Quick Start Guide

Get your ClientFlow account fully configured and ready to manage clients in just 15 minutes. This guide walks you through account creation, essential settings, and adding your first clients.

Introduction

Welcome to ClientFlow! This guide is designed for service professionals who want to hit the ground running. We'll get you from signup to managing your first client in 15 minutes or less.

What you'll accomplish:

• ✅ Create and verify your account
• ✅ Configure business settings
• ✅ Add your first client
• ✅ Record a payment
• ✅ Schedule an appointment
• ✅ Send your first reminder

Pro Tip: Want to look around before committing? Book a walkthrough — the free plan also needs no card.

Step 1: Create Your Account (2 minutes)

Sign Up

1. Go to https://clientflow.center
2. Click "Get Started Free"
3. Enter your information:

- Your name: Your full name

- Work email: Your business email

- Password: At least 8 characters, with uppercase and lowercase letters, a number and a special character

1. Accept the terms and click "Get started free"

After signing up, a welcome screen asks for your profession so ClientFlow can tailor templates and fields to it. You can skip it and come back later.

Verify Email

1. Check your email inbox
2. Open the "Verify Your Email - ClientFlow" message
3. Click the verification link
4. You'll be redirected to the dashboard

Troubleshooting: No email? Check spam folder or click "Resend verification email" on the dashboard.

Pro Tip: Use a business email (e.g., you@yourbusiness.com) rather than personal email for professional credibility.

Step 2: Configure Business Settings (3 minutes)

Account Basics

1. Open Settings from the sidebar
2. Go to Account
3. Check your Name and Email (use the Change buttons next to your email and password to update them)
4. Open Branding to choose your brand colors, which are used in invoices, emails and other documents. Uploading your own logo is a Team plan feature.

Currency & Timezone

1. Still in Settings → Account, click "Edit Profile"
2. Set:

- Currency: Your local currency (TRY, USD, EUR, etc.)

- Language: Interface language (20 languages available)

- Timezone: Your local timezone (for accurate appointment scheduling)

1. Click "Save Changes"

Date, time and number formats are under Settings → Appearance.

Good to know: Changing your default currency later only affects clients you add afterwards; existing clients keep their own currency. It is still easiest to choose it correctly now.

Payment Instructions

ClientFlow does not collect payments for you; it records what your clients pay you. To tell clients how to pay:

1. Go to Settings → Invoicing
2. Enter your payment instructions as plain text: bank name, IBAN or account number, account holder, and a reference to quote
3. Save

These instructions appear on unpaid invoices in the client portal and on the invoice links you share. When you record a payment later, you choose how it was received (cash, bank transfer, credit card and so on) — ClientFlow records the payment, it does not process the card.

Step 3: Customize Your Dashboard (2 minutes)

Dashboard Widgets

1. Go to Settings → Appearance
2. Scroll to Dashboard Settings
3. Choose a Default View (Overview, Analytics or Minimal)
4. Under Visible Widgets, show or hide:

- Today's Schedule - Upcoming sessions

- Needs Attention - Items waiting for your action

- Daily Stats - The day's key numbers

- Tasks Overview, Quick Insights, Quick Actions, Monthly Expenses, Inventory Overview and Smart Insights - turn on the ones you use

1. Drag widgets to reorder them

Use Reset to Default at any time to restore the standard layout.

Pro Tip: Keep the dashboard minimal at first. You can always add more widgets as you learn which metrics matter most to your business.

Step 4: Add Your First Client (3 minutes)

Create Client Profile

1. Click "Clients" in the left sidebar
2. Click the blue "Add Client" button
3. Fill in client information:

- Name: First and last name (required)

- Email: Client's email address (needed for email reminders)

- Phone: Mobile number with country code

- Birthdate: Optional

- Notes: Special considerations (injuries, preferences, goals)

- Tags: Add tags like new-client, vip, or service type

1. Click "Save Client"

The client is now in your system!

Quick Client Import (Optional)

If you have existing clients in a spreadsheet (importing is available on Starter and above):

1. Go to Clients → Import
2. Download the template
3. Fill in your client data (name, email, phone)
4. Upload the completed file (CSV or Excel)
5. Check the preview, which flags invalid rows and duplicates
6. Click "Start Import"

Pro Tip: Start by adding 3-5 active clients manually to learn the interface, then bulk import the rest.

Step 5: Record Your First Payment (2 minutes)

Add a Payment

1. Go to Payments in the sidebar
2. Click "Add Payment"
3. Fill in payment details:

- Client: Select from dropdown

- Amount: Payment amount (numbers only, no currency symbol)

- Payment Method: Cash, Bank Transfer, Credit Card, etc.

- Due Date: When the payment is due

- Mark as paid immediately: Tick this if the money is already received. A Payment Date field appears, and the button changes to "Create & Mark Paid"

- Description: What the payment is for (e.g., "March 2024 Training Sessions")

1. Click "Create Payment"

Mark Payment as Paid

If the payment is already received:

1. Find the payment in the list
2. Click the checkmark icon
3. Confirm the received date
4. Done!

ClientFlow records the payment; no email is sent to the client for this step.

