> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.myclerkbook.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> From an empty account to a book with figures in it.

Creating an account takes you straight into onboarding. It asks four questions,
runs once, and puts you into your first book with entries already in it. If you
leave part-way through, you resume at the step you left.

## Before you start

There are no prerequisites, and that is deliberate.

* **No bank account to connect.** There is no facility to connect one, on any
  plan, ever.
* **No card at sign-up.** Creating an account asks for no payment details.
  Choosing a plan comes later, on billing settings, when you decide you want
  one.

<Steps>
  <Step title="What should we call you?">
    Your name, and optionally a business name. This is what appears on the
    surfaces you see and on anything you export. It is not shared with anyone
    you have not invited.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name your first book.">
    A book is a whole separate financial environment: its own groups, its own
    base currency, its own alerts. Give it a name and pick the currency you
    think in, then put its first two entries in: money that came in, and money
    that went out.

    Prefer to see it working first? Start from the realistic sample instead.
    It seeds a few clearly marked entries and two groups so the dashboard has
    something to say, and every marked row deletes like any other entry once
    your own figures replace it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="What should we watch for you?">
    Smart Insights are alerts that email you before money leaves, when income
    runs late, and when a month turns cash-negative. Choose which of them
    watch the book; they arrive by email, so nothing else is asked for. This
    step can wait too: **Skip for now** keeps the book quiet until you arm
    alerts from the Insights page.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Here is where everything lives.">
    A short tour points at the five things that carry the product: recording
    entries, uploading documents, dashboard widgets, groups, and insights.
    Take it or go straight to the book; both finish onboarding.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## After onboarding

You land on your book with entries in it. Two things help while it settles:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Setup tasks" icon="list-check">
    A short checklist on the dashboard: three entries recorded, two groups
    made, the Insights page opened, upload seen. Each line links to where the
    work happens, checks itself off as you go, and the list disappears for
    good when it is done.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Vendor suggestions" icon="lightbulb">
    Typing a vendor offers names from your own entries first, then common
    services. Picking one from history fills the amount, currency and rhythm
    you used last time; every filled value stays editable.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Tip>
  Something not working the way this page describes? Write to
  [help@myclerkbook.com](mailto:help@myclerkbook.com).
</Tip>