> This is the Markdown of a Backed Help Centre page, https://admin.backed.giving/help/administrator/getting-started/onboarding-sessions.md. Every page is listed at https://admin.backed.giving/help/llms.txt.

> This page uses Backed's default terms, such as Funding Round and Application Template. An organisation may rename them, so read each as your organisation's own term if you've renamed it.

Your onboarding contact at Backed takes your team from a signed contract to your first live grant
round. You get an onboarding plan, three 1:1 sessions and a recording of each, at no cost beyond your
subscription. In each session your onboarding contact shows a step and then your team does it in
your own organisation, so by the end you can set up and run rounds yourselves.

## Your onboarding plan

The plan works back from the date your first real round opens to applicants. It lists your
deadlines, the data you are bringing across, which processes you need on day one and which can
follow, and time held back as a buffer. Most organisations go live in 6 to 8 weeks; a government
agency running its first round can plan on 4 to 6.

## The three sessions

1. **Your organisation, registration and application forms.** Organisation details and brand,
   `Terminology`, Administrators and their permissions, `Two-factor authentication` and `SSO`,
   categories and tags, the registration and application forms, emails, adding and importing
   applicants, and setting up and publishing a grant round.
2. **Assessment, decisions, letters and contracts.** The assessment form, assessors and assessment
   rounds, conflicts of interest, funding decisions with their letters, contract templates, and
   sending and counter-signing a contract.
3. **Milestones, payments and reporting.** Milestone templates and reviews, the portfolio and
   exports, the audit and email logs, and, if your organisation uses it, quarterly reporting and
   board packs. Paying grants from Backed is coming; until then, pay from your finance system.

Each session walks the go-live checklists for what it covers. After session 3 your lead
Administrator signs those checklists off on your first real round.

A few settings are kept by your onboarding contact rather than set on a screen: which parts of
Backed are turned on for your organisation (such as assessments, contracts, verifiers, quarterly
reporting and feedback), your time zone, currency and tax rate, the scoring calculation method for
assessments, and the margins of contract PDFs. Your onboarding contact sets these; tell them if one
needs to change.

## How to prepare

- **For session 1**, separate what an applicant tells you once when they register (their
  organisation's name, ABN and contacts) from the questions they answer for each funding
  application. The first go on the registration form, the second on the application form. Bring
  your current forms and email wording, and the names of the people who will administer Backed.
- **For session 2**, write down your assessment framework: the criteria, how each is scored and
  weighted, and who assesses what. Bring your decision letters and your standard contract, marked
  up where each applicant's details go.
- **For session 3**, work back from what you report on: what your board and funders need to know,
  and so what you collect from grantees at application, at each milestone and in each report.

## Find your plan and recordings

Go to `Settings > Onboarding`. It shows what your onboarding team has given your organisation;
recordings and documents open in a new tab. You need access to your organisation's settings to open
it.

- `Your onboarding plan`, with the date it was delivered and `Open`.
- `Sessions`: one row for each of the three sessions. A session not held yet reads `Not yet held`.
  A held session has `Watch recording`, its date, and `Covered:` with the checklists it walked.
- `Demo videos` and `Training`, when your onboarding contact has added any. Show the demo videos to
  administrators who join later.
- `Security and privacy review`: the security pack and data-sovereignty statement, each with the
  date it was requested and delivered. See
  [Security and privacy review](security-and-privacy-review.md).
- `Milestones`: `Contract signed` and `Went live`, and the number of days between them.

If you are your organisation's lead Administrator and haven't finished setting up your
organisation, the page starts with `Organisation setup`: how many steps are done, the next step,
and `Resume organisation setup`, which opens setup at that step.

Until anything is recorded, the page says `Nothing has been recorded yet.` Your onboarding contact
adds each recording and document as your onboarding goes.

## See also

- [Migrating to Backed](migrating-to-backed.md)
- [Checklist - Organisation](../organisation/checklist-organisation.md)
- [Checklist - Funding Rounds & Grant Management](../funding-rounds/checklist-funding-rounds-and-grant-management.md)