This article walks you through setting up your new Buildxact account so it's branded to your business and ready to go. You'll check your tax profile, add your business details and logo, add users, manage your subscription and complete your business setup.
Watch the video below to see this in action, or continue reading for step-by-step details.
All regions excluding North America (metric units)
North America (imperial units)
Check your tax profile
When you first log in, you'll be prompted to set up tax. Your tax profile tells Buildxact how to calculate income and expense tax, so check it before you start creating estimates. What you need to do depends on where you are:
United States and Canada: you need to check and update your tax profile. Tax varies by state, province, county and city, so the default profile won't be right for every business.
United Kingdom: you may need to update your tax profile, depending on the type of work you do.
Australia and New Zealand: your tax is set up automatically, so you shouldn't need to change anything. It's still a good idea to check it.
Check or update your tax profile
Go to My Business > Business Setup > Tax Rates.
Click Edit.
Check each tax rate's percentage, whether it's income or expense, and which item types it applies to (for example materials, labor, equipment or subcontractor).
Fill in any rates that are set to zero but apply to you, then save.
Changes to your default tax profile don't apply to estimates you've already created. To change tax on a single estimate (for example, a job across county or city lines), open the estimate and customize the tax profile in Estimate Details.
We always recommend checking your setup with a tax professional or accountant. North American users can find the full walkthrough in Tax Profile/Settings in North America.
Add your business details
Buildxact uses your business details on everything you send, like quotes, change orders, purchase orders and invoices. They also appear in your Client Portal and request for quote (RFQ) portal.
Go to My Business in the left-hand menu.
Click Business Account.
Select Business Details.
Click the blue pen to edit a section, then click the orange tick to save.
Here you can add or edit:
Business name and business number: you can change the business number format to suit your country.
Website and licenses.
Contact and billing emails: see below.
Address.
Registered, contact and billing emails
Your Business Details hold three email addresses, each with a different job.
Registered email: the main email for your account, and the one Buildxact uses to contact you. Because it's your account's main ID, you can't change it yourself. To change it, or to transfer ownership of your account, click Need help at the bottom right of the main menu or email [email protected]. You'll get an email confirming once it's done.
Contact email: shown in your business details in the header of your outgoing documents. It doesn't change the address documents are sent from, or the address recipients reply to. It only changes what appears on the document.
Billing email: where Buildxact sends the tax receipts for your subscription charges. It's useful if you want your receipts to go to your accounts team as well as the main Buildxact user.
Note: if you leave the contact or billing email blank, Buildxact uses your registered email.
To update your contact or billing email, click the pencil icon next to it in Business Details, make your changes, then save.
Which email address is used where
Sending emails
This table shows the email address used when Buildxact sends an email. This is the address the recipient can reply to.
Sending emails | Email used |
Email invite for client portal | Registered email |
Daily client portal update email | Registered email |
Share document email for client portal | User email |
Share quote email for client portal | User email |
Share variations email for client portal | User email |
Share invoice email for client portal | User email |
Work order email | User email |
Purchase order email | User email |
Schedule task list email | User email |
Specification email | User email |
RFQ email | User email |
Estimate costings categories | User email |
Estimate costings categories and items | User email |
Estimate PC/PS items report | User email |
Plans email | User email |
Direct email to contact/client | User email |
Schedule reminder | User email |
Emails shown on documents
This table shows the email address displayed in the Client Portal or on documents you print or share.
Displaying emails | Email shown |
Contacts email in client portal | Registered email |
Invoice | No email shown |
Variation | No email shown |
Estimate vs actual report | No email shown |
Estimate vs committed report | No email shown |
Job PC/PS items report | Contact email |
Work order | No email shown |
Purchase order | No email shown |
Work order list | No email shown |
Purchase order list | No email shown |
Gantt chart | No email shown |
Task list | No email shown |
Custom quote email | Registered email |
Print layout email | Contact email |
Specification | Contact email |
Estimate costings category and items | Contact email |
Estimate costings categories | Contact email |
Estimate PC/PS items report | Contact email |
Upload your logo
The Logos section sits in your Business Details. Depending on your plan, you'll see one or two logo options: a large format logo and a small format logo.
Click the upload button for the logo you want to add.
Browse to the folder that holds your logo.
Select your logo. It must be an image file, not a PDF.
Click Open.
Your logo now shows on your account. The upload button becomes an edit pencil, so you can adjust it any time.
Tip: if you see an error saying the file is too big, search online for an "image file shrinker". There are plenty of free tools that will make your image small enough to upload.
Other settings
Also in Business Details, check your other settings:
Time zone: this should be set when your account is created, but it's always worth double checking.
Tax code: what tax is called where you are.
Default invoice days: how many days you give clients to pay invoices.
System of measurement: metric, imperial or both.
Set up your Client Portal look
If your plan includes the Client Portal, the Gallery and Brand colors on the right of your Business Details brand your portal. These only relate to the Client Portal.
Three parts of your business details appear in your Client Portal:
Your small format logo
Your gallery
Your brand colors
Small format logo
Used in the portal and in emails where a small, icon-style logo fits best. If you don't have a separate one, your main logo works fine.
Gallery
Upload up to six images of your previous work to showcase it to prospective and current clients. They appear in the portfolio section of your Client Portal.
Brand colors
These are set automatically when you upload your logo, but you can change them to whatever you like. Pick a color or enter a HEX or RGB code.
Here's how they're used in your portal:
Primary color: menus and text
Darkened primary color: menus and some icons
Secondary color: main text and buttons
Lightened secondary color: header bars
Add users
Users are free on every Buildxact plan, so you can invite as many people as you need at no extra cost.
Go to My Business > Business Account > Users.
Click the green + button.
Fill in the user's details and click Ok.
Your new user gets an email that walks them through activating their account. Once they're invited, click their name to edit their user access levels.
Please note: Buildxact will tell you if the person already has an account, for example from an old trial or another account using the same email. If that happens, contact our support team and we'll help sort it out.
Learn more in How do I add/remove/edit a user in my Buildxact account? and User access controls.
Manage your subscription
Go to My Business > Business Account > Subscription to manage everything related to your subscription. Here you can:
Upgrade or change your plan as your business grows
Update your payment method, such as your credit card details
View past invoices
Switch to annual billing, which saves you a little money
Pricing differs depending on where you are in the world. The options available to you depend on your plan and billing cycle, and Buildxact will guide you through them.
Business setup
Go to My Business > Business Setup. You don't need to set all of this up on day one. As you use Buildxact more, you'll know where to come back to.
Tax rates: your tax profile. See Check your tax profile above for what to do in your region.
Business documents: store documents you attach often, like your Terms & Conditions. They'll be available to attach to any email or share form across Buildxact.
Building types: change the standard building types that appear in drop-down menus.
Contact groups and subtypes: the main contact groups are locked because they affect your accounting integration. Under them, add any subtypes you like, such as plumber, electrician, framer or roofer. These drive the drop-downs in your contacts.
Units of measure: these drive the units drop-down in your estimate costings.
Need help? Reach out to our support team — we're here to help!