The HQ setup wizard walks a new multi-location or franchise HQ through its first-run setup on one screen, one step at a time. It's part of the +HQ add-on. Every step saves to the same settings the full HQ pages use, and you can skip any step and finish it later.
If you haven't created your HQ organization yet, start with Setting up your HQ account.
Opening the wizard
There are two ways in:
- From the HQ dashboard. While setup is unfinished, a Complete your HQ setup card shows how many essential steps are done. Click Open setup wizard. The card hides once the essential steps are done. You can also close it with the X, and it stays hidden in that browser.
- From HQ Settings. In the HQ sidebar, click Settings (under Admin). At the top there's a Finish setting up your HQ link. Once the essential steps are done, it changes to HQ setup is done — revisit the setup wizard and shows how many recommended steps you've finished. This link is always there.
How the wizard works
The header says HQ setup and shows how many steps are done in total, with a Step X of N counter and a progress bar. Below that, the steps are shown as two rows of buttons:
- Essential: the steps that count toward "setup complete" on your dashboard.
- Recommended: optional extras. These have a dashed outline and their own "X of N done" badge.
A check mark means a step is done. Click any step to jump to it.
Most steps have their own save button (usually Save & continue), which saves and moves you to the next step. Along the bottom are Back, Skip this step and Exit — I'll finish later. On the last step, Done takes you back to the HQ dashboard. Once every step is done, a HQ setup is complete banner appears.
A step counts as done based on what's actually set up in your account, not on whether you clicked through it. For example, the location step is done once you have at least one location. Skipping a step doesn't mark it done, and finishing something on its full settings page marks it done here too.
The essential steps
- Branding: Upload your Logo (it saves as soon as the upload finishes), and pick a Primary color and Accent color. Then enter an HQ email sender name, which is used on royalty statements and org-level emails. Colors are only saved if you actually change them. For the custom HQ domain and the brand and pricing locks, use Advanced branding (custom domain, FDD locks).
- Add your first location: Click Add location to add a shop. Once you have shops, the step lists them and gives you Add another location and Manage all locations.
- Royalty rule (Franchise orgs only): Enter a Rule name and a Flat royalty rate. Then choose How will you actually collect this?: Manual, ACH (bank pull), Card on file, Emailed invoice or QuickBooks bill. Each option shows a short explanation. If you choose ACH and haven't added a bank account to collect into, you'll see a warning with a Set up ACH now link. If your org already has a more complex royalty formula, the wizard won't overwrite it. You'll see Your royalty formula is already set up, with Continue and Open the formula editor.
- Invite your team: Enter an Email, pick a Role (Owner, Admin or Viewer) and click Send invite. Tick Franchise Sales CRM only if the person should only see the Franchise Sales CRM. After you send an invite, you also get a link to copy and share yourself. The link expires in 7 days. This step is done once your org has more than one member.
The recommended steps
These steps don't affect the dashboard card. Each one is a quick version of a full HQ page, with a link to that page for anything more:
- Set up royalty ACH: links to ACH Setup for the bank accounts collections go into.
- Sync your service catalog: Push all to missing locations sends services out to the locations that don't have them yet.
- Pricing rules: a network-wide Minimum price ($) and Max discount (%), optionally for one service category.
- Data sharing: what's shared across locations. See Sharing customers and team members across locations.
- Post an announcement: a Headline and Message for every shop.
- Sales playbook defaults: the chain-wide review-request text. See Setting chain-wide sales playbook defaults from HQ.
- Open your HQ Store: add your first product for your shops to buy.
- Set your marketing-fund rate (Franchise orgs only): the Marketing fund rate, which is billed with the royalty on every statement.
- Seed your audit templates: Seed starter templates adds four starter checklists for shop visits.
- Upload your first document: share an SOP, manual or marketing asset.
- Build your training curriculum: create your first course.
- Set up your Location Fleet: links to the Location Fleet page.
Who can change what
Data sharing and the HQ Store step are limited to org Owners and Admins. The royalty and marketing-fund steps need royalty permissions. Without them, you'll see View-only access. Only an Owner can invite another Owner.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Do I have to finish the wizard before I can use HQ?
A: No. You can skip any step or leave at any time with Exit — I'll finish later. Each step can also be done from its own HQ page.
Q: I closed the setup card on the HQ dashboard. How do I get back to the wizard?
A: Go to Settings in the HQ sidebar. The link at the top of that page always opens the wizard, even after setup is done.
Q: Why don't I see the Royalty rule or marketing-fund steps?
A: Those steps only appear for Franchise organizations. A Multi-Location org skips them.
Q: Why does the royalty step say my formula is already set up?
A: Your org's royalty rule uses something other than a single flat percentage. The wizard's quick form can't edit that without overwriting it, so use Open the formula editor instead.
Q: Does skipping a step mark it as done?
A: No. A step is only marked done when the setup actually exists in your account, such as a saved logo, a location or an invited teammate.