Getting Set Up (2:02 video). Open on its own page
How setup works
Setting up properly takes a few hours, and most owners spread it over a few days. There is no wizard to get through and nothing is locked: you land in the real dashboard, and the setup guide takes you around it in order, one real page at a time, until Pool Founder can run your week. Want help at any point? Book a setup call, or send us your export and we do it for you (see Done for you below).
- Signup asks only for a mobile number or an email address (you may be asked to confirm it with a 6-digit code). A verified phone or email is what unlocks sending invoices and quotes, texting customers, taking payments, and inviting teammates; see verify your phone or email.
- Then one screen: What's your website? Type your website, Facebook page or Google listing and choose Find my business. Pool Founder reads it and checks your public listings (usually 10 to 30 seconds), then shows Is this your business? with everything it found: your business name and your own name, your logo, your brand color, your location, your contact email, your phone and the services you list. When it isn't sure which image is your logo, it shows them all under Which one is your logo? Fix anything that's off, untick what you don't want, and choose Yes, use these details: it saves the business name, logo, brand color (on your emails, service reports and portal), your street location, and your contact email as the reply-to on what you send. Your website also becomes the business summary the AI Front Desk answers from, unless you already gave it one.
- No website? Choose No website? to search by business name and city, or Just use this name. Tick No website yet? Tick this if you'd like us to help you set one up and our team follows up. The same screen asks, optionally, how you heard about us.
- After that you are in the dashboard, on the setup guide. The Overview opens with it too, and until setup is done a slim bar across the top of every page says where you are (Setup 2 of 5), the next step with its button, All steps, and Book a call. The × hides the bar until you open a new tab.
The setup guide
The full guide is on the Get set up page (the bar's All steps, or the card on the Overview). Five steps, in the order that works: each one says what it is for and what is left, and its buttons open the real page where you do it. A step ticks itself off when your data says it is done, not when you click something, and it is only done when it is usable. When all five are done the guide goes away and the Overview shows your normal dashboard.
- 1What you sell: your recurring service, or several (like Basic, Full Service and VIP). Done when you have a recurring service (two, if you sell several).
- 2Customers and pools: your whole book, each customer with their pool address. Done when your customers and their pools are in and you confirm that's everyone (Pool Founder can't know how big your book is).
- 3Each pool's service: every pool gets its recurring service and price. Done when every active pool has one with a price, or you say the rest don't get regular service.
- 4Your team: who runs routes and on which days. Done when someone has work days and every technician has work days and their app invite. You, the owner, count only if you give yourself work days (then the step says Just you on the routes).
- 5Routes: every pool on a day and a tech. Done when every recurring service is on a route.
Each step also has Stuck? Book a call. Connecting Stripe stays on the To do list under Finish setting up; the optional extras (your branding, service reports, vehicles, parts and more) join it once the guide is done, so there is one setup list at a time.
Step 1: What you sell
Set up your service opens one question: "Do all your pools get the same service, or do you offer several recurring services?" Pick One service for everyone or Several recurring services. If your website was read on the first screen, a note shows the recurring services it lists and the matching answer is already picked (two or more looks like several); one-off jobs on your site, like green-to-clean or repairs, are not suggested. The same setup is on the Services page, which shows Set up your recurring service while you have no recurring service.
One service is a short question-at-a-time setup: how you charge (Monthly flat rate, Per visit, or Outside Pool Founder), when invoices go out, how you charge for chemicals (included, billed separately, or some included), and the visit checklist your techs follow (Corey's weekly checklist is one click away). The name is pre-filled (your website's name for the service when it was read) and Minutes per stop is optional (blank counts as 30). On a phone, Start with the standard creates a weekly service billed monthly in one tap.
The service setup never asks what you charge, and that is deliberate. Your price is set per pool when you give each pool its service: the Rate on each row of the import review sheet, the price on Add by hand, or on each row of Add Service in Bulk. To give the service a default rate, open it later on the Services page.
Several recurring services opens "What recurring services do you sell?", filled in from your website when it lists them (otherwise two blank rows): each service's name, How often (Weekly, Every other week, Monthly), Chemicals (Billed separately or Included) and optional minutes per stop; then How do you charge for these? for all of them, and the visit checklist once. Create services creates them all. You need at least two.
With several recurring services, imports never guess one. A spreadsheet row gets a service only when its plan or template column names one of yours. Every other pool comes in with its rate, day and tech saved, and you give it its service on Add Service in Bulk.
Your chemical prices are not a guide step, but they matter for chemicals billed separately: Chemicals → Starter list shows the 13 common pool chemicals every account starts with, with You charge, You pay and a Carry switch for each. See Chemicals inventory.
Step 2: Customers and pools
A spreadsheet import isn't just a customer list: one import creates customers, service locations and their recurring services together, so it can finish step 3 too. The step's buttons:
- Import a spreadsheet: the import wizard maps your columns, then you set service, day, tech and rate per row (or for many at once). See Import your customers.
