Get started

Getting started with Folnaro

On first launch Folnaro asks you a few questions so quotes, invoices and reports fit you and your business from the first document on. It takes about two minutes. Your data stays on this Mac.

Go through the setup

The setup takes you in eight steps through everything your first invoices need. At the top you see which step you are on. Back goes one step back, Continue one step on. You can change every answer later in Settings.

Welcome

Click Get Started. To look around first, choose Look Around with Sample Data, see Look around with sample data. If you have used Folnaro before, choose Restore from a Backup, see Move from another Mac.

Who issues the invoices?

1. Choose your Legal form: Freelancer, Sole trader, Company (GmbH, UG) or Other.
2. Under Business name, enter the name as it should appear on your invoices. The Owner field follows below. For a company the field is called Contact person.
3. For a GmbH or UG, the fields Register entry (local court and register number) and Managing directors are added. Separate several names with commas.
4. Enter Street, postal code, city, Country and Email.
5. The IBAN appears on your invoices. You can add it later.

Folnaro checks each field as soon as you leave it. If something mandatory is missing, a note below says for example “Required on every invoice: street and number.” An IBAN with wrong check digits reports “This IBAN is not valid. Check it for typos.”

Do you charge VAT?

1. Choose Yes, I charge VAT or No, I use the small business rule (§ 19 UStG).
2. Enter your Tax number. If you have a VAT ID, enter it too.
3. If you charge VAT, choose under VAT return how often you file the VAT return. The letter from your tax office states it.

Every invoice needs your tax number or your VAT ID. Small businesses invoice without VAT and with a note on § 19 UStG, see Small business rule and switching to regular taxation.

Invoice numbers

1. Under Format, set the pattern for new numbers. {YYYY} stands for the year, {####} for the running number.
2. If you have written invoices before, turn on I have written invoices before and enter the Last invoice number exactly as it appears on your last invoice.
3. Folnaro reads the format from it and shows the next number under Next invoice. If the number does not fit the format, use Take Format from Number. If you entered a format instead of a number, Use as Format helps.

Sending email

So invoices go to your customers straight from Folnaro, you connect your email account here. The form is the same as in Settings under Email.

1. Choose your Provider. Folnaro then fills in Server, Encryption and Port. For another provider you enter them yourself.
2. Enter User name and Password. The password is kept in your Mac’s Keychain. Some providers require an app password. Then Open Account Page opens the page where you create it.
3. Click Test Connection. Folnaro checks the server and the sign-in without sending an email. On success it reads Connected and signed in. The button then becomes Continue.

To do this later, click Set Up Later in Settings. Nothing here is saved then. More in Sending documents by email.

Search and keyboard shortcuts

Two short steps show you how to work without the mouse:

• One field for everything: an example shows how you find customers, documents and numbers, run commands or capture an expense in one line. In Folnaro, From any app and Also in Spotlight show where you open the field.
• Keyboard shortcuts: the keys you will use most. Press a shortcut to try it, nothing is run. A recognized command shows Tried. Change timer keys sets the keys for the timer.

Skip Tour leaves out both steps. Your answers are already saved then. All shortcuts are listed in Keyboard shortcuts.

All set

The last step shows a sample draft with your sender details. If your Mac is signed in to iCloud, you can turn on Sync with iCloud here. Your data then stays the same on every Mac with your iCloud account, see Sync with iCloud.

Click Open Sample Draft to see what your invoices look like, or Start Without Sample.

Look around with sample data

Before you enter your own data, you can try Folnaro with an invented business: with customers, invoices, time, expenses and transactions.

1. In the welcome window, click Look Around with Sample Data. Folnaro relaunches and opens the sample data.
2. At the bottom of the sidebar it reads Sample Data with the note “Your own data stays untouched”.
3. Choose Folnaro > Back to My Data when you are done. Folnaro relaunches with your own data.

Nothing is exported from the sample data, neither for the tax advisor nor for the tax office. What you change there does not touch your own data.