Pro Tip: For clients who pay every month, you can set up recurring payment details (amount and payment day) in the client's Payment Settings instead of adding each payment by hand.

Step 6: Schedule an Appointment (2 minutes)

Create First Appointment

1. Go to Appointments in the sidebar
2. Click "New Appointment"
3. Fill in appointment details:

- Client: Select client

- Date: Appointment date

- Time: Start time

- Duration: Length (30 min, 1 hour, 2 hours, custom)

- Title: Session type (e.g., "Personal Training Session", "Nutrition Consultation")

- Location: Where it takes place (your studio address, "Online via Zoom", "Client's Home")

- Notes: Preparation notes or special instructions

1. Click "Save"

The appointment appears on your calendar!

Sync with Google Calendar (Optional)

Calendar sync is available on Starter and above (it is not part of the free trial). To see ClientFlow appointments in Google Calendar:

1. Go to Settings → Integrations
2. In the Google section, click "Connect Google Account" and sign in with Google
3. Select the calendar to sync and click "Connect Calendar"
4. Under Sync Settings, choose the sync direction:

- Two-way Sync: ClientFlow ↔ Google Calendar

- App → Calendar: ClientFlow → Google Calendar only

- Calendar → App: Google Calendar → ClientFlow only

Appointments you create in ClientFlow are queued for Google Calendar right away. Changes made in Google Calendar reach ClientFlow through a background sync that runs every 15 minutes, not in real time; click "Sync Now" to pull them in immediately.

Pro Tip: With two-way sync, events you add in Google Calendar are imported into ClientFlow as appointments, so those times count as taken.

Step 7: Set Up Appointment Reminders (3 minutes)

Set a Reminder on an Appointment

ClientFlow sends one reminder per appointment, and you choose its timing and channel on the appointment itself.

1. Open an appointment (or create one under Appointments)
2. Tick Reminder and choose how long before the appointment it is sent: 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes, 1 hour or 1 day
3. Choose the delivery channel:

- Auto: WhatsApp when it is available, otherwise email

- WhatsApp Only: Sent automatically through your own connected WhatsApp Business account (PRO and above)

- Email Only: Professional and detailed

- WhatsApp + Email: Both channels (WhatsApp requires PRO and above)

1. On PRO and above, when the channel includes WhatsApp, you can pick one of your approved WhatsApp reminder templates (see the WhatsApp integration guide). Email-only reminders have no template choice
2. Save the appointment

The reminder is sent automatically at the time you chose.

Send a Payment Reminder

Reminders for unpaid payments are sent from the Reminders page:

1. Go to Reminders
2. Click "Send Reminders" and select the unpaid payments
3. Choose the delivery channel: email is sent automatically; WhatsApp is sent automatically if your own WhatsApp Business account is connected (PRO and above), otherwise ClientFlow prepares a link for you to tap and send yourself
4. Preview the message and send

You will find the result in Reminder History.

Pro Tip: A reminder one day ahead gives clients time to reschedule if needed.

Quick Wins: What to Do Next

Now that your account is set up, maximize your first week with these actions:

Day 1-2: Build Your Client Base

• [ ] Import existing clients (or add top 10 manually)
• [ ] Add tags to clients so you can filter them later
• [ ] Tag clients by service type, location, or status
• [ ] Record all outstanding payments

Day 3-4: Set Up Scheduling

• [ ] Block recurring appointments for regular clients
• [ ] Set your working hours (Settings → Availability)
• [ ] Configure buffer time between appointments (Settings → Appointment Types)
• [ ] Turn on your public booking page so clients can self-schedule (Settings → Booking Page)

Day 5-7: Optimize Workflow

• [ ] Create intake form for new clients (see "Creating Your First Intake Form" tutorial)
• [ ] Set up payment reminders (Reminders)
• [ ] Customize message templates (Message Templates, in the sidebar)
• [ ] Add ClientFlow to your phone's home screen, or install the iOS app from the App Store, for on-the-go access (see “Mobile Setup” below)

Pro Tip: Focus on getting one workflow perfect (e.g., appointment reminders) before tackling the next. Master one thing at a time!

Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

Speed up your workflow with these shortcuts (press ? anywhere in the dashboard to see the shortcuts list). The last four rows work only on the screens named in the table:

Action	Shortcut
Search and jump anywhere (command palette)	Cmd/Ctrl + K
Go to Today	g then d
Go to Dashboard	g then h
Go to Clients	g then c
Go to Appointments	g then a
Go to Tasks	g then t
Go to Notes	g then n
Go to Payments	g then p
Go to Invoices	g then i
Capture a task	Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + N
Open notifications	Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + B
Focus search (Tasks page and WhatsApp inbox)	/
Move through a list (Tasks page, WhatsApp inbox, Send Queue)	j / k, Enter
Edit the selected task (Tasks page)	e
Submit a form (invoice form and notes)	Cmd/Ctrl + Enter

Mobile Setup

Manage clients on the go. ClientFlow runs in your phone's browser and installs to the home screen, and there is a native iOS app on the App Store. There is no Android app: it is not yet published and there is no Google Play listing, so on Android you install the web app from your browser.

