A step-by-step walkthrough for validating your data before go-live

Overview

All data in Cartwheel mirrors the data as logged and sent through the integration with your Invoicing System and is refreshed daily. Spot-checking a representative sample of clients confirms accuracy across the board.

Work through each step below and flag anything that does not match expectations with the Cartwheel technical support team at support@cartwheel.io.

Cartwheel Support SLAs

Before You Begin

• Confirm your Invoicing System Back Office data is current.

• Identify 5 to 10 priority clients for your test sample: typically those with the highest volume of invoices, largest open balances, or high-touch service requirements.

• Skip the Home and Dashboard for now; these populate accurately once invoice activity begins.

• It is a safe assumption that if the data is consistent for this sample set of clients that it will be consistent for all (direct data integration)

Prerequisite: Stripe Setup to Receive Client Payment

Stripe FAQs

Stripe Post Go-Live FAQs

• In Cartwheel Go to Settings > Integrations, locate Stripe, and click Connect.

• Complete the guided Stripe account setup.

• Stripe must be configured before any test invoices can be sent and payments can be processed.

Step 1: Review Client Profiles

Navigate to: Clients tab

1.1 Select the Billing Contract within the client profile

• Review payment settings, including the options to enable auto pay or partial payments if you’d like to set these features for any customer.

• Enable PDF attachments if needed: select Edit from within the billing contract, scroll to the bottom, enable the setting, and select Update.

• Review and edit the standard shared reminder schedule, and create a custom schedule for any client that requires one. NOTE: You must update the reminder schedule to “enabled” for reminders to be sent by Cartwheel.

• Note: All data comes from Your Invoicing System, so any data discrepancies should be reviewed and corrected there first.

1.2 Navigate to the Contacts Tab (Client - Level)

• Confirm expected contacts are present and accurate.

• Contacts sync automatically from Your Invoicing System with de-duplication.

• Ad hoc contacts can be added in Cartwheel but will not write back to Your Invoicing System.

1.3 Navigate to the Invoices Tab (Client - Level)

• Confirm expected invoices are present.

• Verify payment status on recent invoices.

• Click into individual invoices and check type, hours, rates, line items, and totals.

• Download the invoice PDF and confirm it matches what clients expect.

Step 2: Audit the Full Invoice List

Navigate to: Invoices tab

2.1 CSV Download (Recommended)

• Export all invoices with full detail: client, invoice number, status, amounts, and aging.

• Focus on April onward, which is when payment sync was established.

• Compare totals in this report against your invoicing system.

• Column G represents Days Overdue; use this to build aging buckets if needed.

2.2 In-Platform Filters (Alternative)

• Filter by client name, status, invoice date range, or due date range.

Validation Checklist

• Are all expected invoices present for the 5 to 10 clients checked?

• Do totals match your Invoicing System?

• Is payment status correct for recent invoices?

• Are days overdue accurate?

Step 3: Send Test Invoices

3.1 Post vs. Send Button

3.2 How to Post an Invoice

• Open the invoice and click Post.

• The default invoice contact will automatically be selected. Feel free to remove this contact and manually enter a specific email address, if desired.

• Click Post: this simultaneously publishes and sends the document.

Step 4: Review Payments

Navigate to: Payments tab

• Payments sourced from your invoicing system show the source system logo; Stripe payments made via Cartwheel show the Stripe logo.

• Unconfirmed payments represent payment received but not matched to an invoice: these must be manually confirmed or reallocated.

• Download the Payments CSV to validate totals.

• A one-off payment feature is available for admins to process payments on invoices that are not in Cartwheel. To process a one-off payment, we request an invoice number for payment mapping in case the one-off payment invoice enters the system.

Step 5: Final Walkthrough of General Settings

5.1 General Settings

• Credit Card Surcharge: A global toggle to pass processing fees to clients.

• Activity Feed: Enables clients to see invoice communication history in their portal.

5.2 Reminder Schedules

• Edit your reminder schedule

• A default schedule applies to all new clients automatically.

• Create shared or custom schedules per client segment.

• Apply custom schedules at the billing contract level.

• Pause or re-enable reminders on any individual invoice at any time.

Step 6: Users and Client Portal Access

Navigate to: Users tab

• Select Add User, enter the name and email, set the role to Client, select the client name, and click Send Invite.

• The client portal view is automatically restricted to their own invoices.

• The Cartwheel team will support bulk invitations with a template when you are ready.

Knowledge Base and Support

• For detailed guides, visit help.cartwheel.io

• For technical support or questions, email support@cartwheel.io and CC your primary Cartwheel contact.

Issues or Questions during testing? Flag data discrepancies to the Cartwheel team at  support@cartwheel.io and check the data in your invoicing system. Please send any applicable photos from your system for data comparison.