Create a company and add owners

Create The Company

For the first-company procedure, use Create your first company. If the starting path is not settled, first read Choose how to start or move a company.

Open Companies and select New company. Enter:

• the exact company name;
• a URL slug using lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens;
• the first owner's name, email, and cell phone;
• a chart starting choice (see below).

Start fresh creates LedgerHQ's standard chart so bookkeeping can begin.

Import from QuickBooks starts with an empty chart, then opens QuickBooks Import so the firm can select the QuickBooks Chart of Accounts CSV and Journal CSV and check them before anything posts.

Import bank CSVs creates a standard chart and opens Settings > Import & Export > CSV Import for bank and card transaction exports.

Settings > Import & Export remains available anytime for QuickBooks import, bank CSV import, or exports. Create Company is the guided front door for new companies.

Every active company joins the firm's LedgerHQ + Tally subscription automatically. There is no company-level subscription switch during creation.

Owner Access Is Equal

Use Copy client portal link beside the owner controls to share your firm's branded login page. Manage its logo and colors in Firm settings > Branding & Client Portal. Each company's owners use the same firm link; their membership determines which companies they can open. First-time users should accept their invitation before returning through the portal link.

Company owners have equal client access. The first owner receives the company invitation or welcome email after creation. Add another owner from CRM > Client Portal when another person should have the same portal access.

There is no primary owner for access. A separate outreach selection can choose which owner receives bank-connection texts, but that choice does not change ownership or permissions.

Keep each owner's name, email, and cell phone current in CRM's Client Portal tab. This is the shared contact source used by client access, requests, Tally, bank connection texts, and other company communications. Do not maintain a second copy of the same contact on the Bank Feeds page.

Under Tally client requests, choose separately whether Tally may send bank connection requests and statement requests. Turning either switch off affects only new requests created by Tally. Firm members can still send either type manually.

Open The Company Record

From Companies, select Open CRM beside the company. Overview shows company and contact details. Open Client Portal for owner access, invitations, and Tally request preferences. Engagement & Billing holds the signed agreement and subscriptions. Onboarding appears when an enrollment exists.

Add Or Maintain An Owner

Open Client Portal and select Add owner in the upper-right corner of the owner list. Enter the person's name, email, and cell phone, then select Add & invite owner. All three fields are required. LedgerHQ grants the matching user access or emails an invitation when the person still needs an account.

The owner list shows whether access is active or the invitation is pending. Use Resend for a pending invitation. The pencil edits the owner's name, email, or cell phone. Changing the email replaces the identity that can enter this company and sends an invitation to the new address. The trash icon removes the owner's company access after confirmation.

If the company has more than one owner, Bank connect chooses which owner receives new bank-connection and reconnect links. This outreach choice does not give that owner different portal permissions.

Under Tally client requests, control whether Tally may create new bank connection requests or statement requests. Firm members can still contact the client manually when either switch is off.

Maintain The Company Brief

The accountant-only company brief records operating facts Tally should understand, such as the business model, important accounts, recurring patterns, communication preferences, and other company context. Company owners do not see this internal brief.

Tally can help conduct the standard company interview and prepare descriptive company context updates. A person must confirm those updates before Tally saves them. The brief cannot be used to change billing, integrations, currency, permissions, or Tally authority.

The Engagement & Billing tab is covered in Manage client engagement billing.

For the company directory, tags, engagement records, and onboarding history, see Manage companies in CRM.

Choose The Bank Outreach Owner

Open Bank Feeds and then Company texts when one owner should receive new-bank or reconnect requests. Select an owner whose cell phone is complete. The selection controls bank outreach only; all company owners remain equal.

For the full texting workflow, see Bank connection texts.

Archive Instead Of Deleting Books

Archive a company when the firm needs to stop active work while preserving its books. Archival removes the company from normal active work and pauses related connections without pretending its history never existed. Restoring the company returns that preserved record to active use.

An archived company is preserved but leaves active work and firm billing. Restoring it returns it to active work and the firm's billed company count. There is no separate billing-disabled company state.