Getting started

From a fresh account to your first invoice takes about ten minutes. Onboarding lives at /onboarding and offers three entry paths depending on where you are coming from — starting fresh, exploring with sample data, or moving over from Tally.

Three ways in

The six-step setup wizard

1. Country. Pick your jurisdiction from a grid of 61. This drives your tax engine, currency, and compliance deadlines — and the choice persists immediately, so even if you drop out of the wizard the business is already anchored to the right regime.
2. Profile. Business name, legal form, and contact basics.
3. Tax IDs. Registration numbers for your jurisdiction. In India, entering your GSTIN auto-derives your PAN — no need to type it twice.
4. Industry. Choose from services, trading, manufacturing, retail, restaurant, real estate, professional, or other. Your chart of accounts is auto-seeded to match, so you start with ledgers that fit how your business actually works.
5. Opening. A pointer for opening balances — you do not need them to proceed (see below).
6. Finish. Lands you on /dashboard/todaywith “See what needs you →” — the Today command center is your home screen from day one.

Trying with sample data

If you want to poke around before committing real numbers, the sample-data path seeds 10 customers, 8 items, 12 invoices, and 1 fixed asset so reports, the Today feed, and the books all have something real-looking to show. It is a normal business in every other way — use it to learn the voucher screens, run a report, or test the AI assistant against actual data.

Migrating from Tally

The Tally path sends you to /dashboard/migrate to import your existing data. Alongside it, /dashboard/tally-guide maps every Tally menu you know to its OnGravy equivalent — a crosswalk, not a tutorial — so muscle memory transfers instead of fighting you. Voucher entry also supports Tally-style function keys (see the workspace below and the Daily bookkeeping chapter).

Choosing your jurisdiction

The country picker shows all 61 supported jurisdictions. Your choice determines the tax engine (GST, VAT, corporate tax, payroll rules), the currency, and the deadlines that feed the Today command center and compliance calendar. India is the deepest, Live jurisdiction; the other 60 are code-complete Beta. The selection takes effect immediately when you pick it.

Opening balances — later is fine

You do not need opening balances to start invoicing. Enter them whenever you have your previous trial balance handy, via Settings → Opening Balances. Until you do, the dashboard checklist keeps a gentle nudge visible so it does not fall through the cracks.

Your first ten minutes after setup

1. Add a party or two. Customers and suppliers live at /dashboard/parties. A single party can be both a customer and a supplier.
2. Add your items. Products and services at /dashboard/items.
3. Raise your first invoice. /dashboard/invoices/new — tax is computed server-side and the invoice posts to your general ledger automatically.
4. Drop a bill into the OCR inbox. Upload a supplier bill at /dashboard/ocr-inbox and watch it come back as a drafted purchase for your review.
5. Ask something. Press ⌘I and ask a question — a how-to, a tax rule, or a question about the numbers you just entered.

Learning the workspace

• Favorites. Right-click any sidebar item → Add to Favorites. Favorited items show a ★ and sync per-user across your devices.
• Density toggle. Switch the sidebar between simple and full views; the preference is remembered on this browser (stored locally).
• Type-to-filter. Start typing in the sidebar search to filter navigation instantly.
• ⌘K command palette. Jump to any page or action from anywhere.
• ⌘I AI chat. The assistant sidebar, available on every screen — see AI in OnGravy.
• Keyboard shortcuts overlay. The full map lives at /dashboard/help/shortcuts, grouped into global, navigation, reports, vouchers (including Tally-style F-keys), and edit shortcuts.

Gotchas & good to know

• The jurisdiction choice persists immediately. It anchors your tax engine and currency from the moment you pick it, even before you finish the wizard.
• GSTIN before PAN (India). Enter the GSTIN first — the PAN is derived from it automatically.
• Industry drives your chart of accounts. Picking the closest match at step 4 saves ledger cleanup later. You can still add and edit accounts afterwards.
• Opening balances are deferred by design. Nothing blocks on them; the checklist reminder clears once they are entered under Settings → Opening Balances.
• Density and favorites are different scopes. Favorites sync across devices; the simple/full density toggle is per-browser.