- From QuickBooks: connect at Intuit, come back, and pick which customers to bring over (customers and locations; you give pools their service next).
- Add by hand (Customers → Add several): name, service address, service and its price (left blank, the service's default price is used), and the form stays put for the next one. Done, back to setup returns to the guide.
- You can also attach your spreadsheet in the George chat with the paperclip: he previews it and prepares the import on one approval card.
When everyone is in, click That's all 42 (it names your count): it is on the step and in the setup bar at the top of every page while this is your next step, and it only shows once your customers have pool addresses. Clicked it too soon? Undo on the message, or Not everyone yet? on the finished step. Finishing an import offers Back to setup, and the result names any rows that weren't imported because they were missing information.
Step 3: Each pool's service
Add service to pools opens Add Service in Bulk: every pool without a recurring service, each with its own service, day, tech and rate. The step counts the pools still without one. Some customers only get one-off work? Click Those 3 don't get regular service (it names your count); a pool added later without a service opens the step again. A pool billed in Pool Founder at $0 (per visit, monthly or weekly) doesn't count as set up either, because it would never bring in money: the step says how many pools have no price yet and lists the first few, each linked to its job to set the rate.
Step 4: Your team
Add your team opens the Employees page (sidebar → Team → Employees). Add each technician with their work days; the invite to the technician app goes to their email (if you added someone with Send invite now off, use Send invite on their page). Running routes yourself? Open your own page there and set your days in Work Schedule; work days are what routes are built around. Haven't verified your phone or email yet? You can still add your team: Send invite now stays off until you verify, then send each invite from their page. Adding technicians scales your plan automatically; see plans and your subscription.
Step 5: Routes
Build your routes opens the Route Builder. Auto-Assign clusters every job by location onto your team's work days; then drag stops between routes until the week looks right. See Build and optimize routes. On a phone the Route Builder is a single Auto-build my routes button that runs the same auto-assign and shows each day on a map.
With every pool on a route, your techs run the week from the technician app, and the guide is done.
Done for you
Coming from Skimmer, Pool Brain, Jobber, QuickBooks or a spreadsheet? Under the steps, Coming from other software? has Set it up for me: pick what you use today, attach your export (CSV, Excel or PDF, up to 6 files; send what you can and we help with the rest), and add a phone number and notes if you like. Send to our team and we set up your customers, pools, services and routes the same day, and reach out if anything is unclear. The card then shows that we have your files. Or book a time to talk sits next to it.
Setting up from a phone
Everything works on a phone, and the Route Builder becomes one button there. Bulk imports are easier with a keyboard, so if you signed up on a phone and your account has an email, Pool Founder emails you a link to continue on a computer about 30 minutes in (unless you have finished setting up by then).
Frequently asked questions
Can I leave setup and come back later?
Yes. Every step is a real page and saves as you go, and the setup guide keeps your progress from your data: come back any day and it picks up where you are.
Can I skip setup and explore the dashboard first?
Yes. Nothing is locked: the whole dashboard is open from the start. The setup guide stays on the Overview, and a slim bar on every page, until you finish it (the bar can be hidden for the tab with its ×).
I set up my service and it never asked what I charge. Where do I set my price?
On each pool, when you give it its service: the Rate on each row of the import review sheet, or on each pool's row in Add Service in Bulk, so two customers on the same service can pay different amounts. To give the service itself a default rate, open it later on the Services page.
Can George set up my customers for me during setup, or do I have to use the import wizard?
Yes, on a computer: attach your spreadsheet in the George chat with the paperclip. He previews the customers, pools and recurring services and prepares the import on one approval card; nothing is created until you click Approve. You don't have to use him: the Import Wizard (Bulk Import on the Customers page) does the same import without George. George is help, not the setup path: the setup guide is.
I sell three different packages. How do I set that up?
On the setup guide's first step (or Services → Set up your recurring service), answer Several recurring services. Name each one (for example Basic, Full Service, VIP), pick How often and Chemicals for each, choose how you charge, add the visit checklist once, and click Create services. After your customers come in, Add Service in Bulk gives each pool its service; a spreadsheet column that names your services assigns them during the import.
Will the import figure out which package each pool is on from its price?
No. Pool Founder never guesses a recurring service from the price. A pool gets one during import only if your file has a plan or template column whose value matches one of your service names. Everyone else comes in with the rate, day and tech from the file saved, and you assign their services in Add Service in Bulk.
Do I have to name every job?
No. Job names are auto-filled from the customer, and can be edited later.
Can you set it up for me?
Yes, the same day. On the setup guide, Coming from other software? → Set it up for me: tell us what you use, attach your export and send it. Or book a setup call and we do it with you.
How long does setup take?
A few hours for most owners, spread over a few days: getting your whole book in with the right services and prices, your team on the app, and every pool on a route. Sending us your export is the fastest way.