> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://beebole.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Quickstart: set up your time tracking account
> Set up Beebole in six steps — create your account, add your first project and team, track time, run a report, and adjust key settings.
Beebole gives teams a clear picture of where time goes: people log hours against projects, and reports do the rest. This quickstart takes you from a brand-new account to your first report in six steps. You'll be up and running in under 20 minutes.
## Step 1: Create your account
Go to [app.beebole.com/signup](http://app.beebole.com/signup), and fill in your name, work email, and company name — or sign up with Google or Microsoft. Beebole is passwordless: instead of setting a password, you'll confirm your email with a one-time code each time you sign in. A short welcome questionnaire follows, then you're in.
Your 30-day free trial includes every Beebole feature, with no seat limit and no credit card required.
***
## Step 2: Create your first project
Projects are what your team logs time against. Projects live inside categories — your new Beebole account already includes three: **Clients**, **Internal**, and **Activities** — and each category comes with some sample projects so you can see the structure in action.
Click **Projects** in the sidebar.
Use the category selector next to the **Projects** title to choose where the project belongs. For example, **Clients** for client work or **Internal** for everything else. The existing categories can be modified or deleted. A new category can be added by entering the name in the field at the bottom of the selector menu and clicking **Add**.
Once you have chosen a category, click the **+ Add** button at the top of the page. Its label names the open category, for example, **Add Clients**.
Type the project name in the field that appears and click the **Save new** button. The project is immediately available for time tracking.
Start small — one or two real projects are enough to see how your team tracks time. Projects can hold subprojects at any depth, so you can refine the structure later. Learn more on the [Projects](/help/documentation/projects) page.
Need to add several projects at once? Beebole supports bulk entry across projects, people, tasks, and more: open the add panel, look for the **Or add multiple entries** area, copy rows from a spreadsheet, and click **Paste**. Beebole reads each row and lets you confirm before saving.
***
## Step 3: Invite your team
Each team member gets their own profile and logs their own hours. Your account comes with three ready-made roles — **Admin**, **Employee**, and **Manager** — that control what each person can see and do in Beebole.
Click **People** in the sidebar.
Click the **+ Add Person** button at the top of the screen, then enter the person's **Name**, **Email**, and **Role**. **Employee** is the right starting point for most team members.
Click **Add Person**. The profile now exists in your account. You may want to configure a person's settings before inviting them to the platform.
Open the person's profile and click the **Invite by email** button. Beebole emails them a secure link, and the profile shows **Invitation pending** until they join.
Adding a large team? In the same add panel, use the **Or add multiple entries** area: copy rows from a spreadsheet — one person per line, with the name, then a tab, then the email — click **Paste**, review the list, and click **Add them all**.
Adding a person and inviting them are two separate actions in Beebole. A profile exists as soon as you add it, but the person can't sign in until you send the invitation.
***
## Step 4: Track your first hours
This is where Beebole delivers its core value. Logging a first entry confirms your setup works and gives you data to report on.
Click **Timesheet** in the sidebar. Your account already has some example hours logged, so you can see what a filled timesheet looks like. These time entries can be modified or deleted.
Click the **+** button (**Add a row**) in the top row of the project category section you want to add time for. Then, choose a project from the **Select a project** menu. By default, new accounts are configured to track time first on a Client, then an Activity.
Type the time you worked in the cell for the relevant day — or click the timer button on the row (**Start timer**) to record time as you work. Beebole saves each entry automatically.
Hover over a time entry and click ⓘ to add more information, such as start and end times, comments, custom fields, work from home, or mark hours as non-billable.
***
## Step 5: Run your first report
With a project and at least one time entry in place, you can turn raw hours into insights. The first time you open the Reports section, Beebole shows sample folders with a few ready-made reports inside.
Click **Reports** in the sidebar. Your report folders appear on the left.
Click through to discover default reports like **Hours by person** or **Margin by Client per Month.** Beebole runs the report and displays the results.
Click to view the report as a **Table**, **Chart**, or **Matrix**. Each format can be modified to fit your needs. Open the report's **⋯** action menu to change the date range with **Period**, download the results with **Export**, or **Filter**.
***
## Step 6: Adjust the basics
Beebole's account-wide configuration lives in the Settings area, opened from the button with your initials at the bottom of the sidebar. The defaults work out of the box, but these menu items are worth a first look:
| Menu item | What you configure |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Admin Settings** | Company details and account-wide defaults, including **Show or hide by default** — checkboxes that turn individual features on or off for all users. |
| **Person Roles** | What each role can see and manage. Adjust the built-in roles or add your own. |
| **Work Schedules** | Expected working hours per day, used to flag incomplete timesheets. |
| **Time Off** | The leave types your team can book — new accounts include **PTO**, **Sick**, and **Seminar**. |
| **Subscription** | Your plan, seats, and billing details once the trial ends. |
| **Integrations** | Connections between Beebole and your other tools. |
***
## Before you continue: a note on tags
Before you start assigning settings across your projects, people, and tasks, it's worth taking a moment to plan your tags.
Tags are Beebole's cross-cutting labels. Unlike projects or people, which live in their own sections, tags let you group and compare *across* entities in any way that matters to your business. Once applied, they become filters and dimensions in every report.
Your account starts with two default tag types — **Department** and **Location** — but you can create your own under **Settings** > **Tags**.
A few minutes spent deciding which tag types reflect how your business actually measures work will pay off every time you open a report or apply new settings.
See [Tags](/help/documentation/tags) for the full reference.
***
## What's next?
You've completed the essential setup. Here's where to go depending on what matters most for your team:
| Goal | Where to go |
| ----------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| Track project budgets and spending | [Budgets](/help/documentation/budgets) |
| Set up timesheet approval workflows | [Approval](/help/documentation/approval) |
| Plan and assign future tasks | [Planning](/help/documentation/planning) |
| Manage time off and leave | [Time Off](/help/documentation/timeoff) |
| Track labor costs and billing rates | [Costs](/help/documentation/costs) |
| Connect Beebole to your other tools | [Integrations](/help/integrations/introduction) |
| Explore the mobile app | [Mobile](/help/documentation/mobile) |
***
## Related content
Understand Beebole's core building blocks and how they relate to each other.
Entering time, duration modes, the timer, and timesheet options in depth.
Adding team members, sending invitations, and configuring profiles.
The project hierarchy, project settings, and rates per project.
## Frequently asked questions
Yes. Click **People** in the sidebar, click the **+** button (**Add person**), and use the **Or add multiple entries** area of the panel. Copy rows from a spreadsheet — one person per line, with the name, then a tab, then the email — click **Paste**, and confirm with **Add them all**. Beebole creates all the profiles in one pass.
A category is the top-level grouping on Beebole's Projects page — new accounts start with **Clients**, **Internal**, and **Activities**. Projects sit inside a category and represent the work being tracked, and each project can hold subprojects at any depth. Use whichever depth makes sense for your team.
Not with the default roles. In a new Beebole account, the **Employee** role sees only the person's own time entries, the **Manager** role also sees entries for their people and projects, and the **Admin** role sees the whole account. You can adjust or extend these roles under **Settings** > **Person Roles**.
No. Tags are optional in Beebole — your team can log time against projects right away. Tags group people, projects, and tasks across dimensions like department or location, and you can add them whenever your reports need that extra breakdown.
No. Beebole's 30-day free trial includes every feature with no seat limit, so you can add as many projects and people as you need to evaluate it properly. Contact [support@beebole.com](mailto:support@beebole.com) if you have any questions about the trial.