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Settings Module

Company & App Settings

The defaults every company needs — currency, fiscal year, number formats, which modules show up — plus install-wide options like login branding, self-registration, and licensing.

Two scopes Global and Company Access Company Admin or Super Admin by default License tab Super Admin only

Start here

1Before you start

Every setting here lives in one of two scopes, and the tab you’re on tells you which one you’re editing:

  • Global Settings — shared across the whole install, regardless of which company is active: app name, default currency/timezone/date & number formats, quick-create and notification toggles.
  • Company Settings — specific to whichever company you currently have selected: dashboard period, reporting basis, base locale, and which modules are enabled.

Login Page, self-registration, and the “hide” options live under the Global scope by default but can also be overridden per company (see Brand the login page). License is Global too, and only visible to a Super Admin.

Set up your company

2Set your company basics

On Company Settings:

FieldNotes
Dashboard PeriodThe default date range the Dashboard opens to for this company.
Reporting BasisAccrual or Cash. Cash-basis hides Receivables/Payables from the sidebar — see what this doesn’t do for what it doesn’t affect.
Base LocaleUsed for locale-aware formatting elsewhere in the app.

Click Save Company Settings.

3Choose which modules are visible

Further down the same Company Settings tab is a checklist of every toggleable module — check the ones this company should see in its sidebar. Dashboard, Companies, Users & Roles, and Settings itself aren’t on this list; they’re always on.

This only controls sidebar visibility for this one company — it doesn’t delete any data already recorded in a module you turn off, and turning it back on later brings everything right back.

4Brand the login page

On the Login Page tab, switch between the Global (site-wide default) sub-tab and a per-company one. A visitor who types an email tied to a company with its own branding enabled sees that company’s version, resolved before they even enter a password; everyone else sees the global default.

Turn on Use this custom branding, then set a logo, an optional background image, background/accent colors, and a welcome heading and subtext. Off by default — the standard login screen stays untouched until you opt in.

Common tasks

Setting up real email delivery

By default, every email this app sends — feedback notifications, task reminders, invoice and purchase order emails — goes out through the server’s own bare mail function, which many hosts throttle, block, or dump straight into spam. Connecting a real SMTP account fixes that. This is a Global setting (one connection for the whole install, not per company), on the Email tab.

FieldNotes
Use custom SMTPOff by default. Nothing below matters until this is on — leave it off and the app keeps using the server’s own mail function exactly as before.
SMTP HostThe provider’s outgoing mail server address — see the table below for the common ones.
PortDefaults to 587. Pair with the matching Encryption below.
EncryptionNone, SSL, or TLS. TLS on port 587 is the modern default nearly every provider expects; SSL usually pairs with port 465 instead.
UsernameAlmost always your full email address.
PasswordStored encrypted — never shown again once saved, only whether one is on file. Leave blank on a later save to keep the current one unchanged. See the warning below before typing your real account password here.
From Email / From NameWhat recipients see as the sender. Some providers (Gmail included) reject or silently rewrite a From address that doesn’t match the account you authenticated as.
Your real password usually won’t work

Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook/Microsoft 365 have all dropped plain-password SMTP access — if 2-Step Verification is on for the account (and for Gmail specifically, it effectively has to be), you need a generated App Password here instead of your everyday login password. Each provider’s own account security settings is where you generate one.

Setting up Gmail specifically

  1. Turn on 2-Step Verification

    At myaccount.google.com/security, if it isn’t on already. App Passwords aren’t available without it.

  2. Generate an App Password

    At myaccount.google.com/apppasswords, create one (name it something like “FinAccounting” so you recognize it later). Google shows a 16-character code — copy it now, it won’t be shown again.

  3. Fill in the Email tab

    Host smtp.gmail.com, Port 587, Encryption TLS, Username your full @gmail.com address, Password the 16-character App Password (not your Google account password), From Email the same Gmail address you authenticated as.

  4. Save, then Send Test Email

    Sends to your own address by default. A delivered test confirms the credentials are actually working before anything real depends on them.

Other providers

ProviderHostPort / EncryptionUsername
Gmail / Google Workspacesmtp.gmail.com587 · TLSFull Gmail address + App Password
Outlook / Microsoft 365smtp.office365.com587 · TLSFull email address + account password, or an App Password if MFA is on
Yahoo Mailsmtp.mail.yahoo.com587 · TLS (or 465 · SSL)Full Yahoo address + App Password
Your own domain / hosting providerWhatever your host’s mail docs list — often mail.yourdomain.comWhatever your host specifiesUsually your full mailbox address
A transactional service (SendGrid, Mailgun, Amazon SES, etc.)Provider-specific, e.g. smtp.sendgrid.net587 · TLS (typical)Often a fixed value like apikey, with the real API key as the password — check that provider’s SMTP docs

Whichever you pick, finish with Send Test Email before relying on it — a wrong port or encryption pairing is the most common reason a save “succeeds” but mail still doesn’t go out.

Common tasks

Switching accounting mode or business type

Accounting Mode (Double-Entry vs. Simple) and Business Type (Store vs. Service) aren’t fields on this page — they’re set from the company’s own record in Companies. Changing either one there runs through this module’s settings logic automatically, which is worth knowing about:

  • Switching to Simple hides Accounting and Accounts from the sidebar (and reconciles the Chart of Accounts itself); switching back to Double-Entry restores them.
  • Switching to Service hides Products and Inventory; switching back to Store restores them.

Both changes are non-destructive — nothing already recorded is ever deleted, only the sidebar visibility changes.

Letting people sign themselves up

On the Login Page → Global sub-tab, turn on Allow people to create their own account and set an Access Code. Anyone using the “Create an account” link on the login page has to enter that code exactly. A self-registered account starts with no company — they’re prompted to create their own and become its admin. The code is stored and shown in plain text deliberately, since you need to be able to copy and hand it out.

Activating your license

On the License tab (Super Admin only), enter your License Key (and, if self-hosting the license server, its URL and item ID), then Save & Activate. Check Now re-verifies against the license server on demand; Deactivate releases this install’s activation. During a trial, the remaining days are shown here; once it lapses, a valid license is required for anyone to use the app.

Reference

Global vs. Company settings

The Overview & Saved Values tab lists every currently-saved setting, its scope (Global or Company), and its live value — useful for confirming what’s actually taking effect without hunting across tabs.

What this module doesn’t do

Reporting Basis only hides a sidebar entry

Switching a company to Cash basis removes Receivables/Payables from its sidebar, but it doesn’t touch REST access or convert any data already recorded under an accrual view.

Hiding the login page has no built-in undo

Once “Hide the login page behind a custom URL” is on, the standard address stops working for anyone not already signed in — only the custom URL you set still works. Bookmark it; turning this back off without it requires direct server/database access.

No per-field change history

Settings saves are logged as a single “settings updated” entry in System Logs listing which keys changed — not the specific before/after values for each one.

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