Onboarding Checklist (Clean Estimate V1)

V1 reference: This article documents the retired V1 onboarding checklist. Current V2 has no /onboarding checklist, Configure Stripe integration card, Connect with Stripe OAuth button, Phone / Voice provider selector, or SMS add-on switch. Use Quick Start for V2, complete the company profile, default location, branding, and terms under Settings, configure deposits under Settings > Payments (Stripe) with Set up payments, and save the company texting number under Settings > Texting (SMS). Stripe and SMS provider credentials are deployment-managed in V2. The fuller guided V1 onboarding remains required parity.

In V1, the onboarding checklist guided teams through the essential setup steps. It appeared as a panel on the V1 dashboard and tracked progress until every step was complete. The historical instructions below preserve that flow.

New self-serve owners can create a workspace directly from /signup. The signup flow creates the owner account, organization, owner membership, starter service and pricing data, and a 14-day trial before sending the owner to /onboarding.

If your organization was provisioned through the early-access waitlist, the account owner receives an invite email first. After accepting the invite and setting a password, you land in the same onboarding flow described here.

If that setup link has expired or was already used, CleanEstimate Pro now routes you back into the password-setup recovery path instead of sending you to the public waitlist. From there, use Forgot password with the same invited email to request the right workspace-specific access email again.

If you click Forgot password with that same invited email before first-time setup is complete, CleanEstimate Pro now sends another workspace-specific setup link automatically instead of a generic password-reset email that drops the workspace activation context.

Fresh setup and password-recovery emails now pass through a short Finishing Sign-In handoff screen before they open the reset-password form. That handoff is expected. It fixes the earlier production issue where a valid invite or recovery email could still land on an expired-link message because the old server callback could not consume the auth fragment returned by Supabase.

If that page still says the access link has expired, the same card now includes a direct resend action. You can trigger a fresh setup email without leaving the password screen or re-entering the invited email address manually.

If the handoff page itself needs a retry, its Need A New Link? action now preserves the original workspace redirect too. That keeps multi-workspace users pointed at the invited org instead of dropping them into a generic reset path.

If a newly provisioned workspace is missing starter setup data temporarily, the onboarding flow now repairs the standard defaults automatically before you continue. That means the Services step should still load the starter service catalog and the Pricing step should still load starter pricing fields instead of appearing blank.

If the unfinished workspace was provisioned for a team member with the manager role, that manager can now complete the first-run onboarding flow too. Company Info, Services, Pricing, and the final completion step no longer require the owner role during the initial unfinished-workspace setup window.

The final Go to Dashboard action now treats the workspace completion save and the dashboard load as separate moments. If the setup save succeeds but the dashboard takes longer than expected to render, the page shows an Open Dashboard fallback link instead of leaving the finishing button disabled.

How the Checklist Works

The onboarding checklist is a step-by-step guide that walks you through configuring the core parts of your account. Each step represents a critical setup task. As you complete each one, a checkmark appears next to it and the progress bar advances.

The checklist is persistent -- it stays visible on your dashboard until you either complete all steps or manually dismiss it. Your progress is saved automatically, so you can leave and return at any time without losing your place.

The full-page onboarding flow now uses the standard CleanEstimate logo header instead of a plain text wordmark, so the first-run setup screen matches the rest of the product branding more closely.

Checklist Steps

The onboarding checklist includes the following steps. You can complete them in any order, though the listed order is recommended.

1. Company Information

Fill in your business details, including your company name, phone number, email, website, and mailing address. This information appears on all customer-facing documents.

How to complete:

1. Click the Company Information step in the checklist.
2. You are taken to the Settings page.
3. Fill in all fields in the Company Information card.
4. Click Save Changes.
5. Return to the dashboard. The step is marked as complete.

Current V2 owners and all-location teammates with Manage Team can complete the same company-information fields directly under Settings. Also select a default active location and reporting timezone, then add the logo, primary color, and standard customer-document terms. See Account and Company Settings for the current controls and immutable sent-document behavior.

2. Set Up Pricing

Configure your service pricing, including base rates, add-ons, and pricing tiers. This determines how estimates are calculated.

How to complete:

1. Click the Set Up Pricing step.
2. You are taken to the Pricing configuration page.
3. Enter your base rates for each service type.
4. Configure add-on pricing.
5. Save your pricing configuration.
6. The step is marked as complete when at least one service has pricing configured.

See Setting Up Pricing for the current V2 procedure and its V1 pricing-workspace boundary.

During first-time onboarding, the quick pricing step saves through the same versioned pricing path used by the main Pricing Manager. If you update starter values here, the workspace keeps a valid active pricing version instead of relying on a one-off temporary setup record.

