> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://harnesscalendar.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Set up your studio

> Go from a brand-new account to running lessons and getting paid.

Eight steps take you from a brand-new account to a studio that mostly runs itself: students on the calendar, attendance creating the charges, and invoices going out each month. By the end, marking attendance is the main thing you still do by hand.

## 1. Finish the welcome setup

The first time you sign in, Harness walks you through your basics: your name, your studio, and your **timezone**. The timezone matters most: every calendar time, for you and your students, follows it rather than your device's clock, so get it right once here. None of this is permanent; change any of it later under [Settings](/docs/settings/profile-and-studio).

## 2. Add your first student

[Add a student](/docs/students/add-a-student) with the step-by-step form, or [send a sign-up link](/docs/students/invite-with-a-link) and let the family enter their own details.

## 3. Set your lesson rates

A lesson's price is its **rate**, set on the calendar event. Save the prices you reuse as [rate presets](/docs/settings/rate-presets) so pricing a lesson is one click. A lesson with no rate still works; it just charges nothing until you set one.

## 4. Schedule a lesson

Put the lesson on your calendar with [Create an event](/docs/calendar/create-an-event), turn **Payment** on, and pick the rate. You can set the lesson to repeat weekly, fortnightly, or monthly, and add a location.

## 5. Mark attendance

When a lesson happens, open it and mark who attended. Marking attendance creates the **charge**: that's the whole billing step. [Run a lesson](/docs/lessons/operate-a-lesson) covers attendance and notes; [How billing works](/docs/billing/how-billing-works) explains where the charge goes.

## 6. Send the first invoice

Bill the account for its charges: pick the account, choose which charges to include, and [send the invoice](/docs/billing/send-an-invoice). Harness emails it to the account's contacts.

## 7. Get paid online (optional, Professional)

[Connect Stripe](/docs/billing/connect-stripe) so your invoices carry a **Pay** link and card payments record themselves. Online payments are on the Professional plan; logging cash and checks by hand works everywhere.

## 8. Let billing run itself (Professional)

Once you're set up, Harness collects each account's charges into one invoice at every billing cycle, drafted for your review or sent outright. [Automate your billing](/docs/guides/automate-your-billing) walks the setup, and [your invoicing defaults](/docs/settings/invoicing-defaults) set the cycle, automation level, and terms it uses.