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

# Getting started

> From sign-up to your first budget-vs-actual report in five steps.

This walks you from a new account to your first report. It takes about ten minutes, plus however
long your first Xero sync runs in the background.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create your account">
    Go to [ledgitify.com](https://ledgitify.com) and choose **Start free trial**. You can:

    * **Sign up with Xero:** authenticate with Xero and we pre-fill your name, email, and
      organisation name, then connect your Xero organisation in the same step, or
    * **Sign up with email:** enter your details, verify your email, and connect Xero afterwards.

    Every new organisation gets a **30-day free trial** with full features. No credit card required.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect your Xero organisation">
    If you didn't connect during sign-up, open **Settings → Xero** and choose **Connect Xero
    organisation**. You'll approve read-only access in Xero and land back in Ledgitify. See
    [Connect Xero](/connect-xero) for the detailed flow.

    Your transactions start syncing in the background straight away. You can carry on setting up
    while it runs.

    <Note>
      No Xero? You can still use Ledgitify by importing a bank-statement CSV or entering transactions
      manually. Skip to step 4.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a project and its budget lines">
    Go to **Projects → New project**. Give it a name and date range, pick the type (grant,
    commercial, internal, or program), and add your **budget lines** (for example Salaries,
    Equipment, Travel) with an amount per month or quarter.

    Not sure of the numbers yet? Use **Budget planning mode** to draft a forward-looking budget with
    inflation assumptions before the project starts.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Allocate your transactions">
    Open the **allocation workspace** (Transactions). Work through your synced or imported
    transactions and assign each one, or a portion of it, to a budget line. A single transaction can
    be split across several budget lines or across several projects. Anything irrelevant, you simply
    **exclude**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="View and export your report">
    Open your project's **Report**. You'll see budget, actual, and variance per budget line per
    period. Export it as **PDF** or **CSV**, choosing summary (funder-ready) or detailed (with the
    underlying transactions, for audit).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What's next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="How syncing works" icon="arrows-rotate" href="/syncing">
    Automatic nightly syncs, manual syncs, and near-real-time updates.
  </Card>

  <Card title="What we access in Xero" icon="shield-check" href="/xero-permissions">
    The exact read-only permissions Ledgitify requests, and why.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>