HaloPSA Implementation: Lessons From the Field

HaloPSA implementations should be easier than ConnectWise implementations. The interface is more intuitive, the configuration is more modern, and the documentation is generally better. And yet, I still see MSPs make the same fundamental mistakes during HaloPSA implementations that they make with any PSA: rushing the configuration, skipping the planning, and ending up with a system that technically works but doesn't match how their business actually operates.

Here's what I've learned about getting HaloPSA right the first time.

Don't start with the software

This advice applies to any PSA, but it's especially important with HaloPSA because the platform is approachable enough that people want to jump straight into clicking around and configuring things. Resist that urge.

Before you open HaloPSA's admin panel, spend a day documenting your actual business processes. Not the idealized version — the real version. How does a ticket actually flow from creation to closure in your shop? Who touches it at each stage? What information needs to be captured? How does billing work for different client tiers? What are your real SLA commitments (not the ones on your website — the ones you actually deliver)?

This process documentation becomes your implementation blueprint. Every configuration decision in HaloPSA maps back to a documented business process. Without it, you're making configuration decisions in a vacuum and you'll end up reworking them later.

Get the ticket type taxonomy right early

HaloPSA's ticket type system is flexible and powerful, but the structure you create in the first week tends to persist for years. Getting it right early saves enormous headaches later.

My approach: start broad and get more specific only where routing or reporting requires it. "Hardware Issue" is fine as a top-level type. You don't need "Hardware - Desktop - Monitor - Dead Pixel" as a separate type unless you're routing dead pixel issues to a different team than other hardware problems (you're not).

The types should serve two purposes: helping with automated routing (different types go to different teams) and enabling useful reporting (you want to know what kinds of issues consume the most time). If a type doesn't help with either of those, it doesn't need to exist.

I usually land somewhere between 15 and 25 ticket types for a typical MSP. Enough granularity to be useful, not so much that techs spend thirty seconds on the dropdown menu trying to figure out which sub-category to select.

SLA configuration is where most implementations go sideways

HaloPSA's SLA system is one of its strong points — cascading SLAs, multiple response/resolution targets, client-tier overrides. It's genuinely well-designed. It's also the area where I see the most configuration mistakes.

The common error: setting up SLAs based on what the MSP wants to deliver rather than what they can actually deliver with their current team. An aggressive SLA (30-minute response on all P1 tickets) sounds great on paper. In practice, if your team can't consistently meet it, you're generating SLA breaches that either get ignored — making the entire SLA system meaningless — or create unnecessary stress.

Start with SLAs that your team can meet 90% of the time with current capacity. You can tighten them later as processes improve. An SLA that means something is infinitely more valuable than an aspirational SLA that nobody takes seriously.

Also — configure your business hours before setting up SLAs. This seems obvious, but I've seen implementations where SLA timers were running 24/7 because nobody set the calendar to reflect actual business hours. Your team isn't violating SLAs at 3am on a Saturday. Make sure the system knows that.

Build the client portal from day one

One of HaloPSA's strengths is its client portal, and one of the most common mistakes is deferring portal setup to "later." Later never comes, and your team continues fielding phone calls for ticket status checks that clients could self-serve.

Configure the portal during implementation, not after. Set up the ticket submission form (keep it simple — 4 or 5 fields maximum for the initial submission). Configure status visibility so clients can see where their tickets stand. Enable the knowledge base if you have articles ready.

Then actually tell your clients about it. Send them the URL, give them credentials, and set the expectation that the portal is the preferred submission method. Some MSPs even configure a friendly auto-response for email submissions that says "Thanks for your email. You can also track your request in real time at [portal URL]."

The portal isn't just a client convenience. It reduces inbound calls, provides better ticket data (structured form vs. freeform email), and creates a self-service habit that scales.

Integrations before go-live, not after

Every integration you plan to use — RMM, accounting, M365, documentation — should be connected, configured, and tested before your team starts using HaloPSA in production.

"We'll connect the accounting sync next month" means a month of manual invoice creation, which means a month of your billing person building habits around a manual process, which means resistance when you finally automate it because "the current way works fine."

Connect everything first. Test the data flow. Verify that tickets create from RMM alerts, that invoices sync to QuickBooks, that configuration items pull from your documentation platform. Fix the issues in testing rather than in production.

The training investment that pays for itself

I've said this before and I'll keep saying it: training is the highest-ROI investment in any PSA implementation.

Role-specific training. Technicians need 2–3 hours focused on ticket workflow, time entry, and client communication. Dispatchers need 2–3 hours on routing, scheduling, and board management. The billing person needs dedicated time on agreement management and invoice generation. Managers need reporting and dashboard training.

Generic "here's HaloPSA" training doesn't work. A technician doesn't care about invoice configuration, and the billing person doesn't care about ticket status transitions. Respect everyone's time by making the training relevant to their actual daily work.

The first two weeks are the real implementation

Go-live is the starting line, not the finish line. The first two weeks of production use are when the real issues surface — the edge cases your configuration doesn't handle, the workflow that works differently than you planned, the integration that hiccups under real-world load.

Have someone available — internal or external — to field questions and make configuration adjustments in real time during those first two weeks. The faster you resolve early issues, the faster your team builds confidence in the new system and the less likely they are to fall back to old habits.

---

Implementing HaloPSA? Book a call and let's make sure it's built right from day one.