Planyard Professional – 8-Step Getting Started Guide

Setup guide for busy professionals who want to quickly get started as their next project begins (Usually takes 15–20 minutes)
This guide is for the Planyard champion—typically a manager or project lead—who wants to quickly set up a standardized workflow and eliminate spreadsheets. Follow these eight steps to set up your account and start running real-time cost control.

1. Log into your account

If you don’t have one, start your 14-day free trial here.

2. Fill in your company profile

Your company name, registration code, and logo will appear on all documents (POs, applications, etc.).

3. Invite your team

Add project managers, QSs, site engineers, finance staff, or even the client to allow him to track the project in real-time.

  • Click CompanyUser Management
  • Click Add New User
  • Enter their email, choose permissions, and click Create
    Planyard will email them the account access details and quick setup guides.

4. Decide project visibility

Set whether users can access each other’s project item cost data. Shared visibility improves estimating and market benchmarking.

  • Select the user right: View projects, either Everyone’s or Own & Shared

“Sharing this information allows team members to quickly check budget item costs in colleagues’ projects for cost estimating or to understand market prices better when negotiating subcontractors. It’s especially useful if you use the same cost codes for all the projects, allowing the users to one-click print item cost breakdowns across all portfolio projects—active and historic.”

5. Upload your first project

Go to ProjectsCreate Project.
You can upload the starting project budget spreadsheet using short video guides. You can use any budget item names and cost codes, fill them in accordingly on the import file:

We recommend that one manager upload all initial projects to ensure consistency. You can then assign the project owner in Project Settings so all projects are prepared similarly.

6. Lock budget estimates for accountability

Prevent QSs and PMs from editing original estimates so you can always backtrack:

“Restricting edits to budget estimates increases accountability and allows backtracking what was estimated vs. what actually happened.”

Best way to link accounts payable invoices:

8. Automate invoice processing to accounting

Avoid manual entry by integrating it with your accounting software:

  • Connect to Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, or MYOB
  • Or let Planyard automatically forward approved invoices to your accountant’s email

Advanced setup (optional) – support@planyard.com

  • Invoice approval workflows
  • PO approval workflows
  • Subcontractor bid comparisons