From signup to your first sent estimate
Here's exactly what your first day in LightMaster looks like — create your account, set up your business, and send a real quote out the door. No setup call, no long onboarding, and nothing to pay to get moving.
Sign up with Google or email · Free plan needs no card
Before you start
A short list to have handy
None of this is required to sign up — you can add it as you go. But having it nearby makes your first hour smoother and gets you to a sent estimate faster.
What you need
- A work email (or a Google account) to sign up with
- Your business name, logo, and brand colors for setup
- A photo of a property you want to mock up or measure
- Your cost or pricing items handy for the cost catalog
- Your existing customer list, if you want to import it
Your first day, step by step
Eight steps from empty account to sent quote
- Step 1Free — no credit card
Create your account
Sign up with an email and password, or use “Continue with Google” to skip the form. The sign-up screen collects your name, phone, and email, and asks for a password that meets a live strength check. That's the whole gate — no long questionnaire before you're in.
- Step 2Free — no card
Your workspace is ready instantly
There's no separate “create your company” wizard. The moment you sign up, your organization is created for you on the Free plan and you land straight in the app. You'll flesh out the real business details in a moment — that's the first item on your checklist.
- Step 3Free — no card
Set up your business details
Your dashboard opens with a “Welcome to LightMaster” checklist and a progress bar. Step one: add your business name, logo, address, and brand colors in Settings. Each item marks itself done automatically once the data exists, so the checklist tracks your real progress instead of nagging.
- Step 4Free — no card
Add or import your first customer
Head to the CRM and add a customer, or import your existing list so last season's clients come with you. This is the most common first action pros take — and it's the same thing LumenAI can do for you from a chat if you'd rather just ask. Every customer-facing action still waits for your approval.
- Step 5Standard plan and up
Measure the house with QuickMeasure
Open QuickMeasure and pull the linear footage off the actual roofline — ridges, peaks, and trees — instead of guessing from the driveway. Those measurements flow straight into your estimate, so you're pricing the real house, not a hunch.
- Step 6Mockups Lite on Free; full on paid
Build your first mockup
Upload a photo of the property and draw the lights on the roofline, or let LumenAI render the design for you. Showing a homeowner their own house lit up is what closes the job on the spot — and it's built into every plan, with the full toolkit on paid tiers.
- Step 7Standard plan and up
Send the estimate or proposal
Turn the measurement and mockup into a branded estimate and send it. This is the headline feature of the paid tiers — the point where day one turns into your first real quote out the door. LumenAI can draft the estimate from your catalog, but you review and approve before anything goes to the customer.
- Step 8When you're ready to collect
Connect Stripe to get paid
When you want to collect deposits and payments, connect Stripe from Settings. Once it's live, your invoices take cards and ACH, and payments reconcile themselves. Most pros do this the moment they're ready to send their first invoice — no rush on day one.
Go at your own pace
You don't have to finish this in one sitting, and you don't have to do it in order. The dashboard checklist is a guide you can dismiss — jump straight to a mockup, import your customers first, or send an estimate today and set up the rest later. Every step marks itself complete once the work behind it is done.
Common questions
Getting started, answered
Not for the Free plan — it's free forever and never asks for a card, so you can sign up, set up your business, add customers, and build mockups without one. You only enter card details if you choose a paid plan: paid plans include a 7-day free trial, and Stripe collects a card at checkout to start it.
Yes. Alongside adding customers by hand in the CRM, you can bring your existing list in so last season's clients are ready to rebook. LumenAI can also help create customers from a chat — but every customer-facing action waits for your approval first.
You're inside the app the second you finish signing up — there's no provisioning wait and no setup call required. From there it's a short, self-guided checklist: business details, a first customer, and your first mockup or estimate whenever you're ready. You can do it all in one sitting or spread it out.
No. The dashboard checklist is a helpful guide, not a locked wizard — you can dismiss it, jump straight to a mockup, or skip ahead to sending an estimate. Each item quietly marks itself complete once the underlying work is done.
Ready for your first estimate?
Create your free account, set up your business, and send a real quote — you can be inside the app in a minute, with no card to start.