The whole manual

Start the free trial

The trial runs for 14 days. You do not need a card. Your company is created with sample data, so every screen has something to show from the first minute.

1. Open the sign-in page and choose "New to Sevo? Start a free 14-day trial".
2. Fill in "Business name", "Your name" and "Work e-mail". The e-mail becomes the administrator login.
3. Choose the "Country". It sets the currency your books are kept in (Sri Lanka keeps them in LKR). You can still buy and sell in other currencies later.
4. Press "Create my company".
5. The screen says "Check your e-mail". We send a temporary password to the address you gave.

No e-mail after a few minutes? Look in the spam folder first, then contact support.

Sign in for the first time

1. Choose "Go to sign in", enter your e-mail and the temporary password, and press "Sign in".
2. On "Choose your password", check your name (it is shown on receipts) and type a new password twice.
3. The password needs at least 8 characters, an upper-case letter, a lower-case letter, a number and a symbol. The rules tick as you type.
4. You land on the Dashboard.

The sample data

While the company is being prepared, the dashboard shows "Preparing sample data…". It refreshes by itself and usually takes under a minute. Then it says "Sample data is ready."

The sample data gives you products with prices, opening stock, a register, and about a year of sample sales so the Insights screens can show forecasts. Click around freely: nothing here is real.

When you are ready, bring in your own products and opening stock, then remove all the sample data in one go under Settings → Company (see "Remove the sample data"). The Data migration screen under Settings walks you through the order.

The setup guide

Administrators see a card called "Set up your company" on the dashboard. It has seven steps you can do in any order: "Explore the sample data", "Add your own products", "Set up your register", "Make a test sale", "Invite your team", "Load opening stock" and "Choose a plan".

Each step has a link to the right screen. Three steps tick themselves when the system sees they are done (they are marked "ticks itself"): the sample data is ready, a teammate has been invited, and a plan has been chosen. For the other steps press "Mark done" when you have finished, or "Undo" to untick. Once you remove the sample data, the "Explore the sample data" step disappears.

Press "Hide guide" whenever you like. When every step is done the card says "You're all set".

What to do next

1. Fill in your company profile under Settings → Company, so receipts show your name, address and tax number.
2. Make a test sale on the register to see how the till works.
3. Invite your staff under Settings → Users.
4. Choose a plan under Settings → Plan & billing before the trial ends.

When to do it

Your company starts with sample data so every screen has something to show. Before you start trading for real, remove it, so reports, stock and the books show only your own business.

The sample products are made-up brands (Misty Peak tea, Clearwell water and the like), so nobody can really sell or buy them. Anything you made with one while practising - a till sale, a return, an order, a delivery, a stock count or transfer, an online order, a supplier bill - is removed with the sample data, even when it also had one of your own products on it. Documents that use only your own products are never touched.

You can do it at any time, and again later: while anything sample is left (for example after an earlier removal), the card offers it again.

Remove it

1. Open Settings → Company and scroll down to the "Sample data" card.
2. Read "What will be removed": the sample products and their categories, the year of sample sales, the sample supplier with its purchase order and delivery, the five sample employees with their roster and leave, and the stock movements and journal entries of all of it.
3. Read "Practice documents": what you made with the sample products, by kind, with the sales total. Under "Mixed documents, removed whole" you see by number any document that has a sample product and one of your own: the whole document goes, and your product's stock is put back as if it had never happened.
4. Check "Kept, not deleted" if it is shown: a sample category that holds your own products stays, and the sample supplier is only deactivated when one of your own orders or bills names it.
5. Press "Remove sample data".
6. Type your company code exactly as shown under the box, then press "Remove sample data permanently".
7. You see "Sample data removed." with a list of what went, the practice documents included.

The company code is the short name your company was set up with. It is shown under the box as "Exactly: …".

What stays

Your store, register, tax rules and price list, public holidays, users and company settings are kept, and so are the categories you created (even empty ones) and every document that uses only your own products.

The accounting entries of the sample and practice documents go with them, whole, so your books start clean and still balance. A till shift you opened only to practise goes too; a shift with one of your real sales stays, and its expected cash is worked out again. Document numbers start again at 000001 when nothing of that kind is left.

If it cannot be removed

If a sample employee is on a payroll run that is approved or paid, the card says so and offers no button: that run is part of your records and cannot change. Contact support and we will remove the sample data for you.

If a supplier payment or credit note settles a bill made with sample products together with one of your real bills, the card names it: void or correct it first, then come back.

If you see "There is no sample data in this company.", there is nothing left to remove.

Your invitation

Staff do not sign up themselves. An administrator invites them under Settings → Users, and they receive an e-mail with a temporary password.

If the e-mail has not arrived, check the spam folder. If it is still missing, ask your administrator to press "Resend" next to your name. That sends a fresh temporary password.

1. Open the sign-in page and enter the e-mail address you were invited with.
2. Type the temporary password and press "Sign in".
3. On "Choose your password", check your name as it should appear on receipts, then type your new password in "New password" and "Confirm new password".
4. When every password rule is met, confirm. You see "Password set" and you are signed in.

Signing in each day

1. Enter your "E-mail" and "Password".
2. Tick "Remember my e-mail" on your own device so you only type the password next time. Leave it off on shared computers.
3. Press "Sign in".

The "Show password" eye button lets you check what you typed before you press Sign in.

Forgot your password?

1. On the sign-in page choose "Forgot password?".
2. Enter the e-mail of your account. We send a 6-digit code.
3. Type the "Verification code" from the e-mail, then your "New password" twice.
4. When you see "You're all set", sign in with the new password.

Signing out

At the bottom of the menu you see your name and e-mail. The door icon next to them signs you out. Always sign out on a shared computer.

If you cannot get in

A disabled user is refused until an administrator enables them again under Settings → Users.

If the company's trial or plan has ended and was not renewed, the company is paused and sign-in is refused. Your data is not deleted. The owner can choose a plan to continue.

Two parts, one login

The back office is where you manage the business: products, stock, purchasing, finance, staff and settings. It works on a PC, a laptop, a tablet or a phone.

The register (POS) is the till. It is built for a touch screen at the counter, and it keeps selling when the internet goes down. Sales made offline are sent to the server when the connection comes back.

Both use the same login. What you see in each depends on your role.

Open the register

1. On the Dashboard press "Open register", or open the Point of sale group in the menu and choose "Open register".
2. The register opens in its own screen. The first time, choose which register this device is. The device remembers it.
3. Open a shift and start selling. The Point of sale articles in this help centre explain the till step by step.

"Open register" is only shown to people whose role allows selling. Registers themselves are created under Point of sale → Registers.

Install the register on a tablet or PC

The register can be installed like an app. It then opens full screen from its own icon, without the browser's address bar.

1. On the counter device, sign in and open the register.
2. On Android or a PC with Chrome or Edge, open the browser menu and choose "Install app" or "Add to Home screen" (the wording depends on the browser).
3. On an iPad, tap the Share button in Safari and choose "Add to Home Screen".
4. Open the register from the new icon from now on.

Open the register once while you are online, so the device keeps a copy of the catalogue and the app for offline use.

Shared tills and staff PINs

Several cashiers can share one register. An administrator gives each person a till PIN under Settings → Users (the "Till PIN" button). On the register, a cashier taps their name and types the PIN, so each sale is recorded under the right person, even offline.

Staff who only use My space

People with only the Employee role do not see the business dashboard. They land in People → My space, where they see their own shifts, leave and payslips.

How the menu works

The menu runs down the left side of the screen. Items are grouped. Click a group title to open it; opening another group closes the first one.

You only see the items your role allows. A cashier sees far fewer items than an owner. If you need a screen you cannot see, ask your administrator to change your role.

The top bar shows where you are, for example your company name / Inventory / Stock on hand.

The groups

Dashboard: today's sales, key figures, low stock, recent sales and the latest changes. Administrators also see the setup guide here.

Approvals: documents waiting for a second person to approve, such as a large purchase order or stock adjustment. A number shows how many are waiting.

Insights: Overview, Forecast, Replenish, Stock health, Baskets, Loss prevention and Daily digest. These use your sales history to suggest what to order and warn you about stock and losses.

Catalog: Products, Categories, Price lists and Tax rules.

Inventory: Stock on hand, Movements, Adjustments, Transfers, Stock counts, Stock valuation and Locations (your stores and warehouses).

Purchasing: Purchase orders, Goods receipts and Suppliers.

Finance: Reports, Payables, Payments, Receivables, Bank, Journal, Chart of accounts, Periods, Postings and Posting rules.

Point of sale: Open register, Sales, Customers and Registers.

Online shop: Orders, Shop settings and What I sell online.

People: Employees, Leave, Rosters, Payroll and My space.

Settings: Company, Approvals (the approval limits), Data migration, Users, Roles, Currencies & rates, Audit log, and Plan & billing.

Make more room

1. At the bottom of the menu press "Collapse". The menu shrinks to a row of icons. Point at an icon to see its name.
2. Press the same button again to bring the full menu back.

On a phone

On a small screen the menu is hidden. Tap the menu button (three lines) at the top left to open it, and tap a page or the close button to hide it again.

The bottom of the menu

Your name and e-mail are shown at the bottom. Next to them are the question-mark icon, which opens the help centre, and the door icon, which signs you out.

Change the language

Sevo is available in English, සිංහල (Sinhala) and தமிழ் (Tamil).

1. In the top bar of the back office, open the language menu (the button showing the current language).
2. Choose English, සිංහල or தமிழ்.
3. The screen changes at once. There is nothing to save.

The register's own menu has a language choice too, so a cashier can use the till in Sinhala or Tamil while the manager uses English.

Your language follows you

When you change the language in the back office, it is saved on your profile. If you sign in on another device, Sevo opens in your language there too, until you choose a different one on that device.

Some texts are typed in by you, such as product names and your receipt footer. They are shown as you typed them, whatever the language setting.

Dark and light theme

Sevo opens in the dark theme. It is easy on the eyes in a shop and saves battery on many tablets. Some people prefer the light theme in bright daylight.

1. In the top bar, press the sun or moon button next to the language menu.
2. The button's label says what it does: "Switch to light mode" or "Switch to dark mode".
3. Press it again to go back.

Open the help centre

1. At the bottom of the menu, press the question-mark icon next to your name.
2. The help centre opens in a new browser tab, so the screen you were working on stays open.
3. Search by a word, for example "return" or "opening stock", or browse the guides by area.

Help on the screen itself

Most screens have a short description under the title that explains what the screen is for.

Fields often have a hint underneath. When you save a form with a mistake, the field with the problem is marked and a message says what to fix.

Short messages in the corner of the screen confirm what just happened, for example "Company profile saved."

Every CSV upload has a "Download template" button. The template has the exact column headers the upload expects.

Ask your own administrator first

Many questions are about access: a missing menu item, a button you cannot press, or a screen that says you can only read it. Only an administrator in your company can change roles and permissions, so ask them first.

Contact Sevo support

If you cannot find the answer, the "Cannot find it?" box at the bottom of the help centre gives the support e-mail address and our hours. The Contact page on the website lists the other ways to reach us.

Tell us what you were trying to do, the screen you were on, and the exact message you saw. A screenshot helps. Never send your password to anyone, including support.

What a register and a shift are

A register is one till or checkout device. It belongs to one store location, so stock sold on it comes off that location. Its short code, such as R01, is printed on every receipt.

A shift is one session of selling on a register, from the moment you count the float into the drawer to the moment you count the drawer at the end. Every sale and return belongs to a shift, and the shift gives you the cash-up (the Z report) when you close it.

Create a register (managers)

1. In the back office, go to POS → Registers.
2. Click New register.
3. Type a Code. Keep it short, such as R01. It can use letters, digits and hyphens, up to 10 characters.
4. Type a Name, for example Front counter.
5. Choose the Location this register belongs to.
6. Choose a Price list, or leave it on Default to use the company's default price list.
7. Click Create register.

To stop a till being used, click Deactivate on its row. It no longer appears in the list on the till. Click Activate to bring it back.

Choose this device's register

The first time you open the till on a device, it asks which register the device is. The device remembers your choice, so you do this only once.

1. In the back office, go to POS → Open register. The till opens.
2. Under Choose this device's register, pick the register from the Register list.

If the list is empty, the message tells you to create a register under POS → Registers first.

Open a shift

The top bar now shows the register, the shift number (for example Shift #12), the price list and its currency, and how many items are loaded on the device.

If this device should be a different register, tap Use a different register before you open the shift. The Back office button takes you to the back office without opening a shift.

1. The screen says Open a shift on R01 (with your register's code).
2. Count the cash you are putting in the drawer to start the day.
3. Type that amount in Opening cash float. Leave 0 if the drawer starts empty.
4. Tap Open shift. The selling screen opens.

Opening a shift without internet

If the device is offline, the button reads Open shift offline. The shift opens on the device straight away with the next shift number the device knows, and it is sent to the server when the connection returns. Sales you make in the meantime are queued too.

The selling screen

The left side shows the products. The right side is the cart for the current order, with the totals and the Pay button underneath. On a phone the cart opens as a sheet from the bottom of the screen.

Each product tile shows its price. When the device is online, a tile can also show how many are in stock at this store and how many are held for online orders. That is only a hint; it never stops you selling.

Add products

1. Scan the barcode with a barcode scanner. The item goes straight into the cart.
2. Or type in the search box (Scan barcode or search name / SKU…) and tap the tile you want. Press Enter to add it when the code matches exactly or only one product is left.
3. Or tap a category chip above the tiles to show only that category, then tap a tile. Tap All to see everything again.
4. To scan with the device's camera, tap the camera button (Scan with camera) in the top bar. Each barcode you point at adds one item; keep scanning, then tap Done.

If a product has no price in this register's price list, the till warns you and does not add it. A manager adds the price under Catalog → Price lists.

Change quantities

1. Use the − and + buttons on a cart line, or type the quantity in the box between them.
2. For more options, tap the line itself. A number pad opens with Qty, Discount and Price.
3. Stay on Qty, type the new quantity and tap Done.
4. To take the item off the order, tap Remove line.

Notes on a line and on the order

1. For a note on one item, tap the line and type in Note for this line, for example no sugar or gift wrap. It is printed under the line on the receipt.
2. For a note on the whole order, tap Note under the cart, type it and save. It is printed on the receipt, for example delivery instructions.

Totals and paying

Under the cart you see the Subtotal, the Tax (incl.) contained in the prices, and the Total. When the order is ready, tap Pay. The button shows the amount, for example Pay LKR 1,250.00.

Under the cart the till may also show Customers also bought, a few items often bought together with what is in the cart. Tap one to add it.

To empty the cart without charging anything, tap Clear and confirm Clear cart.

Keyboard shortcuts

On a till with a keyboard: F2 jumps to the search box, F4 opens payment, F8 starts a new order, F9 opens Orders, and Esc goes back. The list is also in the register menu under Shortcuts.

Who can give discounts

Discounts depend on the role of the person at the till. A role needs the Give discounts permission to give any discount at all. The role's Discount limit (%) then sets how much: the total of all discounts on one sale, as a percentage of the sale before discounts. A blank limit means no cap.

An owner or administrator sets the limit on each role under Settings → Roles. Out of the box, the TenantAdmin and StoreManager roles can discount; the Cashier role cannot.

If a cashier has switched in with their PIN, the till uses that cashier's limit, not the limit of the person who signed in.

Discount one line

The cart line then shows the discount as a minus amount after the price.

1. Tap the line in the cart.
2. Tap Discount.
3. Type the amount to take off this line, in money (not a percentage).
4. Check the Line total under the number and tap Done.

Change the price of a line

When the new price is lower than the list price, the line shows the old price as was LKR … . A lower price counts as a discount towards the limit, the same as a line discount.

1. Tap the line in the cart.
2. Tap Price. The label shows the list price for comparison.
3. Type the new unit price and tap Done.

Discount the whole order

1. Under the cart, find Order discount.
2. Type the amount to take off the whole order.
3. Check the Total, then tap Pay.

When a discount is over the limit

If the discounts on a sale add up to more than the allowed percentage, a message appears above the Pay button, for example Discount of 12.5% exceeds your limit of 10%. Reduce it or switch to a manager. The Pay button stays off until the discount is within the limit.

To fix it, lower the discount, or let a manager switch in with their PIN (see Switching cashier with a PIN) and complete the sale under their name.

If the person at the till has no discount right, the Discount and Price buttons are greyed out with the note Needs the discount right, and the Order discount field is not shown.

The server checks the same rule when the sale arrives, so the limit cannot be worked around on the device.

Why attach a customer

A customer on a sale shows their name on the receipt and in the sales history. If the customer has a phone number, sending the e-receipt by WhatsApp goes straight to them.

Attaching a customer is optional. Most walk-in sales have no customer.

Attach an existing customer

1. Under the cart, tap Add customer. On the payment screen you can tap Customer instead.
2. Type part of the name or phone number in the search box.
3. Tap the customer. Their name now shows on the button and on the order tab.

To take the customer off, open the customer window again and tap Remove next to On this sale.

Add a new customer at the till

This works offline too: the customer is saved on the device and sent to the server with the sale.

1. Tap Add customer, then New customer.
2. Type the Name.
3. Type the Phone number, with at least 7 digits. It is used to find the customer next time.
4. Tap Save & attach.

The customer list in the back office

1. Go to POS → Customers.
2. Search by name or phone, or click New customer.
3. Fill in Name and either a Phone number (7 or more digits) or an E-mail. Use Notes for preferences or anything the cashier should know.
4. Save. Click a row to edit a customer later.

Open the payment screen

Tap Pay under the cart (or press F4). The payment screen fills the till: the methods and a number pad on one side, the amount due in large figures on the other. Tap Back to order (or press Esc) to go back and change the order.

The methods are Cash, Card, Wallet / QR and Voucher.

Take cash

1. Cash is selected when the screen opens.
2. Enter the cash the customer hands over. Tap the note buttons (+100, +500, +1,000, +5,000 for rupees) to add each note, type the amount, or tap Exact for the exact amount.
3. The screen shows the Change as you enter it.
4. Tap Take Cash … to record it.
5. When the bill is covered, the screen shows Change to give in large figures. Hand over the change.
6. Tap Complete sale.

