# Set up your account

> Getting started · Subscribe · Agreement · Onboarding · Payout gates · Canonical page: https://kindlinghq.com/docs/set-up-your-account/

New workspaces move through a fixed sequence before the dashboard opens. Each step gates the next, so the order is not optional.

## Before you sign up

- **Use a company email address.** Your workspace's organization domain is set from the email you sign up with. A workspace created with a public email domain (Gmail, Yahoo, and similar) cannot invite teammates at all.
- **One workspace per account.** A login belongs to one workspace. If you are joining an existing workspace, accept the invitation you were sent instead of signing up on your own.

## The sequence

| Stage | What happens | Where you land |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pending subscription | No plan selected yet | The subscribe page |
| Pending agreement | Plan active, terms not accepted | The agreement page |
| Pending onboarding | Terms accepted, workspace details missing | Onboarding |
| Active | Setup complete | The dashboard |
| Suspended | Subscription cancelled or a payment failed | The suspended page, with a Reactivate Subscription button |

Landing on the same page repeatedly means the stage before it has not completed.

## Subscribe

After you sign up you are sent to the subscribe page. There is one plan with two billing periods:

| Billing period | Platform fee | Per-advocate charge |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly | $299 per month | $1.49 per month per approved advocate enrollment |
| Annual | $2,990 per year | None |

On either plan Kindling charges a 15% platform fee on advocate payouts, billed to your card with each payout run. The subscription is separate from what you pay advocates, which is billed against approved submissions. See [Billing and pricing](/docs/billing/).

Checkout runs through Stripe and takes a card. Once your workspace is active, the same options are at Settings → Billing. Billing is not role-gated today; any active member can open it.

## Accept the agreement

Two documents: the Kindling Terms of Service and the Brand Program Agreement, which covers your obligations as the payer to your advocates. You accept both with one checkbox.

Kindling records the agreement version, the time you accepted, and the IP address you accepted from.

## Complete onboarding

Onboarding has five steps. Required before you can finish:

- Company name
- Company website
- Industry
- Company size
- Primary goal for the program
- At least one target platform

The last step, Tax & Payout Identity, is optional here. You can skip it and add it later at Settings → Payout Identity. If you fill it in now, the EIN locks permanently the moment it saves, so check it before you continue. See [Set your tax and payout identity](/docs/payout-identity/).

## What has to be in place before money moves

Reaching the dashboard is not the same as being ready to pay anyone. The payout run checks four things, and skips any payout that fails one:

| Requirement | Who completes it | What happens until then |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Tax and payout identity (EIN, legal name, address) | You, at Settings → Payout Identity | Approved earnings are held. Nothing is lost; saving releases them |
| A payment method on file | You. Subscribing puts one on file | Every payout in your workspace is skipped |
| A verified W-9 | Each advocate, inside Kindling | That advocate's payouts are skipped |
| An active Stripe account | Each advocate, inside Kindling | That advocate's payouts are skipped |

You also need a program. See [Create a program](/docs/create-a-program/).

Do payout identity before you approve your first submission. Doing it after works, and everything held is released automatically, but advocates will have already waited.

## If your workspace is suspended

A workspace is suspended when its subscription is cancelled or a payment fails and is not resolved. Your programs and data are kept. The suspended page has a Reactivate Subscription button that takes you back to the subscribe page; subscribing again restores access.

Seeing "Access Suspended" with "Your team membership has been suspended" is a different case: your login, not the workspace, was suspended. Contact support@kindlinghq.com to restore access.

## Troubleshooting

| Situation | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| I keep landing on the subscribe page | The workspace has no active subscription. Pick a plan and complete checkout |
| I keep landing on the agreement page | The terms have not been accepted on this workspace |
| The dashboard says my account is suspended | Use the Reactivate Subscription button. If the button is missing or reactivation fails, contact support@kindlinghq.com |
| I was invited but cannot see anything | Open the link in the invitation email and accept. Links expire 7 days after they are sent; ask an Owner or Admin to resend if yours has expired |
| I signed up with Gmail and cannot invite my team | Workspaces on a public email domain cannot invite teammates. Contact support@kindlinghq.com |
| Advocates are approved but nobody is being paid | Check the four requirements above. Payout identity and payment method are yours; W-9 and Stripe are the advocate's |

Anything else: support@kindlinghq.com.