Folkbase does not have to be set up all at once. Each module stands alone and nothing requires a migration, so you can add one piece at a time in a deliberate order. This guide lays out that order, what each step settles, and the signs that you are ready for the next.
The order that works
- Directory. One record for every person.
- First-day access. A role template for each job you hire for.
- Onboarding tasks. The work around a start date, with owners and dates.
- Offboarding. A last day that closes access.
- Access reviews. A dated check of every active grant.
- Hiring and the careers page. Posted roles that turn into records.
The directory, access grants by role, and the hosted careers page are on Starter. Onboarding, offboarding, tasks, access reviews, integrations, and the job pipeline come with Growth.
Directory and day one
Directory. Add every employee and contractor, then fill in team, manager, location, job title, and start date. This settles a question that usually lives across several spreadsheets: who works here, and who they report to. The directory can then filter by any of those fields.
Move on when people check Folkbase before the old spreadsheet, and the spreadsheet goes stale without anyone noticing.
First-day access. Write a role template for each job you fill more than once. List the grants it needs, then connect the integrations those grants point to, such as Slack, Google Workspace, or GitHub. Now the question of what a new hire should be able to open has an answer before anyone asks it.
Move on when a start date no longer sets off a thread asking someone for accounts.
Tasks, exits, and reviews
Onboarding tasks. Turn the onboarding doc into a task template. Use forms for details you collect, a checklist for the first week, upload slots for signed documents, and a reviewer step where a manager approves what was submitted. Each assigned task gets an owner and can get a due date, which settles who is responsible for each step.
Move on when you can find overdue onboarding work with a filter instead of a status meeting.
Offboarding. Give every departure a last day in Folkbase. On that day the person's open grants close together and the record is archived with its history. Whether a former employee can still sign in stops being an open question.
Move on when no exit depends on someone working through a list from memory.
Access reviews. Run the first review once grants have built up for a few months. A review captures every active grant on a date, and reviewers keep or remove each one. Quarterly is a sensible default. The result is a dated answer to who has what. Access reviews shows how each decision lands on the person's record.
Move on when a review finishes without a side spreadsheet.
Why hiring comes last
The careers page and job pipeline work on their own, so you can turn them on early. They pay off most once the earlier steps exist. A job posted after its role template exists already declares the access the hire will need. An accepted offer creates the person's record and carries over name, email, and application history, so nothing is typed twice. Onboarding then starts from a record that is already complete.
You are ready for this step when several teams are hiring at once, or when candidates live in email threads and a shared sheet. Hiring covers the pipeline in detail.
What to set up when
| Stage | What to set up | Question it settles |
|---|---|---|
| Under 20 people | Directory, teams, and managers | Who works here, and for whom? |
| Hiring most months | Role templates and onboarding tasks | What does a new hire need on day one? |
| First departures or contractors | Offboarding and contractor end dates | Can anyone who left still sign in? |
| A customer or auditor asks about access | Access reviews on a schedule | Who has what, as of when? |
| Hiring across several teams | Careers page and job pipeline | Where does each candidate stand? |
| More than one company entity | Multiple workspaces on Business | Which records belong where? |
The order is a default, not a rule. A team with an urgent exit or an audit next month should start where the pressure is.