Take card, wallet or voucher

1. Tap Card, Wallet / QR or Voucher.
2. The amount starts at the balance due. Type a smaller amount if only part of the bill is paid this way.
3. Optionally type the Reference, such as the card terminal's authorisation code or the transaction id.
4. Tap Take Card … (or the method you chose).
5. When the bill is covered, tap Complete sale.

Sevo records the payment; it does not charge the card itself. Take the card payment on your bank's card terminal first, then record it here.

Split a bill

1. Take the first part, for example Card for LKR 2,000.
2. The due amount goes down. Choose the next method, for example Cash, and take the rest.
3. Each payment is listed under Payments taken. Tap the ✕ next to one to remove it if you made a mistake.
4. When the screen says Paid in full or Change to give, tap Complete sale.

After Complete sale

The sale is saved on the device first and then sent to the server, so completing a sale never waits for the internet. The Sale complete screen opens with the receipt. See Receipts: print, PDF and e-receipt.

The Sale complete screen

After Complete sale, the till shows the amount paid (or the change to give), the receipt number, the total and the payments, with the receipt beside it exactly as it will print.

Receipt numbers are built from the register code, the shift number and a running number, for example R01-0003-0012.

The receipt shows your company name and details, the tax, a QR code with Scan for your e-receipt, and the customer's name if one is on the sale.

Print or save

1. Tap Print to print on the receipt printer.
2. Tap PDF to open a PDF copy made by the server. If it is not ready yet, the button says PDF not ready - retry; tap it again after a moment.

Send the e-receipt

Every sale has its own e-receipt web link, even when the sale was made offline. The customer can also scan the QR code on the paper receipt to open it.

1. Tap Send receipt.
2. Tap WhatsApp. If the customer on the sale has a phone number, WhatsApp opens a message to that number; otherwise you choose the chat.
3. Or tap Copy link to copy the address, or Share… to use the device's own share menu (on devices that have one).

E-mail the receipt

The customer can have the receipt by e-mail: the whole receipt in the message, with a link to the e-receipt where it can also be saved as a PDF. It is written in the language the till is showing, and comes from your business name.

The sale must have reached the server first. If the till is offline or the sale has not synced yet, the till says so; try again once everything is sent.

1. Tap Send receipt, then E-mail receipt.
2. Type the customer's e-mail address. If the customer on the sale has one saved, it is filled in.
3. Tap Send e-mail. If the address is not a valid e-mail address, the till says so under the field and sends nothing.
4. A message confirms the receipt was e-mailed. If sending failed, the reason is shown with Try again.

Earlier receipts can be e-mailed from the back office too: POS → Sales, open the sale and press E-mail receipt. The sale shows when, and to whom, its receipt was last e-mailed.

Start the next sale

Tap New order (or press Enter) to serve the next customer.

In the register menu under This device, After payment sets whether the till waits for you (Wait) or starts the next order by itself after 5 or 10 seconds. Touching the screen or pressing a key stops the countdown. Receipt paper sets 80 mm or 58 mm to match your printer.

Reprint an earlier receipt

1. Tap the Orders button in the top bar (or press F9).
2. Find the sale under Completed today. You can search by receipt number or customer.
3. Tap Reprint. The receipt opens with Print, PDF and Send receipt.
4. Tap Back to orders when you are done.

Why several orders

A customer may step away to fetch one more item while the next person is ready to pay. Instead of clearing the cart, start a new order. The first one stays open with everything in it.

Open orders show as tabs in the top bar, for example Order 3, with the number of items on each. They are kept on the device, so they survive a refresh or a restart.

Start and switch orders

1. Tap the + button after the tabs (or press F8) to start a new order. The current one stays open.
2. Tap a tab to switch back to that order.
3. To give an order a name, tap the pencil next to its title above the cart, type a Label (under 40 characters) and save. Leave it empty to show the customer name or the order number.

Discard an order

Nothing has been charged, so nothing needs refunding. A discarded order that had items in it is recorded in the audit log with what was in it.

1. Open the order and tap the bin button next to its title (Discard order).
2. Confirm Discard order.

The Orders view

1. Tap the Orders button in the top bar (or press F9).
2. Under Open orders, tap Resume to go back to an order that is still open.
3. Under Completed today, you see this register's receipts for today with the time, customer, items, total and status.
4. Use Reprint to print a receipt again, or Refund to start a return for that sale.
5. Tap Back to selling to return to the till.

When offline, the Orders view shows only this device's receipts.

Open orders and closing the shift

A shift cannot close while an order with items is still open. When you choose Close shift, the till lists the open orders. Open each one to pay it, or Discard it, then close the shift.

Before you start

A return is always made against the original receipt, so you need the receipt number, for example R01-0002-0003. You can return some of the items or all of them, and part of a quantity.

Returns need the Returns and refunds permission. Out of the box, the TenantAdmin and StoreManager roles have it and the Cashier role does not. If a cashier's return is refused, it shows as rejected in the sync status; a manager should do the return instead.

Make a return

The till confirms Return … completed with the amount and method. The return gets its own receipt number, the original number with an R at the end.

1. Open the register menu (the menu button at the right of the top bar) and tap Return / refund. Or, for a sale from today, open Orders and tap Refund on its row.
2. Type or scan the Receipt number and tap Find.
3. Check the sale summary: date, total and status.
4. In Return qty, type how many of each item come back. Returnable shows how many can still be returned.
5. Leave back to stock ticked for items that go back on the shelf. Untick it for damaged or expired goods.
6. Choose the Reason: Customer changed mind, Damaged / defective, Wrong item, Expired or Other.
7. Choose the Refund method: Cash, Card, Wallet / QR, Voucher or Store credit.
8. Tap Refund LKR … and hand the refund to the customer.

What happens next

Items marked back to stock return to the stock of the register's store. The original sale shows as partially returned or returned, and the back-office sale shows the returned quantity on each line. Refunds are listed on the shift's cash-up.

Returns while offline

Offline, the till can find only receipts issued by this device. Returns made on other devices are not reflected until the connection returns. The return itself is saved and sent later, like a sale.

A voided sale cannot be returned; the till says That sale was voided.

How it works

One person signs in to the till. After that, other cashiers take over by tapping their name and typing their PIN. They do not need to sign out and in again.

Each sale records who made it, and the discount limit follows the cashier who is active. The PIN is checked on the device, so switching also works offline.

Set a cashier's PIN (owners and administrators)

1. In the back office, go to Settings → Users.
2. On the person's row, click Till PIN.
3. Type a New PIN of 4 to 6 digits and type it again in Repeat PIN. Obvious PINs such as 1234 or 1111 are refused.
4. Save, and tell the person their PIN.

The till picks up new PINs the next time it refreshes its product list while online.

Switch cashier at the till

Tap Choose a different cashier if you picked the wrong name.

1. Tap the cashier name in the top bar (Switch cashier (PIN)).
2. Tap your name. The person already active is marked current.
3. Type your PIN on the pad and tap the confirm button.
4. The till confirms Cashier: your name. Carry on selling.

Wrong PINs

After five wrong PINs the pad locks for a short time and shows Too many attempts. Try again in … s. The wait gets longer after each further lock.

If the list says No cashier PINs set yet, nobody has a PIN; ask a manager to set them under Settings → Users.

Set up clock-in PINs

The time clock appears in the register menu once at least one person can clock in. A manager sets clock-in PINs on each employee's record under People → Employees, in the Time clock part of the record.

A clock-in PIN is 4 to 6 digits, not repeated or in sequence. It is shown only once when it is set, so give it to the person straight away. An employee who is linked to a user with a till PIN can clock in with their cashier PIN until they have one of their own.

Clock in or out

1. Open the register menu (the menu button at the right of the top bar) and tap Time clock.
2. Tap your name. The list shows whether each person is Not clocked in or In since a time. People of this store come first; with a long list, use Find your name.
3. Type your PIN and confirm.
4. Tap Clock in or Clock out.
5. A message confirms, for example Nimal clocked in at 08:58.

Tap Not you? Choose again if you picked the wrong name.

Offline and wrong PINs

The PIN is checked on the device and the clock event is saved on the device first, so the time clock works without internet. The server records the event once when the connection returns.

After several wrong PINs the pad pauses for a short time and shows how many seconds to wait.

If the list says Nobody can clock in yet, no one has a clock-in PIN; ask a manager to set them under People → Employees.

Before you close

Every open order must be paid or discarded first. If any are still open, the till lists them when you choose Close shift; open each one to finish it, or tap Discard.

Check the sync status in the top bar. If sales from this device have not reached the server yet, the close window warns you that they are not in the totals.

Close the shift

1. Open the register menu (the menu button at the right of the top bar) and tap Close shift.
2. Read the shift summary: Sales (and how many were voided), Returns, Gross sales, Discounts, Refunds, Net sales, the total for each payment method, the Opening float and the Expected cash in drawer.
3. Count the cash in the drawer and type it in Counted cash.
4. The Variance appears: the counted cash minus the expected cash. A minus figure means the drawer is short.
5. Add a Note if something needs explaining, for example a shortage you know about.
6. Tap Close shift. Tap Keep selling instead if you are not ready.

The Z report

After closing, the till shows Shift #… closed with the Z report on paper: the sales and returns, gross sales, discounts, tax, refunds and net sales, what was taken by each payment method, the opening float, the expected and counted cash, and the Difference (Short or Over). Tap Print Z report to print it on the receipt printer, then Done. The next person to use the till opens a new shift with their own float.

Every Z report stays in the back office under Point of sale → Shifts, to look at or print again later.

Expected cash is the opening float plus the cash payments recorded in this shift. Voided sales are left out.

Closing while offline

If the device is offline, you can still count the drawer and close. The message Shift closed on this device appears. The shift and its sales are sent to the server when the connection returns, in the right order. The Z report is then under Point of sale → Shifts in the back office.

Do not clear the browser data or reset the device while sales are waiting to be sent. Signing out is safe: the device keeps its unsent sales.

The till works without internet

The till keeps a copy of the products, prices, tax rules, customers and cashier PINs on the device. When the internet goes down or the power cuts the router, you carry on selling.

Sales, returns, new customers, shift open and close, and time clock events are all saved on the device first, then sent to the server in the order they happened. Nothing is lost if the connection drops in the middle.

The device has to connect at least once to download the product list. If it has never connected, the till says Connect once to download the catalog.

The sync chip

The chip next to the register code in the top bar shows the connection at a glance:

Online means everything has been sent. Syncing 3… means items are on their way. Offline means the device has no connection; it also shows how many items are queued. 1 rejected means the server refused something and a person needs to look at it.

1. Tap the chip to open the Sync status window.
2. It shows the Connection, how many items are Queued to send, the Catalog version and when the catalog was last synced.
3. Tap Sync now to send queued items straight away instead of waiting.

While online, the till sends queued items every few seconds and refreshes the product list every few minutes on its own.

What works differently offline

Returns can only find receipts issued by this device. The Orders view shows only this device's receipts. The stock hints on the product tiles disappear. The PDF receipt is made by the server, so it is ready only once the sale has been sent; printing and the e-receipt link work at once.

When the server rejects an item

Sometimes the server refuses a sale or return that the device accepted, for example because a price was missing or the shift was already closed. The chip turns red and shows how many were rejected.

1. Tap the chip. Rejected items are listed under Rejected by server with the Type (sale or return) and the Error.
2. Fix the cause if you can, for example add the missing price in the back office, then tap Retry.
3. If the sale was entered again another way or was a mistake, tap Discard and confirm. A discarded item never reaches the server, so only do this after the sale has been recorded some other way.

Find a sale

1. In the back office, go to Point of sale → Sales.
2. Sales are listed newest first, with the Receipt number, When, Items, Total, Paid by and status.
3. To see one store only, pick it in the location filter at the top. Choose All locations to see every store.
4. Click a sale to open it.

What a sale shows

The sale window lists each line with the Qty, Unit price, Discount, Total and how many were Returned. Below are the Subtotal, any Order discount, the Tax (incl.) and the Total, followed by each payment with its reference and the change given.

The status is completed, partially returned, returned or voided. A voided sale also shows the reason.

Void a sale

Voiding cancels a sale completely, for example when it was rung up twice. It reverses the stock movement, so the goods count as back on the shelf. It does not pay any money back: give any refund at the till. For a customer bringing goods back, use a return at the till instead.

Voiding needs the Void sales permission. Out of the box, the TenantAdmin and StoreManager roles have it and the Cashier role does not. Without it, the sale window says so instead of offering the void.

Only a sale with the status completed can be voided. A sale that already has returns cannot: money has already been given back on it, so the sale window says so. Refund the remaining items at the till instead.

1. Open the sale in Point of sale → Sales.
2. In Void this sale (reason), type why, for example duplicate scan. At least 3 characters are needed.
3. Click Void sale.
4. Confirm Void sale. This cannot be undone.

Voids are shown on the shift's cash-up, and unusual numbers of voids per cashier are flagged under Insights → Loss prevention.

Void a sale at the till

A sale from today can also be voided at the till, for example straight after it was rung up twice. The till checks first: if the person at the till may not void, it says Voids need a manager, and a manager switches in with their PIN (Switch cashier) to do it. A sale with returns cannot be voided, and the till says so.

Voiding needs a connection, and the sale must have reached the server; the till says so if either is missing.

1. At the till, open Orders (F9) and find the receipt under Completed today.
2. Tap Void on its row.
3. Type the Reason, for example rang up twice, and tap Void sale.
4. Give any money back from the drawer. The receipt now shows voided.

Shifts and Z reports

The Difference is the counted cash minus the expected cash. Short, in red, means less cash than expected; Over, in amber, means more; Balanced means they match. A shift still in progress shows Open and has no Z report yet.

The figures are the Z report's: the sales count leaves voided sales out, and the net sales are after refunds.

1. In the back office, go to Point of sale → Shifts.
2. Shifts are listed newest first, with the register and shift number, when it was opened and closed, the cashiers, the opening float, the expected and counted cash, the Difference, the number of sales and the net sales.
3. To narrow the list, pick a Register, or dates in Opened from and Opened to. Clear filters shows every shift again.
4. Click a closed shift to open its Z report, and click Print to print it.

This page needs the Sales reports permission.

How products and variants fit together

A product is the item as your customers know it, for example “Cotton T-Shirt”. A variant is the exact thing you put on the shelf and scan at the till, for example the T-shirt in size M. Every product has at least one variant.

Each variant has its own SKU (your short stock code), its own barcodes, its own cost and its own selling price. Stock is counted per variant, so you always know how many size M shirts you have, not just how many shirts.

A product with only one form, such as “Ceylon Black Tea 200g”, simply has one variant.

Create a product

1. Open Catalog → Products and click New product.
2. Type the Product name. Add a Description if you like.
3. Choose a Category and a Tax rule. The default tax rule is already selected for you.
4. Choose the Unit you sell in: pcs, kg, g, l, ml, m, box or pack.
5. Leave Track stock for this product ticked for goods you keep on the shelf. Untick it for things you do not count, such as a service.
6. Under Variant 1, type the SKU. Variant name is optional: leave it blank to use the product name.
7. Type the Cost (your purchase cost per unit) and the Barcodes. You can type more than one barcode, separated by a comma or a space.
8. To add another size or colour now, click Add variant and fill in the next card. Click Remove on a card you do not need.
9. Click Create product. The product opens so you can check it and set prices.

Every variant needs a SKU. If you click Create product and a field is missing, the field is marked in red with the reason.

Add or change a variant later

1. In Catalog → Products, click the product to open it.
2. Click Add variant, or click a variant row to change it.
3. Fill in SKU, Variant name, Cost and Barcodes.
4. Use Attributes to record size, colour and similar details as key=value pairs, separated by commas, for example colour=Red, size=L.
5. Click Add variant or Save variant.

Set the selling price

The product window shows a Price column for your default price list. Click Set (or Edit) next to a variant, type the price and press Enter. Press Escape to cancel. To price many items at once, or to use a second price list, see “Prices and price lists”.

Add a photo

1. Open the product and click Add photo at the top. Choose a JPEG, PNG or WebP picture up to 12 MB.
2. The product photo is shown on the till for every variant. To give one variant its own photo (for example the red one), click Own photo on that variant row.
3. Click Replace to change a photo, or the bin button to remove it.

Registers pick up new photos with their next catalogue sync.

Find a photo by barcode

Many packaged goods already have a photo in Open Food Facts, a free, open product database (with Open Beauty Facts for toiletries and Open Products Facts for household goods). If the product or variant has a barcode, Sevo can look it up for you.

1. Open the product. Next to Add photo, click Find photo (it shows only when the product has a barcode).
2. If the product has several barcodes, choose one.
3. Check the photo, name and brand that come back. If it is the right product, click Use this photo; Sevo copies it into your catalogue at the till's size.
4. If nothing is found, add your own photo instead.

These photos are free to use with credit (CC BY-SA). Your online shop shows the credit under the photo automatically; on the till nothing extra is needed.

Preferred supplier

With the Purchasing view permission, the product window has a Suppliers section: for each variant, the preferred supplier, the supplier's item code, the pack size and the last price paid. It also says when a goods receipt made the choice automatically, and which other suppliers the variant comes from.

1. Press Set (or Change) on the variant's row.
2. Choose the Preferred supplier, or No preferred supplier.
3. Optional: the Supplier's item code and the Pack size they ship in. Suggested order quantities are rounded up to whole packs.
4. For a product with several variants, tick "Also make this supplier preferred for the other variants" when they all come from the same supplier.
5. Press Save.

Suggest from reorder levels on a purchase order uses this supplier. Changing it needs the Purchasing manage permission.

Edit the product itself

Open the product and click Edit product to change its name, description, category, tax rule, unit or stock tracking. Click Save changes when you are done.

The Products list has a search box: type part of a name or a SKU to find a product quickly.

When to use an import

If you are moving from Excel or another system, importing is much faster than typing each product. You can also use it later to add new stock lines or to update costs and prices in bulk.

The file is a CSV file. Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice can all save a sheet as CSV.

Download and fill the template

1. Open Catalog → Products and click Import CSV.
2. Click Download CSV template. The file has the exact headers and three example rows.
3. Delete the example rows and add one row per variant. Rows with the same product name become one product with several variants.
4. Save the file as CSV.

