> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.rinsebase.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.rinsebase.com/getting-started.md).

# Getting Started

This guide covers creating your account, the setup wizard, and your first real clean. Most owners get through it in one sitting. Almost every step can be skipped and finished later.

## Create your account

1. Go to [app.rinsebase.com](https://app.rinsebase.com). If you land on the sign-in screen, click **Don't have an account? Start free trial**.
2. Enter your email and a password, then click **Create account**.
3. If Rinsebase asks you to confirm your email, enter the code we send you and click **Confirm & continue**. If it hasn't arrived, click **Didn't get it? Resend code**.

Every new account starts with a **14-day free trial** with every Pro feature switched on. You don't need a credit card to start.

## The setup wizard

Once you're in, a short wizard sets up your company. A progress bar along the top shows where you are. If you close the tab partway through, you pick up where you left off and don't have to start over.

### 1. Your company

| Field                                             | Notes                                                                                                                |
| ------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Your name**, **Company name**                   | Required                                                                                                             |
| **Phone**                                         | Optional                                                                                                             |
| **Primary service area** (City, State / Province) | Required. Sets your service area and time zone                                                                       |
| **Your Rinsebase URL**                            | Required. Filled in from your company name, and you can edit it. It becomes the address of your public business site |
| **How did you hear about us?**                    | Optional                                                                                                             |

If you enter a Canadian province that uses GST or HST, you're also asked for your registration number, which gets printed on your invoices. If you aren't registered yet, tick the **Not registered for GST yet** box (it says HST in HST provinces). You can change both later in Settings.

Click **Continue →**.

### 2. Import your existing clients

If you already keep clients in another app, you can bring them over now. Pick a source: **Taskbird**, **Jobber**, **HouseCallPro**, **ZenMaid**, **Google Contacts**, or **Excel / CSV**. Each source shows where to find its export. Upload the CSV, then use **Map your columns** to match your columns to Rinsebase fields. **Full name** is the only required field.

Some exports have one row per job rather than one per client. Rinsebase merges those rows by email, then phone, then name, so each client comes in once.

To skip this step, choose **Start fresh** or click **Skip for now →**. You can import later from **Settings → Import**. For each source's export steps, see [Switching from Competitors](/switching-from-competitors.md).

### 3. Review

This step appears only if you uploaded a file. You'll see the clients about to be created, plus a note about any duplicate rows that were merged. Click **✓ Import N clients →** to create them, or **← Back** to fix the mapping.

### 4. Connect a calendar

This step is where your schedule starts filling itself. If you clean for a short-term-rental client, enter:

* **Client name**
* **Property nickname**
* **Your client's Airbnb / VRBO calendar link (iCal)**

Then click **✨ Connect & fill my schedule**. Rinsebase checks the link, pulls your client's upcoming reservations, and creates a clean for each checkout while you watch. Click **+ Connect another calendar** to add more properties, or **Looks great — continue →** to move on.

The client is created as an STR client, and the property starts with just its nickname. Add the street address later on the property page.

Your client can also connect their booking software directly, so you never handle their login. See [STR & Airbnb Sync](/str-and-airbnb-sync.md) for both methods.

To skip, click **Skip — I'll connect a calendar later**.

### 5. Get paid

Choose your **Business country** (United States or Canada; clients pay in USD or CAD), then click **🔗 Connect Stripe account**. This opens Stripe in the same tab and brings you back to the wizard when you're done. You have two other options:

* **Skip for now — I'll do this later**. You can connect anytime in **Settings → Billing**.
* **I invoice with QuickBooks or another tool — I don't need Stripe**. This also removes the Stripe step from your dashboard checklist.

### 6. Invite your team

Add crew by **Full name**, **Email (optional)**, and role (**Cleaner**, **Lead**, or **Trainee**). Click **+ Add another crew member** for more rows. Anyone you add with an email gets an invite right away. Click **Add crew & continue →**, or **Skip for now →**.

