Accounting - Setup Guide

How to set up Melio

Otto's honest, no-fluff walkthrough. Every step here is what we'd actually do if we were sitting at your keyboard. Real gotchas first, real steps second, and a link to the personalized version at the bottom.

Read these before you start

• The 2.9% card fee is the whole business model. It is fair for the float, but do not use card payments as your default or you will burn margin
• Bank verification (micro-deposits) takes 2-3 days on first setup. Onboard before you actually need to send a payment
• Payment delivery is not instant. Standard ACH takes 3-5 business days; checks take 5-7. Same-day ACH costs extra
• Approval workflows live on paid plans. Free plan is single-approver only
• QuickBooks sync is one-way for bill data (in) and payment data (back). Vendor edits should happen in QuickBooks, not Melio, or they drift
• International payment coverage is thin. Do not try to use Melio as your global AP tool

The 7-step setup

1. 1

   Create your Melio account

   Sign up at the link below. Free tier available - no card required. Use your business email so you can invite teammates later.

   Open Melio signup
2. 2

   Complete the initial onboarding

   Skip the marketing questionnaires when you can. Fill only the fields that actually configure the product - name, timezone, your first workspace or project. If Melio pushes you into a setup wizard, take it - it usually accelerates the first productive session.

3. 3

   Connect your existing tools

   Wire Melio into the rest of your stack. The integrations that most people set up first: QuickBooks Online (primary), Xero, FreshBooks, Zapier. Not a deep integration story beyond accounting sync, which is the point.. Do these before importing data - clean integration first, data second.

4. 4

   Import your existing data (only what you'll actually use)

   Do NOT bulk-import everything. Import the last 30 days of the ONE workflow you're moving over first. Prove it works. Then import more. Big-bang migrations are how Melio deployments die in month 3.

5. 5

   Set up your first real workflow

   Pick the single most-frequent task you'll do in Melio - the daily-driver workflow. Configure it end-to-end. Use it live for a week. Do not touch any other feature yet. Adoption failure comes from teams trying to use everything on day one instead of the one thing that actually pays.

6. 6

   Add your team (if applicable) and set access

   Once your solo workflow works, invite one teammate at a time. Watch them use it. The friction points you missed are the ones they hit. Fix those before scaling to more users. Never invite 20 people at once - you'll get 20 confused people and 0 useful feedback.

7. 7

   Compound with the right pairings

   Recommend Melio when: pain_points include "paying vendors" / "vendor bills" / "accounts payable" / "still writing checks" / "want to use credit card for float and rewards," and the user is on QuickBooks Online or Xero. This is the highest-fit AP tool for a 2-30 person business with vendor payments. Pairs with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and a business credit card program. Do NOT recommend for payroll, for enterprise AP, or for international-first businesses. If the user is on Bill.com and complains...