What each column means

product (required): the product name, for example Cotton T-Shirt.

sku (required): the variant's stock code. It must be unique.

variant: the variant name, for example M. Leave it blank to use the product name.

barcodes: one or more barcodes. Separate several with a semicolon, comma or space.

category: the category name. A category that does not exist yet is created for you.

tax_rule: the name of a tax rule, for example VAT 18%. It must match a tax rule that already exists under Catalog → Tax rules, or that row is rejected.

unit: pcs, kg and so on. Blank means pcs.

track_stock: true or false. Blank means true (stock is tracked).

cost: your purchase cost per unit.

price: the selling price. It is saved in your default price list, so you need a default price list before you import prices.

Supplier columns (optional)

preferred_supplier: the supplier's code as shown under Purchasing → Suppliers, for example CEYWHO. That supplier becomes the variant's preferred supplier. An unknown or archived code rejects the row.

supplier_item_code: the supplier's own code for the item. It needs preferred_supplier.

pack_size: the case size the supplier ships in, for example 24. It needs preferred_supplier.

Leave all three empty if you do not want to set suppliers from the file. The template's example uses CEYWHO; change it to one of your supplier codes.

Upload the file

1. In the Import products from CSV window, drop the file on the box or click it to choose the file.
2. The file uploads and the import runs in the background. Watch it under Recent imports.
3. When the status shows completed, check the Created, Updated and Errors columns.
4. If there are errors, the rows are listed under the file name, for example “Row 12: Unknown tax rule”. Fix those rows in your sheet and upload the file again.

Uploading again is safe: a row whose SKU already exists updates that variant instead of making a copy. This is also how you update costs or prices in bulk.

Before you import

Create your tax rules first (Catalog → Tax rules) and a default price list (Catalog → Price lists), so the tax_rule and price columns have somewhere to go.

After the import, add opening stock for each store. See “Opening stock”.

What categories do

Categories group your products, for example Groceries, Beverages or Apparel. On the till, cashiers can tap a category chip to find items quickly, and each product tile shows the category colour.

Categories can sit inside other categories. For example, Beverages can hold Tea and Soft drinks. The list shows sub-categories indented under their parent.

Create a category

1. Open Catalog → Categories and click New category.
2. Type the Name.
3. To make it a sub-category, choose its Parent category. Leave None for a top-level category.
4. Set the Sort order. Lower numbers appear first.
5. Pick a Colour on the till, or leave Automatic to let Sevo choose a steady colour for you.
6. Click Create category.

Change or archive a category

1. Click a category in the list to change it, then click Save changes.
2. To stop using a category, click Archive on its row and confirm.

Archived categories disappear from menus, but products keep their history. Move products to another category first if you still sell them.

Putting products in a category

Choose the category when you create or edit a product, or fill the category column in a CSV import. A product has one category.

How prices are kept

Selling prices live in price lists, not on the product. Each price list has a currency, for example LKR, and a price for each variant.

One list is marked Default. The POS registers use the default list. Most shops need only this one list. You might add a second list for a different shop or for a special season.

The cost you enter on a variant is your purchase cost. It is separate from the selling price.

Create a price list

1. Open Catalog → Price lists and click New price list.
2. Type the Name, for example Retail.
3. Type the Currency as a 3-letter code, for example LKR.
4. If the list is only for a period, set Valid from and Valid to. Leave them empty for a list that is always valid.
5. Tick Default price list (used by POS registers) if the tills should use this list.
6. Click Create price list.

Enter many prices at once

1. In Catalog → Price lists, click the price list. A window opens with one row per active variant.
2. Type in Filter products… to find the items you want.
3. The Current column shows today's price. Type the new price in the New price column.
4. Press Enter or click Save on that row. Each row is saved on its own.

You can also set a single price from the product window (Catalog → Products, open the product, click Set or Edit in the Price column), or load prices with a CSV import.

Change or archive a price list

Click Edit on a price list row to change its name, currency, dates or default setting. Click Archive to stop using it. Registers that used an archived list fall back to the default list.

What a tax rule is

A tax rule is a named rate, for example VAT 18%. Each product points to one tax rule, and the till uses it to work out the tax on every sale.

A rule is either Tax inclusive (the shelf price already includes the tax) or Tax exclusive (the tax is added on top of the price).

Rates change from time to time. Check the current rates with your accountant and update your rules when they change.

Create a tax rule

1. Open Catalog → Tax rules and click New tax rule.
2. Type a Name that people will recognise, for example VAT 18%.
3. Type the Rate (%). For example, type 18 for 18 %.
4. Tick Prices include this tax if your selling prices already include it.
5. Tick Default tax rule for new products if most of your products use this rate. New products then start with this rule selected.
6. Click Create tax rule.

For items that carry no VAT, make a rule with a rate of 0 and a clear name, so it is obvious on each product which rule applies.

Change or archive a tax rule

1. Click a rule in the list to change it, then click Save changes.
2. Click Archive on a rule you no longer use and confirm.

Link products to a rule

Choose the Tax rule when you create or edit a product, or fill the tax_rule column in a CSV import with the rule's exact name.

Choose what to print

1. Open Catalog → Products and click Print labels.
2. Choose the Label stock that is loaded in your printer, for example Thermal roll 50 × 25 mm or A4 sheet, 24 labels (63.5 × 33.9 mm).
3. Choose the Barcode type. EAN-13 and Code 128 work with any scanner. QR code and DataMatrix need a 2D scanner.
4. Tick what to show on the label: Product name, Price, SKU and Code digits under the barcode.
5. Use the Search box to find items by name, SKU or barcode, then tick each one you want.
6. Set the number of Copies for each ticked item.
7. Check the Preview, then click Print labels.

Items with no barcode

Many local goods and loose items have no manufacturer barcode. When EAN-13 is selected, these show No barcode with a Generate EAN-13 button. Click it and Sevo adds an in-store EAN-13 barcode to that variant. It is unique in your shop and starts with 200, a range set aside for in-store codes, so it will not clash with a real product barcode.

If you print without a barcode, a warning tells you how many items have no code for the chosen type. Those labels print without a barcode.

Print

1. The labels page opens and shows how many labels will print and on which stock.
2. Click Print. In your browser's print window, choose the label printer.
3. Set the paper size to the label stock, scale 100 %, and turn off headers and footers.
4. Click Back to products when you are done.

The price on the label comes from your default price list, so set prices before you print.

Labels for new deliveries

You can also print labels for a delivery. Open Purchasing → Goods receipts, open a posted receipt and click Print labels for these items. The items received are already ticked, with one label per unit received.

Why archive instead of delete

Your sales, stock movements and reports still point to the items you sold in the past. So Sevo never deletes them. Archiving hides an item from tills and lists, while its history stays complete.

Archive a whole product

1. Open Catalog → Products and click the product.
2. Click Archive product at the bottom.
3. Read the message and click Archive product again to confirm. The product and all its variants disappear from tills and lists. Sales history is kept.

Archive one variant

1. Open the product.
2. Click Archive on the variant row, for example a size you no longer stock.
3. Confirm. The variant shows an Archived badge and is no longer offered for sale. The other variants carry on as normal.

Categories, price lists and tax rules

Each of these lists has an Archive button on every row. An archived category disappears from menus. Registers that used an archived price list fall back to the default list. Before you archive a tax rule, move the products that use it to another rule.

Sample data can stay while you set up. Once your own products are in, remove all the sample data in one go under Settings → Company.

One record of every change

Sevo keeps stock per variant and per location. A location is a store or a warehouse.

Stock never changes by someone typing over a number. Every change is a movement: a goods receipt, a sale, a return, a transfer, a stock count correction, an adjustment or opening stock. The quantity on hand is worked out from those movements. So you can always see why a number is what it is.

Movements cannot be edited or deleted. If something was wrong, you correct it with a new movement, such as an adjustment or a stock count.

See your stock on hand

1. Open Inventory → Stock on hand.
2. Choose the Location you want to see. The list shows every variant that has stock records there.
3. Read the columns: On hand is what should be on the shelf. Reserved is held for online-shop orders that are not finished yet. Avg cost is the average cost of one unit at this location. Min is the minimum level, if one is set.
4. A Low stock badge means on hand has fallen below the minimum.

An on-hand figure shown in red is below zero. It usually means more was sold than was received or counted in. Check the movements, then fix it with a stock count.

Set a minimum stock level

1. Open Inventory → Stock on hand and choose the location.
2. On the item's row, click Set minimum. You need the Adjust stock permission.
3. In Minimum, enter the level below which you want a warning, for example 10.
4. In Order up to, enter how much you want on the shelf after reordering, for example 40. Leave it empty to use the minimum.
5. Click Save. Min and Order up to show in the list, and Low stock appears when on hand falls below the minimum.

Purchasing → Suggest from reorder levels uses these numbers: it suggests ordering enough to bring each low item back up to its Order up to level. Set the minimum to 0 to stop the warning.

Quick links

The buttons at the top of Stock on hand take you straight to Adjustments, Transfers, Stock counts and Movements.

If you have no locations yet, a message asks you to create your first store. You need at least one location before you can hold stock. See “Stores and warehouses (locations)”.

Look at the movement history

1. Open Inventory → Movements. The newest movements are at the top.
2. To see one store only, choose it in the location box. Click All locations to see every location again.
3. Each row shows When, Product, SKU, Type (for example sale, purchase receipt, transfer in, count correction), Qty and Reference.
4. Qty has a plus sign when stock came in and a minus sign when it went out.

When a number on Stock on hand surprises you, the answer is in Movements.

What a location is

A location is any place that holds stock: a shop or a back-store warehouse. If you have a shop in Kandy and a shop in Colombo, create two locations. If the Colombo shop has a separate storeroom that you want to count on its own, that can be a third location.

Stock, stock counts, adjustments and transfers all belong to a location.

Create a location

1. Open Inventory → Locations and click New location.
2. Type a short Code, for example MAIN or KANDY. It must be unique. It is printed on receipts and labels and shown in lists.
3. Choose the Type: Store or Warehouse.
4. Type the Name, for example Kandy Town Shop.
5. Type the Address if you want it recorded.
6. Click Create location.

Change or close a location

1. Click a location in the list to change its details, then click Save changes.
2. If a location closes, click Deactivate on its row. It shows as Inactive and is no longer offered when you pick a location for new work. Its history is kept.
3. Click Activate to use it again.

Before you deactivate a location, move or write off the stock that is still there, so your stock value stays right.

Before you start

Create your locations first (Inventory → Locations) and your products (Catalog → Products, or a CSV import).

Make a list of what you have in each store: the quantity of each item and what one unit cost you. If you are coming from Excel, your last stock sheet is a good start.

Enter opening stock

1. Open Inventory → Adjustments and click New adjustment.
2. Choose the Location.
3. Leave the Reason as Opening stock.
4. In the Note box, type something helpful, for example Opening stock at go-live.
5. In Add a line: search product or SKU…, find the first item and pick it.
6. Type the quantity in the Qty change (±) box, for example 24.
7. Type the Unit cost, what one unit cost you.
8. Repeat for every item, then click Save as draft.
9. Check the draft in the list, then click Post and confirm. The stock is now on hand.

Do one opening-stock adjustment per store. If the value is at or above your stock adjustment approval limit, it waits for an approver first. See “Stock adjustments and approval”.

Why the unit cost matters

The unit cost sets the starting average cost of each item. Sevo uses it for your stock value and for the cost of each sale, which gives your profit figures.

If you leave the cost empty, the item has stock but no cost. Inventory → Stock valuation then lists it under Lines without a cost yet, until a costed goods receipt or an adjustment with a unit cost arrives.

When to use an adjustment

Use an adjustment when stock changes for a reason that is not a sale, a purchase or a transfer. Each adjustment has a reason: Opening stock, Correction, Damage / write-off, Theft / loss or Other.

To check a whole shelf or store against what is really there, use a stock count instead. It works out the differences for you.

Create an adjustment

1. Open Inventory → Adjustments and click New adjustment.
2. Choose the Location and the Reason.
3. Add a Note that explains what happened, for example 3 bottles broken in delivery.
4. Add each item in Add a line: search product or SKU….
5. Type the change in Qty change (±). Use a minus sign to take stock away, for example -3. Use a plain number to add stock.
6. For Opening stock and Correction, you can also type a Unit cost.
7. Click Save as draft.

Every line needs a quantity change that is not zero. If one is missing, a message tells you before anything is saved.

Post the adjustment

1. Find the draft in the list. Its status is draft.
2. Click Post, read the message and click Post again. Stock changes at once and the movement cannot be undone.
3. If you do not want it, click Cancel and then Cancel draft.

Adjustments that need approval

Your administrator can set a limit for stock adjustments under Settings → Approvals. The value that counts is the quantity moved × cost. If the adjustment is at or above the limit, Post does not change stock yet. You see Sent for approval, and the status becomes pending approval.

An approver finds it in Approvals, checks it, and clicks Approve (the stock is then posted) or Reject with a note to send it back.

While it waits, you can click Withdraw to take it back. It returns to draft.

If no limit is set, adjustments post straight away.

Check an adjustment

Click any adjustment in the list to see its location, reason, note and lines, with the Qty change and Unit cost of each line. The posted changes also appear in Inventory → Movements.

How a transfer works

A transfer starts as a draft, which you can still cancel. When you send it, the stock leaves the From location and is in transit. The To location then records what actually arrived, in one receipt or several: the status is partly received until everything has arrived, and then received.

If some of the goods will never arrive (lost or stolen on the way), close the transfer: whatever has not arrived is written off as lost in transit and the status becomes closed with shortfall.

The receiving store takes over the cost of the goods from the sending store, at the cost they left at, so moving stock does not change its value.

Create and send a transfer

1. Open Inventory → Transfers and click New transfer.
2. Choose From (the store sending the goods) and To (the store receiving them). They must be different.
3. Add a Note if helpful, for example the van or driver.
4. Add each item in Add a line: search product or SKU… and type the Qty. Quantities must be more than zero.
5. Click Save as draft.
6. When the goods are packed and leave, click Send on the transfer and confirm. The status becomes sent.

To drop a draft you no longer need, click Cancel and then Cancel draft.

Receive a transfer

1. When the goods arrive, open Inventory → Transfers and click Receive on the transfer (or click its row). The transfer opens with, for each item, what was Sent, what was Received so far and what is still In transit.
2. Count the goods and type what arrived in Receiving now. Leave an item empty if none of it came this time. Fill in everything in transit fills every line with what is still expected.
3. Add a Receipt note if helpful, for example the delivery note number or who checked the goods.
4. Click Receive. The stock is added at the To location. If anything is still in transit the status becomes partly received, and you can receive the rest the same way when it comes.

You cannot receive more than is still in transit on a line. If more arrived than was sent, it did not come on this transfer: add it at the receiving store with an adjustment (reason Correction) and a note.

Close a transfer with a shortfall

When the rest of a transfer will not come, close it so the stock is not left in transit for ever.

1. Open the transfer. If a few more items arrived now, type them in Receiving now first.
2. Click Close and write off the rest.
3. The confirmation lists what will be written off as lost in transit and its value. Click Close and write off.

The write-off is a stock loss: it posts to Finance like any stock written off (Inventory adjustments), at the cost the goods left the sending store at. It cannot be undone, so check the counts first.

Receipt history

Every transfer shows its Receipt history: each receipt with when, what, value and who recorded it, and the write-off if the transfer was closed with a shortfall.

In Inventory → Movements, sending makes a transfer out movement at the sending store and each receipt a transfer in movement at the receiving store. A write-off makes no movement, because the goods were at neither store.

Why count

Over time, breakages, mistakes and theft make the real shelf different from the system. A stock count fixes that. You can count the whole store at month end, or just one aisle or one brand.

Open a count

1. Open Inventory → Stock counts and click Open a count.
2. Choose the Location.
3. Add a Note so you can find it later, for example Month-end count, aisle 3.
4. Click Open count. The count opens with the status open. If no location is chosen, the Location box asks you to choose one.

Count the items

1. Click in Scan or search a product to add it to the count… and scan the item's barcode, or type its name or SKU and pick it.
2. The item is added with its Expected quantity, which is what Sevo thinks is on hand.
3. Type what you counted in the Counted box and press Enter. It is saved at once.
4. The Variance column shows the difference. A minus figure means items are missing. A plus figure means you found more than expected.
5. Repeat for every item. You can close the window and come back later: the count stays open.

Count when the shop is quiet or closed, so items are not sold while you are counting them.

Finish the count

1. Check the lines with a large variance. Recount them if you are not sure.
2. Click Complete & post corrections, then Complete & post. Each variance becomes a count correction movement, so stock on hand now matches what you counted.
3. If the count was started by mistake, click Cancel count instead. Nothing changes.

How the value is worked out

Stock value is on hand × average cost, for each product at each location.

Sevo uses the moving average cost. Each costed goods receipt blends the new purchase price into the average. For example, if you have 10 units that cost 100 each and you receive 10 more at 120 each, the average becomes 110.

Sales, transfers and stock counts do not change the average. When you sell, the cost of that sale is taken from the average at that moment and kept with the sale, so past profit figures do not change later.

Opening stock and correction adjustments with a unit cost also give an item its cost.

See your stock value

1. Open Inventory → Stock valuation.
2. Leave Location on All locations to see the whole business, or choose one store.
3. The strip at the top shows the Stock value, the number of Costed lines, the Lines without a cost yet and the Products in stock.
4. The table lists each item with its On hand, Average cost and Value.

Items with no cost

An item shows no cost when it was counted or adjusted in before any costed goods receipt. Its value is not included in the total, and a message tells you how many lines are affected.

To fix it, receive the item once through a purchase order, or post an adjustment with a unit cost.

Export for your accountant

1. Choose the location, or All locations.
2. Click Export CSV. A file named with today's date downloads, with Location, SKU, Product, Unit, On hand, Average cost and Value for each line.

Export at the end of each month so you have a record of your closing stock value.

The five steps

Buying stock follows the same path every time. Each step has its own screen, and each document points back to the one before it, so you can always see where a number came from.

1. Add the supplier once under Purchasing → Suppliers, with payment terms and currency.
2. Create a purchase order under Purchasing → Purchase orders. It starts as a draft. When the lines are final, press Send.
3. When the delivery arrives, press Receive on the order and post the goods receipt. Stock goes up at the store and the cost of each item is updated. Goods that are wrong or damaged go back on a supplier return.
4. When the supplier's bill arrives, enter it under Finance → Payables and tick the receipt lines it covers. Post it to book what you owe.
5. Pay the bill with Record payment. The invoice shows as paid or partially paid.

Where to find things

Purchasing → Purchase orders lists every order with its status and how much has been received.