Install & Sign In

1. iOS (native app): open the App Store listing directly (it is listed as ClientFlow — Business OS; other, unrelated apps also use the ClientFlow name)
2. iOS (browser): open clientflow.center in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen
3. Android: open clientflow.center in Chrome, open the menu, then tap Install app
4. Open ClientFlow from your home screen
5. Sign in with your email and password
6. Allow notifications for appointment reminders

Mobile Quick Actions

• Add client after in-person meeting
• Record payment on the spot
• Upload a photo or document to the client’s files
• Add session notes immediately after sessions
• Check upcoming appointments

Pro Tip: Record the client, payment or note while you are still with them. There is no automatic upload — a record is only as good as the moment it was written.

Subscription Tiers Explained

ClientFlow has four tiers:

Tier	Clients	Storage	Key Features	Price
Free	10	100 MB	Basic features, 1 user	$0/month
Starter	Unlimited	5 GB	Basic analytics, calendar sync, CSV import/export, intake forms	$15/month
PRO	Unlimited	50 GB	Automated WhatsApp, advanced analytics, support tickets	$29/month
Team	Unlimited	200 GB + 5 GB/seat	Team seats, roles, activity log, webhooks	$59/month + $15/seat

You start on Free tier. Subscribe to a paid plan any time from Settings → Subscription.

When to upgrade:

• Starter: When you exceed 10 clients, or need basic analytics, calendar sync, CSV import/export or intake forms
• PRO: When you want automated WhatsApp reminders or advanced analytics
• Team: When you have staff or virtual assistants who need access

Pro Tip: The Free plan has no time limit, so you can learn the basics at your own pace and upgrade when you need more.

Common Beginner Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

1. ❌ Not Setting Timezone Correctly

Problem: Appointments appear at wrong times

Fix: Settings → Account → Set correct timezone BEFORE creating appointments

2. ❌ Using Personal Email for Account

Problem: Unprofessional communication with clients

Fix: Update your email in Settings → Account (it is also the default reply-to address on emails to clients)

3. ❌ Forgetting to Enable Reminders

Problem: Clients forget their appointments

Fix: Tick Reminder on the appointment and choose a lead time (for example 1 day before)

4. ❌ Not Adding Payment Due Dates

Problem: Don't know which payments are overdue

Fix: Always set due date when creating payment (even if it's "today")

5. ❌ Skipping Client Tags

Problem: Can't filter or segment clients later

Fix: Add at least one tag when creating client (service type, location, or status)

6. ❌ Not Testing Integrations

Problem: Calendar sync fails during important appointment

Fix: Create test appointment and verify it appears in Google Calendar

7. ❌ Overwhelming Dashboard

Problem: Too many widgets, can't focus

Fix: Start with just a few widgets: Today's Schedule, Needs Attention, Daily Stats

Pro Tip: Mistakes are learning opportunities. If something doesn't work as expected, check the relevant Settings page first, then see the Troubleshooting guide.

Getting Help

Help Guides

• Help guides: Step-by-step guides at clientflow.center/help
• FAQ: Common questions answered at clientflow.center/faq
• Documentation: The guides in this library, at clientflow.center/docs

Contact Support

• Email Support: contact@clientflow.center (all plans)
• Support tickets: PRO and above (a valid trial included) — open one from Support in the sidebar

Quick Troubleshooting

1. Feature not working? Check if it's included in your tier (Settings → Subscription)
2. Data not syncing? Force refresh (Cmd/Ctrl + R)
3. Integration failed? Disconnect and reconnect (Settings → Integrations)
4. Email not delivered? Check the spam folder. Emails to your clients leave from the mailbox you connected (Settings → Integrations), so ask the client to add that address to their contacts

Pro Tip: Include screenshots and the page you were on when you email contact@clientflow.center, so the problem can be traced faster.

Next Steps

You're now ready to manage your business with ClientFlow! Continue learning with these tutorials:

1. Your First Client in 5 Minutes - Detailed client management
2. Sending Your First Payment Reminder - Automate payment follow-ups
3. Appointment Scheduling Mastery - Advanced scheduling techniques
4. Creating Your First Intake Form - Collect client information professionally

Recommended path:

• Week 1: Master clients and payments (Tutorials #1-3)
• Week 2: Set up scheduling and reminders (Tutorials #4-6)
• Week 3: Implement intake forms and file management (Tutorials #7-8)
• Week 4: Optimize with tags and exports (Tutorials #9-10)

Welcome to ClientFlow - let's grow your business together!