Getting Started Checklist

Welcome to Buildwise!

This checklist will help you set up your Buildwise account, invite your team members, and start your first project. We’ve also provided links to how-to resources and listed what you need to have ready to go before you start. This article covers:

What You Need Before Setting Up Your Account

Setting Up Company Details and Preferences

1. Enter Company Details

2. Set Up Labor and Workweek Preferences

3. Enter Finance Settings

4. Add or Import Cost Groups, Cost Items, and Cost Sections

Setting Up Team Members

5. Add Team Positions

6. Set Up Team Members

Support Resources

• Our Help Center articles support every step of the Buildwise process.
• Need direct support?
  • Join our Slack community and send us a DM for the fastest response time.
  • Send us an email to hello@buildwiseapp.com.

What You Need Before Setting Up Your Account

1. Sign up: Annual or Monthly
2. Download our Google Sheets file for your Cost Codes.
3. Review the article Understanding Cost Groups, Cost Items, and Cost Sections
4. Update the Google Sheets document with your desired Cost Groups and Cost Items and export as a CSV document.
5. Download and populate our Labor Burden worksheet. If you need help, check out this article, Set Up Labor and Workweek, and watch the video linked on the template.

Setting Up Company Details and Preferences

1. Enter Company Details

Refer to the article Enter Company Details. You will need:

• Your Company Name and Company Address
• Company Logo – Files must be JPG or PNG format
  • Square: 60 x 60px
  • Rectangular: Width may vary from 60px to 240px

2. Set Up Labor and Workweek Preferences

Refer to the article Set Up Labor and Workweek. You will need to know your labor and workweek preferences:

• Hours per day
• Average estimated labor
• Start date of work week
• Pay period frequency

3. Enter Finance Settings

Refer to the article Set Up Markup Costs. You will need to know your markup preferences:

• Markup charge %
• Tax rate %

4. Add or Import Cost Groups, Cost Items, and Cost Sections

Refer to the article Add or Import Cost Groups, Cost Items, and Cost Sections. You will need to have your cost codes ready to input or upload: 

• You can use the CSV file updated with your desired Cost Groups and Cost Items
• Or you can have your cost codes in a file to manually enter

Setting Up Team Members 

Next, you will set up Team Positions (job titles), enter information about your Team Members, and invite them to Buildwise. Before starting, make sure you’ve completed the Labor Burden Worksheet to determine each team member's pay rate.

1. Add Team Positions

Refer to the article Add a Team Position. You will need: 

• List of Team Positions (job titles)

2. Set Up Team Members

Review the Role Permissions Matrix and refer to the article Invite a Team Member. You will need the following information for each team member:

• Full name
• Role
• Position
• Pay rate and charge rate – these can be unique to each employee
• Email – used to send an email with a link to Buildwise
• Phone number

For Team Members using the mobile app, share the article Understanding the Mobile App.