Start here
The minimum you need before you can book and charge your first patient - and where to go when you want the rest.
You can see your first patient today. Wattle arrives pre-configured, so the setup you must do before booking and charging someone is genuinely short.
Two tiers, and you only need the first
| What it covers | How long | |
|---|---|---|
| This section | The minimum to book, treat, invoice and take payment for one patient | ~20 minutes |
| The complete setup | Everything else you could and should do - your team, branding, email, permissions, stock, weekend rates | Whenever suits |
Nothing in the second tier blocks you from working. Come back to it when the first patient is out the door.
What's already done for you
This is why the minimum is short. Out of the box, your clinic already has:
- GST configured at 10% and a working tax setup
- 8 appointment types - Consult, Vaccination, Surgery, Dental and the rest
- A schedule column, so the calendar works immediately
- A couple of starter catalogue items to charge against
- Visit statuses, so consults can move through their stages
You're reviewing and adjusting, not building from scratch.
The minimum, in order
- Sign in and finish the welcome wizard - your name, your role, and then either creating your clinic or joining one you've been invited to.
- Set your PIN - Wattle asks for this on first sign-in and won't let you past it. Five seconds.
- Check your clinic details - Settings → Clinic Settings. Name, address, phone, ABN. These print on every invoice, so they're worth thirty seconds now rather than a reprint later.
- Check your tax settings - same screen. GST is already on at 10%; confirm that's right for you and pick tax-inclusive or tax-exclusive pricing. If you're unsure which, check how your current price list is written, or ask your bookkeeper.
- Add the handful of things you charge for - Catalogue. The starter items won't match your prices. You don't need your whole price list today; you need the items on the first invoice you'll raise. See The catalogue & prices.
- Take one patient from booked-in to paid - the ten-minute walkthrough.
That's it. Everything else can wait.
Then, when you're ready
The complete setup covers the rest in order - inviting your team, tailoring appointment types, your logo and letterhead, email, roles and permissions, and the optional extras like stock tracking, weekend rates and the controlled drugs register.
Wattle also nudges you through most of this itself. After the welcome wizard a rocket button appears at the bottom-right; clicking it opens and closes the Getting Started checklist, which ticks steps off as you do them. Skip for now hides the rocket entirely - avatar → Getting started brings it back.
Also in this section
- Finding your way around - the sidebar, the top bar, and the ⌘K search that finds anything
- Keyboard shortcuts - entirely optional