Welcome to Dubsado! We’re so glad to have you here. This guide will walk you through the essentials of setting up your account and give you a strong foundation to explore what’s possible. Thank you for trusting us with your business. Our team is here to support you every step of the way!
Step 1: Set Up The Essentials
1. General Settings:
Head to your general account settings menu by clicking on the gear icon on the top-right corner of your screen.
From this settings area, you'll set up your brand settings and email connection.
Branding
Add your logo, enter your company contact information and select your brand color.
Your brand color helps give your Dubsado emails and forms a polished, professional look. When you send deliverables like contracts or invoices, it appears as a branded button in the email. This way, it's clear, clickable, and more engaging than a plain link or attachment.
Connect your email account so that all emails you send will be delivered from your own email address.
2. Calendar Settings:
From the left-side main menu, click the Calendar tab, then head to Calendar Settings on the top-right corner to connect your external business calendar.
Here you can set your calendar preferences. We recommend turning on Import so you can see all the events that were already on your main business calendar outside of Dubsado. This way, anything you've scheduled elsewhere shows up alongside events you create in Dubsado. Everything can be seen in one place.
Similarly, turn on Export lets events created in Dubsado appear on your main business calendar (like Google or Outlook).
Step 2: Learn how "Projects" Work
What is a project?
A project is a digital file folder that stores everything related to an inquiry - including emails, forms, contracts and more. Each project is linked to a client, which means you can create multiple projects for the same client over time, keeping each inquiry organized separately.
Imagine you're a photographer hired for an engagement photoshoot. In this case, the clients are the bride and groom, and the project is the engagement session itself. Later, if the same couple books you for their wedding, you would create a new project for the wedding day photoshoot, and you would tie it to the same clients.
Projects Page
Click on the Projects tab from the let-side menu.
Your projects page is the command center for everything you're working on in Dubsado. It gives you a clear view of all active projects and shows exactly where each one is in your client journey.
Projects are grouped into three main categories:
Leads: Projects that are still in the onboarding phase. They've expressed interest in your business and have made the first point of contact, but they have not converted just yet.
Jobs: Projects that have progressed beyond onboarding. This could mean they have paid a deposit, signed a contract, or both.
Archived: Projects that are completed or no longer active.
Custom Project Statuses
You can customize your project statuses by clicking the Customize button on the top-right corner of the Projects Page and selecting Add Status.
Before you start, map out the milestones or stages of progress you'd like to track, from initial inquiry onward. When creating custom statuses, you'll designate each as either a Lead Status or a Job Status:
Lead Statuses track progress while a prospect is moving through your onboarding process
Examples: intake form completed, call booked, contract sent
Job Statuses track progress once a prospect has become a client
Examples: contract signed, deposit paid, paid in full
Step 3: Complete Your Setup
Now that you’ve set up the basics of your account, you can focus on what’s most important for your business. There’s so much you can accomplish with Dubsado, but below are some of the most popular next steps business owners love to dive into. Keep this page bookmarked and come back anytime you’re ready to take on the next piece. We know it takes time to make the most of your account, but once your core tools are in place, you’ll feel confident and ready to grow!
Before you finish your setup..want to see a sneak peek of what's possible after your account is set up? Expand this section to to test drive on of our most popular features: ✨Proposals✨
Before you finish your setup..want to see a sneak peek of what's possible after your account is set up? Expand this section to to test drive on of our most popular features: ✨Proposals✨
This exercise gives you the opportunity to test sending a form within a project and see what the client sees. While completing this exercise, you’ll learn how to attach a contract and invoice to a proposal. The end result? A perfectly streamlined way to allow eager prospects to convert with ease.
Go to Templates ➔ Forms and open the Sample Package Selection Proposal.
Click the gear icon on the left menu (hover to see Form Settings) and toggle on “Include Contract” and “Include Invoice”. Then click Save Form.
Head back to your Projects page and open the Sample Project.
Click the pencil icon next to Client and update the email to a different address you can access (not the email connected to your Dubsado account)
Inside the project, click on the Forms tab, select Sample Package Selection Proposal from the Add New Form dropdown, then click Add and Send.
When the email draft window opens, send it to yourself! To view the form as your client would, right-click the form button and open it in a private/incognito browser window. This ensures you see the genuine client experience without being logged into Dubsado.
Here’s where it all comes together: Select a package and click Submit and Next on the bottom. You’ll be prompted to sign the contract, followed by a sample invoice generated from your selection.
In one smooth flow, your client’s can choose the services they’d like to purchase, sign the contract, and pay the deposit. No extra back-and-forth!
closing sentence and support options details
Still need assistance? Our team is here to help! Email us at hello@dubsado.com or use the chat bubble on the bottom-right corner of your screen.