This article serves as a comprehensive onboarding guide and checklist for new users of Next Project, covering the essential steps required to get started quickly. It walks readers through initial setup tasks including account activation, system configuration, financial system integration, and data imports, as well as how to customize the platform to fit their business needs.

This article is your guide and checklist as a new user in Next Project. You'll find everything you need to quickly set up the most important configurations and get up and running fast!

Follow the steps below and use the recommended documentation — you'll be working in Next in no time!

Start by logging into Next Project with the login credentials you've been provided.

Step 1: Activation and Basic Administration

Next Project

1. Verify and complete your company information in Admin → Settings → Office/company.

2. Upload your logo so it appears on invoices and reports. You can do this in Admin → Settings → Office/company. Your logo file can be in jpg, png, or gif format. If the file is too large, you may need to compress it first.

3. Add any additional users for the onboarding process in Admin → Users/Permissions → Users.

Integration: Next Project and Your Financial System

Activate the integration between Next and your financial system, then carry out basic imports of Customer and Supplier records, as well as your Chart of accounts. You'll need these records for the upcoming steps in this guide.

Find instructions for your financial system here:

• Xero

• Quickbooks

For other financial systems, please contact us.

Registers and Settings

Next, enter your company's basic information in Next Project. This is the foundational information needed so the right people can log in and you have everything in place to run your projects smoothly. Because there are dependencies between different record registers, we recommend entering information in the following order:

• Customer Records (refer to the instructions in the mailout or your financial system integration for more information)

• Chart of Accounts (refer to the instructions in the mailout or your financial system integration for more information)

• Supplier Records (refer to the instructions in the mailout or your financial system integration for more information)

• Hourly Rate

• Price List

• Wage Supplements (see the information for each payroll system below)

• Absence

• Users

• Payment Terms (in Administration → Accounting → Payment terms)

• Projects

Prepare for Payroll

Once your hourly rates and wage supplements have been added, you can generate a PDF report from the Booked Hours module to use for payroll.

Step 2: Customize Next for Your Business

After importing all your basic information and activating your integration using the steps above, it's time to make Next feel more like your own — with choices and options that fit the way your business works.

Project Tree

Your project list lives in the menu on the left. You can customize how projects are mapped in the project tree to suit your needs. The goal is to make it easy to find your projects, and it also gives you the opportunity to monitor activity at the folder level.

Follow-up Criteria

In Next Project, there are many ways to mark and follow up on your projects beyond just cost and revenue. Most criteria are found on the project card and can be changed if the suggested options don't quite fit your needs. When each project is tagged with information in these fields, you'll have great opportunities to pull statistics in the Project Overview module!

These fields include:

• Form of compensation

• Project type

• Project category

• Type of assignment

To read more about how to work with the labelling fields, click.

Status

Statuses appear in several modules across Next Project, including Project, Work order, Variation order, Deviation, and Invoice. In some cases they're used purely for monitoring and control, while in others they serve additional functions. You can find statuses under Administration → Settings → Statuses.

If you'd like to add more statuses, keep the following in mind:

• The status code must be unique.

• Choose a color by typing the name of the color or a six-digit color code (#000000). Example colors and codes can be found here.

To read more about status management, click.

Project Status

• Statuses with a code of 40 and above are sent to the financial system. This means costs and revenue can be booked on projects with a status higher than 40.

• Statuses with a code of 90 finalize a project in both Next and the financial system. The project's end date is sent to the financial system at this point.

• Statuses with codes between 39 and 89 are visible in Next Mobile and are open for reporting by mobile users. This range can be configured — contact us if you need help!

Work Order/Variation Order Status

• The status of all work orders and variation orders is visible in Next Mobile as long as their respective project is visible in Next Mobile.

• If work orders and/or variation orders are set to be exported to your financial system, all work orders and variation orders will be exported when their respective project is exported.

Step 3: Go Live!

Once you've worked through all the steps above, you're ready to go live and start using Next Project for real!