# Getting started

This page takes you from your first sign-in to your first document. Allow about twenty minutes to set up a company and enter enough to invoice.

## Signing in

1. open **[erp.simafri.com](https://erp.simafri.com/)**;
2. enter your **email address** and the **password** given to you when your access was opened;
3. if your account carries several companies, choose the one you are working on.

The company selector sits at the top of the left-hand menu, under the product name. It shows the current company, its jurisdiction and the currency its books are kept in; every page that follows speaks about that company.

## Finding your way around the menu

The left-hand menu stays open at all times and gathers every destination, grouped by activity:

| Group                           | What you find there                                                                                     |
| ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Tableau de bord** (Dashboard) | the state of the company on one screen                                                                  |
| **Ventes** (Sales)              | Documents (Devis, Factures, Avoirs: quotations, invoices, credit notes), Clients (customers), Catalogue |
| **Encaissement** (Collection)   | Règlements (payments), Relances (reminders), Moyens de paiement (payment methods)                       |
| **Achats** (Purchases)          | Factures reçues (received invoices), Règlements payés (outgoing payments), Fournisseurs (suppliers)     |
| **La société** (The company)    | Réglages (settings), Changer de société (switch company)                                                |

**Moyens de paiement** and **Réglages** appear for the Owner rank, which administers the account. See [Your account and your companies](/en/erp/votre-compte.md).

## Setting up your company before the first invoice

What you enter here is printed on your documents, and each company on an account has its own settings. Open **La société, Réglages** (The company, Settings) and fill in:

* **Langue des documents** (document language): the language your quotations and invoices are printed in;
* **Gabarit de document** (document template): the layout of your pieces;
* **Délai de paiement par défaut (jours)** (default payment terms, in days): it calculates the due date of your invoices;
* **Logo**: your logo, as it appears at the top of your documents;
* **Adresse**, **N° TVA**, **N° d'immatriculation**, **Identifiant fiscal** (address, VAT number, registration number, tax identifier): your legal identity as the issuer;
* **Mentions légales imprimées au pied** (legal mentions printed in the footer): the text at the bottom of each document.

These details are **copied onto each document when it is issued**. An invoice already issued therefore keeps the address and the mentions of the day it went out, even if you change them later.

## Creating a customer

Open **Ventes, Clients** (Sales, Customers), then **Nouveau client** (New customer). The fields that serve you day to day:

* **Référence** and **Nom** (reference and name): your internal marker and the printed legal name;
* **Nature**: Client (customer) or Fournisseur (supplier);
* **Adresse électronique**, **Téléphone**, **Adresse**, **Pays** (email, phone, address, country);
* **N° TVA** and **N° d'immatriculation**, printed on your documents;
* **Devise habituelle (3 lettres)** (usual currency, 3 letters): the currency offered on their documents;
* **Délai de paiement (jours)** (payment terms, in days): it takes precedence over the company's terms for this customer.

A party created with the nature **Fournisseur** appears under **Achats, Fournisseurs**: the record is the same on both sides.

## Creating your catalogue

Open **Ventes, Catalogue**, then **Nouvel article** (New item):

* **Référence**, **Libellé**, **Description** (reference, label, description);
* **Nature**: Produit (product) or Service;
* **Unité** (unit): unit, hour, day, whatever you invoice;
* **TVA par défaut (%)** (default VAT rate): carried onto every line that calls this item;
* a **unit price excluding tax per currency**: add as many prices as the currencies you sell in.

The catalogue saves time when entering documents: a line calls an item and picks up its description, its unit, its price and its VAT, which you remain free to adjust line by line.

## Issuing your first document

You have a company set up, a customer and a catalogue: the rest happens in [Quotations, invoices and credit notes](/en/erp/ventes.md).