Purchasing → Goods receipts is the book of every delivery that went into stock.

Purchasing → Suppliers is your supplier list.

Finance → Payables holds supplier invoices and shows what is open and overdue. Finance → Payments lists the money paid to suppliers.

What happens in the background

Posting a goods receipt adds the items to stock at the order's delivery location and re-weights their average cost there. The books record the stock and a "goods received, not yet invoiced" amount.

Posting the supplier invoice turns that amount into a payable to the supplier. If the invoice price differs from the receipt cost, the difference is shown as a variance.

Recording a payment settles the invoice from the bank or cash account you choose.

Not sure what to order?

Two tools can fill an order for you: Suggest from reorder levels inside a new purchase order, and Insights → Replenish, which uses your sales forecast. See "Reorder suggestions" for both.

Always enter the supplier's delivery note or invoice number when you receive goods. It makes the bill easy to match later.

Add a supplier

1. Go to Purchasing → Suppliers.
2. Press Add supplier.
3. Enter the Name. This is the only field you must fill.
4. Code: leave it blank and one is made for you, or type your own (2 to 16 letters, digits or hyphens).
5. Fill in Contact person, E-mail, Phone, Address and Tax / VAT number if you have them.
6. Payment terms (days): how many days after the invoice you normally pay. Enter 0 if you pay on delivery.
7. Currency: the 3-letter code the supplier bills in, for example LKR or USD.
8. Notes: anything useful, such as delivery days or minimum order.
9. Press Add supplier. A message shows the supplier's code.

Why terms and currency matter

A new purchase order takes its currency from the supplier. You cannot change it on the order, so set it correctly here.

When you enter a supplier invoice and leave the due date empty, the due date is worked out from the supplier's payment terms. The list shows terms as a number of days, or "On delivery" for 0.

Edit a supplier

1. Find the supplier. Use the search box to search by name or code.
2. Press Edit on its row.
3. Change what you need and press Save changes.

The code cannot be changed once the supplier exists, because documents refer to it.

Products from this supplier

Press Products on a supplier's row to see what you buy from them: each product with the supplier's own item code, the pack size they ship in, the last price you paid and whether they are its Preferred supplier or an Alternative.

Goods receipts fill this list for you: a product appears here after its first delivery from the supplier.

1. To add a product, type its name or SKU in the box at the top and pick it. Enter the supplier's item code and the pack size if you know them.
2. Leave Preferred supplier for this product ticked to make this the supplier that Suggest from reorder levels orders it from, then press Add product.
3. Press Make preferred on an Alternative row to switch that product to this supplier.
4. Press Remove to take a product off the list.

The supplier's item code is printed on the purchase order after your product name, so their warehouse picks the right item.

Archive or restore a supplier

Archive a supplier you no longer buy from. It disappears from the list of suppliers for new orders. Old orders, receipts and invoices keep showing it.

1. Press Archive on the supplier's row and confirm.
2. To see archived suppliers, tick Show archived.
3. To bring one back, press Restore on its row.

Import many suppliers from a CSV file

If your supplier list is in Excel or another system, you can bring it in at once.

1. Go to Settings → Data migration.
2. In the Suppliers step, press Import suppliers.
3. Press Download template. Fill one row per supplier. The columns are code, name, contact_name, email, phone, address, tax_id, payment_terms_days, currency and notes. Only name is required.
4. Save the file as CSV, then press Choose CSV… and pick it.
5. Check the preview. It says how many rows are ready and how many were skipped.
6. Press the Import button. Each row is created on its own, so one bad row does not stop the others. The results show which rows were created and which failed, with the reason.

If currency is empty in the file, your base currency is used. Empty payment terms become 0 (pay on delivery).

Create a purchase order

1. Go to Purchasing → Purchase orders and press New purchase order.
2. Supplier: choose who you are buying from. The Currency field fills in from the supplier.
3. Deliver to: choose the store or warehouse the goods go to.
4. Expected delivery: optional date.
5. Note to supplier / internal: optional.
6. Add products in the Lines area: scan a barcode or type a name or SKU in the search box and pick the product.
7. On each line enter the Qty and the Unit cost. A unit cost of 0 is allowed for free goods.
8. Pack (optional): the case size the supplier ships in. The quantity must then be a whole number of packs, for example 48 for packs of 12.
9. Press Create draft. The order gets a number and waits as a draft.

Press Suggest from reorder levels to see what is running low at that location. With a supplier chosen, it offers that supplier's products. See "Reorder suggestions".

Edit and send

While an order is a draft you can press Edit, change anything and press Save draft.

Press Send when the lines are final. The Send dialog shows the number of lines, the total and where the order will go. After sending, the lines cannot be edited and goods can be received against the order.

Press Send by e-mail to e-mail the order: the supplier receives it as a PDF on your letterhead, and you get a copy. If the supplier has no e-mail address, the dialog says so; add one on the supplier, or press Mark as sent and give the order yourself (open it with View and press Download PDF).

When an order needs approval

Your business can set an amount limit for purchase orders under Settings → Approvals. The limit is in your base currency, and foreign-currency orders are converted.

If an order's total is at or above the limit, pressing Send puts it in pending approval instead. A person with the Approvals permission, who is not the person who sent it, approves it from Approvals in the sidebar. Once approved, the order is sent. It is not e-mailed by the approver: open it and press E-mail to supplier.

If the approver rejects it, the order goes back to draft with their note. You can cancel an order while it is pending; that withdraws the request.

E-mail status and sending again

Open an order with View. The E-mail line shows when and to whom it was e-mailed, or that the e-mail failed and why (for example, the supplier's mailbox refused it).

1. If the e-mail failed, press Try again on the E-mail line.
2. To e-mail a sent order again, for example after correcting the supplier's address, press E-mail to supplier.

Pressing twice within two minutes sends one e-mail, not two. The supplier's replies go to your company e-mail (Settings → Company), or to you when the company has none.

What the statuses mean

draft: being prepared; can be edited.

pending approval: above the limit, waiting for an approver.

sent: final; waiting for the delivery.

partially received: some goods have arrived, some are still outstanding.

received: everything ordered has arrived.

closed: closed short; nothing more will be received.

cancelled: stopped before anything was received. The number stays used so there are no gaps.

Follow up an order

1. Filter the list by Status or Supplier.
2. The Received column shows a bar with how much has arrived.
3. Press View to see each line's Ordered, Received and Outstanding quantities, and the numbers of the goods receipts made so far.
4. If the supplier will not deliver the rest, open the order and press Close short, then Close order.
5. To stop a draft or pending order, press Cancel, then Cancel order.

Orders in a foreign currency

An order is in its supplier's currency. The list also shows an approximate total in your base currency at today's rate. If no rate is on file, it says so; add rates under Settings → Currencies & rates. The rate that counts for stock is set when you receive the goods.

Receive a delivery

You receive against an order that is sent or partially received. Have the supplier's delivery note in hand.

1. Go to Purchasing → Purchase orders and press Receive on the order.
2. Supplier delivery note / invoice no.: type the number from the paper. It is used to match the supplier invoice later.
3. Received on: leave it blank for now, or enter the real date and time.
4. Note: optional, for example a damaged box or a short delivery.
5. Check each line. The Receive quantity is filled with what is still outstanding. Change it to what actually arrived.
6. Check the Unit cost. It starts at the order price. Change it to match the delivery note, because it sets the value of your stock.
7. Check the Receipt total and press Post receipt.

Partial and extra deliveries

If only part of the order came, enter what arrived. Clear the quantity on any line that did not come; it stays outstanding for a later delivery. The order becomes partially received.

You can receive up to 10 % more than is outstanding on a line. More than that is refused.

When everything has arrived the order becomes received. If the rest will never come, close the order short.

Suppliers in a foreign currency

For an order in another currency, the receive screen shows an Exchange rate field. If a rate for today is in your rate table, it is shown in the hint and used when you leave the field blank. Otherwise type the rate from the invoice or the bank.

The screen shows the Receipt total in your base currency. That amount is what goes into stock value. If there is no rate at all, you are asked to enter one here or add one under Settings → Currencies & rates.

What posting does to stock and cost

Posting adds the items to stock at the order's delivery location straight away. A message confirms the receipt number, the number of lines and the total.

Each item's average cost at that location is re-weighted with the new cost. Each sale records this cost so margins are right, and Inventory → Stock valuation uses it to value your stock.

New items get this supplier as preferred supplier

If an item on the receipt has no preferred supplier yet, the supplier of this receipt becomes its preferred supplier. A second message after posting says so, for example "Ceylon Wholesale Traders is now the preferred supplier of 2 items", and the product's Suppliers section shows "Set automatically by GRN-000012".

An item that already has a preferred supplier keeps it; this supplier is added as an alternative. Change the preferred supplier on the product (Catalog → Products, Suppliers section) or under Purchasing → Suppliers → Products.

The goods receipts book

1. Go to Purchasing → Goods receipts to see every delivery that was booked into stock.
2. Filter by Supplier if needed.
3. Press View to see the lines, quantities, unit costs and, for foreign currency, the exchange rate used and the amount booked to stock.
4. Press Print labels for these items to print shelf or product labels for what just arrived.

Receipts are never edited. If one is wrong, open it and press Correct this receipt; goods going back to the supplier go on a supplier return. See "Correcting a goods receipt" and "Supplier returns and credit notes".

Two ways to correct

A posted receipt is never edited. Correcting it posts a new document in the same GRN series, which the receipts book shows as a Correction or a Reversal of the original. Stock, the average cost, the purchase order and the books all follow.

The quantity or cost on some lines: enter what really arrived and what it really cost. Only the difference is booked. Use it for a miscount or a wrong price.

The whole receipt: every line goes back out of stock at the receipt's cost and the purchase order expects the goods again. Use it when the receipt should not exist at all, for example goods received against the wrong order, and then receive them again correctly.

Correct quantities or costs

1. Go to Purchasing → Goods receipts and press View on the receipt.
2. Press Correct this receipt.
3. Under What is wrong?, choose The quantity or cost on some lines.
4. On each line that is wrong, enter the Right qty and the Right cost. Leave the other lines as they are. A quantity of 0 removes the line.
5. Enter the Reason, for example "Counted again: 8 in the boxes, not 10".
6. Press Post correction. A message names the correction document, for example GRN-000046.

Reverse the whole receipt

1. Open the receipt and press Correct this receipt.
2. Under What is wrong?, choose The whole receipt.
3. Enter the Reason.
4. Press Reverse receipt and confirm. The receipt shows as Reversed, and the reversal document takes its lines back.
5. Receive the goods again from the purchase order, the right way.

When a correction is not possible

A line that is on a supplier bill cannot be corrected here, not even on a draft bill: settle a price difference on the bill, or send the goods back on a supplier return. A line with goods on a supplier return cannot be corrected either.

A reversal needs every unit of the receipt still on hand at the location and nothing on it billed or returned. The dialog lists what stands in the way, for example "Only 6 of the 10 received are still on hand".

Lowering a quantity needs the difference on hand. Changing a cost needs all of the line's goods on hand, because they leave at the old cost and come back at the new one. For goods already sold, settle the price on the supplier's bill instead.

What a correction changes

Stock: the difference leaves or joins stock at the location, and the average cost is re-weighted.

The purchase order: its received quantities follow, so it goes back to partially received or sent when goods are taken back, and to received again when they arrive.

The books: stock and "goods received, not yet invoiced" move by the same amounts; a small difference, if the stock had already changed value, goes to purchase price variance. Supplier bills then match the corrected lines, still under the original receipt's number.

The receipt's dialog lists earlier corrections, with their reasons, under Earlier corrections.

Start a return

A return can come from a goods receipt, which is the usual case, or name the products directly.

1. From a receipt: go to Purchasing → Goods receipts, press View on the receipt and press Return to supplier. Or go to Purchasing → Supplier returns and press New return.
2. Supplier: choose who the goods go back to.
3. From goods receipt: choose the receipt the goods came in on, or Not from a receipt.
4. With a receipt, every line of it is listed with how much can still go back and how much is on hand. Enter the Qty on the lines that go back.
5. Without a receipt, choose Return from (the location) and add each product by name, SKU or barcode.
6. Choose the Reason on each line: Damaged, Wrong item, Expired, Over-supplied or Other.
7. Check the Unit cost. From a receipt it is the receipt's cost; otherwise leave it blank to use today's average cost.
8. Press Save draft. The return gets its number, for example RTV-000001.

Send the return

A draft moves nothing and can still be changed with Edit or dropped with Cancel return.

1. Open the return and press Send, then confirm.
2. The goods leave stock at the location straight away. A message says whether the supplier owes a credit note.
3. Press Download PDF to print the return and send it with the goods, or E-mail to supplier to send it with the PDF attached; you get a copy.

Limits the screen enforces

You cannot return more than a receipt line brought in, less what earlier returns took back.

You cannot return more than is on hand at the location when you press Send.

A sent return cannot be changed. If it was wrong, receive the goods back with a new receipt.

Billed or not billed: who owes what

Not billed yet: if the supplier had not billed the goods when they went back, nothing more is needed. The supplier simply bills less, and Finance → Payables only offers the goods you kept. The return stays Sent and shows Not billed: no credit due.

Already billed: the supplier owes you a credit note. The return shows Awaiting credit with the amount, and the supplier screen shows it under Returns until the credit note is recorded.

One return can be partly both: the detail shows, per line, how much was not billed yet and how much awaits credit.

Record the supplier's credit note

1. Open the return and press Record credit note.
2. Supplier's credit note no.: type the number on their credit note.
3. Credit note date: the date on it.
4. Amount before VAT: it starts at the value of the returned goods they had billed; change it to what the credit note says.
5. VAT: it starts as on the supplier's bill. Choose No VAT if the credit note has none.
6. Check the Credit note total and press Record credit note.

The credit note lowers what you owe the supplier: it is used against their open bills straight away (the bill for the returned goods first), and anything left is used against their next bill. The supplier's statement lists it.

What a return does to stock and the books

Stock goes down at the return's cost, and the average cost of what stays is re-weighted. If the stock runs out, or the goods leave at more than what is left was worth, the difference goes to purchase price variance.

Goods not billed yet release "goods received, not yet invoiced". Goods already billed wait in Supplier returns awaiting credit (account 1160) until the credit note clears it; the credit note also gives back the input VAT the bill claimed.

Suppliers → Returns shows every return to a supplier, the credit notes it sent and what it still owes as credit.

Why match the bill

The order says what you asked for, the goods receipt says what arrived, and the invoice says what the supplier charges. Matching the invoice to receipt lines means you only book a bill for goods that came in. If the invoice price differs from the cost at receipt, the difference is booked as a variance.

Supplier invoices live in Finance, but they complete the purchasing flow, so this article walks through them.

Enter a supplier invoice

1. Go to Finance → Payables and press New invoice.
2. Supplier: choose the supplier.
3. Supplier invoice no.: the number printed on the bill.
4. Invoice date: the date on the bill.
5. Due date: leave it empty to use the supplier's payment terms.
6. Exchange rate: shown only for a foreign-currency supplier. Enter the rate to your base currency.
7. Under Goods received, not yet invoiced, tick the receipt lines this bill covers. The supplier's delivery note number is shown next to each receipt number.
8. Adjust Qty or Unit price if the bill differs. The quantity cannot be more than the Open quantity. The price starts at the cost at receipt.
9. VAT: each line offers No VAT (0 %) and your company's tax rules. A receipt line starts with its product's tax rule; a charge starts with your default rule. Change it if the bill shows a different rate.
10. For freight, services or other costs on the same bill, press Add charge, choose the Account, and enter a Description and Amount.
11. Check Net, VAT and Total, then press Save draft.

If the list says every receipt from this supplier has been invoiced, the goods have not been received yet, or another invoice already covers them.

VAT rates on a bill

The rates you can choose are your tax rules under Catalog → Tax rules. If a bill shows a rate you have no rule for, add a rule with that rate first. A bill line with a rate that no rule has is refused, so the VAT report only shows rates you have set up.

Choose No VAT (0 %) for a supplier who is not registered for VAT, or a charge that carries no VAT.

Post the invoice

While it is a draft you can press Edit draft to change it, or Cancel draft to discard it. Cancelling frees its receipt lines for another invoice.

1. Click the invoice in the Payables list to open it.
2. Check the lines. The Accrued at receipt column shows the value booked when the goods arrived.
3. Press Post invoice and confirm with Post. The payable is booked and the invoice can no longer be edited.

Keep an eye on what you owe

The top of Finance → Payables shows Open payables in your base currency, the Overdue amount and the number of Suppliers with open invoices. Due dates in the past are highlighted in the list.

Filter by supplier or status: Draft, Posted, Partially paid, Paid or Cancelled.

Pay one invoice

1. Go to Finance → Payables and click the posted invoice.
2. Press Record payment. The supplier and the invoice's open balance are filled in.
3. Payment date: the day the money left.
4. Paid from: the bank or cash account you paid from.
5. Amount: change it if you pay only part of the invoice.
6. Reference: the cheque or transfer number.
7. Press Record payment. A message shows the payment number.

Pay several invoices at once

1. Press Record payment at the top of Finance → Payables or Finance → Payments.
2. Choose the Supplier, then fill Payment date, Paid from, Amount and Reference.
3. Apply to invoices: choose Oldest due first to settle the oldest bills first, or Open invoices to type how much goes to each invoice.
4. Anything not applied is shown as Unapplied (stays on account).
5. Press Record payment.

If the amounts you apply add up to more than the payment, you are asked to fix them before saving.

Foreign-currency suppliers

The amount is in the supplier's currency. An Exchange rate field appears for the rate to your base currency. Exchange differences on foreign bills are shown in Finance → Payments.

See and void payments

Finance → Payments lists every supplier payment, the account it was paid from and the invoices it settled.

If a cheque bounced or a payment was a mistake, press Void and confirm with Void payment. The journal entry is reversed and the invoices it settled become open again.

Suggest from reorder levels

This uses the reorder levels set for each product at each location (Inventory → Stock on hand) and each product's preferred supplier.

