Welcome

This guide walks organization owners and administrators through setting up a new FTE Tree organization. Each section covers one step in the recommended setup order and links to the full help article for detailed instructions.

After creating your organization, the Setup guide in your settings center provides quick links to each step below. You can return to it at any time.

Creating your organization

After signing up and confirming your email address, you will be directed to a welcome page where you can create your first organization. On this page you will:

  • Review the available subscription plan and pricing.
  • Enter your Organization name, which will be used throughout the application.
  • Confirm your First and last name for your user profile.
  • Choose the Number of Operating Budget positions your organization needs.
  • Agree to the Terms of Service.

Once you submit the form, your organization is created with a free trial and you are taken directly to the new organization's Dashboard.

Getting started

Update your profile

Before diving into settings, update your user profile with your name and contact details. Navigate to your profile from the user menu in the top navigation bar.

Step 1: configure your organization

After creating your organization, start by configuring the basics under Settings > organization.

  • Organization name and Subdomain identify your organization and determine your URL.
  • Time zone controls how dates and times are displayed across the application.
  • Settings message lets you display a banner message visible to all users on the settings page.

For full details, see Organization settings and users.

Step 2: enable security settings

Before inviting users, configure your security requirements under Settings > security > security settings.

  • Require two-factor authentication to enforce MFA for all users in your organization.
  • Single sign-on (SSO) providers can be enabled for Google, Microsoft, or approved enterprise identity providers with optional domain restrictions.
  • Email domain restrictions limit which email domains may be invited and which addresses can receive outbound notifications.

Enterprise SSO setup appears under Settings > security > identity providers after FTE Tree enables the feature for the organization. Authorized organization security administrators can then prepare and test draft identity provider settings. FTE Tree controls provider activation and organization-wide SSO enforcement.

For full details, see Authentication and security.

Organization and users

Step 3: build your department structure

The department tree is the foundation of your organization in FTE Tree. Positions, users, approval workflows, and GL strings are all organized through departments.

  • Plan your hierarchy before creating departments.
  • In most cases, keep one root department and place every division, location, cost center, or team underneath it. This makes department access, approval roles, GL values, coverage cycle settings, coverage timezones, and coverage targets easier to cascade and audit.
  • For each department, configure the Name, Parent department, and whether it is Available to assign positions. This availability setting controls new position assignment only; existing positions and reporting history remain connected to the department.
  • Child departments can inherit settings from their parent, including approval workflows and GL values.

For full details, see Department tree.

Step 4: set up access and approval roles

Access roles define what users can do in your organization. Department access rules define where department-limited permissions apply. Approval roles define who is selected as an approver in workflow routing.

New organizations include standard access roles for full administration, security administration, access administration, billing, imports, workforce settings, department management, and view-only access. Review these defaults first, then create custom roles for job functions such as requester, approver, finance reviewer, billing administrator, or security administrator when those responsibilities should be separated.

  • Keep all normal user access role-based.
  • Create reusable department access rules for stable business boundaries such as All Departments, Finance, Operations, or a specific division.
  • Assign permissions to each access role, using the role's default department access or a different department boundary when needed.
  • Keep sensitive-data permissions separate from ordinary view access.
  • Define organization approval roles and escalation roles for workflow routing.
  • If your organization uses SSO groups, map external group values to local access roles.

For full details, see Permissions and roles.

Step 5: invite users

With access roles defined, invite users to your organization under Settings > organization > users.

  • Invitations are sent by email. Users must create an account or sign in with an existing account and accept the invitation.
  • Assign access roles when inviting users.
  • Keep invitation authority separate from access-assignment authority when your team needs separation of duties.
  • Configure Invitation settings to control reminder frequency, back-off behavior, and business-day-only delivery.

For full details, see Organization settings and users.

Position configuration

Step 6: configure position settings

Before creating job codes or positions, configure your position settings under Settings > position > general.

  • Job code label lets you customize what job codes are called in your organization.
  • Weekly hours per FTE defines the number of weekly hours that equal 1.0 FTE.
  • Annual hours per FTE sets the total annual hours used in cost calculations.
  • Headcount FTE amount sets the minimum FTE for a position to be counted in headcount totals.
  • Department filters control which position statuses are visible in the position list.

For full details, see Position settings.

Step 7: create job codes and pay grades

Job codes classify positions by type and form a tree structure similar to the department tree.

  • Plan your job code hierarchy before creating entries.
  • In most cases, keep one root job code and place every job family, class, level, or grouping underneath it. This keeps inherited job-code defaults, adjustments, descendant filters, reports, and coverage target rules easier to apply consistently.
  • Each job code has general settings and values that can change over time.
  • Department mapping is a 1:1 explicit mapping between job codes and departments.
  • Pay grades define minimum and maximum wage ranges with historical effective dates.

For full details, see Job codes and pay grades.

