Once you've created your Double account, follow this guide to get your practice up and running.
Walk through the setup workflow step-by-step, then explore key features and best practices needed to get up and running quickly!
Setting up your Practice
Add your first connected client
Connecting a client is the first step in creating your practice.
Go to the Client List, then select "+ Client" at the top of the page.
Choose between connecting a QuickBooks Online or Xero file, then select a plan. Core is the default, and can be updated later in Practice Settings.
Select templates as needed. Under "Workflow templates" the default task template is suggested. Additional templates can be selected as needed.
Manage user access to this client as well as email notifications for any client activity moving forward. This can all be updated later under Practice Settings, if needed.
Follow the prompts to connect the QuickBooks or Xero file at the bottom of the pop up
Congrats! The first client is added. This client should now be on the client list 🎉
Add the bookkeeping team
If there are teammates to invite, they can be added by:
Going to Practice Settings (⚙️ icon at the top right of the screen)
Selecting Manage Users
Choosing "Add user"
Add name, email, phone number (optional), access permissions
Learn more about user permissions 👉 here!
When a new user is added, a welcome email will automatically be sent out to the email on file
Name the practice
Practice Settings is where practice-wide changes can be made for the account.
To manage the practice's name and logo,
Go to Practice Settings > Practice management
Edit the practice's name under the General tab
Add a logo under the Logo tab
Customize the client portal
Customize the look and feel of the client portal under Practice Settings.
Go to Practice Settings > Client Portal
Go to the Branding tab > Customize tab to add a favicon and custom brand colors
Choose from the default color options, or enter in hex codes from a brand kit
Whitelabel the Client Portal url
💡 Without whitelabeling the client portal url, all clients will log in at app.doublehq.com/client-login, a Double-branded client portal url.
Follow this guide 👉 HERE 👈 when setting up the whitelabeled url for the client portal.
Connecting the practice email
Sending emails to clients from Double is easy. To connect the email address that all email messages will come from, go to Branding settings.
Go to Practice Settings > Client Portal
Go to the Branding tab > Practice emails tab
Select "+ Add Inbox" to continue adding an email
We recommend connecting a Google or Outlook-based email address to start.
Adding an email signature & testing deliverability
Once the email is connected,
Select "Manage"
Add an email signature and hit "Save email signature"
Send a test email to confirm deliverability
💡 Any test emails will be delivered to the email address of the user requesting it
More on how Double supports in-app email inbox management 👉 HERE!
Add the practice phone number
The practice phone number is a great way to text updates and portal links to client contacts, as well as receive texted images of receipts (available with Plus).
This is a brand new, no-reply number provided by Double, that allows bookkeepers to text reminders to their clients.
To set up the practice phone number, go to Branding settings.
Go to Practice Settings > Client Portal
Go to the Branding tab > Practice phone number
Select "Choose your number"
Enter a desired area code & select from the available options
Double basics: Running a month-end close
Make sure to check out our Getting Started with Double series on YouTube!
Accessing the close page
A client’s Close page can be accessed by clicking the client’s name on the Client List.
About the close page
The close page is where all tasks, reports, and client communication are located.
Client Settings
If Class, Location, or Customers/Projects are used, those should be enabled in the client’s File Settings (the … icon at the top of the page). This allows custom reports, such as Class Inconsistency and Expenses without a Customer, to be run.
💡 Before jumping right to file review, make sure to code all transactions from the Bank Feed. Double cannot access any transaction data from the QuickBooks bank feed.
Client tasks
Sections
All Double tasks are organized into sections, and these sections exist across all clients. This means that if a section is added, it appears for every client, and if a section is deleted, it is removed from every client. Manage task sections under Practice Settings.
Task types
There are two types of client-related tasks in Double: Custom tasks and Closing tasks.
Closing tasks
Located under the "Tasks for Month 'YY" heading in the close, closing tasks are for monthly work done per close period. These tasks are done in order to close the client's books and deliver their financials.
Custom tasks
Located at the top of each close page, custom tasks can be anything from one-off tasks with a single occurrence, or they can be recurring tasks that recur weekly, biweekly, etc.
File review basics
Video overview
File review task reports are designed to help you review the data in your client's books. Double has lots of different reports. Here are a few examples:
The Expense Inconsistency report catches transactions coded inconsistently from month to month.
The Uncategorized Transactions report will pull all the transactions you've coded to a suspense account to ask your client about.
The Profit and Loss Review will flag accounts that deviate from their historical trends, and show you which vendors/customers are responsible for those changes.
View the entire File Review collection 👉 HERE!
Client communication
Effortless client communication is one of Double’s core features. Questions are asked from the client’s Close page, and responses (or additional questions) are handled in the Client Portal.
Video overview
Asking questions & posting to the portal
Transaction Questions
From any transaction in any report, questions can be asked by clicking the Ask Client button, entering the question, and adding it to the Client Portal. Once a question is posted to the client portal, contacts can respond.
All client portal questions carry over from month to month, so a new close can still be started even if there are unresolved questions.
Non-transaction questions
If information is needed from the client, but the question is not related to a specific transaction, it can be posted to the portal via the "Non-transaction questions" area of Client Communications at the top of the page.
These non-transaction questions can also be set up as recurring, for example for bank statement requests.
Client notifications
Clients are not automatically emailed about new questions. This allows multiple questions to be asked before sending a single email.
Automated Reminders can also be enabled under Portal Settings or Practice Settings.
With this enabled, notifications will go out by email and/or text, reminding clients to address outstanding questions in their portal. The cadence of these reminders is set under Practice Settings > Client Portal > Reminders.
Adding client portal contacts
To communicate with clients, they must be added as a Contact. This also enables access to the Client Portal via email.
From the client Close page, select Portal and then Add Contact.
More on onboarding new clients 👉 HERE!
Preview the client portal
A client contact’s portal experience can be previewed under Portal Settings.
Navigate to Portal Settings
Select the preview (👁️ icon) button in each contact's row
Video: The client's perspective
Client Responses
Once a client responds, the response appears under Client Communication and on the Client List.
Accessing client communication from the close page
Accessing client communication from the close page
Accessing client communication from the client list
Accessing client communication from the client list
If the question is related to a transaction, the transaction can be reclassified directly from Double. The client’s answer can also be appended to the memo, or a response can be sent if more information is needed by selecting the client’s answer.
More on transaction questions 👉 HERE!
Resolving questions
Once all necessary changes have been made, the question should be marked as resolved by selecting the checkmark circle next to the response.
Delivering Management Reports
Practice-level report settings
Before building any management reports, we recommend configuring a few practice-level settings. This is done within Practice Settings, and will apply across all clients.
Legal disclaimers
Go to Practice Settings > Practice Management
Select Legal Disclaimers
Customize your Cover Page and Footnotes options
Statements and reporting preferences
Go to Practice Settings > Practice Management
Select Statements and reporting
Enable practice-wide report settings & customize report accent color
More on management reporting & financials 👉 HERE!
Building the reporting package
Double’s Reporting tab is where month-end management reporting packages for clients can be generated. The Reporting tab can be accessed from the Close page.
Publishing the reporting package
Once ready, the management report package can be delivered by clicking Publish. This allows the package to be printed as a PDF, emailed to the client, or uploaded directly to the client portal.
More on publishing financials 👉 HERE!
Additional resources
Getting Started with Double: A collection of short YouTube videos designed to help you quickly explore Double’s features and content.
Double Academy: A self-paced learning hub designed to help users build expertise with the Double platform, one course at a time.
The Double Take: A webinar series recapping all of the latest product updates and sharing the community's best practices.