3. Connect Stripe

Link your Stripe account to let current V2 collect required proposal deposits and sent invoice balances through hosted Checkout. Reviewed email/SMS delivery, job-to-invoice creation, governed admin partial/split office collection, and controlled refunds are available under Business > Invoices. Embedded keyed-card entry, tips, credits/write-offs, and mobile collection remain parity work.

How to complete:

1. Click the Connect Stripe step.
2. You are taken to the Stripe integration page.
3. Click Connect with Stripe.
4. Follow the Stripe OAuth flow to authorize CE Pro.
5. Once connected, the step is marked as complete.

See Stripe Deposits in V2 for the current procedure.

4. Configure Phone / Voice (Optional)

Configure Esendex or Twilio to send and receive SMS messages through CE Pro. This step is optional but recommended if you plan to use text messaging, customer replies, call routing, or phone automations.

How to complete:

1. Click the Configure Phone / Voice step.
2. Choose Esendex or Twilio in the Telecom Provider selector.
3. Save the workspace phone number and required provider credentials.
4. Save the configuration.
5. The step is marked as complete.

See the Esendex V1 reference or Twilio V1 reference for the historical controls.

5. Invite Your Team

Add team members so they can log in and start creating estimates, managing leads, and handling jobs.

W03 preview — not shipped yet: After W03 is deployed, open Settings > Team > Members, select Add member, and preassign the profile, non-owner role, one location scope, and one optional crew. The durable pending row supports Resend access email and Revoke invite while the recipient completes sign-in. See Adding Your Team and Team Management.

Historical V1 checklist:

1. Click the Invite Your Team step.
2. You are taken to the Team Management page.
3. Click Invite Member.
4. Enter the team member's email and assign a role.
5. Click Send Invite.
6. The step is marked as complete when at least one team member has been invited.

The historical checklist labels above remain V1-only; the linked Team Management article documents the pending W03 workspace.

6. Create Your First Estimate

Create a test estimate to familiarize yourself with the estimator workflow.

How to complete:

1. Click the Create Your First Estimate step.
2. You are taken to the new estimate form.
3. Fill in a client name, select services, and complete the estimate.
4. Save or send the estimate.
5. The step is marked as complete.

See Your First Estimate in V2 for the current single-screen workflow.

7. Customize Your Portal

Configure the customer portal with your branding and select which features to make available to customers.

How to complete:

1. Click the Customize Your Portal step.
2. You are taken to the Portal Settings page.
3. Select your branding.
4. Toggle the features you want to enable.
5. The step is marked as complete when you visit the page and have at least one feature enabled.

See Customer Portal Settings for the V1 portal-setting reference and current V2 boundary.

Progress Tracking

The checklist includes a progress bar at the top showing how many steps you have completed out of the total. The bar fills incrementally as you complete each step.

Step States

Each step shows one of three states:

• Incomplete -- The step has not been started or finished. Shown with an empty circle.
• Complete -- The step has been finished. Shown with a filled checkmark.
• Skipped -- Optional steps (like Phone / Voice) that you chose to skip. Shown with a dash.

Dismissing the Checklist

If you want to remove the checklist from your dashboard before completing all steps:

1. Click the Dismiss button at the bottom of the checklist panel.
2. Confirm the dismissal.

The checklist disappears from your dashboard. Your progress is preserved, and you can bring it back at any time.

Note: Dismissing the checklist does not complete any unfinished steps. Your account functions normally without completing every step, but some features may not work correctly until their setup is done. For example, you cannot send SMS messages without configuring a telecom provider.

Re-Enabling the Checklist

If you dismissed the checklist and want to see it again:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Scroll to the Onboarding section.
3. Click Show Onboarding Checklist.
4. The checklist reappears on your dashboard with your previous progress intact.

Alternatively, you can access the full onboarding page directly by navigating to:

app.cleanestimate.pro/onboarding

This page shows the same checklist in a full-page layout, which can be easier to work through than the dashboard panel.

Completing the Checklist

When all steps are marked as complete, the checklist panel displays a success message and automatically hides after a few seconds. A congratulations notification appears confirming that your account is fully set up.

You can still access any of the configured settings pages at any time through the sidebar navigation.

Tips

• Complete the checklist in the recommended order. Later steps (like creating your first estimate) work better when earlier steps (like pricing setup) are done first.
• You do not have to finish everything in one session. The checklist saves your progress automatically.
• Optional steps can be skipped and completed later. Do not let them block your launch.
• If you are setting up the account for someone else, complete the technical steps (Stripe, Phone / Voice) and let them handle the business steps (pricing, first estimate).
• Use the onboarding page at /onboarding for a distraction-free setup experience.