START: Registering your first company

START: Registering your first company

Signing up for Lightyear

Congratulations and thank you for deciding to check out Lightyear! Getting started with a new software can be daunting, so we've composed this guide to help you find your feet. This article will walk you through giving us the information required to get your first company set up. Head to the  Lightyear website  and click the 30 Day Free Trial button to begin.



Creating your User Profile

We'll need some basic information from you first. If you've ever signed up to a service or website before, this should be pretty easy to follow.


Signup screen for Lightyear


Nothing scary here. Once you've filled out everything we need, click Register.

Verifying your account

After following the above steps, you’ll receive an email in the inbox of the address you provided, which will allow you to verify your account. You’ll need to do this before you can log in for the first time.



Click the big blue button and you'll be taken to the Login page. Enter the email and password you set when creating your user profile and start setting up your first company!

Creating your first company


You've told us about you, now tell us about your company.

If you're unsure about any of the details we're asking for, the handy table below should answer any questions.

Country of Registration

It is important to set this correctly.  Choosing an incorrect country will mean that the calculations that Lightyear uses for taxes will be incorrect.  If your country is not on the list, please email us and we will endeavour to get it there as quickly as we can.

Company ABN / Registration Number

Company Registration Number i.e. ABN / VAT / GST number. This field is optional

Company Name

This name will represent your company inside Lightyear.  It is not your @lightyear.cloud account name. This is usually auto populated if you have provided an ABN above.

Trading Name

This field is optional

Lightyear Name

This will be your Lightyear email address. Your suppliers can use this to send your invoices directly into your Lightyear account. Your account name should represent your business, for example ‘John’s Plumbing’ could be ‘johnsplumbing@lightyear.cloud. In this case you would simple enter ‘johnsplumbing’ in this field. We can always change this for you afterwards if you need to (just email us at support@lightyear.cloud
Default Company Time Zone
By setting your default company time zone, you will set all dates and times that appear on the documents (PDF's) to the default that is selected here. This means that if a member of staff is based in the US but your company default is Australia, then the user will see an Australian based time zone rather than the time zone the user current inhabits. However, all notes and audit trails will remain specific to the users geographical location and time zone.

Address

Location details

Partner/Group Structure

As above, by ticking this, you will create a new Parent account i.e. a new account with a separate billing relationship with Lightyear. Read on further below on creating a Parent vs Child vs Standalone and the billing implications here.

Industry Type

The industry of your business

Sector Type

The sector of your business

No. of employees

The size of your company

At this point, note you can create a Standalone account or a Parent account.
A Standalone will be responsible for its own billing subscription.
Tick the Parent checkbox if you are creating a group structure for consolidated billling across the group or an Accountant/Bookkeeper who is paying the subscription on your client's behalf.
You can then create subsequent accounts as Child accounts (aka Client Companies) which will sit under the Parent account from a billing perspective. Read on below for more information.

Once you’ve filled in the required fields hit Create this Company and you can begin using Lightyear. We recommend you complete the Set up Steps starting with Step 1: Connect your accounting software.

Choosing an @lightyear.cloud name

When choosing a Lightyear account name during company registration, make sure you choose a short name that will be easy for suppliers to understand.  
 
Your @lightyear.cloud name does not need to match your company's registered name, it can be something completely different, like a trading name for instance.  And, after you have chosen it ... if you change your mind, or realise that you have made a spelling mistake or something like that, click  here  to learn how to change it.

Creating subsequent accounts

You can create a new company in Lightyear at any time. This will exist alongside any companies you have already set up, creating a new company doesn't change or affect anything for already existing companies.
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To do this, just click on your company name at the top of the Lightyear window and select Create a Standalone Company or Create a Client Company. 

You won't be asked to create a new user account this time, as you already exist as a User within Lightyear. Instead, you'll be taken straight to the creation  page. After your new company is created, you can switch between them at any time by simply clicking on the company name at the top of the page and selecting the company you want to view. 

Watch this video if you would like further instruction:







      

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