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Getting Started

Updated

Two starting points depending on who you are, plus the setup order that avoids rework.

On this page:

If you are setting the account up

The order matters. Doing these out of sequence means redoing work.

1. Create custom fields. Before importing anything, check whether you hold information the standard fields do not cover, such as billing IDs or customer types. Fields created now can be mapped directly during the import; fields created afterwards cannot.

2. Create custom Page Layouts. Reorganize or hide fields per object so people are not scrolling past what they do not need, and mark the fields that must always be filled as required.

3. Import your data. From spreadsheets or another CRM.

4. Connect integrations. Invoicing, marketing email, and the rest.

5. Add your users. Last, though earlier works if you prefer. Adding them after the import tends to produce fewer errors.

Insightly CRM Integrations Settings Page — The Integrations section of Insightly CRM’s System Settings displays five available third-party integrations: Slack, QuickBooks, MailChimp, PandaDoc, and Xero, each with a brief description and an “Install” button. This helps users understand which external tools can be connected to their CRM and how to begin the installation process.
Add New User Modal Dialog Form — A popup form in Insightly CRM allows administrators to invite a new user by entering their first name, last name, email address, and selecting a profile type such as Standard User. This form is relevant for anyone needing to add team members to their Insightly account and assign them appropriate access levels.

ℹ️ Add users after importing, then use bulk editing or bulk updating to assign the imported records to them.

⚠️ Have at least two administrators. One is a single point of failure if they are locked out or leave. Equally, do not give everyone administrator rights.

ℹ️ Any plan can edit an object’s default layout. Professional and Enterprise can create multiple layouts per object and assign them to different profiles.

Custom fields and Page Layouts

The two customization features that do most of the work.

Custom fields are created by administrators, in 16 types covering numbers, dates, and text. An accounting team needing billing information on contact records would ask for fields such as payment type and fee amount.

Plan Custom fields per object
Free 2
Plus 50
Professional 100
Enterprise 200

Page Layouts control which fields are displayed, in what order, and to whom. The accounting team’s new fields can sit at the top of the contact record and be made required. Advanced Permissions then restricts that layout to the accounting profile, so the rest of the company does not see the billing information at all.

Customizing a Contact Layout in Insightly — The screenshot shows the layout editor for a Contact object named “Kourtney’s VIPs,” displaying a Highlights Bar with fields like Email, Mobile Phone, Date of Birth, Coffee Preferences, and Contact Owner, along with a Details section containing name and mailing address fields. This helps users understand how to arrange and save custom field layouts for contact records in Insightly CRM.

Removing the sample data

Every new account arrives with sample records and settings for exploring the product. Once your own data is in, they want removing.

Sample records carry the sample_data tag. Any user can delete the records; administrators remove the sample pipelines, activity sets, and opportunity state reasons.

Do it in this order, records first, then pipelines and activity sets.

Sample records

  1. Click the Contacts tab.
  2. Click sample_data in the tags index in the right sidebar. Click Show Sidebar above the list first if it is hidden.
  3. Tick the checkbox above the list to select all the records.
  4. Click Delete and confirm.
  5. Empty the Recycle Bin, or delete these items from it.

Repeat for organizations, leads, opportunities, and projects. Leads appear on 14-day trial accounts.

Filtering Contacts by Sample Data Tag — The screenshot shows the Insightly CRM contacts list filtered by a tag called “sample_data,” with a red arrow pointing to that tag in the Contacts Tags panel on the right. This helps users understand how to locate and manage contacts associated with a specific tag, which is useful when organizing or deleting imported sample data.

⚠️ The Recycle Bin step is not optional. Sample pipelines cannot be removed from settings until the sample records have been permanently deleted, not merely deleted.

Sample pipelines and activity sets

Two sample pipelines ship with the account, one for opportunities and one for projects. Neither counts against any account limit, so keeping or modifying them is fine.

To remove one:

  1. Go to System Settings > Pipelines.
  2. Click Edit Stages.
  3. Click the edit button beside the stage containing an activity set.
  4. Remove the activity set by selecting the blank option, then click Save.
  5. Click Delete to remove the pipeline.

Repeat for the second pipeline, then click the Activity Sets tab and click Delete beside each activity set.

Reading order for administrators

  1. Navigating around Insightly
  2. Different ways to access Insightly
  3. Personalize your User Settings
  4. Managing your subscription
  5. Building Blocks: objects, records, and fields
  6. What are Insightly’s standard objects?
  7. Using Insightly to manage sales
  8. First steps for administrators (above)
  9. Using System Settings to customize your CRM
  10. Custom fields and Page Layouts (above)
  11. Customizing contact management
  12. Customizing opportunities
  13. Customizing leads
  14. Customizing projects
  15. Importing overview and tips
  16. Sample import files
  17. Importing records with custom fields
  18. Overview of Advanced Reporting
  19. Introduction to Dashboards
  20. Planning your users and data imports
  21. Introduction to Simple and Advanced Permissions
  22. How to add a new user

Reading order for users

  1. Navigating around Insightly
  2. Different ways to access Insightly
  3. Personalize your User Settings
  4. Using Insightly to manage sales
  5. Viewing records
  6. Linking records
  7. Using tasks in Insightly
  8. How to create a list view
  9. How to follow records and receive notifications
  10. A guide to email in Insightly
  11. Set up your account to send email from Insightly
  12. Using your Insightly mailbox address to save emails
  13. Sending and scheduling email from Insightly
  14. Overview of Advanced Reporting
  15. Introduction to Dashboards

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