Getting Started

From a fresh install to the first printed bill. Most businesses are billing within fifteen minutes; the trade you pick at step 3 decides which screens and settings you start with.

1. Install

• Android phone / tablet - Play Store, or the APK from sksmarket.com. A "Low Graphics" build exists for older devices.
• Android TV - the TV build; pair a USB or Bluetooth keyboard, or use the SKS Launcher / No Keyboard helpers listed under Companion Apps.
• Windows - Microsoft Store, or the EXE installer. The Windows build can also host the shop's local server.
• Web - sksmarket.com/app for the cloud (internet) mode only.

2. Choose how your devices connect

The first screen after the splash asks which connection type this device uses. It decides where the data lives.

More than one connection on the same device

A device is not tied to one mode for good. On the connection screen, Set up Multi Connection lets you tick two or three of them and save. From then on the app starts on a Choose Connection card listing only the modes you saved, and you pick one for that session - the cloud while you are away from the shop, the shop server at the counter, the offline copy when the line is down. On these screens the modes are named Online (cloud connection), Server / Client (your local network) and Offline (this device).

• Set it up - on the connection screen tap Set up Multi Connection, tick at least two modes, then Save. The chooser opens straight away and at every start after that.
• Pick a mode - tap a card, or move with the arrow keys and press Enter on a keyboard or TV remote. The mode you used last is already selected, so a regular day is one key.
• Each mode signs in for itself - its own login screen, its own users and its own saved PIN. A PIN kept for Online does not open the server login, and logging out of one leaves the others as they were.
• Each mode has its own business list - the businesses you see belong to that connection. One created offline does not appear in the cloud list until it is moved there; see Data, Backup & Sync.
• Change mode later - Tools > Switch Connection Type on the POS page, or My Account > Switch Connection Type. It ends the session like a logout and returns you to the chooser; saved PINs survive.
• Stop using it - Manage connections on the chooser, then Remove Multi Connection, puts the device back on a single mode.

What each connection gives the business

The trade you pick decides the screens; the connection decides how far the business reaches. Billing, stock, vouchers and reports are the same in all three - these are the differences.

Trade features are a property of the business, not of the connection: a gym is a gym online, on the server and offline, with the same halves switched on under Settings > (trade). See your business and Features.

3. Create the business and pick a trade

The New Business form asks for the name, address, phone, tax number, and the business category. The category is the consequential field: it decides tax columns, billing behaviour, the starter masters you begin with, and whether you land on the POS counter or a dedicated trade screen.

The picker offers 43 trades in groups (Grocery & Daily Needs, Food & Beverage, Specialised Retail, Trade & Distribution, Vehicle, Service & Repair, Contracting, Health & Fitness, Finance, Subscriptions). Search by what you call your shop - "garage", "kirana", "chit" all find the right one. If nothing fits, Other starts generic and you tune the settings.

flowchart TD
    A[Splash] --> M{Multi Connection?}
    M -->|On| CH[Choose Connection
pick a saved mode]
    M -->|Off| B{Connection type}
    CH --> B
    B -->|Internet| C[Login / Register]
    B -->|Local Server| D[Find server on LAN]
    B -->|Local DB / Lite| E[Business list]
    C & D & E --> F{Any business yet?}
    F -->|No| G[New Business form]
    F -->|Yes| H[Pick business]
    G --> G1[Name · Address · Tax No]
    G1 --> G2[Choose trade preset]
    G2 --> G3[Lite or Advanced DB
first Windows server only]
    G3 --> I[Starter masters seeded
Settings tuned for trade]
    H & I --> J{Trade has its own screen?}
    J -->|Yes| K[Vertical shell
Gym · Jewellery · Hospital ...]
    J -->|No| L[POS main page]

4. What the trade preset sets up

Behind the label you picked, the preset stores a stable key on the business record and seeds:

• Starter masters - product groups, units, service types, payment types, expense heads typical of the trade (a pharmacy gets batch/expiry on; a restaurant gets dining rooms and KOT groups; a workshop gets service types).
• Extra charges the trade bills (service charge, cutting/cleaning charge, delivery, packing).
• Settings deltas - stock maintenance on/off, weighing, multi-unit, counter sale vs tax invoice, and so on.
• Vertical features - for categories with feature switches (jewellery, construction, gym, parking, cable, hospital, vehicle service), which halves start on. New businesses start lean; switch on more under Settings > (trade). See Features.

flowchart LR
    A[Business created] --> B[Starter masters seeded
groups · units · payment types · charges]
    B --> C[Settings tuned for the trade
stock · batches · counter or invoice]
    C --> D[Optional halves switched on
only what you actually run]
    D --> E[First financial year opened]
    E --> F[You start billing]
    F --> G[Next year created before this one ends]
    G --> E

5. Plans

6. First things to set

1. Settings > Business Info - logo, address as printed, GSTIN, bank details for the invoice footer.
2. Settings > Invoice Print - thermal roll or A4/A5, the template, what prints on it. See Printing.
3. Master > Products - add items or bulk-create them; scan a barcode to attach it. See Products.
4. Vouchers > Payment Types - cash drawer, UPI IDs, POS machine, banks. See Payments.
5. Settings > Users - a login and PIN per staff member with only the permissions they need. See Users & Permissions.

7. The first sale

On the POS page open Sales > Counter Sale (or Tax Invoice if your trade bills with party details). Scan or search an item, set quantity, take payment, print. The bill posts a Transactions row with its lines, a stock posting per line and a ledger posting for the money. Every report on the app reads from those three postings.

On a dedicated trade screen the equivalent lives under Quick Actions (for example New Bill in a workshop, Takeaway Bill in a restaurant, Counter Sale under Purchase & Sales in a gym).

8. Where to go next

• Open the guide for your business and work through its Set up steps before your first customer.
• Create a login for each person on your team from that guide's Who signs in section; see who signs in, by business.
• Learn the shared modules your trade uses most - counter sale, purchase, stock, payments, reports.
• Need a hand? every trade has a video walkthrough, also under Tools > Youtube; the login screen's Help button opens WhatsApp / email support.