You've got this, and you're not on your own. There's no scheduled onboarding call for this plan, but everything you need is here. When you get stuck, use one of these three routes:
This guide, bookmark it. Each phase links the exact article for the step you're on.
Help Center search, help.getply.com has 200+ searchable articles and videos.
Support chat, hit a bug or a wall? Message Support from the in-app chat bubble.
💡 Tip: Invite your team to Ply early (Phase 1) so several people can work through different phases at the same time.
🗺️ The Roadmap at a Glance
A few phases are prerequisites for the ones that follow, for example, your stock locations must exist before the FSM integration can connect, and you should lock your integration settings before you build your catalog. Here's the full path:
Phase | What you'll do | Time |
0 · Kickoff & Access | Log in, secure the account, get the mobile app, invite your team | Day 1 |
1 · Company Foundation | Company profile, users, roles & permissions | Days 1–2 |
2 · Warehouse & Trucks (required before FSM) | Create your stock locations & response mapping | Days 2–3 |
3 · FSM & Accounting (FSM required) | Connect ServiceTitan / HCP / Jobber, plus QBO or Sage | Days 3–4 |
4 · Configure & Test | Set every toggle, test with fake data, then turn sync OFF while you build | Day 4 |
5 · Suppliers | Add the vendors you order from | Day 5 |
6 · Catalog / Pricebook | Review, clean, or build your material library | Days 5–7 |
7 · Stock Your Locations | Min/max, positions, barcodes per location | Days 7–10 |
8 · Procurement & POs | PO settings, approvals, consigned inventory | Week 2 |
9 · Warehouse Setup (PWI) | Count, label, and set truck cycle counts | Week 2 |
10 · Train & Go-Live | Train techs, turn sync back ON, run a live pilot | Week 3 |
11 · Sustain | Cycle counts, reports, and ongoing hygiene | Ongoing |
✅ Phase 0: Kickoff & Access
Get into the platform, lock it down, and bring your team along.
☐ Confirm your subscription is active and find your welcome email
☐ Log in to Ply on desktop, then set up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
☐ Download the Ply mobile app (iOS/Android), you'll need it for scanning and warehouse work
☐ Add the Ply widget to your phone for one-tap access
☐ Invite your team so they can help set things up in parallel
📖 Start here:
📱 Account & mobile:
✅ Phase 1 - Company Foundation & Settings
Set up your company and your people. This is the groundwork everything else builds on.
☐ Complete your company profile: business information, address, and logo
☐ Add all users under Settings → Company & Billing → Team
☐ Assign roles & permissions to each user (admin, manager, technician)
📖 Read:
✅ Phase 2 - Create Warehouse & Truck Locations
Required before the FSM integration. Create the location "containers" now - you'll fill them with items in Phase 7. Your integration needs these to exist so it knows where to sync inventory.
☐ Create your Warehouses (fixed locations with a physical address)
☐ Create your Trucks (mobile locations assigned to techs/crews)
☐ Assign each technician to their truck
☐ Set each technician's Default Response Location (their primary truck)
⚠️ Why response locations matter: if they're not set, Ply deducts job materials from the warehouse instead of the tech's truck, causing counts to drift over time.
📖 Read:
✅ Phase 3 - FSM & Accounting Integrations
The FSM connection must be completed. Connect Ply to the field-service system you already run so jobs and inventory stay in sync. This requires your Phase 2 locations to exist first. Complete the section that matches your system, then run the verification checklist.
🔧 ServiceTitan:
🏠 Housecall Pro:
🛠️ Jobber:
✔️ Verify the connection (all FSMs): confirm your integrated/default warehouse is mapped correctly, and that technician-to-truck mapping is set so job usage hits the right location. Then move to Phase 4 before you build.
💰 Accounting (If your plan includes it):
✅ Phase 4 - Configure & Test Integration Settings
Do this before you build your catalog. Connecting the integration is only half the job, the settings control what flows between Ply and your FSM/accounting system, and in which direction. Getting them right now protects your data and prevents surprises later.
