Quick Start

Get your Udala workspace up and running in under 5 minutes.

📅 Udala launches January 1, 2027. Until then, join the waitlist to be notified and receive 3 months free on Growth plan.

Step 1 - Sign up

Visit app.udala.africa and click Create free workspace. You'll need:

Your full name and email
Your company name (this becomes your workspace slug, e.g. nexus-group.udala.africa)
Your industry (helps us configure relevant defaults)
Your country (for tax, currency and compliance settings)

💡 Tip: Your workspace slug is permanent. Choose it carefully - it becomes your subdomain and schema name. Use lowercase with hyphens: nexus-group, not NexusGroup.

Step 2 - Set up your chart of accounts

Navigate to Finance → Chart of Accounts. Udala pre-loads an industry-appropriate chart of accounts based on your industry selection. You can:

Accept the default chart and start immediately
Add custom accounts to match your existing bookkeeping structure
Import from a CSV if you're migrating from QuickBooks or another system

Step 3 - Enable your modules

Go to Settings → Modules. Toggle on the modules your business needs. Growth plan includes all 12 modules. Starter plan lets you pick 3.

Recommended starting stack for most businesses:
✓ Finance & Accounting  (required)
✓ HR & People           (always useful)
✓ Payroll               (if you have staff)
✓ CRM & Sales           (if you have customers)
✓ Inventory             (if you hold stock)

Step 4 - Invite your team

Go to Settings → Team Members → Invite. Assign one of the pre-built roles:

Owner - full access, billing, workspace settings
Finance Manager - approve transactions, post to GL, view all reports
Finance Staff - create transactions, cannot approve
HR Manager - manage employees, approve leave, run payroll
Staff - self-service: view own pay slips, apply for leave, update profile
Read Only - view dashboards and reports only

Step 5 - Run your first transaction

Let's create a sales invoice:

Go to Finance → Invoices → New Invoice
Select or create a customer
Add line items with quantity, unit price and tax rate
Set payment terms (Net 30, etc.)
Click Save as Draft or Send to Customer

When the customer pays, record the payment. Udala automatically posts the accounting entries - no manual journal needed.

⚡ Finance-first principle: Large transactions (above your configured threshold) require a Finance Manager to approve before posting to the GL. This is intentional - it keeps your books clean.

What's next?

Workspaces → Add a second company to your account Finance Module → Deep dive into accounting features