> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.utilified.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Your First Steps

> Set up your organisation in UMS from scratch — create accounts, add sites, configure connections, create agreements, and upload your first invoice.

This guide walks you through setting up your organisation in UMS **by hand**, one entity at a time — useful for understanding how the pieces fit together, or for small additions. If your organisation already has data, skip ahead to the sections relevant to you.

<Tip>
  Setting up a whole portfolio? The faster path is the [guided onboarding wizard](/getting-started/getting-set-up) — upload documents for AI to read, or load everything from a single file, then review and create it all at once. Come back here when you want to add records manually.
</Tip>

## Step 1: Create your accounts

Accounts are the top-level containers — typically one per customer or business entity.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Accounts">
    Navigate to **Accounts** in the sidebar.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start a new account">
    Click the **+** button in the top-right.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter account details">
    Enter the company name, ABN/ACN, and entity type.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Click **Save**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  If you manage a business with multiple subsidiaries, create a parent account and link child accounts to it using the **Parent** field.
</Tip>

See [Creating Accounts](/guides/creating-accounts) for a detailed walkthrough.

## Step 2: Add sites

Sites represent the physical locations where energy is consumed — offices, warehouses, retail stores, factories.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Sites">
    Navigate to **Sites** in the sidebar (or use the Sites tab on an account).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start a new site">
    Click the **+** button.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter the address">
    Enter the site name and address — UMS uses Google Places for address autocomplete.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Link to an account">
    Link the site to the correct account.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Click **Save**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 3: Set up connections

Connections represent individual utility meters — electricity NMIs, gas MIRNs, or water meters.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Connections">
    Navigate to **Connections** in the sidebar.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start a new connection">
    Click the **+** button.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter the identifier">
    Enter the connection identifier (e.g. NMI for electricity, MIRN for gas).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set type and site">
    Select the utility type and link to a site.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Click **Save**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 4: Create agreements

Agreements track energy contracts between your accounts and suppliers.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Agreements">
    Navigate to **Agreements** in the sidebar.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start a new agreement">
    Click the **+** button.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter agreement details">
    Enter the agreement name, type, supplier, and contract dates.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Click **Save**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add connections">
    Add connections to the agreement via the **Connections** tab on the agreement detail page.
  </Step>
</Steps>

See [Managing Agreements](/guides/managing-agreements) for details on bulk-adding connections and managing tariffs.

## Step 5: Upload your first invoice

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Invoices">
    Navigate to **Invoices** in the sidebar.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Drop in a PDF">
    Drag and drop a PDF invoice onto the upload area (or click to browse).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Let UtiliRead process it">
    UMS automatically processes the invoice via **UtiliRead** (OCR).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review the match">
    The system extracts data, matches it to the correct account and connection, and creates the invoice record.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify the data">
    Check the invoice detail page to verify the extracted data.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Alternatively, set up email forwarding from your energy retailers to your UMS inbox for fully automated processing.
</Tip>

## What to do next

Once your basic structure is in place, here are the most valuable next steps:

### Set up tariff rates

Configure tariff structures for your agreements so UMS can validate invoice charges against expected rates. See [Managing Tariffs](/guides/managing-tariffs).

### Enable invoice validation

Navigate to **Validation** to check your invoices for billing errors, tariff mismatches, and missing invoices. See [Invoice Validation and Review](/guides/invoice-validation).

### Run an agreement expiry report

Navigate to **Reports** and run the **Agreement Expiry Report** to identify contracts approaching renewal — so you can start renegotiating early.

### Configure brokerage (if applicable)

If you earn commission on energy agreements, set up brokerage records and run calculations. See [Running Brokerage Calculations](/guides/running-brokerage-calculations).

### Bulk import via CSV

For large portfolios, use the **Bulk Upload Wizard** to import accounts, sites, connections, tariffs, and more from CSV files. Open it from your avatar menu under **Bulk Imports**. To stand up a whole hierarchy from one file, use the [all-in-one onboarding upload](/guides/bulk-importing-data#onboarding-upload-all-in-one). See [Bulk Importing Data](/guides/bulk-importing-data).

### Invite your team

Add colleagues to your organisation and control what each of them can access. See [Setting Up a User](/guides/setting-up-a-user).