M18 Settings — firm profile + branches + banks

Settings landing

URL: /settings. Tile grid grouped by area:

• Firm profile — Company · Branches · Banks · Signatures · Logos & stamps
• Money — Currencies · VAT rates · Number sequences · Billing policy
• References — Holidays · Departments · Designations · Skills · Lookups
• Communication — Communication settings · Email templates · Email log · Notification preferences
• Documents — File Vault settings · File upload profiles · Document templates
• Security — Roles & Permissions · Active sessions · Vault audit log
• Modules — Dashboard & UX · M16 retention · M20 obligations · M11 billing policy

RBAC-filtered — settings tiles only render if user has the relevant permission.

Company Profile screen

URL: /settings/company. Tabbed:

Tab 1 · About

Plus an Invoice defaults card on this tab with default T&Cs textarea.

Tab 2 · Branding

• Logo upload — 40 KB cap, PNG/JPG/WebP. Mirrored to public/uploads/brand/logos.{ext} for survival
• Stamp upload — transparent PNG recommended. Same survival mirror
• Brand primary colour · secondary colour — drives email gradients + button accents
• Tagline — optional sub-line on PDFs

Tab 3 · Billing Policy

Three firm-wide toggles (chapter 9 of finance manual covers in depth):

• m11.auto_invoice_on_completion
• m11.require_job_completion_for_invoice
• m11.notify_on_completion

Tab 4 · Communication

Communication settings (chapter 16):

• SMTP fields (loaded from local.php if present)
• From-name / from-email
• Test mode + test recipient
• Queue + retry settings
• Signature HTML

Branches

URL: /settings/offices. Multi-location firms (HQ Muscat + branch Sohar + branch Salalah) track each:

• name · address (en + ar) · phone · email
• is_hq flag (only one)
• manager (employee picker)
• active flag

HQ branch's address is used on PDF letterheads by default. Per-job override possible.

Banks

URL: /settings/banks. Firm bank accounts that:

• Receive client payments (M11)
• Pay employee salaries (WPS / payroll)
• Reconcile in M12

Per-account fields:

• bank_name · account_holder_name · account_number · IBAN · SWIFT
• currency · is_primary · is_wps_eligible · is_active
• display_on_invoice_pdf flag (up to 2 shown on PDF footer)

Signatures

URL: /settings/signatures. Per-employee signature PNGs for sign-off + report rendering:

• employee_id (FK)
• signature image (transparent PNG, ~150-300px wide)
• active flag

Used by: M19 audit report PDF (engagement partner + EQCR), M11 invoice/receipt PDF (authorised signatory), M13 final settlement PDF (HR + finance + employee blocks).

Step-by-step — first-time firm setup

1. Settings → Company Profile → About

   Fill all identity fields. CR + VAT TRN are critical for compliance.

2. Branding tab

   Upload logo + stamp. Set primary + secondary colours matching firm brand.

3. Add HQ branch

   Settings → Offices → New. is_hq=1.

4. Add bank accounts

   Settings → Banks → New for each. Mark primary + WPS-eligible as needed.

5. Upload partner signatures

   Settings → Signatures → upload per partner. Used in audit reports.

6. Test render

   Create a draft test invoice → preview PDF. Verify logo · firm address · VAT TRN · bank details · signature placeholder all render.