1. Go to Purchasing → Purchase orders and press New purchase order.
2. Choose the Deliver to location and, usually, the Supplier.
3. Press Suggest from reorder levels. The Suggested from reorder levels panel lists what is at or below its reorder level, with the quantity that brings it up to target.
4. With a supplier chosen, the panel shows the products this supplier is preferred for, ticked. Products with no preferred supplier are in a separate No preferred supplier group, closed and not ticked: open it and tick any you also want from this supplier. Products preferred from other suppliers are left out, and the panel says how many.
5. Without a supplier, the panel groups everything by preferred supplier. Press Order from this supplier in a group to choose that supplier and see only its products.
6. Each row shows the quantity, the pack size and the supplier's item code when they are known, and the cost: the last price paid to that supplier, else the last received cost.
7. Untick what you do not want and press Add lines. Quantities are rounded up to whole packs. Check the lines, then press Create draft.

Products already on the order are not added twice. If nothing is low, you see "Nothing to reorder".

Preferred suppliers

Each product variant can have one preferred supplier: the one you normally order it from. Set it on the product (Catalog → Products, Suppliers section) or under Purchasing → Suppliers → Products. The first delivery of a product that has none sets it for you.

Other suppliers you have bought it from stay listed as alternatives, with the last price you paid each of them. Insights → Replenish also groups its suggestions by preferred supplier.

Insights → Replenish

Replenish looks at your sales forecast, stock on hand, stock already on order and supplier lead times. It lists what to reorder, how much and from whom, sorted by the sales you would lose while waiting.

Lines are grouped by supplier and location. For each item you see On hand, Cover (d) (days the stock will last), the lead time, the Order quantity, Unit cost, Why it is suggested and the sales At risk.

1. Go to Insights → Replenish. Choose a location or look at all of them.
2. Tick the lines you want, or use Select all in a supplier group.
3. Press Create draft PO in the group, or the button at the top to create orders for all ticked lines.
4. A message shows the draft order numbers. Open them under Purchasing → Purchase orders, check them and press Send.
5. Press Dismiss on a line you do not want. It is not suggested again for two weeks.

Items with no supplier yet

An item shown under "No supplier known yet" has no preferred supplier and has never been received, so it cannot be ordered in one click. Set its preferred supplier on the product, or receive it once through a purchase order, and later suggestions will know who to order it from.

What the online shop is

The online shop is a public web page where customers can browse your products, put them in a basket and place an order. It sells from the same stock as your till, and it uses the prices, photos and tax from your catalogue, so you only keep them up to date in one place.

Nothing is public until you mark the shop ready to sell. You can set everything up first, at your own pace.

Create the shop

The settings screen has four tabs: Shop details, Contact, Delivery and payment, and Policies. The Delivery and payment tab appears only after the first save.

1. In the menu, open Online shop → Shop settings.
2. On the Shop details tab, type your Shop name, for example the name on your signboard.
3. Type a Web address. This is the part of the link that is yours. Use letters, numbers and hyphens, for example perera-hardware. It needs at least three characters.
4. Optionally add a Tagline (one line under your name) and About the shop (two or three sentences about what you sell).
5. Press Save. You will see "Shop saved".

If a required field is missing, the screen jumps back to the Shop details tab and shows the message under the field.

Add your contact details

Customers need a way to reach you. At least one of Phone, WhatsApp or E-mail is needed before the shop can open.

1. Open the Contact tab.
2. Fill in Phone, WhatsApp and E-mail, as many as you use.
3. Add your Address. If you offer collection from the shop, this is the address the order shows.
4. Check the Country. This is where the shop is registered for tax. Orders delivered to any other country are treated as zero-rated exports, so no VAT is charged on them.
5. Press Save.

Write your policies

The Policies tab has two boxes, Delivery and Returns. Customers see them on your shop. Plain sentences are fine, and each box shows an example.

1. Open the Policies tab.
2. Write how and when you deliver in the Delivery box.
3. Write what can be returned, and for how long, in the Returns box.
4. Press Save.

"Changes not saved yet" next to the Save button means you have typed something that is not saved. Press Save before you leave the page.

Your shop link

After the first save, the page shows Your shop link. Press Copy link to copy it. Once the shop is open you can also press Open shop to see it as a customer does, and share the link on your WhatsApp and Facebook pages.

The "Ready to sell?" checklist

Near the top of the page, "Ready to sell?" lists the five things a shop needs before a customer can order: A name and a web address, A way for customers to reach you, Products on sale, Where orders are sent from, and At least one way to pay.

Each item that is not done has a button that takes you to the right place. A tab with something missing shows a small dot. When all five are done, you can open the shop.

Where orders are sent from

Every online order is taken from the stock of one store or warehouse. You must choose it before you can switch on any payment method.

1. Open Online shop → Shop settings and select the Delivery and payment tab.
2. In Orders are sent from, choose the store or warehouse.
3. It saves straight away and shows "Delivery location saved".

Delivery charges

Under Delivery charges you decide how customers receive their order and what it costs. You can have one delivery zone with a charge, several zones, collection from the shop, or a mix.

If you add no options at all, customers pay only for the goods and the checkout does not ask how they want to receive the order.

1. Press Add delivery zone, or Add collection from the shop.
2. Check the Type: Delivery or Collect from the shop.
3. Type the Name customers see, for example "Colombo and suburbs".
4. Optionally add One line under it, for example "2-3 working days".
5. Type the Charge. Use 0 for free.
6. Optionally fill Free when goods total is at least. When the goods total reaches this amount, the charge is waived. Leave it empty to always charge.
7. Keep Offered at checkout ticked for options customers can choose.
8. Press Save delivery charges. All the rows are saved together, in the order customers will see them.

To stop offering an option for a while, untick Offered at checkout instead of removing it. Press Remove to delete a row, then Save delivery charges.

How customers can pay

Two payment methods can be used today: Cash on delivery and Bank transfer. Each has its own card and its own Save button. Ticking a box does nothing until you press that card's Save button.

Cash on delivery: the customer pays your rider or courier in cash when the parcel arrives.

Bank transfer: the customer transfers the money to your bank account within 48 hours. You record the payment in the order queue, and that confirms the order. If no payment is recorded in time, the order is cancelled and the items go back on sale.

1. On the Delivery and payment tab, find the card for the method, for example Cash on delivery.
2. Tick Offered at checkout.
3. Optionally change the Name shown to customers. Leave it empty to use the standard name.
4. Write the Instructions shown to customers. For bank transfer, give your bank, account name and number, and say that the order number is the payment reference.
5. For cash on delivery, you can fill Ring the customer before confirming orders above. Orders above this amount wait for you to confirm them. Leave it empty to confirm every cash order automatically.
6. Press the card's Save button, for example Save Cash on delivery.

Card payments are not available yet.

How it works

Your catalogue is the list. On this screen you only decide which items are sold online. The name, price, photo, category and tax all come from the catalogue, so the till and the shop always show the same product.

Each variant has its own row, so you can sell a red shirt online and keep the blue one in the store only.

Put products on sale

1. Open Online shop → What I sell online. You can also press Choose what to sell on the Shop settings page.
2. Type in Search name or SKU… to find products.
3. Tick the box next to each product you want to sell. The box in the header selects everything shown.
4. A bar appears at the bottom with the number selected. Press Sell online.
5. The In the shop column changes to Yes.

Take products off the shop

1. Tick Only what I sell online to see just the products in the shop.
2. Tick the products you want to take off.
3. Press Remove from shop.
4. The In the shop column changes to No. The product stays in your catalogue and at the till.

Product photos

The shop shows the photo from your catalogue. If a variant has its own photo, the shop shows that one. Otherwise it shows the product's photo. A product without a photo shows a coloured tile with its initials.

1. Open Catalog → Products and open the product.
2. Press Add photo (or Replace to change it).
3. Choose a JPEG, PNG or WebP picture of up to 12 MB.
4. To give one variant its own photo, press Own photo on that variant.

Prices

A product without a price shows "Price on request" in the shop. To sell it online, give it a price in the catalogue first.

Open the shop

The status next to the shop shows Not ready, Ready to sell or Closed, and how many products are on sale. The shop cannot be opened while nothing is on sale, no contact is given or no payment method is switched on.

1. Open Online shop → Shop settings.
2. Check that "Ready to sell?" shows all five items done.
3. Press Mark ready to sell.
4. Read the message and press Mark ready. You will see "Your shop is marked ready".

Close the shop

Closing hides the shop from customers. Nothing is deleted: your products, orders and web address stay, so you can open it again at any time.

1. Open Online shop → Shop settings.
2. Press Mark as closed.
3. Press Mark as closed again to confirm.

What customers see

At the top: your shop name, tagline, and your phone, WhatsApp and e-mail. Customers can search your products and tap a category to narrow the list.

Each product shows its photo, name, category and price. The product page adds the description and item code, and an Add to basket button.

The basket stays at the top of every page. Customers can change quantities or remove items, then press Checkout.

Your About the shop text and your Delivery and Returns policies are shown on the shop.

At checkout

The customer gives their name, phone number, an optional e-mail, a delivery address and the delivery country. If they choose collection from the shop, no address is needed.

They choose how they would like to receive it (if you offer delivery options) and how they will pay, then press Place order. The delivery charge is shown in the order summary, and tax is worked out when the order is placed.

If there is not enough stock left, the customer sees "Sorry - there is not enough stock left for that." and no order is placed.

After the order is placed

The customer sees "Order placed" with the order number and a link. They should keep that link, because it is the only way back to their order.

The order page shows the status, what has happened so far, the items and the total. For bank transfer it shows your instructions, the order number to use as the payment reference, and the time by which they must pay.

The customer is also saved to your customer list, matched by phone number.

The order queue

Open Online shop → Orders. The line at the top says how many orders are waiting for you. The tabs filter by status: All, Waiting for you, Confirmed, Packed, Sent, Delivered and Cancelled.

Each row shows the order number, the customer, the number of items, the status and the total. Tap a row to open the order.

The order page shows only the next step as a button, so you cannot skip a step by mistake.

Two more tabs are for orders collected from the shop: Ready for collection and Collected.

The steps of an order

Waiting for you: the order is new and needs you to confirm it. Cash on delivery orders are confirmed automatically unless they are above the amount you set.

Confirmed: you have accepted the order and can start packing.

Packed: the parcel is ready.

Sent: the goods have left your shop. This is when the stock leaves the shelf and the sale is counted.

Delivered: the customer has the goods.

Cancelled: the order was stopped before it was sent.

Ready for collection: a collection order is packed and waiting at the shop. The customer has been e-mailed. The goods are set aside but still on your shelf.

Collected: the customer has taken the goods. This is when the stock leaves the shelf and the sale is counted.

Work through an order

1. Open the order. Check the items, the customer's phone number, and the address or collection point.
2. Press Confirm. For a large cash order, ring the customer first.
3. Press Picking slip to print a list for the person packing. It has no prices.
4. When the parcel is ready, press Mark packed.
5. When the parcel is with the courier, press Send it, then Yes, it has gone. This step cannot be undone.
6. When the customer has the goods, press Mark delivered. For cash on delivery, this records that the cash has been collected.

Press Invoice to get the invoice PDF. It is available once the order is packed, or earlier if a bank transfer has been paid.

Record a bank transfer

A bank transfer order shows Awaiting payment and has no Confirm button. It waits until you see the money in your account.

1. Check your bank account for a payment with the order number as the reference.
2. Open the order. Under Record payment, optionally type the Bank reference, such as the statement line or slip number.
3. Press Record payment. You will see "Payment recorded - the order is confirmed."
4. Continue with Mark packed as usual.

If no payment is recorded by the time shown on the order, the order is cancelled automatically and the items go back on sale.

Orders collected from the shop

If the customer chose to collect the order from your shop, the order page says Collection. There is no Send it or Mark delivered for these orders. After Mark packed, you use Ready for collection and then Collected.

When you mark the order ready, the customer is e-mailed, in the language of your screen, that the order is ready to collect: your shop's address, the line you wrote under the collection option (a good place for your opening hours), your phone number, what is in the order, what is left to pay, and the link to their order page. The order shows whether the e-mail was sent. If it failed, press Try again. If the customer gave no e-mail address, ring them.

1. When the parcel is packed and waiting at the counter, press Ready for collection, then Yes, it is ready.
2. When the customer comes, take any payment due, hand over the goods and press Collected.
3. If someone else came for it, type their name in Collected by. Leave it empty if the customer came themselves.
4. Press Mark collected. This step cannot be undone.

The name of the person who collected is kept in the order's history for you. The customer does not see it.

Cancel an order

You can cancel an order until it is sent. The items go back on the shelf straight away. After an order is sent, use a refund instead.

A collection order can still be cancelled while it is ready for collection, for example if the customer never comes. The goods go back on sale. Once it is collected, use a refund instead.

1. Open the order and press Cancel order.
2. If you like, write why in the box. The reason is kept in the order's history.
3. Press Cancel the order to confirm, or Keep the order to go back. This cannot be undone.

The history

The History section at the bottom lists everything that has happened to the order, with the date and time. The customer sees the same steps on their order page.

When to use a refund

Before an order is sent, cancel it instead. Once an order is Sent or Delivered, the way back is a refund. The Refund… button shows on those orders while there is still something left to refund.

Refunds use the prices the customer paid. You can refund some lines, part of a line, or all of it, and the delivery charge once.

Make a refund

1. Open Online shop → Orders and open the order.
2. Press Refund….
3. For each line that came back, type the quantity in the Return column. You cannot return more than is left on the line.
4. Keep Put the goods back into stock ticked if the goods can be sold again. Untick it for damaged goods.
5. Tick Refund the delivery charge if you are giving that back too.
6. Choose How the money goes back: Cash handed back or Bank transfer.
7. Type the Reason. It is required and goes on the refund document.
8. Check the Refund total and press the Refund button, which shows the amount.

Cash on delivery before the courier collects

If a cash on delivery order is sent but not yet delivered, no money has been paid yet. The method is then fixed to Less for the courier to collect. Nothing is paid out; the amount to collect on delivery is simply lower.

Refunds that need approval

If you set an Online-shop refunds limit under Settings → Approvals, a refund at or above that limit is not applied straight away. You see a message that it was sent for approval, and it shows as Awaiting approval.

Nothing moves until a second person approves it in Approvals. If it is refused, it shows as Refused with the approver's note.

After the refund

The order shows a Refunds section with each refund number, method, lines, whether the goods were restocked, and the amount. The Refunded total appears under the order total.

The customer's order page shows "Refund issued" in its history and a Refunded line.

One stock for the till and the shop

The shop sells from the stock of the store or warehouse you chose in Orders are sent from. There is no separate online stock.

When a customer places an order, the items are held for that order. Held items cannot be sold again online, so the same item is not sold twice.

At the till, product tiles show how many items are held online, for example "2 held online".

When stock moves

Order placed: the items are held, but they are still on your shelf.

Order sent: the stock leaves the shelf and the hold ends.

Order cancelled, or a bank transfer not paid in time: the hold ends and the items are available again.

Refund with Put the goods back into stock ticked: the returned items go back into stock.

Order ready for collection: the items stay held and on your shelf. Order collected: the stock leaves the shelf and the hold ends.

How online sales reach Finance

You do not need to enter online sales by hand. Nothing is booked when an order is placed or confirmed. The sale is booked when you press Send it: the revenue, VAT, delivery income and cost of the goods.

For cash on delivery, the money is recorded as held by the courier until you press Mark delivered, then it counts as cash.

For bank transfer, recording the payment books the money as a customer deposit until the order is sent.

Refunds are booked too, on the same online channel.

For orders collected from the shop, the sale is booked when you press Collected, and cash taken at the counter counts as cash straight away.

See online sales in your reports

1. Open Finance → Reports and choose Profit & loss.
2. Under View, choose Split by sales channel.
3. The report shows a column for Counter, a column for Online shop, and a Total.

Lines booked by hand, and anything booked before sales channels existed, show as unattributed.

The idea in one paragraph

Sevo keeps double-entry books for you. Double entry means every amount is written twice: once as a debit on one account and once as a credit on another, so the two sides always add up to the same total. You do not need to type most of these entries. When a sale is made at the till, goods arrive from a supplier, an online order is sent, or a payroll month is approved, the matching accounting entry is written at the same moment. Every report reads from those same entries.

Each entry gets a number such as JE-000123. Entries are never edited. A mistake is corrected with a reversal: a new entry with the opposite debits and credits.

Where things are

Finance → Reports: profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, trial balance, general ledger, VAT figures, aged payables and aged receivables.

Finance → Payables and Finance → Payments: supplier bills and the money paid against them.

Finance → Receivables: customers who bought on account at the till, and the receipts that settle them.

Finance → Bank: import your bank statement and tie it to the books.

Finance → Journal: every entry, automatic or manual; new manual entries; opening balances.

Finance → Chart of accounts: the list of accounts the books post to.

Finance → Periods: one period per month; close months here.

Finance → Postings: business events that could not be posted yet, with Retry.

Finance → Posting rules: which account each automatic posting uses.

Settings → Currencies & rates: exchange rates for foreign-currency documents.

Base currency and exchange rates

Your books are kept in one base currency, set when the company was created (usually LKR). When you buy from or sell to someone in another currency, the document keeps its own currency and the books convert it using the latest rate on or before the document date. If no rate exists, the posting waits under Finance → Postings until you add one.

1. Open Settings → Currencies & rates and click Add rate.
2. Enter the Foreign currency as a 3-letter code, for example USD.
3. Enter how many units of your base currency one unit is worth.
4. Pick Valid from. Entering the same date again replaces that day's rate.
5. Optionally fill Source, for example CBSL or a bank quote, then click Save rate.

Deleting a rate does not change documents that already used it; they keep the rate they were posted with.

Your fiscal year

The fiscal year starts in April by default, the Sri Lankan tax year. A company that keeps its books January to December, or on any other twelve months, changes it. The This fiscal year and Last fiscal year choices in the report filters, and the balance sheet's split between earlier years' and this year's earnings, follow it. A year starting in April is shown as FY2026/27 (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027); a year starting in January as FY2026.

Payroll's APIT year of assessment is set by law and always runs April to March, whatever you choose here.

Posting dates follow your company time zone (Asia/Colombo by default).

1. Open Finance → Periods and click Fiscal year (needs Manage accounts).
2. Choose the month in Fiscal year starts in and click Save. The line above the periods shows the current fiscal year and its dates.

Once any month has been closed, the start of the fiscal year is locked, so figures you have reported do not move to another year. To change it, reopen the closed months (latest first), change the start, then close them again.

