Getting started: your firm's settings
Your Ledger license is active? Here are the settings to do once, before your first engagement. Everything is set in Settings, at the bottom of the left menu, one tab at a time: this article follows the order of the tabs.
Your firm
In the Firm tab, enter your business numbers and your professional order: they appear on the financial statements and the engagement letters. Then add the firm's address and contact information, shown at the foot of the financial statements, and click Save.
Printing
The Printing tab sets the branding of your documents:
- Your logo, dropped in the upload zone: it shows up right away in the live preview.
- The accent color and the font of the financial statements.
- The letterhead of engagement letters, further down the page.
Save: all your printed documents follow these choices.
In Email, each person connects their own mailbox, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, so they write to clients from their own address. With Microsoft 365, sign in and allow Ledger to send email on your behalf.
Back in Ledger, the mailbox is connected. The Send a test button confirms everything works.
Your team
In Team, you manage the firm's partners, accountants and signatories. A No account member, like a signatory, appears on documents without signing in to Ledger.
Add a member
New member: name, role, title, email and signature image.
Send the invitation
The person gets an email to choose their password. Each person who signs in takes a seat; beyond the seats in your plan, each additional seat is billed.
Who can do what
| Owner | Has access to the settings: team, portal and billing. |
|---|---|
| Member | Only sees the clients you give them access to. They don't change the firm's settings; the default templates remain editable. |
| Primary owner | One per firm. Only they remove an owner or require two-factor authentication. They can transfer this role to another member (Transfer primary ownership); only the new primary owner can give it back. |
Default templates
- Default notes: your standard text for each note to the financial statements. The bracketed fields fill in within each engagement.
- TB templates: one trial balance template per type of business (a pharmacy doesn't have the same accounts as a consulting firm). Each account has its label in French and in English. New template starts from a copy of an existing template.
- Base grouping: the catalog and your own codes, shared by all your engagements.
When you open an engagement, choose its trial balance template and its language: the engagement's language sets the language of the accounts and the financial statements.
These templates are used for new engagements: existing ones don't change.
Client portal
With the Premium plan, the client portal is already online at a temporary address; you can then connect your own domain. Your clients are notified by email when you deposit or request a document, and scheduled reminders follow your settings. Set up your standard folders and document request templates once.
Step by step: The client portal: getting started.
Security
The office computer
Download the desktop agent: it keeps your clients' documents in sync on your computer. When it starts, the agent shows a connection code: enter it in the Security tab and click Connect. The computer appears in the list of connected computers.
Two-factor authentication
The primary owner turns it on for the whole firm, including themselves (Require 2FA for the whole firm). Then:
Scan the QR code
With your authenticator app, Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator for example.
Enter the 6-digit code
The app renews it every 30 seconds. Click Verify and enable.
Keep your backup codes
Store them somewhere safe: they get you back in if you lose your phone.
Done. Each member will do the same at their next sign-in.
Billing
In Billing, you see your plan, your seats, your storage and your renewal date.
- Move to the Premium plan (with the client portal): the difference is prorated over the current year.
- Add a seat to invite one more person: an invoice is created.
- Pay an invoice by credit card or by Interac e-Transfer. For Interac, Ledger gives you the recipient and the amount; put the invoice number in the transfer message, send it from your bank and click I sent the transfer. The invoice is marked paid as soon as the transfer arrives.
Frequently asked questions
I don't see some Settings tabs. Why?
For a member, the Team, Client portal and Billing tabs are hidden, and Firm and Printing are read-only. They keep their email, their own two-factor authentication and the default templates.
Does each person have to connect their mailbox?
Yes: each person connects their own, so clients receive emails from the right address.
Does changing a TB template change my engagements?
No. Templates are used when new engagements are opened; an existing engagement keeps its trial balance.
I lost my phone. How do I sign in?
With one of your backup codes, instead of the 6-digit code.