Onboarding Wizard

The Onboarding Wizard guides you through everything needed to set up a new client in Kraal. It walks you through a multi-step flow from basic client details to data intake, first proofs, and launch readiness so your client is ready to work with from day one.

Accessing the Wizard

Client creation happens before the wizard: create the client first, and the wizard then opens on that client's own onboarding page. You can return to it at any time from Settings > Clients, then selecting the client you want to configure.

The Setup Flow

Each step is labeled Required before go-live, Recommended soon, or Optional later, so you always know what must be finished before the client launches and what can safely wait.

Step 1: Connect Accounting System (required)

Connect the accounting system Kraal will use as the source of record for this client. This is the foundation every later step builds on.

Step 2: Chart of Accounts (required)

Confirm the chart of accounts so reporting, posting, and review use the right structure.

Step 3: Connect Bank (required)

Connect banking so transaction intake and reconciliation can run cleanly. Statement upload works for every client; Plaid bank feeds are an optional add-on for clients who want automatic intake — see Connect Bank Intake.

Step 4: Import Data (recommended)

Bring in the starting data needed for continuity and first reporting outputs. Take time here — accurate starting data makes everything downstream (reconciliation, reporting, close) much smoother.

Step 5: Client Delivery (recommended)

Verify invoice and output delivery so client-facing workflows can actually run.

Step 6: Additional Entities (optional)

Add related entities only if this client needs them now, and record how they roll up: each entity's relationship (subsidiary, branch/division, or affiliate/investment), ownership % (asked for subsidiaries and affiliates/investments; a branch/division is part of the same legal entity, so ownership is fixed at 100% and no percentage is requested), and effective date. Single-entity clients can skip this step entirely. See Working with Multiple Entities.

Step 7: Automation (recommended)

Choose how much routine posting Kraal handles for this client, or keep your firm default. Supervised is the default: Kraal may post low-risk routine entries within strict guardrails, and a client who arrives with imported history can have proven vendors granted on day one (see Day One with a New Client). Choose Approval-first (Locked Down) as the opt-out for sensitive engagements, so Kraal proposes everything and posts nothing without you. See Autonomy & Safety.

Step 8: You're Ready!

With setup completed, move into the daily accounting workspace and start working the client.

You can adjust all of these settings later as the client's needs evolve.

After Onboarding

Once you complete the wizard:

• The client appears in your client list and is ready to use
• The Workspace populates with Next Actions based on the imported data and connected sources
• You can begin processing transactions, reconciling accounts, and running reports immediately

Re-Running Steps

Need to change something? You can revisit any onboarding step from the client's detail page in Settings > Clients > select client. Each step can be re-run independently without affecting the others.

Launch Readiness

Kraal checks launch readiness inside onboarding instead of sending users to separate technical checkers. The readiness view verifies:

• ERPNext provisioning and chart of accounts readiness
• QuickBooks connection, token health, and first sync when QuickBooks is used
• banking intake through either Plaid or statement upload
• invoice delivery and client communication paths
• first reports or first operating outputs
• setup drift that Kraal can repair automatically

When Kraal can fix an item safely, it does so in the background. When a business action is required, the user sees one plain-language next step.