On the dashboard

Users who can see finance get four tiles on the dashboard once the first entry is posted: Cash & bank, Profit this month, Payables due, 7 days, and Postings pending. Each tile opens its screen.

Point of sale

Sale: the money received goes to the account for its payment method (cash to the register's cash account, card to Card clearing, mobile wallet to Mobile wallet clearing, vouchers to Gift vouchers outstanding, an on-account sale to Accounts receivable for the named customer). Sales revenue is credited without VAT, and VAT payable is credited per VAT rate. An order discount goes to Discounts given. At the same time the cost of the goods moves from Inventory to Cost of goods sold, using the average cost captured at the sale.

Return: the mirror of the sale for the returned lines, through Sales returns. Cost is put back into Inventory only for items that were restocked.

Void: the sale's entry is reversed on the day of the void.

Shift close: a counted cash difference goes to Cash over/short.

Differences of a few cents from rounding go to Rounding differences.

Purchasing and payables

Goods receipt: Inventory is debited and Goods received not invoiced (GRNI) is credited. GRNI is a holding account for goods you have received but not yet been billed for.

Supplier invoice, when posted: GRNI is released at the receipt value, any price difference goes to Purchase price variance, other charges go to the account you chose, input VAT goes to VAT receivable (input), and the total is owed on Accounts payable.

Supplier payment: Accounts payable is debited and the bank or cash account is credited. For a foreign-currency bill, a change in the exchange rate goes to FX gain/loss.

Customer receipt: the bank or cash account is debited and Accounts receivable is credited.

Online shop

Bank transfer recorded with Record payment on an order: Bank is debited and Customer deposits is credited. A deposit is money a customer paid before receiving the goods.

Order sent (Send it): the sale is booked. Revenue, VAT, any Delivery income and cost of goods are posted. The amount is taken from Customer deposits for a prepaid order, put on Cash on delivery in transit for a cash-on-delivery order, or put on Accounts receivable otherwise.

Cash-on-delivery order marked delivered: Cash is debited and Cash on delivery in transit is cleared.

Refund: the sale is reversed through Sales returns and VAT, paid back from cash, bank or the amount still in transit, and restocked items go back into Inventory.

Online entries are tagged with the Online shop channel and till entries with Counter, so profit and loss can be split by channel.

Payroll

When a payroll run is approved, one entry is made in the month worked: dated the approval day, or the month’s last day if the run is approved after the month has ended. Salaries and wages and Employer EPF and ETF are debited. EPF payable (employee 8% plus employer 12%), ETF payable, APIT payable, Staff loans and advances (repayments), Other payroll deductions payable and Net salaries payable are credited.

When the run is marked paid, Net salaries payable is debited and Bank (transfers) and Cash on hand (people paid in cash) are credited, on the payment date.

Stock adjustments and counts

When you post a stock adjustment (damage, theft, a correction) or complete a stock count that finds a difference, one entry moves the value between Inventory and Inventory adjustments, at the same cost the stock valuation uses: the unit cost you entered, otherwise the average cost.

Stock lost or written off: Inventory adjustments is debited and Inventory is credited. Stock found: the other way round. Items that have never been given a cost post nothing.

Opening stock is not posted here: its value comes into the books through your opening balances. Transfers between your stores post nothing either, because the total value of your stock does not change.

If something cannot be posted

The business document always goes through. If the entry cannot be written, for example because the month is closed or an exchange rate is missing, the event waits under Finance → Postings with the reason. See the article on unposted events.

Change the account a posting uses

Finance → Posting rules lists each Posting (for example Sales revenue or Card clearing) with its Scope and Account. Tenant default rows come from the standard chart. A scoped rule sends one register's cash, or one VAT rate, to a different account.

1. Open Finance → Posting rules.
2. Click Edit on a row to point it at another account, or click Add scoped rule.
3. For a scoped rule, choose the Posting, enter the Scope as the screen hint shows, choose the Account, and save.
4. To drop a scoped rule, click Remove. Postings then fall back to the tenant default.

A rule change affects new postings only. Entries already in the journal stay as they are.

Why events wait

The till and the other screens never stop because of accounting. If the entry for a sale, return, goods receipt, online order or payroll run cannot be written, the business document is still saved and the event is kept under Finance → Postings with the reason.

Common reasons: the month is already closed, an exchange rate is missing for the document's currency, or an account used by a posting rule is inactive.

The Postings pending tile on the dashboard shows how many are waiting.

Clear the list

1. Open Finance → Postings. Each row shows the Event, Source, Reason, Attempts, First seen and Status.
2. Read the Reason and fix the cause: reopen the month under Finance → Periods, add the rate under Settings → Currencies & rates, or change the account under Finance → Posting rules or Finance → Chart of accounts.
3. Click Retry on the row. The message Posted means the entry is now in the journal. Still pending shows the new reason.
4. When many rows share one cause, fix it once and click Retry all pending.

Dismiss

Dismiss removes an event from the queue for good. It will never be posted automatically. Use it only when the accounting was already entered by hand in the journal.

Backfill history

Use this once if your company traded in Sevo before Finance was switched on. It posts sales, returns, voids, shift closes and goods receipts from a date range that have no journal entry yet. Documents already in the books are skipped, so it is safe to run again.

1. Open Finance → Postings and click Backfill history.
2. Choose From and To dates.
3. Click Run backfill. The dialog works in batches and shows progress. Click Stop to pause.
4. When it says Done, read the counts: Posted, Already in the books, No entry needed and Deferred.
5. Deferred documents are waiting in the Postings list with their reason. Fix and retry them as above.

A month cannot be closed while any event for it is still pending, so clear this list before month-end.

What you start with

A chart of accounts is the list of headings your money is recorded under. Sevo creates a standard retail chart for you. Codes follow common practice: 1000s assets (what you own), 2000s liabilities (what you owe), 3000s equity (the owner's stake), 4000s revenue, 5000s cost of sales, 6000s expenses.

Finance → Chart of accounts groups accounts by type and shows Code, Name, Class, Control and Status. Accounts from the standard chart are marked Template. A Control badge means the system uses the account for its own postings (for example AP, AR, INVENTORY, BANK); those accounts cannot be deactivated. Tick Show inactive to see accounts you have switched off.

Add or change an account

1. Click Add account.
2. Enter a Code of 3 to 8 digits (for example 6150) and a Name.
3. Choose the Type and the Report class, which decides where it appears in the reports. Optionally pick a Parent account.
4. Save. The account is ready for manual entries, supplier invoice charges and posting rules.
5. Use Edit to rename. Use Deactivate to stop using an account; the history stays. Delete is only possible for your own accounts while nothing has posted to them and no rule uses them.

Payment accounts (cash and bank)

Payments, customer receipts and bank reconciliation only offer accounts flagged as payment accounts. Cash on hand and Bank current account are flagged already. If you have a second bank account, add it as an asset account, then click Use for payments on its row. The Payment account badge shows it is flagged.

Import opening balances

Opening balances are what each account held on the day you started using Sevo, taken from your old system or your accountant's last balance sheet. They come in as one journal entry.

1. Open Finance → Journal and click Import opening balances.
2. Click Download template. It has the columns account_code, description, debit and credit.
3. Fill one row per account with either a debit or a credit, never both. Use the codes from your chart of accounts.
4. Set As of to the day before you started using Sevo, and add a Memo if you like.
5. Click Choose CSV… and pick your file. The preview shows each row with its account name.
6. Check the message under the preview. Debits equal credits - ready to post means you can go on. If it says Out of balance, put the difference on an equity account such as Opening balance equity in your sheet and upload it again.
7. Click Post opening balances. The entry number is shown when it is done.

Stock, receivables and payables in the opening balances should agree with the stock values and open bills you bring into the rest of Sevo, or the month-end checks will show differences.

Find an entry

Finance → Journal lists every entry with Number, Date, Source, Memo, Lines, Total and Status. Filter by From and To dates, Source (Sale, Return, Void, Shift close, Goods receipt, Manual, Reversal or Opening balance), Period and Account, or search by number or memo. Export CSV downloads what you see.

Click a row to open it. The detail shows each line with its account, debit and credit, and where relevant the currency, exchange rate, party (supplier or customer), VAT rate and sales channel.

Post a manual entry

Use a manual entry for things no screen records for you: rent, electricity, an owner putting money in, a loan, depreciation, or a correction your accountant asks for.

1. Click New entry.
2. Set the Entry date and a Memo that says what the posting is for.
3. On each line choose an Account, add a Description if useful, and enter a debit or a credit, not both.
4. Click Add line for more lines. An entry needs at least two lines.
5. Check the totals under the lines. Total debit must equal Total credit; a Difference is shown until they match.
6. Click Post entry. The new JE number is shown.

Example: rent of LKR 50,000 paid from the bank is a debit to Rent and a credit to Bank current account.

Large entries may need approval

If your company has set an approval limit for manual journals under Settings → Approvals, an entry at or above that limit is not posted straight away. You see Sent for approval, and the entry waits in Approvals for a second person with the approvals permission. It posts when they approve it. The person who raised it cannot approve it.

Correct a mistake with a reversal

Posted entries cannot be edited or deleted. This keeps a clean audit trail. To undo an entry, reverse it and, if needed, post the right one.

1. Open the entry from the journal list.
2. Click Reverse and confirm.
3. A new entry with the opposite debits and credits is posted with today's date. Both entries are linked: use Open reversal and Open original to move between them.
4. Post a new correct entry if the original should have been different rather than removed.

Supplier payments and customer receipts are undone with Void on their own screens, which also reopens the bills or the customer balance. Use that instead of reversing their journal entries.

How periods work

Every month is one period. Finance → Periods shows each period with its Dates, Status (Open or Closed) and when it was closed. Nothing can post into a closed month. That keeps figures you have already reported from changing.

Months are closed in order, oldest first. Close period appears only on the earliest open month, and Reopen only on the latest closed month.

Before you close

1. Close all register shifts for the month.
2. Post or cancel draft supplier invoices dated in the month under Finance → Payables.
3. Import and reconcile the bank statement under Finance → Bank.
4. Clear Finance → Postings so no event is waiting.
5. Look over the profit and loss and balance sheet for the month under Finance → Reports.

Close a month

1. Open Finance → Periods and click Close period on the earliest open month.
2. The close checklist runs straight away. Each item shows OK, Info, Warning or Blocked.
3. Blocked items must be fixed first. Close the dialog, fix them, and open it again.
4. Warnings can be accepted. Write in Close note why, and who reviewed the month.
5. Click Close period. The checklist and your note are kept with the period.

What the checklist checks

Earlier periods closed (blocks): months must close in order.

Automatic postings complete (blocks): no business event is waiting under Finance → Postings.

Journal balanced (blocks): debits equal credits for the month. If this ever fails, contact support.

Supplier invoices posted (warning): no draft supplier invoice is dated in or before the month.

Bank statements reconciled (warning): every imported bank line up to the month end is matched or excluded.

Registers closed (warning): no register shift is still open.

Goods received not invoiced (info): the value of receipts still waiting for a supplier invoice.

Stock value agrees with the ledger (warning): the Inventory account equals the stock valuation, within 1.00. Checked for the current month.

Till differences this month (info): the net cash over or short.

Reopen a month

If a correction is needed, click Reopen on the latest closed month. Post the correction, clear any waiting events, then close it again with the checklist. To reopen an older month, reopen the later ones first.

A sale, bill or payroll run dated in a closed month is still saved, but its entry waits under Finance → Postings until the month is reopened.

Filters and export

1. Open Finance → Reports and pick a tab: Profit & loss, Balance sheet, Cash flow, Trial balance, General ledger, VAT, Aged payables or Aged receivables.
2. Pick a quick range (This month, Last month, This fiscal year, Last fiscal year; the fiscal year follows Finance → Periods → Fiscal year) or type From and To dates. Balance sheet and the ageing tabs take one As of date.
3. Choose a Location to see one shop, or leave it on all locations.
4. Click Export CSV to download the report you are looking at.
5. Click an account line to open its General ledger for the same range.

Profit & loss

Profit and loss shows whether you made money in the range: Revenue, minus Cost of sales, gives Gross profit; minus Expenses gives Net profit. Amounts are in your base currency.

The View box has three choices. This period only. Compare with previous period, which adds a column for the range before. Split by sales channel, which shows Counter, Online shop and a Total column. Lines booked by hand, and anything posted before channels existed, appear as Unattributed.

Balance sheet

The balance sheet shows what the business owns (Assets), owes (Liabilities) and the owner's stake (Equity) on one date. Equity includes Retained earnings (prior years) and Current year earnings. The note Assets equal liabilities plus equity confirms it balances.

Cash flow

The cash flow statement lists every movement on your cash and bank accounts, grouped by where the money came from or went: receipts from customers, payments to suppliers, expenses, VAT, fixed assets, owner contributions and loans. Transfers between your own cash and bank accounts cancel out. Opening and closing amounts agree with the balance sheet.

Trial balance and general ledger

The trial balance lists every account with its Opening balance, Debit, Credit and Closing balance for the range. The note Debits equal credits shows the books are in balance. Accountants use it as the starting point for their work.

The general ledger shows every line on one account, with a running balance. Choose the Account; you can also filter by Sales channel. Each line shows the entry number and its Source. For long ranges only the first lines are shown; narrow the dates to see the rest.

VAT

The VAT tab gives the figures you need for your VAT return: Output VAT (on sales) by rate, Input VAT (on purchases) from posted supplier invoices, and Net VAT payable (or Net VAT receivable when input is higher). Output VAT comes from the VAT on till and online sales and returns, for example at 18%.

Check the figures with your accountant before you file. Sevo does not file the return for you.

Aged payables and aged receivables

Aged payables shows open supplier invoices by how far past the due date they are: Not yet due, 1-30 days, 31-60 days, 61-90 days and Over 90 days, in each supplier's currency, with a Total (base).

Aged receivables shows on-account sales not yet paid, aged from the sale date. The oldest charges are treated as settled first.

Why match bills to receipts

When goods arrive, the receipt already puts their value into stock and into Goods received not invoiced. When the bill comes, you tick the receipt lines it charges for. This is called matching: the order, the receipt and the bill agree. Any price difference shows as Purchase price variance, so you can see when a supplier charged more than expected.

Finance → Payables shows Open payables (base), Overdue, and Suppliers with open invoices, then the invoice list with Supplier ref., Due, Total, Open and Status (Draft, Posted, Partially paid, Paid, Cancelled). Filter by supplier and status.

Enter a supplier invoice

1. Open Finance → Payables and click New invoice.
2. Choose the Supplier. Enter the Supplier invoice no. and Invoice date. Leave Due date empty to use the supplier's payment terms.
3. If the supplier bills in a foreign currency, check the Exchange rate to your base currency.
4. Under Goods received, not yet invoiced, tick the receipt lines this bill covers. Change Qty or Unit price if the bill differs, and pick the VAT rate (0% or 18%).
5. Under Other charges (freight, services, …), click Add charge for costs that are not stock, choose the Account, and enter the amount and VAT.
6. Check Net, VAT and Total, then click Save draft.

Post the invoice

1. Open the draft from the list. Use Edit draft to change it, or Cancel draft to discard it and free its receipts.
2. Click Post invoice and confirm. It gets an SI- number and the amount owed is booked.
3. After posting the invoice cannot be edited. Its Journal entry link shows the accounting.

Record a payment

1. Click Record payment on the Payables screen, on Finance → Payments, or on a posted invoice.
2. Choose the Supplier, the Payment date and Paid from (a cash or bank account).
3. Enter the Amount in the supplier's currency. For a foreign-currency supplier, enter the Exchange rate on the payment day.
4. Add the cheque or transfer number as Reference.
5. Under Apply to invoices, keep Oldest due first, or choose Open invoices and type how much goes to each bill. Any amount not applied stays on account for the supplier.
6. Click Record payment. It gets a PAY- number.

If the rate on the payment day differs from the rate on the bill, the difference is booked to FX gain/loss for you.

Void a payment

Finance → Payments lists every supplier payment with the account it was paid from, the invoices it settled and its Reference. For a bounced cheque or a mistake, click Void and confirm. The journal entry is reversed and the invoices become open again.

Where balances come from

A receivable is money a customer owes you. Today it comes from sales made on account at the till to a named customer, and from online orders sent before they are paid. Each such sale adds to the customer's balance on Accounts receivable.

Finance → Receivables shows the total Balance, then one row per customer with Phone, Not yet due, 1-30 days, Over 30 days and Balance. Charges are aged from the sale date.

An on-account sale at the till needs a named customer on the sale, so the amount can be kept against that person. The same balances, split into more age bands, are under Finance → Reports → Aged receivables.

Record a receipt

1. Click Record receipt at the top, or on the customer's row.
2. Choose the Customer by name or phone.
3. Set the Date and Received into (the cash or bank account the money went into).
4. Enter the Amount, and a Reference such as a cheque or transfer number.
5. Click Record receipt. The customer's balance goes down, oldest charges first.

Send a statement

Click Statement on a customer's row to see their Opening balance, each Charge and Receipt with its entry and source, the running Balance and the Closing balance. Use it to answer a customer who asks what they owe.

Void a receipt

The Receipts list under the table shows every receipt. If one was entered by mistake or a cheque bounced, click Void and confirm. The receipt's journal entry is reversed and the customer's balance goes back up.

Customer invoices written outside the till are not part of Receivables yet.

What reconciliation means

Reconciling means checking that every line on your bank statement is in your books, and every bank line in your books appears on the statement. It catches missed bank charges, mistakes and payments that never cleared.

Finance → Bank works on one payment account at a time. Choose it in Account. If the list is empty, flag your bank account with Use for payments under Finance → Chart of accounts first.

Import a statement

1. Export the statement from your bank's online banking as a CSV file.
2. Choose the Account and click Import statement.
3. Click Choose CSV file. If your bank's file does not work, click Download CSV template to see the expected columns: date, description, reference, amount, balance.
4. Check the Columns. Sevo guesses which column is the Date, Description, Reference, Amount (signed), Debit / money out, Credit / money in and Balance. Fix any that are wrong.
5. Tick Dates are day/month/year if needed, or Money out is positive in this file (flip the sign) if withdrawals show as positive.
6. Check the Preview and any rows listed as skipped, then click the Import button, which shows how many lines will come in.

Lines already imported are skipped, so overlapping exports are safe.

Match the lines

On import, a line is matched automatically when exactly one unmatched entry on that account has the same amount within 5 days. It shows as Matched with the word auto.