Golden rule while you're still building: if you don't want anything syncing (and corrupting your counts) while you set Ply up, turn the sync settings OFF until you're ready to go live. You'll turn them back on in Phase 10.
Block one hour to test before go-live:
☐ Create a fake supplier under your own email - send yourself a test PO to see what vendor emails look like
☐ Create one fake material item
☐ Create two fake POs and run them end-to-end (send → receive → reconcile)
☐ Create one fake job in your FSM and confirm it links to Ply — watch exactly what happens (material deductions, invoice lines, etc.)
☐ Adjust toggles until Ply behaves the way you want operationally
☐ Screenshot every settings screen once you're happy, this is your blueprint to restore the exact config at go-live
☐ Turn sync back OFF (if not going live yet), then delete your fake test records
All settings live under Settings → Workspace → Integrations. Turn on only what fits your workflow. Here's what each toggle does when ON.
🔧 ServiceTitan settings
Setting | What it does when ON |
Send materials to FSM Invoice | Materials added to a Ply job are pushed onto the ServiceTitan invoice |
Receive materials from FSM Invoice | Materials added in ServiceTitan appear on the matching Ply job |
Require technician & inventory location | Adds the source location + technician to each invoice item (needed for clean posting to accounting) |
Sync materials to location | Syncs data to/from one chosen default location |
Use tech's truck as default location | Deducts job materials from the technician's truck by default |
Delete materials | Deleting a material in Ply deactivates it in ServiceTitan |
PO auto sending | POs created in Ply are sent to the supplier automatically |
Sync only at specific job status | Materials sync only once the job hits the status you choose |
Estimate Pipeline (If your plan includes it) | Approved ST estimates route to a Pick List or Draft PO for review |
Also set: Income / Asset / Expense accounts · Cost relations (cost for business vs. client) · Tech Job Visibility · Material sourcing for multi-tech jobs (shared truck + tiebreaker).
🏠 Housecall Pro settings
Setting | What it does when ON |
Sync materials to invoice by default | Every material transferred to a job posts to the HCP invoice as a line item |
Set materials as taxable by default | Transferred materials are marked taxable on the invoice |
Enable Pricebook Sync | Two-way material/category sync between Ply and HCP (keep ON in almost all cases) |
Sync Material Deletion | Deleting a material in Ply also deletes it in HCP (use with caution) |
Sync Job Inputs | Sends materials as internal Job Inputs (cost tracking, not billed to customer) |
Add PO Link to Job Notes | Adds the PO number to the HCP job's private notes |
Add Shipping Costs to job | Adds PO shipping cost to the linked job |
Receive materials from FSM Invoice | Materials added in HCP appear on the matching Ply job |
Sync only at specific job status | Materials sync only at the job status you choose |
Estimate Pipeline | Approved estimates route to a Pick List or Draft PO |
Also set: Default location · Material sourcing for multi-tech jobs.
🛠️ Jobber settings
Setting | What it does when ON |
Sync materials to location | Syncs data to/from one chosen default location |
Set materials as expenses | Materials used on jobs are recorded as expenses in Jobber |
Sync visits in a recurrent job | Syncs visits for recurring jobs |
Link POs to the Jobber job | Attaches Ply POs to the corresponding Jobber job |
Add Shipping Costs to job | Adds PO shipping cost to the job |
Receive materials from FSM Invoice | Materials added in Jobber appear on the matching Ply job |
Job name template | Controls how synced Jobber job names are formatted in Ply |
Sync only at specific job status | Materials sync only at the job status you choose |
Estimate Pipeline | Approved quotes route to a Pick List or Draft PO |
Also set: Material sourcing for multi-tech jobs (first technician's location).