Open the sample data later and leave it again

The sample data lives in a folder of its own, so you can open it at any time, even after setup:

1. Choose Folnaro > Settings… > General.
2. Next to Business year with sample data, click Look Around. Folnaro relaunches with the invented business.
3. To leave, choose Folnaro > Back to My Data, click Back to My Data in Settings or use the context menu of the Sample Data mark in the sidebar. Folnaro relaunches with your own data.

While the sample data is open, exports for your tax advisor or the tax office say “Not available with sample data.” and iCloud sync stays off for it.

Move from another Mac

If you have used Folnaro on another Mac, you bring your data over with a backup or through iCloud.

• Backup: In the welcome window, click Restore from a Backup and choose the backup folder. Folnaro restores your data and then ends the setup without overwriting the restored details. More in Restore a backup.
• iCloud: If you turned on iCloud sync on the other Mac, turn it on here too in the last step. Your data then arrives through iCloud, see Sync with iCloud.

Continue the setup later

You can click Continue Later at any time. Your answers are kept.

1. In the sidebar, choose Overview.
2. In the Getting Started card, click Continue next to Continue setup. The setup opens at the step where you stopped.

Alternatively, press ⌘K and search for Continue Setup. The Getting Started card then guides you on: Add your sender details, Add your first customer, Write your first invoice and Bring over data from another app.

The sample draft

The sample draft contains a Sample service of 4 h × €85.00. It has no customer, so it cannot be finalized. Change the line or delete the draft with Edit > Delete Draft…. You can create it again at any time through ⌘K and Open Sample Draft.

Change profile, taxes and bank account

You can change every answer from the setup later in Settings.

1. Choose Folnaro > Settings… or press ⌘,.
2. Under Business you find:
   • Business Profile: business name, owner, Profession, address, contact, Logo, Document language and Default payment terms.
   • Taxes: Small business rule (§ 19 UStG), Taxation, tax number, VAT ID, VAT return, Permanent extension, EC sales list period and State for public holidays.
   • Bank Account: Account holder, IBAN, BIC, Bank, GiroCode on invoices and PayPal.me name. Your customers scan the GiroCode with their banking app.
3. Under Documents > Number Ranges you change the format. Set… next to Next counter sets the counter. It can only go up and never below a number already issued, so no number is assigned twice.

If a mandatory detail is missing, the profile shows the note Required on every invoice with the missing field.

When your tax status changes, for example because you exceed the small business limit, record it under Taxes in Tax status over time with Record a Change…. Once finalized documents exist, Folnaro asks from when the new status applies (Applies from). Earlier documents keep their status. If you have only just founded your business, turn on Recently founded and enter Founded on.

Bring over data from another app

A Folnaro backup, or customers, products and documents from SumUp Invoices, lexoffice or sevDesk, you bring over in Settings under Data > Import. The quickest way there is File > Import Data…. A preview shows beforehand what would be imported. Finalized documents keep their numbers and stay unchanged. All steps are in Bring over data from another app.

What comes next

1. Under Customers, add your first customer. Name and address are enough to start.
2. Press ⌘N for a new invoice. Finalizing assigns the number. Then send it by email or save it as a PDF.
3. Drag receipts for your expenses onto the window or the Dock icon.
4. Start the timer in the menu bar. It keeps running even with no window open.

Common problems

Continue cannot be clicked

A field is not valid yet. The note below the field says what to change. Optional fields such as the IBAN may stay empty.

Folnaro cannot read your last invoice number

Enter the number exactly as it appears on your last invoice, without curly braces, for example RE-2026-0042. If it does not fit the format, click Take Format from Number.

The connection test fails

Check user name and password. If your provider requires an app password, create it through Open Account Page and enter it instead of your normal password. You can also skip the step with Set Up Later in Settings.

The iCloud option is missing

Your Mac is not signed in to iCloud. Sign in in System Settings and then turn on sync in Settings under iCloud.

The sample draft cannot be finalized

That is intended: it has no customer. Delete it, or choose a customer if you want to use it as a real invoice.