Beagle is a Mac application. The iPhone and Apple Watch apps are companions to it — you set the practice up on the Mac.
#What you need
- A Mac running a supported version of macOS.
- An account. Beagle is a firm product: someone at your firm creates accounts, or you create the first one yourself when you set the firm up.
- An internet connection for signing in and for sync. Once you are signed in, your data lives on your Mac and the app keeps working if the connection drops.
#The first time you open it
You will move through three screens before you reach the workspace.
- Sign in. Beagle asks for your email address and password before it shows any practice data. See Sign in to Beagle.
- Choose a firm. If your account belongs to more than one firm, or to none yet, Beagle asks which one to open. See Choose or create your firm.
- The workspace. You land on the dashboard, inside the three-column Mac workspace.
#What you see in the workspace
The Mac workspace has three columns:
- The sidebar, on the left, with your firm identity, a calendar and the quick-help panel.
- The main column, in the middle, showing whichever section you have open — Dashboard, Contacts, Matters, Clients, Billing, Tasks, Expenses, Reports or Notepad.
- The utility column, on the right, with the live timer and manual entry controls.
#Where to go next
A new firm starts empty. The usual order is clients, then matters, then everything that hangs off a matter.
- Import your data from CSV if you are moving from another system.
- Add and organise contacts.
- Track tasks.