Step 8: set up field settings and custom fields

Field settings control the built-in and custom data captured on positions, employees, job codes, departments, approval requests, and openings.

  • Review core field settings under Settings > [entity type] > core field settings.
  • Create custom fields under Settings > [entity type] > custom fields.
  • Choose a field type such as text, number, dropdown, checkbox, or date.
  • Set the Approval level for fields that require approval routing.
  • Option sets define dropdown options for choice fields.
  • Status values define status labels and behavior, such as whether a position status counts as active.

For full details, see Field settings and custom fields.

Step 9: create schedules

Schedules define work time blocks and drive FTE calculations. FTE is calculated as Schedule Paid Hours divided by FTE Standard Hours.

  • Navigate to Settings > position > schedules to create schedule templates.
  • Choose between Full schedule or Hours-only.
  • Assign schedules to positions through the Schedule field.

For full details, see Schedules and coverage.

Step 10: configure position adjustments

Adjustments modify FTE, wage rate, or annual wage amounts on positions.

  • Adjustments can be defined at the position level or inherited from job codes.
  • Use Calculation order on the adjustment list to control the sequence within each adjustment type.
  • Max basis amount and Max total amount set caps on how adjustments are applied.
  • Adjustments can be limited to all Organization Scenarios or specific Organization Scenarios for planning purposes.

For full details, see Position adjustments.

Add positions

Step 11: add positions

With your foundation in place, you can begin creating positions.

  • Navigate to the Positions and create new positions.
  • Each position is assigned an organization-scoped position number and linked to a department and job code.
  • Set the schedule, wage rate, and any custom fields.
  • Use Funding sources if your organization tracks position costs across multiple funding sources.
  • The Staffing Strategy overview view provides point-in-time aggregated totals for FTE, annualized run-rate costs, and headcount.
  • Your subscription position count applies to active Operating Budget positions. Scenario-only draft positions are available for planning and are controlled by a separate per-scenario draft cap.

For full details, see Positions.

Workflows and tracking

Step 12: set up approval workflows

Approval workflows route position change requests through defined approval steps.

  • Define Approval levels that correspond to the levels set on position fields.
  • Create workflows for each level and request type.
  • Add steps specifying approvers, required approval count, and allowed denial count.
  • Configure FTE impact levels and Cost impact levels.
  • Assign workflows to departments. Workflow assignments cascade down the department tree.
  • Configure Escalation settings to automatically add backup approvers.

For full details, see Approval settings and workflows.

Step 13: configure opening settings

Openings are automatically generated when approval requests are fully approved and the approval workflow is configured to create an opening.

  • Under Settings > Openings, configure the Label prefix and Padding digits for opening numbering.
  • Under opening status values, review the available statuses and choose which values count as open.
  • Configure opening custom fields to capture additional information about staffing actions.

For full details, see Openings.

Step 14: import existing data (optional)

If you have existing positions, employees, job codes, or departments, use batch imports to load or update them in bulk.

  • For a new organization, batch create records in this order: job codes, departments, employees, then positions.
  • This order matters because departments can reference available job codes, and positions can reference departments, job codes, and incumbent employees.
  • Download the blank create template, blank update template, or current values update template for the data type you need. Current values exports are available only when the full result fits within your organization's import row limit, which defaults to 5,000 data rows and excludes the CSV header row. Contact us if your organization needs a higher limit. For departments, employees, and job codes, use the available-records current values export when inactive setup records are not needed.
  • Prepare your file following the required column format.
  • Choose Create for new records or Update for existing records. Create imports never update existing records, and update imports never create missing records.
  • Upload the file, review validation results and row-level issues, and confirm the import.
  • For position imports, choose Operating Budget in Scenario to import directly into the Operating Budget, or choose a scenario to import draft scenario changes.
  • Watch the import status panel while validation, import processing, and any updates complete.

For full details, see Batch import and export.

Step 15: configure audit and notifications

Set up audit tracking and notification preferences to keep your team informed.

  • Under each area's Audit events settings, configure which audit notes users can or must provide.
  • Configure Messages and notifications to control how comments, mentions, and system messages are delivered.
  • Users can manage their own email notification preferences from their profile.

For full details, see Audit events and Messages and notifications.

Billing

Step 16: set up your subscription

Configure your subscription under Settings > billing.

  • Select a subscription plan and complete checkout.
  • Manage your subscription, payment method, and invoices through the Customer portal.
  • Review your position entitlement so the subscribed count matches the number of active Operating Budget positions you expect to manage.

For full details, see Billing and subscriptions.

Next steps

With your organization set up, here are some areas to explore:

  • Return to the Setup guide in your settings center at any time to review these steps.
  • Getting started: new user guide provides orientation for users joining your organization.
  • Forecast scenarios let you model staffing changes before committing them.
  • Reports in Insights provide position planning totals, vacancy tracking, and approval workflow analysis.