1. Open the To reconcile tab and click Match… on a line.
2. Under Journal lines this could be, pick the right entry and click Match. Tick the option to show every unreconciled ledger line if the amount differs.
3. If nobody has entered it yet (a bank charge, interest, an owner transfer), use Or book it as a new entry: choose the Other account, for example Bank charges, add a Memo, and click Book & match.
4. Use Exclude for a duplicate or a line already covered by another. Excluded lines can be restored.
5. Use Unmatch to undo a wrong match.

Read the summary

The top of the screen shows the Ledger balance, the Bank balance on the last statement date, the number of unmatched bank lines and ledger lines awaiting the bank. When everything is explained it says Reconciled. Otherwise it shows the unexplained difference to look for.

Show imports lists each imported statement. An import can be deleted only while none of its lines is matched.

Unmatched bank lines give a warning on the month-end checklist, so reconcile before closing a month.

What Insights does

Insights studies your own sales history and suggests what to do next: what to reorder, what stock is sitting still, which items sell together, and which till days look unusual.

The system suggests; you decide. Every suggestion says why, in plain words. Nothing changes in your shop until a person accepts it, and every accept or dismiss is recorded.

You find it in the sidebar under Insights: Overview, Forecast, Replenish, Stock health, Baskets, Loss prevention and Daily digest.

When the figures update

Insights refreshes every night at 03:00, after the stock count for the day is settled. In the morning you see figures based on sales up to yesterday.

If there has been no run yet, the Overview says so. A new shop can start the first run by hand.

1. Open Insights → Overview.
2. Press Refresh now (top right).
3. Wait a minute or two. The message "Refresh queued - figures update in a minute or two." confirms the request.

Refresh now can be used once every ten minutes. If a refresh fails, the Overview shows the reason and keeps the previous figures on screen.

Reading the Overview

The first row is "Waiting for a decision": items to reorder, sales at risk, slow & dead items, and capital tied up. Click a tile to open Replenish or Stock health.

The second row, "Also in Insights", shows open loss-prevention alerts, basket pairs learnt, and a link to this morning's digest.

The Forecast accuracy card shows how many items are forecast, how many have a tested model, the median error over the last four weeks, and how many items are within 30 % error. Lower error is better.

The Last refresh card shows when the last run finished, how many weekly forecasts and recommendations it made, and how many suggestions were accepted or dismissed in the last 30 days.

The Insights tiles on the Dashboard

If you can see Insights, the Dashboard shows an extra row with two tiles.

Items to reorder: how many items Insights suggests you order now, with the sales at risk. If nothing is needed it says "stock covers the forecast demand". Click it to open Replenish.

Slow & dead stock: how many items are sitting still, with the money tied up in them. If there are none it says "nothing sitting still". Click it to open Stock health.

The Low stock tile on the same page is different. It only compares stock with the reorder levels you set yourself. Items to reorder uses the forecast and your supplier's delivery time.

Accept or dismiss

Accept acts on a suggestion. On Replenish it creates a draft purchase order. On Stock health it records that you agree with the markdown.

Dismiss says no. A dismissed item is not suggested again for two weeks. An accepted item also stays quiet for two weeks, so the same order is not suggested twice while it is on its way.

What a forecast is

A forecast is a best guess of how many units of an item will sell at a location in each coming week. Insights looks eight weeks ahead.

It is based only on your own past sales of that item at that location. It is a guide, not a promise.

Open the forecast

1. Go to Insights → Forecast.
2. Choose the Location.
3. Choose Sort by: Highest forecast, Lowest cover, Slowest movers or Best accuracy.
4. Click an item row, or its Chart button, to see the chart for that item.

The table

On hand: stock at the location now. Avg / day: average units sold per day over the last 28 days. Next 28 d: units expected to sell in the next 28 days.

Cover (d): about how many days the current stock will last at the expected rate. A cover under 7 days is shown in red.

Model: the method used for this item. Error: how far off that method was when tested on the last four weeks. "not enough history" means no error can be measured yet.

The chart

Bars (Sold per week) show what really sold in recent weeks. The line (Forecast) shows the expected sales for each coming week. The "today" mark separates the past from the future.

The shaded area is the Likely range. Most weeks should land inside it. A wide range means sales of this item jump around, so keep a little extra safety stock. Point at a dot to see the expected figure and its range.

Below the chart you see Next 28 days, On hand, Days of cover, Avg per day (28 d), Last sale and History (how many days of sales Insights has for this item).

How the method is chosen

Insights tries several methods on every item: a 28-day average, a weekday pattern, a trend with a weekly season, and two methods for items that sell only now and then (shown as Intermittent).

Each method pretends it is four weeks ago and predicts the last four weeks. The one that came closest to what really sold is used for the forecast. Its miss is shown as the error: 20 % means the weekly totals were off by about a fifth.

Why history matters

An item with fewer than four weeks of sales shows the model "Too new to model". Its forecast is a simple average and no accuracy is claimed.

The more weeks of sales an item has, the better the pattern can be learnt. A trend with a weekly season needs about two months of sales before it can be used.

If an item shows "No forecast yet for this item", it will appear after the next refresh.

Poya days and holidays

Sri Lankan Poya days, public holidays and weekends are known to Insights. When your history has enough of them, it learns how your sales change on those days and adjusts the weeks that contain them.

When a Poya day or holiday falls inside the chart, it is listed under the chart as "Poya & holidays in view".

Promotions and price changes are not yet part of the forecast. After a big promotion, expect the next weeks' forecast to run a little high.

How a suggestion is made

For each stocked item at each location, Insights compares stock on hand plus stock already on order with the sales expected before a new delivery can arrive.

The delivery time (lead time) is the usual number of days between sending a purchase order to the item's last supplier and receiving the goods. If that is not known yet, 7 days is used.

When stock will not last until the next delivery, the item is suggested. The quantity covers the lead time plus one more week, plus a small safety buffer, minus what you have and what is already on order. It is rounded up to the item's order multiple if it has one.

Only stocked items that are still expected to sell are suggested. If you set a reorder level for an item, the suggestion never goes below it.

Reading the list

The top tiles show items to reorder, sales at risk, the number of suppliers and how many lines you selected. Use Location to see one location or All locations.

Lines are grouped by supplier. Order is the suggested quantity. On hand turns red at zero and shows any quantity already on order. Cover (d) shows days of stock left and the supplier's lead time; it is highlighted when stock will run out before a delivery could arrive.

Why explains the suggestion in one sentence, for example how many days of stock are left and how many units would sell before delivery. Hover over it to read the whole sentence.

At risk is the estimated value of the sales you could lose while waiting for stock. The list puts the biggest risks first.

Create a draft purchase order

1. Open Insights → Replenish.
2. Check the quantities and reasons for one supplier.
3. To order all of that supplier's lines, press Create draft PO in the supplier's row.
4. To order only some lines, tick them (or tick Select all), then press Create draft PO at the top of the page.
5. A message confirms how many lines were accepted and the new draft PO number.
6. Open Purchasing → Purchase orders (or the Open purchase orders link at the bottom), check the draft, and send it to the supplier.

A draft order is not sent anywhere. A buyer still reviews it and sends it. The suggested unit cost is the last cost you paid.

Items with no supplier

If an item has never been received from a supplier, its group says "No supplier known yet" and the lines cannot be ticked. Receive the item once from a supplier, and one-click orders work from the next refresh. You can still order it by hand in Purchasing.

Dismissing a line

Press Dismiss on a line you do not want to order. It is not suggested again for two weeks.

If the list is empty it says "Nothing to reorder right now": your stock covers the expected sales until the next delivery.

Why it matters

Stock that does not sell holds your cash, takes shelf space and can age or expire. Stock health lists these items so you can act early.

What gets flagged

Dead stock: the item has stock but nothing has sold in 90 days, or it has never sold.

Slow mover: at the current selling rate, the stock on hand would take more than about three months to sell.

Only items with stock on hand and a known cost are listed.

Reading the list

1. Open Insights → Stock health.
2. Choose a Location, or All locations.
3. Read the tiles: items flagged, capital tied up, dead (no sale in 90 d) and slow movers.
4. For each item, read the badge (Dead stock or Slow mover) and the reason under the name.
5. Check On hand, Value at cost and Last sale ("never" if it has not sold).
6. Read the Suggested markdown and the floor price under it.

The suggested markdown

The markdown is a price cut that should help the item sell. It grows with how long the stock would take to sell: 10 %, 20 % or 30 %. Dead stock is always 30 %.

The floor is the lowest sensible price: your average cost plus 5 %. Do not price below the floor, or you sell at a loss.

For dead stock, the reason also suggests returning it to the supplier if they will take it back.

Accept or dismiss

1. Press Accept markdown to agree with the suggestion. This records your decision; it does not change the price.
2. Go to Catalog → Price lists (or use the Open price lists link at the bottom) and set the new price yourself.
3. Press Dismiss if you want to keep the price, for example for seasonal stock. The item is not suggested again for two weeks.

If the page says every item has sold recently, there is nothing to clear right now.

What it checks

Every night Insights looks at yesterday's till records for each cashier and compares them with that same cashier's last eight weeks.

It raises an alert when a day is far outside the cashier's own normal pattern and there is a real event behind it. There are five kinds: Unusual number of voids, Unusual number of refunds, Unusually large refunds, Unusually deep discounts, and Cash short at shift close.

An alert is a question to ask, not a verdict. There is often a good reason, such as a busy day, a faulty scanner or a price error.

Reading an alert

Open Insights → Loss prevention. Each open alert shows the Day, the Cashier and What happened, with the numbers, for example how many voids against how many receipts, and the cashier's usual rate.

Severity is High or Medium. Under it you see how far the day is from the cashier's usual range, and over how many days that usual range was measured.

Receipts lists the receipt numbers behind the alert, so you can look them up under Point of sale.

Deal with an alert

1. Look up the receipts and talk to the cashier.
2. Press Mark reviewed if you checked it, or Dismiss if it is not a concern.
3. In the Note box, write what you found. The note is kept with the alert for the audit trail.
4. Press Mark reviewed (or Dismiss) in the window to save. The alert leaves the open list.

If the page says "No open alerts", nobody's day looked unusual. Alerts for a new cashier become more reliable after a few weeks of their own history.

What Baskets shows

Insights looks at the last 90 days of receipts and finds pairs of items that are bought together more often than chance, for example tea and sugar.

Use it for ideas: place the pair on nearby shelves, make a bundle, or remind staff to offer the second item.

Reading the table

1. Open Insights → Baskets.
2. Bought together names the two items and their SKUs.
3. Receipts is how many receipts had both items.
4. Of all receipts is the share of all receipts that had both items.
5. Lift shows how much more often the pair is bought together than if the items were unrelated. Lift 3× means three times more often.

Why the list may be empty

Pairs appear only when enough receipts contain two or more different items. A pair needs at least three receipts, at least 0.5 % of all receipts, and a lift above 1.2. Shops with mostly single-item sales may see few pairs.

Also bought on the till

When items are in the cart, the till can show up to four Also bought suggestions under the cart. They are the items most often bought with what is already in the cart.

The cashier taps a suggestion to add it to the cart. Only items the till can sell are offered.

The suggestions need an internet connection. When the till is offline, or there are no pairs yet, nothing is shown and selling works as normal.

What it is

The daily digest is a one-page morning summary of the previous business day. It is written by the nightly refresh. Today it is shown in the app only.

Open it from Insights → Daily digest, or from "open this morning's digest" on the Overview.

Reading the digest

1. The latest digest opens first. To see an earlier one, choose it under Day at the top.
2. Sales on (day): total sales and the number of receipts, compared with the usual for that weekday. For example "+12 % vs the usual" means 12 % more than a normal day of the same weekday in recent weeks.
3. Cash & payables: your cash and bank position, Payables due in 7 days and Overdue. Postings pending appears when some business events are not yet in the books.
4. To reorder: how many items to reorder, the sales at risk, and the top three lines with quantity and days of cover.
5. Slow & dead stock: the money tied up, and how many items are slow or dead.
6. Loss-prevention alerts: yesterday's alerts with the cashier, the kind and whether they are still open.

Going further

Each card has a link to the full screen: All sales, Finance reports, Replenish, Stock health and Review.

The line at the bottom shows when the digest was generated.

When there is no digest

A new company sees "No digest yet". The first digest is written by the next nightly refresh, or when someone presses Refresh now on the Overview.

"No earlier weeks to compare with yet" means there are no past sales on that weekday to compare with. "Finance has no postings yet" means the books have no entries so far.

What People is for

People keeps a record of everyone who works for you: cashiers, floor staff, drivers and office staff. It also handles leave, public holidays, weekly rosters and the time clock. Payroll uses these records to work out each month's pay.

The People menu in the sidebar has five items: Employees, Leave, Rosters, Payroll and My space. You only see the items your role allows.

Where to find each job

1. People → Employees: add people one by one or import them from a spreadsheet, keep their documents, set a clock-in PIN, invite them to sign in, and end their employment when they leave.
2. People → Leave: approve or refuse requests, ask for leave on someone's behalf, enter public holidays and working days, change the kinds of leave, and see the month on the Calendar tab.
3. People → Rosters: plan each store's week, publish it, and see beneath each day what the till recorded. Download the week's hours as a CSV file.
4. People → Payroll: pay set-up and the monthly payroll run. The Payroll articles in this help centre explain it.
5. People → My space: every member of staff's own page to clock in and out, see their shifts, hours, leave, payslips and contact details.

How the pieces fit together

Leave is counted on working days only. Sundays (unless you work them) and public holidays inside a request are not deducted.

The till feeds attendance. When a cashier opens or closes a shift, rings up a sale, or anyone clocks in or out, the time lands on the roster and the person's timesheet.

Payroll reads overtime, hours on public holidays, no-pay days and days worked from the time clock and approved leave. The person preparing payroll can change these figures before submitting.

Requests that wait for a decision are counted on the sidebar: a number on People → Leave for waiting leave and on People → Payroll for a run waiting for approval. The Approvals page also shows a line pointing to them.

Who can do what

There are four People permissions: see people, manage people, approve leave, and their own space (My space).

TenantAdmin has all four. StoreManager can see people, approve leave and use My space. Cashier, InventoryClerk and the Employee role have My space only. The Employee role is for staff who only need their own page; when they sign in they land straight in My space.

Payroll has its own three permissions (see payroll, manage payroll, approve payroll). By default only TenantAdmin has them.

Nobody can approve their own leave, whatever their role. You can change what each role may do under Settings → Roles.

Only people who can manage employees see a person's whole NIC number. Everyone else sees it masked.

Add one person

1. Go to People → Employees and press Add employee.
2. Fill in the Person section: First name is required. Last name, Preferred name (what everyone calls them, shown on rosters and the till), NIC number, Date of birth and Gender are optional.
3. Fill in Contact and emergency: Phone, E-mail, Address, and who to call if something happens at work.
4. Fill in Employment: Job title, Department, Home store (where they usually work; rosters are planned per store), Employment type (Full time, Part time, Casual or Contract), Joined on and, if there is one, Probation until.
5. Press Add employee. The person gets a number such as EMP-000001 that never changes.

The NIC can be the old format (9 digits and V or X) or the new 12-digit format. The screen checks it when you save.

Import many people from a spreadsheet

1. On People → Employees press Import from spreadsheet.
2. Press Download CSV template. Open it in Excel or Google Sheets and fill one row per person. Only first_name and joined_on are required.
3. Write dates as yyyy-mm-dd or d/m/yyyy. For home_location use the store code, for example MAIN. For employment_type use FULL_TIME, PART_TIME, CASUAL or CONTRACT.
4. Save the sheet as CSV, choose the file and check the first rows shown on screen. Columns that are not in the template are listed and ignored.
5. Press Import. The result says how many people were added and how many were skipped because they were already on the books (same NIC or phone). Rows with a problem are listed with the reason: fix them in the sheet and import just those rows again.

Open, edit and keep documents

The list shows active people by default. Search by name, number, phone or e-mail, and filter by status (Active, Left, Everyone) or store. Above the list you see how many active people each store has.

Press View on a row to open the record. It shows the person's details, their leave this year, their timesheet and, for managers, the login, time clock PIN and documents.

1. To change details, open the record and press Edit.
2. To add a document, choose the Type (NIC copy, Contract, Offer letter or Other), give it a Title, choose the File (PDF, JPEG, PNG or WebP) and press Upload document.
3. Press Open to see a document. Removing a document deletes the file for good.

When someone leaves

1. Open the record and press End employment.
2. Enter the Last day and, if you like, a Reason. Press End employment again to confirm.
3. The record stays, marked Left, with the date and reason. Their login is not switched off automatically: disable it under Settings → Users.
4. If the person comes back, open their record and press Bring back. The leaving date is cleared and the record is active again.

Former employees and personal data

Sri Lanka's Personal Data Protection Act expects you not to keep personal details longer than you need them. On People → Employees press Record keeping and set how many years after their last day former employees are anonymised automatically. Seven years is the usual period; you can choose 1 to 50.

Anonymising removes the name, NIC, contact details, notes and documents. The employee number, dates, role and store stay, so your reports do not change.

If a former employee asks to be forgotten, open their record and press Anonymise. This cannot be undone.

Why invite someone

A person does not need a login to be on your books or to clock in on the till. But with a login linked to their record they can use My space: clock in and out from their own phone or computer, see their shifts and hours, ask for leave, keep their contact details up to date and open their payslips.

Send the invitation

They receive an e-mail with a temporary password and choose their own the first time they sign in. The login is linked to the record straight away, so their time, leave and payslips follow them.

1. Go to People → Employees and press View on the person.
2. In the Login section, press Invite to sign in. The button appears only for active people who have no login linked yet.
3. Check the E-mail. It is filled from the record if you entered one.
4. Choose the Role. Employee sees only their own space. Choose Cashier or StoreManager if they also sell or manage.
5. Press Send invitation.

A new login counts towards your plan's user limit, and an e-mail already used by another login is refused.

Link a login that already exists

Cashiers usually already have a login. Instead of inviting them again, open their record and choose it under Linked login. Linking lets their attendance and leave follow the person. Choose No login to unlink.

If a person sees 'not linked'

If someone opens My space and is told their login is not linked to an employee record, a manager needs to link it on their record under People → Employees.

