This guide covers your first week with Syniq Business OS: the setup, and then one real piece of work followed from the first conversation to the payment. If you only need the setup, five steps to your first quote shows the screen for each step.
Before you start
Have these ready, so the setup does not stop halfway:
- Your logo, VAT number and company registration number
- The bank account you want printed on your invoices
- Your client list in a spreadsheet, with one column headed "name"
- The email address of each person you want to invite
Business OS is six apps: Sales, Operations, Accounting, Marketing, Support and Executive. They share one set of client records. You do not need all six on the first day. Starter includes any two apps, and you can add the rest later. The pricing page compares the plans.
Step 1: Create your workspace
Sign up with your email address, or with Google or Microsoft. Add your name and your business name, and your workspace is ready. The trial runs for 14 days and needs no credit card.
Step 2: Add your company details
Open Settings → Organisation. Upload your logo, and add your VAT and registration numbers for your quotes and invoices. Then add the bank accounts you want shown on invoices.
Do this before you create any documents, so your first quote goes out with the right details.
Step 3: Invite your team
Open Settings → Team & Roles and invite each person by email as an admin, member or viewer. For each member, choose what they can view, create, edit or delete in every app. If your company has more than one business unit, you can limit a member to one unit, so they see only its records.
Anyone can also turn on two-factor sign-in, with a 6-digit code from an authenticator app each time they sign in.
Step 4: Bring in your clients
In Operations → Client hub, choose Import and upload a CSV or Excel file. The importer reads the column headed "name", plus Industry, Website and VAT columns if you have them. Clients you already have are skipped, so a second import does not make duplicates.
If your accountant works in QuickBooks Online, connect it from Settings. From then on, customers, vendors, invoices, quotes and purchase orders sync both ways, and payments recorded in QuickBooks come through to Syniq. Connecting does not copy everything QuickBooks already holds: on the Accounting ledger, Sync Income brings in invoices and payments, and Sync Expenses brings in expenses and bills.
Step 5: Follow one piece of work end to end
The quickest way to learn Syniq is to take one real job through it, from the enquiry to the payment. This is the path.
The lead
If the work came from a campaign, capture it in Marketing as a lead against that campaign. Each lead scores out of 100 for how complete its details are, its status and its logged activity. When the conversation becomes serious, convert the lead. It becomes an account and a deal in Sales, with its documents carried across.
If the client came to you directly, start with the deal in Sales.
The deal and the quote
The deal sits on a pipeline board. Drag it between stages as the conversation moves. You can add, rename, reorder and remove stages to match how you sell. Deals worth more than R 50,000 wait for an approver before they go ahead.
Build the quote on the deal, add your line items and email the quote from Syniq.
The job
The won deal becomes a job in Operations, on the same client record. Break the job into tasks, assign them, and log the hours spent on each task. My Tasks shows each person what is assigned to them, and you can see every job as a list, a Kanban board or a Gantt chart.
Log calls, meetings, emails and notes on the job, and upload drawings, photos and paperwork to it, so anyone can pick up the work.
The invoice and the payment
When the client accepts the quote, the invoice is generated from it for sign-off. VAT is worked out on every line, and the invoice carries your company, VAT and banking details. When the client pays, record the payment against the invoice. You can download a client's statement as a PDF or an Excel file.
After the sale
If the client comes back with a question, log it in Support as a ticket with a priority, a category and an assignee. The client's profile shows their deals, jobs, invoices, tickets and contacts, according to each person's role.
The numbers
Open Executive. The dashboard shows revenue, deals, marketing return and customer satisfaction, read from the records your team keeps in the other apps. There is nothing to import or export. Overdue invoices and urgent tickets show as alerts.
Where to go next
Each app has a short walkthrough on real screens:
- Sales: work the pipeline and quote on the deal
- Operations: jobs, tasks and renewals
- Accounting: quotes, VAT invoices and purchase order approvals
- Marketing: campaigns and their leads
- Support: the ticket queue and the client's history
- Executive: the dashboard and the finance view
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a credit card to start?
No. The trial runs for 14 days and needs no credit card.
Do I need all six apps?
No. Starter includes any two apps, and you can add the rest later. The pricing page compares the plans.
Can I bring my clients across from a spreadsheet?
Yes. Save the list as a CSV or Excel file with a column headed "name", and import it from Operations → Client hub. Clients you already have are skipped.
Does Syniq work with QuickBooks Online?
Yes. Connect it from Settings. Customers, vendors, invoices, quotes and purchase orders then sync both ways, and payments recorded in QuickBooks come through to Syniq.
