How to Sign Up and Create a CrmLeaf Account
All editions. Core feature - no add-on required. The product edition your account receives is chosen during signup and determines the onboarding checklist, navigation and terminology you see afterwards.
Availability: All editions. Core feature - no add-on required. The product edition your account receives is chosen during signup and determines the onboarding checklist, navigation and terminology you see afterwards.
Overview
Signing up creates a Company in CrmLeaf. A Company is the account and subscription that everything else belongs to: users, records, settings and billing. The signup funnel you use also sets the account's product edition, so a solar installer and a payroll-led business start from different screens even though both run on the same platform.
This article covers the signup funnels, what CrmLeaf creates automatically for a new account, and the optional approval gate that can hold a new account before it becomes active.
How It Works
Signup is a short funnel: you provide an email address, complete your details, and the Company record is created. CrmLeaf then seeds a large default dataset for the new account and sends you to the onboarding checklist for your edition.
Choose edition → Enter email → Complete details → Create company → Default data seeded → Onboarding checklist
- Each edition has its own signup and login funnel. CrmLeaf ships dedicated entry points for the Payroll & HR, Solar CRM and Construction CRM editions, plus the default entry point used by the Worksuite edition and an industry picker that maps your selected industry to an edition.
- You can also sign up with a social account. Google and Microsoft signup are supported.
- When the Company record is created, CrmLeaf seeds currencies, the default roles and permissions, shifts, settings, task boards, pipelines, custom fields, dashboard widgets, a default organisation and the account's subscription and first invoice. Add-on modules then seed their own default rows.
- The new account is assigned the active trial package, which is 30 days by default, or the default package if no trial package is active.
- Some editions also seed vertical master data. Solar accounts receive three predefined pipelines, Construction accounts receive their master settings, and Manufacturing accounts receive sample warehouses, products, bills of materials and vendors.
- After signup you are redirected to the onboarding checklist that matches your edition. Payroll, Manufacturing, Solar and Construction each have their own checklist. Marketing-led accounts go straight to the dashboard.
- An optional approval gate can be enabled at platform level. When it is on, a new account must be approved before it can be used.
Who Can Use This Feature?
Administrator
- Sign up and create the Company. The person who signs up becomes the account's first Administrator.
- Choose the edition that matches the business.
- Complete the onboarding checklist and decide whether to load sample data.
This functionality is available only to Administrators. Other users do not sign up themselves - they are invited into an existing Company.
Prerequisites
- A business email address you can access, because the funnel starts with email capture.
- Your company name and basic company details.
- A decision on which edition you need: Worksuite, Payroll & HR, Solar CRM, Construction CRM or Manufacturing CRM.
For Administrators
Step 1: Open the signup funnel for your edition
What to do: Open the CrmLeaf signup page for the edition you want. The Payroll & HR, Solar CRM and Construction CRM editions have their own signup and login pages; the default page is used for the Worksuite edition. If you are not sure which edition applies, use the signup funnel with the industry picker and select your industry - CrmLeaf maps the industry to the matching edition.
What to verify: The page you are on names the edition or industry you expect before you continue.
Step 2: Enter your email address
What to do: Enter your work email address and Submit the first step of the funnel. Alternatively, sign up with Google or Microsoft to reuse an existing identity.
What to verify: The funnel advances to the details step.
Step 3: Complete your details
What to do: Complete every mandatory field on the details step, including your name and password if you are not using social signup. Do not skip mandatory fields - the Company cannot be created until they are complete.
What to verify: No validation messages remain on the form.
Step 4: Create the company
What to do: Enter the company name and the remaining company details, then Submit to create the Company. CrmLeaf seeds the account's default data at this point, so the step can take a few moments.
What to verify: You are signed in and redirected either to your edition's onboarding checklist or to the dashboard. Your default organisation exists and is named after your company.
Step 5: Work through the onboarding checklist
What to do: Complete the steps in the checklist for your edition. Each step deep-links to the screen it refers to, and your progress is saved, so you can leave and return. The checklists are:
| Edition | Onboarding steps |
|---|---|
| Payroll & HR (9 steps) | Profile, Designations, Departments, Add Employee, Attendance & Shift, Leave Settings, Salary Components, Employee Salary, Run Payroll |
| Solar CRM (9 steps) | Org Profile, Site/Roof Types, CRM/Leads/Clients, Solar Sites, Site Surveys, Solar Assessments, Estimates & BOQ, Projects, Tasks |
| Construction CRM (10 steps) | Analogous to Solar, with Construction Sites, Construction Assessments and Product & BOM |
| Manufacturing CRM (9 steps) | Org Profile, Units & Tax, CRM & Sales, Warehouse & Inventory, Product & BOM, Vendors, Production Planning, Task & Material Requisition, Procurement |
What to verify: Completed steps are marked as complete in the checklist.
Step 6: Decide about sample data
What to do: Onboarding offers sample data so the account starts populated and you can explore the screens with realistic records. Load it if you are evaluating CrmLeaf. Skip it if this account will go straight into production use.
What to verify: If you loaded sample data, demo records appear in the modules for your edition.
Expected Result
Your Company exists in CrmLeaf with its product edition set, a default organisation named after the company, the default roles and permissions in place, seeded currencies, pipelines, task boards and settings, and a trial subscription. You are signed in as the account's first Administrator and your edition's onboarding checklist is available.
Important Notes
- The edition is set on the Company at signup and drives the login screens, onboarding, navigation and vertical labels for the whole account. Choose it deliberately.
- Menu names and their position can differ between product editions and can be customised for your account, so your sidebar may not match these paths exactly. Use Search or your Quick Access items if you cannot find a screen.
- Many CrmLeaf capabilities are paid add-on modules that must be enabled for the account before the screen appears at all. Confirm which modules are included in your plan before you plan a rollout.
- If the platform has the approval gate enabled, your account is created but held until it is approved. Contact the provider if you cannot sign in after completing signup.
- Do not create a second Company for a branch or brand. Use an additional Organization inside the same Company instead.
Common Scenarios
Example: a solar installer signs up. The Administrator uses the Solar CRM signup funnel. After the Company is created, the account is redirected to the Solar onboarding checklist and already contains three predefined pipelines, so the team can start recording leads and solar sites without configuring pipelines first.
Example: a manufacturer wants to explore first. The Administrator signs up, accepts sample data, and finds sample warehouses, products, bills of materials and vendors already present. The team walks the procurement chain end to end on demo records before entering real data.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Possible Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| You complete signup but cannot sign in | The optional approval gate is enabled and the account has not been approved yet | Wait for approval, or contact the provider of your CrmLeaf instance. |
| The signup form will not submit | A mandatory field is incomplete | Complete every mandatory field and submit again. |
| The onboarding checklist does not match this article | The account was created on a different edition than intended | Check the edition on the account. The checklist follows the edition set at signup. |
| A module named in the checklist is missing | The module is a paid add-on and is not enabled for the account | Ask an Administrator to enable the module, or confirm it is included in your plan. |
| Sample data was not created | Sample data was not accepted during onboarding | Sample data is offered during onboarding. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change the product edition after signup?
The edition is set on the Company at signup and controls navigation, onboarding and terminology across the account.
How long is the trial?
A new account is assigned the active trial package, which is 30 days by default. Your provider may configure a different trial package.
Can I sign up with the same email address twice?
The same email address can be a user in several Companies. When a user belongs to more than one Company, a workspace picker appears after sign-in.
Do I need to invite my team during signup?
No. Signup only creates the Company and your own Administrator account. Invite users afterwards.
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