### Finish

The last screen shows a **Quick start checklist** of what you've done. Click **Run my first clean →** to open your dashboard. When you finish the wizard, Rinsebase also does three things:

* **Adds sample data** (a sample client, property, jobs and invoice) so the app isn't empty while you explore. A banner reading "You're exploring with sample data." stays up until you click **Clear sample data**. That removes only the sample records. The same control is under **Settings → Account**.
* **Switches on a basic online booking form** with default settings. Requests people submit land in **Bookings**.
* **Sends you a welcome email.**

## Your dashboard's first-clean flow

Until you complete your first real clean, the top of your **Dashboard** shows a **Your first clean** card with a sample job:

1. Click **▶ Start the clean**, then **✓ Mark complete**. These are the same two actions your crew takes on every real job. You'll see the invoice appear. This sample doesn't save anything.
2. Click **Now run my real one →**. Rinsebase points you to the next step for your account: **Add my first property →**, **Schedule a clean →**, or **Open my schedule →** if a job is already on your calendar.
3. Under **Then make it run itself**, you'll find shortcuts to **📅 Connect a calendar**, **👷 Invite your crew**, and **💳 Connect Stripe**.

The **✕** on the card hides it until you next sign in.

### The setup checklist

A **Setup checklist** button sits in the corner of the dashboard. Open it to see your progress. Click any unfinished item to go straight to it.

1. **Complete company settings**: city, state and time zone, in **Settings → Company**
2. **Add your first client**
3. **Add a property**
4. **Schedule your first job**
5. **Add a crew member**
6. **Connect Stripe**. If you invoice another way, click **I invoice another way — skip this**.
7. **Send a client portal invite**
8. **Run your first clean**

You can minimize the checklist at any time. You can't dismiss it during your trial, but you can afterward. It disappears once every item is done.

## Your first 10 minutes

The fastest way to get started is the quick-start form. Click **Add your first client** in the setup checklist (or **Add my first property →** on the first-clean card) and fill in:

* **Who do you clean for?**
* The property's address
* The **Booking calendar link**

Then click **Connect & fill my schedule**. For a residential client or a property with no calendar, click **Residential client or no calendar? Add manually** instead. You can also do each step yourself, as described below.

### Add a client

1. Click **Clients** in the sidebar, then **+ Add client**.
2. Enter a **Name**, plus **Email** and **Phone** if you have them. An email is needed for portal invites and emailed invoices.
3. Pick a **Client Type**, then click **Add Client**.

| Client type          | Use it for                                                  |
| -------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Residential**      | Homeowners on a regular or one-off schedule                 |
| **STR / Airbnb**     | A host whose short-term rentals you clean between guests    |
| **Commercial**       | Offices and other businesses                                |
| **Property Manager** | A company that manages many properties for different owners |

### Add a property

1. With the client open, click **Add property**.
2. Enter the **Street** address (required), plus **City**, **State**, **ZIP**, and a **Nickname** such as "Lake House".
3. For STR and Property Manager clients, you can also set **Bedrooms**, **Bathrooms** and **Other spaces**. Rinsebase uses these to build the property's checklist room by room.
4. Click **Add property**. The property's page opens so you can finish setting it up: default crew, pricing, checklist and calendar.

For everything else on the property page, see [Clients and Properties](/clients-and-properties.md).

### Connect your client's calendar (Growth plan and up)

On an STR or Property Manager property's page, click **🔗 Connect this property's calendar**. You can connect it one of two ways:

* **Paste the calendar (iCal) link yourself.** The panel shows where to find it in Airbnb and VRBO.
* **Send your client the invite link.** They open it on their own device and connect their calendar or booking software themselves, without logging in to Rinsebase. Their OwnerRez, Hospitable, Guesty or Hostaway account can connect directly, and you never handle their login.

Once connected, a clean appears on your schedule for each of your client's guest checkouts. For every detail, see [STR & Airbnb Sync](/str-and-airbnb-sync.md).

