While you don’t technically need to upload your Company Logo it’s probably something you will want to do from a branding perspective (We recommend uploading a good quality JPEG or PNG that is at least 500 pixels wide) this will appear on your Quotes and Invoices as well as your Launch Pad.

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Invite Users

You may also want to invite other Users into Beeswax but before you do you should get a handle on User Roles and how they work in Beeswax. You can find out more about Roles here.

They are reasonably self explanatory and there aren’t that many of them (by design) however there are a few specific limitations that restrict certain Users from being able to see or do things in Beeswax. Mostly related to Money, so it is worth knowing how Roles work.

Things to consider when migrating from another system:

1. Next Numbers under Settings should probably be updated for your Quotes, Invoices and Expenses. Either follow on from your old system or start a completely new sequence to differentiate them.
2. Beeswax gives you a very basic but sufficient Chart of Accounts to start with. In many cases this will be perfectly fine to get going however you or your accountant might have other necessary accounts that need to be added for continuity purposes differently or you might like to take the opportunity to do a bit of housekeeping and create a fresh set of accounts. Or simply add the your old favorites. It’s up to you.
3. Determine a Transition Date (the date you’ll start using Beeswax for accounting purposes) and get Closing Balances from your old accounting system. Enter these into the Opening Balances in your Chart of Accounts.
4. If you have Outstanding Invoices you probably will want to bring these across so that you can begin reconciling your Bank Accounts from teh Transition Date.

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