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Quick Start — 30 Minutes to Your First IPC

This guide takes a brand-new ORKSTRA user from first login to submitting their first Interim Payment Certificate (IPC) in roughly 30 minutes. It assumes your tenant has already been provisioned by an administrator. If you are setting up a tenant from scratch, jump to the Admin guide → Tenant setup first and come back here once you have a user account.

By the end of this walkthrough you will have:

  1. Logged in and toured the main navigation.
  2. Created a project with a budget and currency baseline.
  3. Imported a Bill of Quantities (BOQ) from Excel.
  4. Logged an inspection for one BOQ item.
  5. Created and submitted an IPC for client approval.

0. Before you start (2 min)​

You need:

  • A user account with at least the PROJECT_MANAGER role on at least one company.
  • Your company's BOQ template (Excel .xlsx) — or use the sample at /templates/boq-sample.xlsx.
  • A browser on the latest Chrome, Edge, Safari, or Firefox.
Screenshot: ORKSTRA login screen with EN/AR language toggle

1. Log in (1 min)​

  1. Open https://app.orkstra.com.
  2. Enter your email and password. If your tenant has SSO enabled, click Continue with SSO.
  3. If MFA is enabled, complete the second factor (TOTP code from your authenticator app, or SMS).
  4. On first login, you will be prompted to set your language and timezone. Language can be switched at any time from the user menu.

2. Pick a company and tour the navigation (3 min)​

If you belong to more than one company, the company switcher appears in the top-left next to the logo. Pick the company you want to work in — projects, BOQs, and approvals are all scoped to a single company.

The left navigation groups features into modules:

  • Projects — project portfolio and individual project workspaces.
  • Finance — BOQ, IPC, variation orders, cost reports.
  • Quality — inspections, NCRs, punch lists, ITPs.
  • HSE — incidents, observations, permits, JSAs, toolbox talks.
  • DMS — document control, transmittals, folders, versions.
  • AI & Insights — chatbot, predictive analytics, cost estimation.
  • Admin — users, roles, tenant settings, billing.

The top bar contains the global search (use Ctrl+K), notifications, and your user menu.

3. Create a project (5 min)​

  1. Click Projects → New project.
  2. Fill in the basics:
    • Name (e.g., Downtown Tower — Marina).
    • Client (free text or pick from the client list).
    • Start date and target completion.
    • Base currency (default: AED).
    • Budget — initial budget figure in base currency.
  3. Click Create. ORKSTRA generates a project workspace with empty BOQ, document, inspection, and HSE shells.
Screenshot: Project creation form with BOQ checkbox and currency dropdown

4. Import a BOQ (8 min)​

  1. From the project workspace, go to Finance → BOQ → Import.
  2. Click Upload Excel and pick your .xlsx file. ORKSTRA supports the standard FIDIC layout and a simplified four-column layout (Code | Description | Unit | Qty).
  3. The BOQ Smart Importer renders a side-by-side preview. Map any unmapped columns and confirm units.
  4. Click Dry run — ORKSTRA validates totals, units, and duplicate codes without writing anything.
  5. If the dry run is green, click Commit. The BOQ is created in revision v1.

If you need bilingual descriptions (AR + EN), use the bilingual BOQ template — see BOQ Smart Importer.

5. Log an inspection (5 min)​

  1. Open any BOQ item that represents executed work (e.g., a concrete pour line).
  2. Click Actions → New inspection.
  3. Pick an inspection template (e.g., Concrete Pour ITP) or fill in checklist items manually.
  4. Assign the inspector and a scheduled date.
  5. The inspector receives a notification. When they mark every checklist item, the inspection moves to Completed and the BOQ item becomes claimable on the next IPC.

6. Submit your first IPC (6 min)​

  1. Go to Finance → IPC → New IPC.
  2. Pick the BOQ revision and the cut-off date.
  3. ORKSTRA pre-fills cumulative quantities from completed inspections.
  4. Review and edit line-by-line — apply retention, materials-on-site, advance recovery.
  5. Click Save as draft to keep working, or Submit for approval.
  6. The IPC enters the approvals workflow defined in Approvals. Once the client approves, ORKSTRA produces the certificate PDF in AR and EN.
Screenshot: IPC line items with retention and materials-on-site columns

You are done​

Congratulations — you have shipped your first IPC. Next steps:

  • Read the Modules overview to discover what else ORKSTRA does.
  • Set up notifications so you are pinged when approvals land in your queue.
  • If you administer the tenant, see Admin → User management to onboard your team.

If anything in this walkthrough didn't behave as described, check the FAQ or the troubleshooting section of the admin guide.