📗 QuickBooks Online settings (If your plan includes it)
Setting | What it does when ON |
Sync materials to location | Syncs to/from one chosen default location. If unset, items land in the catalog, not a warehouse — set this intentionally |
Sum Quantities Across All Locations | Ply totals stock across all locations and pushes the sum to QBO — Ply becomes source of truth and ignores QBO quantity changes |
Close POs in QBO when received | Marks the QBO PO closed on receipt |
Add Shipping Cost to PO | Includes shipping on the PO |
Customer Integration | Lets customer info attach to POs from the QBO side |
Sync Material Deletion | Deleting a material in Ply removes it in QBO |
Enable PO Item Description Field | Adds the description field to POs |
Auto-create a Bill on PO receipt | QBO generates the Bill automatically on receipt |
QBO required setup. Prerequisites: QBO plan Plus or higher (inventory tracking required); inventory tracking ON in QBO; admin rights in both systems; unique item names in QBO.
Map the 4 accounts (the #1 cause of sync failures — both Account Type and Detail Type must match):
Ply field | QBO Account Type (If your plan includes it) | Detail Type |
Inventory Asset Account | Other Current Asset | Inventory |
Income Account | Income | Sales of Product Income |
Accounts Payable (A/P) | Accounts Payable | Accounts Payable (A/P) |
Expense Account | Cost of Goods Sold (or Expense) | Cost of Goods Sold |
Order of operations: Connect → map the 4 accounts → sync Inventory-type items → (optional) enable Customer Integration → create/sync a PO → retry any failed PO manually. Good to know: only Inventory-type items sync; jobs and tools don't; a same-named non-inventory item blocks the sync; POs that failed before you fixed the mapping must be retried manually.
📖 Deep dives:
☐ QBO Customer Column in POs (If your plan includes it)
✅ Phase 5 - Add Suppliers
Add the vendors you buy from so purchase orders and replenishment route to the right place.
Add each supplier (name, contact info, account number)
Note which suppliers you'll use most for replenishment, and set preferred suppliers
(If applicable) Flag any supplier that manages consigned inventory for you
💡 Online vendors: buying from Amazon or Home Depot? See How to Add Online Vendors. No email for a vendor? Add one without an email address.
📖 Read:
✅ Phase 6 - Catalog / Pricebook
Your Catalog is your master material library - the single source of truth for every part, tool, and kit. Review what synced from your FSM, clean it up, or build it out.
☐ Decide your category structure (e.g., Plumbing, Electrical, HVAC, Fittings)
☐ Review, clean up, or upload your materials (name, SKU, category, unit, cost)
☐ Set each material's unit of measure, and add a conversion for anything you order and consume in different units
☐ Add product images and descriptions where helpful
☐ Review for duplicates and standardize naming
📏 Match your units of measure (UoM). Order and consumption units are often different - you buy R410 refrigerant as 1 each (a 25 lb jug) but consume it by the pound. Set consumption to lbs, then map the conversion: open the item → ⋯ → UoM → set 25 lbs = 1 each → Save. See Multi Unit of Measurement (Multi UoM).
⚠️ Deleting a synced material also deletes it from your FSM. To avoid this, go to Settings → Workspace → Integrations and toggle OFF the pricebook/catalog sync before deleting. Note: ServiceTitan does not allow disabling this sync - for ServiceTitan, deletions always flow through.
🛒 Messy pricebook or a big export? Send Support an Excel sheet and the team can handle the bulk upload for you. Or build from scratch straight off supplier sites (Amazon Business, SupplyHouse, Grainger, Home Depot Pro, Ferguson…) with the Punch-Out extension.
📖 Build & clean:
✅ Phase 7 - Add Items to Your Locations
Populate the warehouses and trucks from Phase 2 with materials from your Catalog, and configure how each item behaves per location.
☐ Add materials to each warehouse and truck
☐ Set the Replenishable toggle per material (on = tracked for restocking)
☐ Set Min/Max quantities (min triggers reorder alerts; over max flags overstock)
☐ Enter on-hand quantities
☐ Set Position (bin/aisle/level/shelf) so techs find items fast
☐ Confirm or customize auto-generated barcodes
🚚 Fleet shortcut - Stock Templates: if all your trucks carry the same materials, build one model truck and replicate it to the rest in a few clicks (copies materials, min/max, quantities, costs, positions, and barcodes).
📖 Read:
✅ Phase 8 - Procurement & Purchase Orders
Configure how you reorder and how POs behave.
