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

# Your first week

> A day-by-day path from connected data to your first board-ready brief.

This is the unhurried version of the [Quickstart](/quickstart). Spread across a week, it takes you from an empty workspace to a forecast you can defend and a brief you can send. Each day is a focused session of an hour or two, building on the one before.

<Card title="Watch the demo" icon="circle-play" href="https://getnovaplan.com/demos">
  The platform walkthroughs cover each of these steps end to end.
</Card>

## Day 1: Connect your data

Novaplan plans on your real numbers, so start by connecting a source in **Admin, then Data**.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Connect your HRIS">
    Authorize HiBob to sync people: roles, departments, sites, start and end dates, and comp. This becomes your headcount snapshot.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect your GL">
    Authorize NetSuite (or upload a GL CSV) so budget versus actual reconciles to your ledger.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Map and curate">
    Map source fields to Novaplan's canonical fields. Nova can suggest mappings. Each source lands a lossless raw record, then curates into clean tables with bad rows flagged individually.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Full detail lives in [Connect your data](/connect-data). You do not need every source on day one; one HRIS feed is enough to start planning headcount.

## Day 2: Set up your budget version

Everything is scoped to a [budget version](/concepts). Pick or create the one you will plan in (for example a "Rolling Forecast"), and set its forecast window: the start and end month the engine will project across. Remember that the window, not the version's label year, drives the plan.

## Day 3: Plan headcount

Open **Planning, then Headcount**. You start from a live snapshot of your team pulled from the HRIS, then add the roles you intend to hire as open positions. Each row carries fully loaded cost per month: base, plus the comp and fringe components layered on top. Follow the step-by-step in [Plan headcount](/tutorials/plan-headcount).

## Day 4: Plan revenue

Open **Planning, then Revenue**. Choose a forecast method that matches how you actually plan the topline (weighting your pipeline, a bottom-up driver model, or top-down targets), then project ARR across your window. Follow [Plan revenue](/tutorials/plan-revenue) to choose a method and build the forecast.

## Day 5: Run the forecast and review

Run the forecast. Headcount and revenue each derive into the GL, so the moment the run finishes, every dashboard reflects your plan. Open **Reporting, then Financial Performance** and the P\&L views to sanity-check the numbers. If something looks off, ask [Nova](/nova/ask-nova) to explain it before assuming a bug; the drill usually tells the story.

## Day 6: Compare and build a brief

Open **Reporting, then Comparison Center** to put your plan against actuals or a frozen target. When you spot a variance worth explaining, generate a **Brief** to get the story written for you, complete with the waterfall and drill-downs. Walk through it in [Build a brief](/tutorials/build-a-brief).

## Day 7: Make it yours

By now the platform is running on your data. Spend the last session exploring what makes it yours:

* Pin the metrics you care about in the **Metrics Center** so KPIs read in your language.
* Try a **scenario**: hold hiring flat and watch the cost impact without touching the base plan.
* Connect your own copilot with the [MCP server](/nova/connect-your-llm).

## What you should see by the end

A live forecast on your real numbers, headcount and revenue both flowing into the GL, at least one comparison that tells a variance story, and a brief you could send to a stakeholder. From here, the monthly rhythm is short: sync actuals, refresh the forecast, compare, and explain.

<Tip>
  You do not have to finish in exactly seven sessions. The order matters more than the calendar: connect, version, plan, forecast, compare, explain.
</Tip>