Before we create the first document or schedule the first work order, we'll go to SETTINGS and get the account ready: company details, series, document appearance, taxes, treasury and permissions. In this order, documents go out with the right issuer, numbering and tax from day one, and the team only sees what they should.
We'll click the account name at the top of the side menu and open SETTINGS. We'll see the blocks in this collection: companies, billing, payments, employees, configuration, templates and StarNapp. The CRM pipeline is here too, under CONFIGURATION → CRM: Set up the sales pipeline.
It doesn't have to be perfect on day one, but this order helps because each step feeds the next:
COMPANIES: legal and commercial details (legal name, trading name, tax ID, address, phone, email, website and logo). This is what heads quotes, delivery notes, proformas and invoices. Details in Set up your company information.
BILLING SERIES: document type, issuing company, numbering format and default texts. The PDF logo is the one on the company linked to the series. Details in Billing series and document numbering.
DOCUMENT APPEARANCE: the visual PDF template (standard, minimal or centred). Details in Nautical preferences.
TAXES: line taxes (VAT, disbursement) and document taxes (charge, fee, withholding). Details in Taxation: taxes.
TREASURY: payment methods (accounts) and payment terms. Details in Treasury: banks, terms and payment methods.
PERMISSIONS: what each role can see and edit. Details in Roles and permissions.
LOCATIONS AND TEAMS: only if we work in several sites or groups. Then we assign them on the employee record. Details in Locations and teams.
The rest can wait until we need it:
TAGS (contacts, vessels, tasks, crew) and, with TASKS tags, work types on the work order: Tags and Task and project categories.
CATALOG: item families and warehouses, on the same screen: Set up catalog categories and Warehouses.
ABSENCE MANAGEMENT: holidays and absence types: Holidays and absence management.
TEMPLATES for documents, tasks, emails and notes (vessels and contracts are in beta): Templates and email.
INTEGRATIONS: index in Integrations: accounting and payment gateway; detail in Accounting integrations and Stripe payment gateway.
MY INVOICES (StarNapp block): users and invoices StarNapp issues to us: StarNapp subscription and invoices.
The menu also has API TOKENS and SHIPYARDS. We don't cover them in this collection.
With this, the initial setup can be done in one sitting:
Legal name, tax ID and registered address.
A sharp logo (the one we want on the PDF).
The last invoice already issued, so numbering continues without gaps or duplicates.
If we work with an accountant: ledger codes per series and, if they use them, codes for catalog families.
What we want to call each role (technician, admin, yard manager…) so we create roles, not permissions person by person.
🔒 Availability: Some features (several companies, locations and teams, accounting integrations, automatic bank connection) are on Advance or Enterprise. We mark those with 🔒. User seats and StarNapp invoices are in SETTINGS → STARNAPP → MY INVOICES.
💡 Tip: We don't need every tag, warehouse or template on day one. We should not issue the first invoice until we have a company, a series, taxes and a way to get paid.
If a document shows the wrong tax ID or logo, the series is almost always linked to another company. If the PDF looks different (cleaner or denser), it's the visual template. If the tax on a line is wrong, we check that line's tax. If someone sees invoices or margins they shouldn't, the fix is in PERMISSIONS, not on their employee record.
