First-time setup wizard
After you set your encryption passphrase, Swish walks you through setting up your account. It takes
about ten minutes, and you can skip most of it and come back later.
A numbered progress bar across the top shows where you are. Your progress saves as you go, so if you
refresh the page or lose your connection you pick up where you left off in that tab.
Selecting Cancel at any point signs you out and discards what you have entered so far. If you
want to stop partway, it is better to use SKIP FOR NOW on the remaining stages — that keeps
everything you have already saved.
Stage 1 — About you
A short questionnaire covering:
- Your phone number and address. Start typing your address and Swish suggests matches — pick yours
from the list rather than typing it all out. - Your home situation — renting, owning, or boarding.
- What you want from Swish — pick as many as apply. This helps tailor what you see.
- Budgeter or Investor. This sets your default home screen:
| Choice | Your default dashboard | Focuses on |
|---|---|---|
| Budgeter | Budgeting Dashboard | Spending, categories, goals, cash flow |
| Investor | Investment Dashboard | Net worth, assets, equity, debt, forecasts |
You are not locked in — you can switch between both dashboards at any time from the header. The choice
you make here is the one Swish opens on when you sign in.
Stage 2 — Connect your bank
Select CONNECT BANK and Swish takes you to Akahu, a New Zealand open-banking service, where you
choose your bank and log in with your bank, not with Swish.
Once you approve, you are returned to Swish and the wizard continues.
Before connecting, Swish explains what access is requested, how your data is used, how to disconnect,
and any cost. Review this information before continuing.
You can skip this and connect banks later from the Accounts screen. See
Connecting your bank accounts for the full walkthrough and what Swish
can and cannot see.
Stages 3–6 — Your registers
Four near-identical stages, one per register: Assets, then Liabilities, then Insurance, then
Businesses.
For each one, add a row per item:
| Field | Example (Assets) |
|---|---|
| Category | Property |
| Sub Category | Residential Property |
| Asset Name | 12 Example Street |
The buttons name the thing you are adding, so they change from stage to stage. On Assets you get
+ Add Asset and REGISTER ALL ASSETS; on Insurance they read + Add Insurance and
REGISTER ALL POLICIES.
Use the add button for another row, or the delete icon to remove one. When you have listed everything
for that stage, select the REGISTER ALL … button to save them and continue.
In a hurry? Select SKIP FOR NOW on any stage. You can add everything properly later — and the
full form has far more detail than these three fields.
What gets suggested
If you connected a bank in stage 2, your accounts appear on the Assets and Liabilities stages. Swish
suggests linking them to the registers you create — a mortgage account to the mortgage you are adding, a
savings account to a savings asset. That link is what keeps balances current automatically.
Stage 7 — You're all set
Two ways to continue:
- Set Up My Budget — go straight to My Budgets and build your budget.
Recommended if you connected a bank, since Swish can now use your real spending. - View Dashboard — go to your dashboard and explore.
Behind the scenes Swish saves your profile, confirms your dashboard preference, and sets up your default
budget categories.
What if I skipped everything?
Nothing is lost. Everything the wizard offers is available from the main app:
| Skipped | Do it later from |
|---|---|
| Connecting a bank | Accounts → Connecting your bank accounts |
| Assets, Liabilities, Insurance, Businesses | The Registers section → Adding a register item |
| Your budget | My Budgets → Setting up your budget |
| Profile details | My Profile → Your profile and settings |
The wizard is a convenience, not a gate.