Cobalt – User Guide

Welcome to Cobalt, your all-in-one platform for invoicing, expense management, and payments. This guide will help you navigate through the app, set up your account, and start managing your finances with ease.

Getting Started

Sign Up

Create your account with Cobalt:

• Visit cobaltapp.nz
• Click Sign Up and fill in your email and password
• Verify your email address using the link sent to your inbox

Set Up Your Account

Complete the onboarding steps to configure your account:

• Set your company name
• Add your own first and last name
• Upload your business logo to display on your invoices
• Set your tax and region options

Configure Your Settings

Navigate to the Settings page to add your business details, including:

• Business name
• Address details
• Contact number
• GST number (if applicable)

Features Overview

Dashboard

Your dashboard provides a snapshot of:

• Important summary information such as total of overdue invoices
• Recent invoices
• Expenses breakdown by category
• Top spending customers

Customers

Before creating an invoice you need a customer to bill:

Create a Customer

1. Navigate to the Customers page.
2. Click New Customer.
3. Fill in:
   • Contact details
   • Address (optional)
   • Additional information (optional)
4. Click Create to save your customer.

Products

Before creating an invoice you need a product:

Create a Product

1. Navigate to the Products page.
2. Click New Product.
3. Fill in:
   • Product or service name
   • Price (optional)
   • Description (optional)
4. Click Create to save your product.

Invoicing

Create an Invoice

1. Navigate to the Invoices page.
2. Click New Invoice.
3. Add invoice details:
   • Choose the customer
   • Set the invoice date and due date
   • Add a PO Number for your customer’s reference (optional)
   • Select products/services, quantities, and price
   • Add a description to your item (optional)
   • Write notes that will be displayed to the customer (optional)
   • Add a discount in dollar amount (optional)
4. You can either Approve now or Save Draft if you want to continue editing the invoice later.

Add a Payment

1. Navigate to the Invoices page.
2. Click on the relevant invoice.
3. Click Add Manual Payment:
   • Choose the date the payment was received
   • Update the amount if it was a partial payment
   • Select the payment method
4. Click Create to record your payment.

Expense Tracking

Add an Expense

1. Go to the Expenses page.
2. Click New and select Expense and input:
   • Description
   • Amount
   • Click Add tax if you are GST registered and need to record the tax paid
   • Add the relevant date and select a category
   • Add notes and upload a receipt (optional)
3. Click Create to save your expense.

Reports

Generate real-time financial reports, such as:

• Profit and Loss Statement – Your income and expenses
• GST Summary – GST collected from income and paid on expenses
• Payments Summary – Money received from your customers

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Additional Customization

In the Settings page you will find other options to improve your experience and help to manage your business finances effectively.

Subscription

• Upgrade your plan to increase your invoice and business allowance in Cobalt.
• Go to Manage Subscription to change your payment details and view invoices for your subscription.

Payments

• Connect Stripe to allow your customers to pay you directly from their invoice.
• Accept multiple payment methods such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Credit or Debit card.

Business Settings

• Set your Next Invoice Number if you already have a numbering system from past invoices.
• Change your Tax Status. Note that this will not affect invoices that have already been created.
• Edit your Brand Colour and Logo to personalise your invoices and emails.
• Set a Reply-to Email to further personalise your emails.
• Add information to your Invoice Footer to display to your customers. This could be information about your payment terms or simply a friendly thank-you note.

Expense Categories

• Add new expense categories to break down expenses for reporting and tracking.