Your first day with Schoolwati

After signing up, you'll see a setup wizard. The aim of this article is to help you go from a completely empty account to one you can actually use — by the end of this checklist, you'll have a campus, a class, a teacher, and your first student.

It takes about 30 minutes if you have your school's basic info ready. You can do this in any order, and you can come back later to fix anything.

Before you start, have these handy

• Your school's legal name and address.
• A logo image (square works best — at least 256×256 pixels).
• A short 2 to 4 letter code for each campus (like "MN" for Main).
• Email addresses for the staff you want to invite.

Step 1: Tell us about your school (5 minutes)

Open Setup → Institution Profile from the menu.

Fill in:

• Legal name — used on invoices and official documents.
• Display name — the name parents see (your brand).
• Address — your registered office address.
• Currency, timezone, academic year start — defaults for your school.
• Logo — upload it.

Step 2: Set up your first campus (5 minutes)

Open Setup → Branch Settings. A default campus was created when you signed up — click it to edit.

Fill in:

• Campus code (2 to 4 letters like MN, EC, NORTH). Important: this can't be changed once the first student is admitted.
• Address, phone, email for the campus.
• Working days — usually Monday to Saturday in India.

Got more than one location? Add them now using + Add Branch.

Step 3: Set up your classes (10 minutes)

Open Setup → Academics.

First add a Program (your academic stream like CBSE or IB):

1. Click + Program.
2. Type a name like "CBSE - Primary".
3. Set how many year-levels it has (5 for Grade 1 to Grade 5).
4. Save.

Then add Class Sections (the actual classes students sit in):

1. Click into your new program.
2. Click + Section.
3. Name it (like "Grade 5 - A").
4. Set the maximum number of students.
5. Save.

Repeat for each class you're running this year.

Step 4: Invite your team (5 minutes)

Open Staff → Staff List → + Add Staff.

For each person:

1. Type their name and email.
2. Pick a role (Teacher, Front Office, Accountant, etc.).
3. Save — they get a welcome email with a sign-up link.

Tip: Give at least one other person the Institution Admin role so you're not the only one who can do everything.

Step 5: Set up fees (5 minutes)

Open Fees → Fee Structures → + New Structure.

1. Pick which class this fee applies to.
2. Add categories (Tuition, Transport, Lab) and the amount for each.
3. Choose how often it's billed (Yearly / Term / Monthly).
4. Click Publish — drafts don't create bills.

Step 6: Admit your first student (5 minutes)

Open Students → Enquiries → + New Enquiry.

1. Add the parent's details and which class they're interested in.
2. Click Convert to Admission.
3. Upload documents, choose the class.
4. Submit. As Institution Admin, you can approve it right away.

The student is now in the class roster — you can mark them on attendance and they'll get their first fee bill.

What you can leave for later

• Payroll — only set up when you're ready to pay salaries.
• Your school's public webpage — you can build and publish later.
• Exams and marks — easier once you have students in classes.
• Importing lots of data at once — only needed if you're moving from another system.

The campus switcher (important!)

If you have more than one campus, look at the top-right corner of every page — there's a dropdown showing which campus you're working in. Almost every page shows data for one campus only.

If a page shows zero students or zero anything, the first thing to check is whether you're on the right campus.

Need help?

• The chat bubble in the bottom-right answers most questions.
• Browse the help centre for step-by-step guides.
• File a support ticket and we'll get back by email.