# Set up the system for the first time

Complete the company record, invite the first users, add a language, point the system at your email servers and activate the apps your team needs, all from Settings.

This tutorial is for the person who receives a fresh Jaah database and has to make it ready for a team. You need the **Administrator** role (the **Role** choice in the **Access Rights** tab of your user): it unlocks **Settings/General Settings** and the Apps menu. Everything happens in the Settings app. The left column lists the apps that have settings, **General Settings** is the first tab, and the page is one long form: your changes apply when you click **Save**, and the **Unsaved changes** dialog stops you if you try to leave before.

## What you will do {#what-you-will-do}

- Complete the company record and the layout printed on every document.
- Invite the first users and decide who is an administrator.
- Add the second language of the team.
- Connect the system to your own email servers.
- Activate the first apps.

## Part 1: Complete the company record {#part-1-complete-the-company-record}

Open **Settings/General Settings**. The page opens on the **Users** block; scroll down to **Companies**.

![General Settings opens on the Users block; the Languages, Companies and Emails blocks follow down the page.](https://jaah.app/web/image/7042-4c7f49f0/general-settings-first-setup-general_settings-en.png)

The **Companies** block shows the name and address of the current company. Click **Update Info** to open its form.

![The form of the current company, opened from the Companies block with Update Info.](https://jaah.app/web/image/7046-e056fe6b/general-settings-first-setup-company_form-en.png)

Fill in the **General Information** tab: the **Address** (**Street...**, **City**, **State**, **ZIP**, **Country**), the **Tax ID**, the **Company ID**, the **Currency**, the **Phone**, the **Email** and the **Website**. Click the image next to the **Company Name** to upload the logo. The form saves when you leave it; the cloud icon **Save manually** saves it at once.

Back in **General Settings**, the **Companies** block also holds **Document Layout**. Click **Configure Document Layout**: the **Configure your document layout** dialog lets you pick the **Layout**, the **Background**, the **Text** font, the **Logo**, the **Colors**, the **Address** block, a **Tagline** and the **Footer** printed on every document; click **Continue**. The layout belongs to the company, so it is set once per company.

## Part 2: Invite the first users {#part-2-invite-the-first-users}

The **Users** block of **General Settings** starts with **Invite New Users**. Type one or several email addresses in **Enter an email**, separated by spaces or commas, then press Enter or click **Invite**. A user is created for each address, with the address as login, and an invitation email leaves at once with a link where the person chooses a password. Until their first login they are listed under **Pending Invitations:**. The counter next to the widget shows the number of active internal users, and **Manage Users** opens the list.

Every invited user starts as a **User** with the default access rights. To make a colleague an administrator, open **Settings/Users & Companies/Users**, open the user and set the **Role** to **Administrator** in the **Access Rights** tab. The levels per app and the password options are in [Create a user and set access rights](create-a-user-and-set-access-rights).

![The Users list filtered on Internal Users; New creates a user by hand, the invitation widget creates one per email address.](https://jaah.app/web/image/7050-6369e716/general-settings-first-setup-users_list-en.png)

## Part 3: Add a language {#part-3-add-a-language}

In **General Settings**, the **Languages** block counts the active languages. Click **Add Languages**: the **Add Languages** dialog has one field, **Languages**; pick the language to add and click **Add**. The translations of every installed app are loaded with it. When you add a single language, a second dialog, **Switch to language**, offers to switch your own user to it right away, or **Close** to stay as you are. Each person then chooses their language in the **Preferences** tab of their user, in the **Language** field. The rest, including how to update a translation, is in [Languages and translations](languages-and-translations).

## Part 4: Connect your email servers {#part-4-connect-your-email-servers}

In **General Settings**, the **Emails** block holds **Use Custom Email Servers**. Tick it and click **Save**: two links appear, **Outgoing Email Servers** for the server that sends the system's mail and **Incoming Email Servers** for the mailboxes the system reads. The same block carries the **Alias Domain** used for the addresses the system creates. The server records themselves, with their test buttons, are described in [Email: outgoing and incoming servers](email-servers).

## Part 5: Activate the first apps {#part-5-activate-the-first-apps}

Open **Apps/Apps/Main Apps**. The page lists the applications with the **Apps** filter; type a name in **Search...**, press Enter and click **Activate** on the card. The app is installed with its dependencies, the interface is blocked while it happens, then it reloads with the new menu. Upgrading and removing apps, and the warnings that go with them, are in [Install, upgrade and uninstall apps](install-upgrade-and-uninstall-apps).

![The Apps page with the Apps filter; Activate on the apps that are not installed, Installed on the others.](https://jaah.app/web/image/7054-fd01c221/general-settings-first-setup-apps_activate-en.png)

## Where to go next {#where-to-go-next}

- [Create a user and set access rights](create-a-user-and-set-access-rights) for the levels per app, passwords and archived users.
- [Companies and multi-company](companies-and-multi-company) when you manage more than one legal entity.
- [Developer mode and the technical menus](developer-mode-and-technical-menus) before you open anything under Technical.
- [Access rights: groups, rules and what they mean](access-rights-groups-and-rules) to understand what the **Role** choice changes.

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/general-settings/set-up-the-system-for-the-first-time
- Updated: 2026-10-13
- Version: General settings and administration 19.0.1.0
- Verified: 2026-10-13