Setup checklist

This is the order that works for a first day. Each step says where to go and why it comes before the next. Allow a day for the office steps and a day for the field. Steps marked optional can wait.

Before you start, the server should already be installed and running, with the scheduler and queue worker going. Check with whoever installed it. See install. Without a queue worker, PDFs, emails and texts don't go out.

1. Company

Admin > Company. Check the trading name, ABN, billing email, default country and currency, GST registration and above all the timezone. The schedule, reminders and "today" all use it. See business settings.

2. Depots

Admin > Depots. Add each depot with its address and coordinates, and mark one as the default. Runs start from here. Technicians' start points come from their depot.

3. Roles

Admin > Roles. Review each role's permission checklist. Dispatchers need scheduling and customers. Technicians need the field permissions. Accounts need invoices and payments. Some permissions can't be ticked in the console yet, so ask your developer to grant them. See users and roles.

4. Staff

Admin > Staff. Add everyone who'll sign in: name, email, role, depot, employment, licence details and cost per hour. Each person gets a temporary password, shown once. Hand it over privately.

5. Vehicles

Admin > Vehicles. Add each vehicle with its tank capacity and running costs. Jobs and runs can then use them.

6. Pricing

Admin > Pricing. Create a price book with your rate items (pump-out per kL, labour per hour, disposal fee, travel) and mark it default. Add customer price overrides later as they come up. Invoices and quotes read from here.

7. Time and costs

Admin > Time and costs. Set the overtime thresholds and the week start. Set a default cost per hour and disposal cost per kL, and the cost of each disposal site. These make the Profit page meaningful. See time and costing.

8. Service forms

Admin > Service forms. Check the commissioning certificate form that was installed and build the checklists for the job types you do (pump-out, AWTS service, inspection). Check the field app preview.

9. Councils

Admin > Councils. Add a profile for each council you report to: method, business-day deadline, owner copy, template. Check it against the council's current rules. See compliance reports.

10. Email and SMS

Admin > Email and SMS. Connect your own services and send a test on each. Add the reply address to your SMS provider. See SMS and email setup.

11. Documents

Admin > Documents. Upload your logo, set the accent colour, business details, numbering prefixes, invoice wording and when reports go to customers. Preview as you go. See document templates.

12. Messages

Admin > Messages. Render a preview of each standard template, read it, and turn on the rules you want: booking confirmation, on the way, service report, invoice, payment receipt, urgent breakdown. Leave the rest off until you've thought about them.

13. Payments

Admin > Payments. Connect Stripe, set a surcharge if you want one, and choose reminders and statements. Do this after Documents and Email, because pay links go in those. See payments setup.

14. Customers, sites and systems

Bring your existing records in. For a few, add them by hand under Customers, Sites and Systems. For many, use Admin > Import: choose a CSV export from your old system, match its columns, check it and import. See importing. Files over 5,000 rows can go through the import API instead; see developer/api.md.

Check that systems have a next service date and a tank location, since service reminders and routing use them.

15. Field phones

Technicians install the Rangefront Waste app. Link each phone under Admin > Work phones > Link a phone (how). Each phone then appears in that list. Check each one synced. See the field app guide.

16. Alerts

Admin > Alerts. Check the thresholds and who's told. Leave the defaults to begin with.

17. Optional

• Online booking form for your website.
• AI helpers and the phone agent.
• Integrations with Xero, QuickBooks or MYOB.
• Plugins and Branding.

18. Dry run

Before the first real customer:

1. Create a test customer and site with your own phone number.
2. Book a job for today, assign a technician and dispatch it.
3. On the technician's phone, go on the way, arrive, complete the form and finish.
4. Approve it in the console and check the service report PDF.
5. Create the invoice, send it to yourself and pay it with a Stripe test card.
6. Check each message arrived and appears in the delivery log.

Delete the test records afterwards from their sheets. They can be recovered from Deleted items if you need them.