Company Setup
Walk through the Caydem setup wizard — company details, chart of accounts, fiscal year, team invitations, and final review.
A company in Caydem represents a single legal entity with its own books, its own fiscal calendar, and its own chart of accounts. The setup wizard walks you through everything required to make a company ready for activity.
The wizard launches automatically when you connect Caydem to a database that has no company in it yet. If you manage more than one entity, run the wizard once per company.
The five steps
[1 Company] → [2 Chart of Accounts] → [3 Fiscal Year] → [4 Team] → [5 Review]
A progress bar at the top tracks where you are. You can move backward with the Back button on any step. Caydem saves your progress automatically on each “Next” click, so closing the app mid-wizard and reopening it picks up where you left off.
Step 1 — Company Information
This step captures both how the company appears in the app and its formal legal identity for tax reporting.
Company Name
The name your company operates under, shown throughout the app and on all reports. Required.
Base Currency
The currency all financial statements and reports are expressed in. Defaults to US Dollar (USD). Available options:
| Code | Currency |
|---|---|
| USD | US Dollar |
| CAD | Canadian Dollar |
| EUR | Euro |
| GBP | British Pound |
| AUD | Australian Dollar |
| MXN | Mexican Peso |
The base currency cannot be changed after setup. Choose carefully — every amount in the general ledger posts against it.
Country
The country where this company is registered. Determines default tax rules and address formats. Defaults to United States.
Entity Type
The legal structure of the company. Required.
| Option | When to choose |
|---|---|
| Sole Proprietorship | Individual operating as a business, no separate entity |
| LLC | Limited liability company |
| Limited Partnership (LP) | LP with general and limited partners |
| S Corporation | Pass-through corporation (IRS election) |
| C Corporation | Standard corporation, taxed separately |
| Nonprofit | Tax-exempt organization (501(c) or similar) |
| Other | Any structure not listed above |
Tax Classification
How the entity is classified for federal income tax. Available options depend on the Entity Type selected:
| Entity Type | Tax Classification options |
|---|---|
| Sole Proprietorship | Schedule C (sole proprietor) |
| LLC | Disregarded entity (single-member); Partnership (multi-member); S Corporation; C Corporation |
| Limited Partnership | Partnership |
| S Corporation | S Corporation |
| C Corporation | C Corporation |
| Nonprofit | Form 990 (tax-exempt) |
| Other | Other |
When an entity type has only one valid classification (like S Corporation), that option is selected automatically.
Industry
Your primary industry. This selection determines which chart of accounts template is applied in Step 2.
| Option | Notes |
|---|---|
| Standard / General | GAAP-aligned general ledger for most businesses |
| Other | Standard accounts; customize the chart after setup |
| Other | Standard accounts; customize the chart after setup |
Tax ID Type and Tax ID
The taxpayer identification number for this entity. Both fields are optional.
| Tax ID Type | Format | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| EIN | XX-XXXXXXX | Standard for most businesses |
| SSN | XXX-XX-XXXX | Sole proprietors filing under their personal number |
| ITIN | XXX-XX-XXXX | Individuals without a Social Security Number |
| Other | No mask applied | Foreign entities or other special cases |
The Tax ID field applies automatic formatting and validation as you type. ITINs must begin with 9.
Step 2 — Chart of Accounts Template
Choose a starting chart of accounts. You can add, rename, and archive accounts at any time after setup — the template is a starting point, not a commitment.
Standard
A GAAP-aligned general ledger with approximately 60 accounts covering:
- Assets — Cash, Accounts Receivable, prepaid expenses, property and equipment, depreciation
- Liabilities — Accounts Payable, accrued liabilities, deferred revenue, notes payable
- Equity — Common stock, retained earnings, owner draws
- Revenue — Service revenue, product sales, interest income
- Cost of Goods Sold — Direct materials, labor, subcontractors
- Operating Expenses — Salaries, rent, insurance, professional fees, depreciation, and more
- Other Expenses — Interest expense, income tax expense
Account numbers follow the standard 1xxx–7xxx range. This template works for most service and product businesses.
Import
Upload your existing chart of accounts from a CSV file. Use this option if you are migrating from another accounting system and want to preserve your account numbers and names.
Required CSV columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
number | Account number (e.g. 1010) |
name | Account name |
type | asset, liability, equity, revenue, or expense |
normalSide | debit or credit |
isPostable | true or false — whether transactions can post directly to this account |
parent | Account number of the parent account, if any (leave blank for top-level accounts) |
Click Download Template to get a pre-formatted CSV with the correct column headers. After uploading a valid file, Caydem shows the number of accounts loaded. Click the upload zone again to replace the file.
Parent accounts must appear before their children in the CSV.
Step 3 — Fiscal Year
Your fiscal calendar determines when periods open and close and how reports are structured. Configure it deliberately — changing the fiscal year start after posting activity is disruptive.
Fiscal Year Start Month
The month your fiscal year begins. For most US businesses this is January. Caydem calculates all period boundaries from this choice.
First Year Start Date
The first day of your first accounting period. Defaults to the first of the current fiscal year based on today’s date. Caydem updates this automatically when you change the start month, but you can override it.
Period Structure
How the fiscal year is divided into periods.
| Option | Periods per year | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | 12 | Most companies — gives the finest granularity for close and review |
| Quarterly | 4 | Smaller operations or those that close less frequently |
| Annual | 1 | Single-period tracking; unusual but supported |
Monthly is the default and is recommended for most operations.
Step 4 — Invite Team Members
This step is optional. You can invite team members now or later from the Setup → Users & Roles screen. You are automatically assigned the Company Admin role.
Adding a team member
Fill in the three fields and click Add:
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | The invitee’s Mission Control account email | |
| Display Name | No | How their name appears in the app; they can set it themselves if omitted |
| Role | Yes | Defaults to Bookkeeper; see table below |
You can also press Enter in the email field to add the row.
Available roles
| Role | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Company Admin | Full company access, including user and role management |
| Controller | Full ledger access — AP/AR, period close, approvals — no admin settings |
| CFO / Approver | Approve bills and payments; read everything |
| Bookkeeper | Enter transactions; no approvals or admin |
| AP Clerk | Bills and vendor payments only |
| AR Clerk | Invoices and customer payments only |
| Auditor | Read-only across all books |
Invited members appear in the list with a trash icon to remove them before completing setup. You can invite as many people as needed.
Step 5 — Review & Finish
The final step shows a summary of everything you configured:
- Company name, currency, country, entity type, tax classification, industry, and tax ID (if entered)
- Chart of accounts template chosen
- Fiscal year start, first year start date, and period structure
- Team invitations (emails and roles, or “None”)
Review the summary carefully. When you click Set up my books, Caydem:
- Creates the chart of accounts from your template selection.
- Creates the fiscal year and all periods for the first year.
- Grants you the Company Admin role.
- Sends invitation emails to any team members you added.
- Marks the company as set up.
All of these happen together — if anything fails, nothing is committed and you can retry.
After completion, Caydem takes you to the company Overview screen. Your books are ready.
Managing multiple companies
If you manage more than one legal entity, run the wizard again for each one. Each company has its own chart of accounts, fiscal calendar, and team — they never share data. Use the company switcher in the top bar to move between companies.