Getting started

Finding your way around

The menu, the top bar and the controls that follow you across every Practice screen.

Updated Getting startedLast checked

Practice keeps the same frame on every screen: a menu down the left, a bar across the top, and your page in the middle. This page explains what each part does, so you can find any screen and the controls that follow you around.

The Practice Overview with six numbered highlights: 1 the menu, 2 Search clients, 3 New, 4 the help button, 5 Your apps, 6 the account menu.
The frame around every Practice screen: the menu (1), Search clients (2), New (3), help (4), Your apps (5) and your account menu (6).

The menu

The menu (1) lists the places you can go, in the order of a working day: Overview and My Workspace, then Capacity, Timesheet and Inbox, then Clients, Billing, Reports and Documents.

  • Your menu may be shorter than a colleague's. An item appears only when your business holds the app it belongs to and your permission groups let you use it. A few items, such as Statutory deadlines and Advisory, appear only for businesses that do that kind of work.
  • Numbers beside an item count what is waiting there for you. Beside Clients, Draft counts clients that somebody started adding and has not finished.
  • The card at the top names the business you are in and its country.
  • The foot of the menu shows the business's plan and how much of its storage is used.

Documents opens the Documents app, which has its own menu. To come back, choose Practice in Your apps.

Collapse the menu for more room

  1. Step 01

    Collapse or expand the menu

    Choose the round arrow control on the edge of the menu, or press . Press it again, or choose the control again, to expand it.

    Practice with the menu collapsed to a narrow strip of icons and the expand control highlighted as 1.
    The collapsed menu. The expand control (1) brings the names back.

  2. Step 02

    Find a collapsed item

    Hover over an icon and its name appears beside it.

The top bar

From left to right, the bar across the top holds:

  • The lock covers the screen when somebody walks over. Set it up first in Security, under Privacy glass, where you choose a PIN and a shortcut. It hides the screen; it does not sign you out.
  • Search clients (2) finds a client by name. Type and press Enter to open the client list filtered by what you typed.
  • A running clock appears only while a timer is running, with the task it is timing.
  • New (3) creates a Task, a Client or an Engagement from any screen. If you may invite people, it also holds Invite team member. You see only the choices your access allows.
  • Get set up appears while the business still has setup steps outstanding, with a count of the steps left.
  • Help (4), the question mark, opens help search, Aiden, the articles about the screen you are on, and links to the Help Centre, the Community and Report a problem.
  • Your apps (5) switches to another app this business holds.
  • The house icon returns to your business list, which is where you switch to another business.
  • Settings, the gear, opens the settings for your account and your business.
  • Notifications, the bell, carries a red count of unread notifications.
  • Your account menu (6) shows your name and role, and Admin if you are an administrator.
The New menu with Task, Client and Engagement under Create, and Invite team member under Firm.
The New menu. Task shows its keyboard shortcut.
The help menu with Search help, Ask Aiden about this screen, three articles under On this screen, and links that open in a new tab.
The help menu. The articles under On this screen change with the page you are on.
The Get set up checklist showing 4 of 9 steps done, with finished steps ticked and Start the tour at the foot.
Get set up, while the business still has steps outstanding.

Your account menu

Choose your name at the far right to open it. It holds Profile and Settings, a Theme choice of Light or Dark, your keyboard shortcuts, and Sign out.

The account menu showing the signed-in name, email and role, then Profile, Settings, Theme, Shortcuts and Sign out.
The account menu.

Keyboard shortcuts

ShortcutWhat it does
Collapse or expand the menu
New task (not while you are typing in a field)
Search this help

The cover-screen shortcut is the one you choose in Security, and the account menu lists it under Shortcuts once it is set up.

Common questions

The menu lost its highlight. Have I broken something? No. A few screens are reached by clicking through from somewhere else rather than from the menu, and on those nothing lights up. Highlighting the nearest item would point you at a section you are not in.

How do I switch to another business? Choose the house icon in the top bar to return to your business list, then open the other business. Switching app inside the same business is Your apps.

What Orin OS is, and where Practice fitsHow Orin OS, your businesses and their apps fit together, and the shape of client work in Practice.Your first weekSix things to do first in Practice, in the order that makes the rest of Orin OS make sense.My WorkspaceYour board, your week and your calendar on one screen, and the things waiting on you.

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