☐ Set your PO Approval Flow (require admin/owner approval, or send directly)
☐ Choose a default PO view (Board or List) and display settings
☐ Create your custom PO number format(s) (prefix, separator, starting number)
☐ Decide whether technicians can create POs
☐ (If applicable) Confirm Consigned Inventory is enabled with your supplier
📖 Set up POs:
📦 Receiving & returns:
💡 Using an FSM? Push POs & estimates across systems:
✅ Phase 9 - Warehouse Implementation (PWI)
Turn your physical space into a fully traceable digital inventory - counting, labeling, and verifying without shutting down daily operations.
Before you start, gather: the Ply mobile app, a Brother label printer (Brother P-touch Cube 910) 24mm/36mm tape, Ply count cards, and an organized workspace.
☐ Organize storage with a four-part format: Aisle / Bay / Level / Bin
☐ Pick a small pilot section and count what you have onto count cards
☐ Add each item to Ply (scan existing barcode or create the material)
☐ Print labels (Layout 3 + Landscape, font ~120) and apply in order
☐ Label + QA: match card to label, stick on the bin, re-scan to confirm
☐ Work in chunks (a bay/aisle/category) — aim for ~2–3 minutes per item
☐ Establish a cycle count for your truck locations — the easiest way to trust your numbers at go-live
☐ (Optional) Print truck inventory logs by category for field reference
📖 The playbook:
🖨️ Hardware & counts:
✅ Phase 10 - Technician Training & Go-Live
Your techs live in the mobile app - pulling materials on jobs, scanning, and requesting restock. Train them, then flip the switches and pilot on real jobs.
Train your team (self-serve):
☐ Walk your techs through the New Tech Training article and mobile app basics
☐ Show them how to find items by position, scan, and pull materials onto a job
☐ Show them how to submit a Field Request when they run low on the truck
☐ (Optional) Book a live group session if your plan includes one - otherwise the article + a short internal run-through covers it
Then go live:
☐ Turn your integration sync settings back ON, matching the screenshots you saved in Phase 4
☐ Run a live pilot on a handful of real jobs and confirm counts move correctly
☐ Spot-check a warehouse and a truck against Ply's on-hand numbers
☐ Announce go-live - all material movement now runs through Ply
📖 Read:
☐ How Field Requests Work (If your plan includes it)
☐ Field Requests for Truck Replenishment (If your plan includes it)
☐ Create & Print a Pick List (If your plan includes it)
✅ Phase 11 - Sustain (Ongoing)
Setup isn't one-and-done. A little weekly hygiene keeps your numbers accurate and the reports below turn that accurate data into decisions.
☐ Keep recurring cycle counts running (build on the truck cycle count from Phase 9)
☐ Do a quick weekly warehouse sweep (aisles clear, labels intact, items in place)
☐ Review replenishment alerts and overstock flags regularly
☐ Re-audit response locations whenever techs or trucks change
☐ Add new materials to the Catalog before they hit the field
☐ Tune notifications so the right people get the right alerts
📖 Reports & day-to-day:
🛟 When Something Looks Off
The most common self-serve snags - bookmark these so you can unblock yourself fast.
📚 Full Training Library
Every module referenced above, grouped in one place.
Getting started:
Account & mobile:
☐ MFA
Company & users:
Locations:
ServiceTitan:
Housecall Pro:
Jobber:
Accounting (If your plan includes it):
Suppliers:
Catalog & materials:
Stock & locations:
Warehouse setup:
Procurement:
Techs & jobs:
☐ Field Requests (If your plan includes it)
☐ Pick Lists (If your plan includes it)
Reports:
☐ Cycle Counts (If your plan includes it)
💡 Want a dedicated Customer Success Manager?
Our Plus plan includes a dedicated CSM who provides guided 1:1 onboarding, proactive check-ins, and ongoing strategic support. If that sounds like a better fit for your team, reach out to our team to learn more about upgrading to Plus.
Still stuck?
Hit a wall during setup or think you've found a bug? Search the full Help Center or message our Support team from the in-app chat bubble we're here to help