The fastest path to a working ReservWise setup is ten minutes of focused work. The list below is what we wish every new customer did before they wandered into the dashboard. Do it in order — each step unblocks the next.
Have ready: your business name as it should appear on invoices, your time zone, your last full-year tax return (for entity type), and login access to one bank or Stripe account.
Minute 1–2 — Lock down the account
- Verify your email (click the link we sent at signup).
- Set a real password, ideally generated by a password manager.
- Turn on TOTP two-factor auth in Settings → Security. This is the most-skipped step and the one we wish wasn't.
Detail: Creating your ReservWise account.
Minute 3 — Profile basics
- Legal name and business name (used on invoices).
- Time zone (drives your monthly cycle — get this right).
- Business entity type — sole prop / LLC / S-corp / C-corp.
Detail: Choosing your business entity type.
Minute 4–6 — Connect one income source
- Open Settings → Connections → Add bank and link your business checking via Plaid, OR
- Connect Stripe in Settings → Connections → Add Stripe if invoices are your primary income, OR
- Skip and use manual entries — but plan to come back and connect later.
Detail: Connecting Plaid for live income data.
Minute 7–9 — Set up the six reserves
- Open Reserves.
- Click Set up six reserves; the wizard pre-fills targets from your last 90 days of income (if Plaid is connected).
- For each tier, set a realistic monthly target. Survival = your real survival number, not the comfortable one.
- Pick allocation order. The default 1→6 is correct for almost everyone; only override if you have a reason.
- Save.
Detail: Setting up your first six reserves.
Minute 10 — Confirm your tax reserve rate
- Open Reserves → Tax Reserve → Settings.
- Confirm the auto-suggested rate matches what your CPA expects (sole prop in CA usually 30–35%; S-corp lower because SE tax doesn't apply to distributions).
- If you're unsure, leave the default and revisit after your first quarterly. The estimator will tell you if you're under-reserving.
That's it. Future income events will auto-allocate. Future you will not be scrambling at quarterly time.
What to skip on day one
- What If simulator — fun, but more useful after you have 30 days of real data flowing.
- Surplus allocation rules — set defaults; revisit when a reserve actually overflows.
- Lean Month Mode — leave it off until you understand your normal month first.
- Pipeline confidence levels — useful for forecasting, but only after you've used the basic system for a few weeks.
Done. Now what?
- Wait two weeks. Real income events sharpen the math.
- When your first reserve hits its monthly target, ReservWise will show you what to do next.
- If anything looks weird in week one, it's almost certainly the categorization improving — but if you're unsure, email us.
Ten minutes today. One quarterly tax bill that doesn't surprise you. That's a pretty good trade.