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Set your workspace up in this order and you will not have to undo anything later. The order matters for one reason: a time entry snapshots the rate that applied on the day it was tracked. So rates come before hours, and structure comes before both.
The example: Maya Ellis (Owner) is setting up Northwind Studio, a 12-person agency. Slug northwind. Currency USD.

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Before you start

Most of this is free. Approvals, budgets, invoicing, the client portal, the planner and exports are Pro. You can set everything up on Free and turn Pro on when you are ready to bill. See Free vs Pro.
Free seats: 3 people. That counts everyone with access – staff, contractors and client portal contacts, plus anyone with an open invitation. The fourth person is the paid wall. See Seats. Almost every step here needs Owner or Admin. Maya can do all of it. Tom (Admin) can do all of it except delete the workspace.

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Set it up in this order

1

Maya creates the workspace

Pick the name and the URL slug. The slug appears in every link your team uses, so choose something short and permanent.→ Create a workspace
2

Maya sets the workspace basics

Go to Settings → General. Set the workspace name, the base currency and the timezone.The base currency is the currency of last resort for every rate and invoice. Change it later and you will be reconciling numbers, so get it right now.→ General settings · Date and time formats
3

Maya turns off the apps she does not need

An App is a switchable area of the product. Settings → Apps turns each one on or off. Turning one off hides it – it never deletes data.Northwind turns off Time Clock and Location rules, because a design agency does not need clock-in kiosks or IP restrictions. Everything else stays on.Two apps are off by default for everyone: Time Clock and Location rules.→ Apps settings · Apps and modules
Some apps depend on others. Time Clock needs Work schedules on, because expected hours come from the schedule. Turning off an app that others depend on warns you about what it takes with it.
4

Maya sets the working week

Create a schedule that says what a normal week looks like: 40 hours, Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00.Do this before you invite anyone. A schedule is what someone is expected to work. Timesheets compare it against what they actually tracked, so a week with no schedule behind it has nothing to compare against.→ Create a schedule · Working hours and days off
If your team is spread across timezones, set the schedule timezone now. See Schedule timezones.
5

Maya invites the team and gives each person a role

There are seven roles and they are a strict subset chain. Each lower role can do a subset of the role above it.→ Invite a member · Roles and capabilities
You can also add someone without an email address, which creates a record you can assign work to before they have a login. See Add a member directly.
6

Maya assigns each person a schedule

A schedule only does anything once someone is on it. Assign the standard week to everyone, and give Ana a part-time one.→ Assign a schedule
7

Tom creates groups

A group is a standing team of people – Design, Engineering, Delivery. Groups make it quick to assign people, and they feed supervision scope, which decides whose time a manager can see.A group is not the same as project membership. A group is a team. Project membership is who works on one job.→ Groups · Groups settings
8

Maya sets everyone's rates

This is the step people skip, and it is the expensive one to fix.Billable is what you charge the client. Cost is what the person costs you. Margin is the gap.→ Set a person rate · Rates settings · Rates explained
Set rates before the first hour is tracked. A time entry snapshots the rate that applied on its date, so hours tracked before a rate exists carry no value.
Setting a cost rate is the one write the Pro plan gates. Billable rates are free to set on any plan. See Cost rates.
9

Tom sets the time policies

Settings → Time policies decides how time behaves for everyone: whether people can edit past entries, how far back they can go, and whether time is billable by default.Agreeing this once, up front, saves a lot of arguing later.→ Time policies · Time policies explained
10

Tom creates the tags you will actually use

Tags are workspace-wide and shared by tasks and planner blocks. Keep the list short. Five or six tags people remember beat thirty nobody uses.→ Tags settings · Task tags
11

Daniel fills in the invoice sender block

Before the first invoice goes out, set your business name, address and tax details.→ Invoice sender details · Invoice sender settings
12

Priya creates the first real client and project

Now the structure is ready, create something real.Create Bluebird Coffee, then the Website Redesign project under it, then add Sarah and Jonas as project members, then set the budget.→ Create a client · Create a project · Set a project budget
13

Everyone tracks their first hour

The workspace shows a short checklist on the dashboard with three things: track your first hour, create a real project, and invite your group. It ticks itself off as you go.There is also a short product tour of the sidebar. Anyone can replay it from the checklist card.→ Track your first hour · Product tour · Setup checklist
14

Maya removes the sample data

A new workspace comes with sample data so the screens are not empty while you are learning. Once you have a real client in there, remove it.The dashboard shows a Sample data notice with a Remove sample data action. It asks you to confirm, then clears it.→ Setup checklist

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What to skip on day one

You do not need all fifteen apps to start. These can wait until you need them.

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Common questions

The slug is in every link your team has bookmarked, so treat it as permanent. Pick something short and unambiguous the first time. See Workspaces.
Three. That is everyone with access – Members, Contractors, Admins and client portal contacts – plus anyone with an open invitation still outstanding. An open invite is access, so it counts. See Seats.
Start with the seven built-in roles. They cover almost every agency. If one person needs a single extra permission, deny or grant it on that person rather than building a new role. See Per-person permissions and Custom roles.
Read Switch from another tool first. It covers what carries over and what does not, and how to pick a cutover date.
From the space selector. See Switching workspaces.

Track work for a client

The first real job, end to end.

Setup for an agency

The Northwind shape in detail.

Setup for a consultant

A leaner version for one or two people.

Onboard a new employee

Everything you repeat for each new hire.

Switch from another tool

If you are moving, not starting fresh.