### Create a job

1. Click **Schedule** in the sidebar, then **+ New job**.
2. Choose what you're scheduling:
   * **🧽 Cleaning job**: a clean for a client
   * **🧺 Laundry run** (Growth plan and up): internal, with no client and no invoice
   * **📌 Task**: an internal to-do, with or without a property
3. For a cleaning job, pick the **Client** and **Property**, then set the **Service**, **Date**, **Start time** and **Duration**.
4. Under **Assign crew**, tick who's going. You'll see an **Estimated invoice price** before you save.
5. Click **Schedule job**.

For repeating cleans, see [How to Set Up Recurring Cleans](/how-to-set-up-recurring-cleans.md). For more on the calendar views, see [Scheduling](/scheduling.md).

### Invite your crew

1. Click **Team** in the sidebar, then **+ Add crew member**.
2. Enter **Full name** and **Email** (both required) and, optionally, **Phone**.
3. Pick a **Role**: **Manager**, **Dispatcher**, **Lead cleaner**, **Cleaner**, or **Trainee**.
4. Pick a **Pay type** and enter the rate:
   * **Annual salary (bi-weekly)**
   * **Hourly**
   * **Per job**
5. Set their **Preferred language** (**English** or **Español**), then click **Add to team**.

Your crew member gets an email with a link to create their password. The link is valid for **30 days**. If it expires, or the email address was wrong, open them on the Team page and click **↺ Resend invite**. After that, they sign in to the Rinsebase mobile app. See [Crew Management](/crew-management.md) for more.

### Connect Stripe

1. Go to **Settings → Billing**.
2. Under **Accept payments from clients**, choose your **Business country** and click **Connect Stripe →**.
3. Finish Stripe's setup (business details and bank account). When you come back, the button reads **✓ Stripe connected**.

Online payments switch on after your first completed clean, which is when a crew member clocks out on the job and adds a photo. Until then, invoices still send and you can record payments manually. If Stripe needs more information later, the button changes to **⚠ Repair setup →**. See [Billing and Payments](/billing-and-payments.md).

## Plans and your trial

Your trial runs for 14 days with every Pro feature on. You can choose a plan at any time in **Settings → Billing → All plans**: click **Choose →** during your trial, or **Switch →** afterward. Choosing during the trial doesn't end it early, and you won't be charged until it ends.

| Plan    | Crew included | Up to   | Price   | Founding-member price |
| ------- | ------------- | ------- | ------- | --------------------- |
| Starter | 3             | 5 crew  | $39/mo  | $19/mo                |
| Growth  | 5             | 10 crew | $99/mo  | $59/mo                |
| Pro     | 10            | 19 crew | $199/mo | $99/mo                |
| Scale   | 20            | 40 crew | $399/mo | $149/mo               |

* **Founding-member rates** went to the first 100 accounts and are locked in for life once you subscribe. The **All plans** card in Settings → Billing shows which rate applies to you, and the date to subscribe by if you haven't yet.
* **Extra crew** beyond your plan's included seats cost $20 per crew member per month ($15 for founding members). One owner login never counts; each additional owner login counts as crew (founding members: every owner login is free). You're billed on your highest crew count that month.
* **Crew limits:** at standard prices each plan covers up to the crew count in the table. Past it, Settings → Billing points you to the next plan, which costs the same or less at that size. Over 40 crew, email <info@rinsebase.com> for a Scale quote. Founding members have no limits.
* **What each plan includes** is listed below the plans in Settings → Billing. Every plan includes crew SOS alerts. Growth adds calendar sync, auto-invoicing and laundry runs, among other features. Pro adds custom branding, per-property crew pay and the payroll export. Scale (formerly Enterprise) is fully white-label.
* **When the trial ends without a plan**, only Settings → Billing stays available until you choose one.

## Related

* [STR & Airbnb Sync](/str-and-airbnb-sync.md)
* [Clients and Properties](/clients-and-properties.md)
* [Crew Management](/crew-management.md)
* [Billing and Payments](/billing-and-payments.md)