Leave types

Go to People → Leave → Leave types. Sri Lankan norms are filled in for you: Annual 14 days, Casual 7, Sick 7, Maternity 84, and No-pay without a limit. Change the numbers to match your contracts.

For each type you can set Days a year (leave it empty for no limit), and tick Paid, Half days allowed, Needs approval and Offered. A type is switched off by unticking Offered; it is never deleted.

Press Add a kind of leave to create your own, for example Study leave, with a code such as STUDY. Press Save leave types when you are done.

Someone who joins during the year gets a share of a limited type: the months left in the year over twelve, to the half day.

Ask for leave

Only working days count. Sundays (or whichever days you do not work) and public holidays in the span are not deducted. A request cannot overlap another one, and cannot take a limited type below zero.

If the kind of leave does not need approval, it is recorded straight away.

1. Staff: open People → My space, go to the Leave tab and press Ask for leave.
2. Managers asking for someone else: go to People → Leave and press Request leave for someone, then choose the Employee.
3. Choose the Kind of leave. The form shows how many days are left this year.
4. Enter the First day and Last day. Tick First day is a half day or Last day is a half day if needed.
5. Add a Reason if you like and press Ask for leave.

Approve or refuse

Nobody approves their own leave. The number beside People → Leave in the sidebar, and a line on the Approvals page, show how many requests are waiting.

A request that is waiting or approved can be withdrawn with Withdraw. Staff can withdraw their own requests from My space.

1. Go to People → Leave. On the Requests tab, requests waiting on a decision come first.
2. Press Approve, add an optional note and confirm.
3. Or press Refuse. A refusal needs a reason, so the person knows why.

Balances

Each person's record under People → Employees shows their leave this year: days left of each limited type, days taken of unlimited types, and days waiting on a decision. Staff see the same in My space → Leave.

The leave calendar

People → Leave → Calendar shows one month at a time. Approved leave is solid, waiting leave is outlined, and holidays and non-working days are shaded, with holidays named. Use Previous month and Next month to move. It helps you spot a thin week before you approve another request.

Why this matters

Leave is counted on working days only, and public holidays are left out. Payroll counts hours worked on public holidays separately. So enter the holidays before people start asking for leave.

Add the year's public holidays

1. Go to People → Leave → Holidays and working days.
2. Use Previous year and Next year to pick the year.
3. Press Add Sri Lankan public holidays. This adds every Poya day, the national days, Good Friday and the day after Vesak.
4. Add the holidays that follow other calendars and are gazetted each year: Maha Sivarathri, the two Eids, Milad-un-Nabi and Deepavali. Enter the date and name from the government gazette, for example Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day.
5. To remove a holiday, press its remove button and confirm. Leave already counted around that day is not recalculated.

Working days

Under Working days, tick the days the shop is open. Leave is counted on these days only. Most Sri Lankan shops work Monday to Saturday, which is the starting setting.

Normal hours a week

Normal hours a week is the week beyond which time worked counts as overtime. The Shop and Office Employees Act's normal week is 45 hours. Overtime is flagged on the roster and in the hours download, and payroll uses it to suggest each person's overtime hours.

Time clock settings

Staff clock in and out on the till: when this is ticked, each person can type their own PIN on the register to clock in and out, with or without a login. The times appear on the roster beside the plan.

Staff may also clock in from their own phone or computer: when ticked, people with a login can clock in from My space. Those times are marked Own device on the roster and timesheets. Untick it if you want clocking on the till only.

Both are on unless you switch them off. When the till's time clock is off, clocking in from own devices is off too.

Open a week

If nobody appears, set the Home store on each employee's record. You need at least one store or warehouse under Inventory → Locations first.

1. Go to People → Rosters.
2. Choose the Store. Everyone whose home store it is has a row.
3. Use Previous week, This week and Next week to move between weeks.

Add and change shifts

A shift is refused on a day the person has approved leave, or where it overlaps another of their shifts.

1. Press + in a person's row on the day you want.
2. Enter Start and End, and the unpaid Break (minutes) inside the shift if there is one.
3. Optionally fill Doing what (for example Till 1, Floor or Deliveries) and a Note.
4. Save. The new shift shows dashed: it is a draft until you publish.
5. To change or remove a shift, press it. Remove shift takes it off the week and changes nothing else.

Copy last week fills the week from the week before, which saves typing for a regular pattern.

Publish the week

Press Publish week when the plan is ready. Dashed shifts become solid, and staff see their published shifts in My space. Unpublished changes are marked on the screen.

Plan against what happened

Beneath each day you see what the till recorded: first arrival and last departure, and the hours. Arrivals and departures come from clocking in and out, opening and closing a register shift, or sales. When only sales were recorded, the times are the first and last sale and the day is marked with ~ (estimated).

If a person had a shift on a past day but nothing was recorded, the day shows No sign of them.

At the end of each row you see planned and worked hours for the week. A person who worked more than the normal week is marked Overtime, and a week planned beyond it is marked Planned over, before it happens.

Download the hours

Press Download hours (CSV) for the week. You get one line per person per day with a shift or attendance: planned start, end and minutes against first in, last out and worked minutes, with the estimated and corrected flags. Each person has a total line that also carries overtime minutes.

Give each person a clock-in PIN

A cashier with a linked login can clock in with their cashier PIN until they have a clock-in PIN of their own. Anyone on the books can have a PIN; they do not need a login.

1. Go to People → Employees and press View on the person.
2. In the Time clock section, type a Clock-in PIN of 4 to 6 digits (the box is called New clock-in PIN if they already have one). Repeated or sequential digits, such as 1111 or 1234, are refused.
3. Press Set PIN (or Change PIN).
4. Tell the person their PIN. It is not shown again.
5. Remove PIN stops them clocking in with it. Their past times stay.

Clock in or out on the till

The PIN is checked on the till, so this also works when the internet is down; the time is sent when the till is back online. After too many wrong PINs the pad locks for a short while.

If Time clock does not appear in the menu, nobody at this till has a PIN yet, or the time clock is switched off under People → Leave → Holidays and working days.

1. On the register, open the menu and choose Time clock (Clock in or out with your PIN).
2. Pick your name. People of this store come first; if the list is long, use Find your name.
3. Type your PIN.
4. Press Clock in, or Clock out at the end of your day.

Clock in from your own phone or computer

Staff with a login can open People → My space and press Clock in or Clock out on the Today tab. The server's time is used, not the phone's. These times are marked Own device so a manager can tell them from the till. Pressing Clock in twice does not make a second record.

The business can switch this off under People → Leave → Holidays and working days.

Timesheets

A person's record under People → Employees has a Timesheet, and staff see the same under My space → My time. It shows two weeks at a time (use Earlier and Later): each day's first in, last out and hours, and every record behind it with how it was recorded: on the till, on own phone or computer, or by a manager. Days worked out from sales alone are marked From sales only.

Add what the till missed

A correction adds a new record with the reason. Nothing already recorded is changed or deleted. Corrected days are marked Corrected on the timesheet.

1. Go to People → Rosters and find the person and day.
2. Press the recorded times beneath the day, or the ⏱ button if nothing was recorded.
3. Under What happened choose Arrived or Left, and enter the Time.
4. Say Why it is being added by hand, for example Stayed to close up after the till was shut.
5. Press Record.

Getting in

Sign in at the same address as the rest of the business and choose People → My space. If your role is Employee, you land in My space straight away.

If My space says your login is not linked to an employee record, ask your manager to link it under People → Employees.

Today

The Today tab shows whether you are clocked in and since when. Press Clock in when you start and Clock out when you finish. If clocking in from here is switched off, use the time clock on the till instead.

Below it you see your shifts this week, once your manager has published the roster.

My time

My time is your timesheet, two weeks at a time. For each day you see your first in, last out and hours, and how each time was recorded: on the till, on your own phone or computer, or added by a manager with the reason.

Leave

1. Open the Leave tab to see what you have left this year and the requests you have made.
2. Press Ask for leave, choose the kind, the first and last day and any half days, and add a reason if you like.
3. Press Ask for leave. Your manager decides; you see the result in Your requests.
4. To cancel a request, press Withdraw.

Payslips

The Payslips tab lists your payslips, newest first, once the month's payroll has been approved. Press Open to see one. Press Print or save as PDF to print it, or Download PDF for a PDF file in the language the app is showing.

My details

My details shows what the business holds about you: your employee number, name, job and joining date. You can update your own phone, address and emergency contact and press Save my details. To change your name, NIC, job or dates, ask your manager.

The monthly cycle

Payroll works out each person's pay for a month, makes their payslips, and records the cost in your books. The cycle is the same every month.

1. Start a run for the month. It fills itself from each person's pay and from the time clock and approved leave.
2. Check the figures and adjust anything that is wrong, such as overtime hours or a bonus.
3. Submit the run for approval. A second person approves it.
4. Print or download the payslips. Staff with a login also see theirs in My space.
5. Download the bank transfer file, pay the money, and mark the run paid.
6. At the end of the month or half-year, use Returns & reports for the EPF, ETF and APIT figures.

EPF, ETF and APIT in plain words

EPF (Employees' Provident Fund) is a retirement fund. The product's starting rules take 8 % of the person's EPF earnings from their pay and add 12 % paid by the employer, so 20 % goes to the fund each month.

ETF (Employees' Trust Fund) is paid by the employer only. The starting rule is 3 % of the person's EPF earnings. Nothing is taken from the person's pay.

APIT (Advance Personal Income Tax) is income tax taken from pay each month and paid to the Inland Revenue. It is worked out from a monthly tax-free amount and tax bands.

These rates and the APIT table come with the product as a starting point and are marked To be confirmed. Your business, or your accountant, must check them against what the authorities publish before the first real payroll. See Setting up payroll for the first time.

The Payroll screen

Go to People → Payroll. The screen has six tabs:

1. Runs: the monthly payroll runs. This tab opens first.
2. Returns & reports: EPF, ETF and APIT figures and the payroll register.
3. People: who is paid what and how. A number on the tab shows how many people have no pay set up yet.
4. Pay items: the lines a payslip can have, such as allowances, bonus and deductions.
5. Rules: the EPF, ETF and APIT rates and table, by date.
6. Employer: your EPF, ETF and tax numbers.

Who can do what

See payroll lets someone read everything on the Payroll screen, including the returns, with bank account numbers masked.

Manage payroll lets them set up pay, pay items, rules and employer numbers, prepare and submit runs, download the bank transfer file and mark runs paid.

Approve payroll lets them approve a submitted run, but never a run that contains their own payslip.

Give these permissions to the right roles under Settings → Roles. Everyone sees their own payslips in People → My space.

Before you start

Add your staff under People → Employees first. Payroll pays the people on your books. Then work through the steps below, and set up each person's pay (see Setting up each person's pay and bank details).

1. Confirm the statutory rules

Until someone confirms the rules, a warning at the top of People → Payroll says so, and a run cannot be submitted.

1. Go to People → Payroll → Rules, or press Open the rules on the warning.
2. Read the rule set: EPF, employee; EPF, employer; ETF, employer; Overtime; Holiday and Poya work; One no-pay day; APIT tax-free a month; and the APIT bands (monthly).
3. Ask your accountant to check them against the Inland Revenue's current APIT table and the EPF and ETF rates.
4. If they are right, press Confirm these rules. Your name is recorded against the confirmation.
5. If something is different, press New rule set from a date. Enter Applies from, the rates, the overtime and no-pay figures, the tax-free amount and each band, and a Source such as the IRD table you used. Press Save rule set, then confirm it.

When a Budget changes a rate or the tax table, add a new rule set from the date it applies. Earlier months keep their own rules.

2. Check the pay items

Go to People → Payroll → Pay items. A pay item is a line that can appear on a payslip. Some are Built in, such as Basic, Overtime and No-pay, and cannot be switched off.

Each item is an Earning or a Deduction. For an earning, tick Counts for EPF/ETF and Counts for APIT if it should. For a deduction, the ticks say whether it reduces the EPF/ETF base or the taxable pay. Ask your accountant if you are unsure.

Recurring items are set once on someone's pay, for example a fixed monthly allowance. The others are entered each month on the run, for example a bonus or commission.

Press Add a pay item to create your own, give it a Name and a Code such as MEAL_ALLOWANCE, and press Save pay items. Untick In use to stop using an item.

3. Enter your employer numbers

These numbers are printed on payslips and on the EPF, ETF and APIT returns.

1. Go to People → Payroll → Employer.
2. Enter the EPF employer registration no., the ETF employer no. and your Taxpayer identification no. (TIN).
3. Press Save employer numbers.

Set up pay

Amounts are in your business's base currency.

1. Go to People → Payroll → People. Anyone without pay shows Not set up.
2. Press Set up pay on the person.
3. Enter Applies from: the date this pay starts.
4. Under Paid, choose Monthly or Daily wage, then enter the Basic salary a month or the Wage a day.
5. Under Recurring allowances, enter any amount the person gets every month.
6. Under Payment, choose Paid by: Bank transfer or Cash.
7. Enter the EPF member number from the person's EPF membership. Leave it empty until it is issued.
8. For a bank transfer, enter the Bank, the 4-digit Bank code (for example 7010), the 3-digit Branch code, the Account number and the Name on the account.
9. Add a Note if you like and press Save pay.

Raises and corrections

Press Change pay on the person. To give a raise, enter the new amount with a new Applies from date: the old pay stays in the Pay history. To correct a mistake, keep the same date: the entry is replaced.

The Pay history at the bottom of the dialog lists every change.

Bank account numbers

Bank account numbers are shown masked. When you change someone's pay and they are paid by bank, type the whole account number again to keep bank payment.

If a person is paid in cash, no bank details are kept.

A run includes only people with pay set up, so check the People tab for Not set up before you start a month.

Start the run

The run gets a number such as PR-2026-08 and opens as a Draft. Everyone with pay set up who worked during the month is included. Someone who joined or left during the month is paid for their share of it, shown as a percentage of the month under their name.

There is one run per month.

1. Go to People → Payroll. The Runs tab opens.
2. Under Month to pay, choose the month.
3. Press Start the run.

What the run fills in for you

Basic pay and recurring allowances come from each person's pay set-up.

Overtime hours come from the time clock: time worked beyond the normal hours a week set under People → Leave → Holidays and working days. A week counts in the month it ends in.

Hours on public holidays come from the time clock too, counted separately.

No-pay days come from approved leave of an unpaid type, such as No-pay leave.

For people on a daily wage, Days worked is the number of days with clocked time.

EPF, ETF and APIT are then worked out from the rules.

Check and adjust

1. Look at the totals at the top: Gross pay, Deductions, Net pay, EPF (8 % + 12 %), ETF (3 %) and APIT.
2. Check each person's row: OT hours, No-pay days, Gross, EPF 8 %, APIT and Net pay.
3. Press Adjust on a person to see every line of their payslip and how it was worked out.
4. Under This month's figures, change Overtime hours, Hours on public holidays, No-pay days (or Days worked for a daily wage). Each box shows what the records say, so you can compare.
5. Enter any amounts for this month only, such as a bonus, commission, salary advance or loan repayment.
6. Press Recalculate. The payslip and the run's totals update.

If you correct someone's pay or leave after starting the run, press Refresh from records. It reads pay and time again and keeps the amounts you typed.

Submit for approval

When the figures are right, press Submit for approval. The run shows Waiting for approval, and a number appears on People → Payroll in the sidebar for people who can approve.

A run cannot be submitted while the rules are still To be confirmed, when nobody is in it, or when someone's net pay would be below zero.

If you started the wrong month, press Delete draft. The draft and its payslips are removed and you can start the month again.

Why a second person approves

Paying staff is one of the largest amounts a shop pays out. So one person prepares the run and a second person checks and approves it. After approval, the run and its payslips cannot be changed.

Approve

The run shows Approved. Payslips are now ready, staff see theirs in My space, and the month's cost is recorded in Finance.

1. Look for the number on People → Payroll in the sidebar, or the line on the Approvals page saying a payroll run is waiting.
2. Go to People → Payroll → Runs and press Open on the run marked Waiting for approval.
3. Check the totals and press View on any person to see their payslip lines.
4. Press Approve.

Send back

If something is wrong, press Send back. The run returns to Draft so the preparer can fix it and submit again.

When you are the only one doing payroll

In a small business the same person may prepare and approve. If you press Approve on a run you submitted yourself, you are asked Approve your own submission? Confirm only if nobody else does payroll here.

This is recorded, and the run shows the badge Approved by the preparer, so your accountant or auditor can see it.

What a payslip shows

Each payslip carries your business name and contact details, the month and run number, the person's name, employee number and EPF member number, and how they were paid (the bank account is masked).

It lists Earnings, Deductions and Net pay, the amounts Paid by the employer (EPF 12 % and ETF 3 %), and the year to date from April. Your EPF and ETF employer numbers and TIN are printed at the bottom.

Payslips are ready once the run is approved.

Print all payslips for the month

1. Go to People → Payroll → Runs and open an approved or paid run.
2. Press Payslips to print. Every payslip opens on screen, one per A4 page.
3. Press Print or save as PDF. Your browser's print dialog can also save a PDF.
4. Press Back to return to the run.

One person's payslip

1. In the run, press View on the person.
2. Press Payslip.
3. Print it, or press Download PDF.

Download PDF in Sinhala, Tamil or English

Download PDF makes a PDF file in the language the app is showing. To get Sinhala or Tamil, change the language with the language menu at the top of the screen first, then press Download PDF. The file opens in a new tab, ready to save, e-mail or give to the bank.

E-mail payslips

Each person can get their own payslip by e-mail, as a PDF, at the address on their HR record (or their login's address). It is written in the language they chose for the app, otherwise in the language on your screen. The e-mail itself shows no amounts: they are only in the attached payslip.

1. Open an approved or paid run and press E-mail payslips.
2. Check the list: everyone's address, and anyone with No e-mail address. To include them, add an address to their record under People and come back.
3. Press Send to … people. The payslips go out in the background; each row changes to Sent, or to Failed with the reason.
4. If any failed, press Retry … failed.

Pressing the button again does not send anyone a second payslip, unless you choose Send again to everyone.

Staff see their own

Staff whose login is linked to their record open People → My space → Payslips. They see every approved month, newest first, and can Open, print or download each one. Nobody sees anyone else's payslip there.

Download the bank transfer file

The file has one row per person paid by bank transfer with net pay above zero: employee number, name, name on the account, bank code, branch code, account number, amount, currency and a reference. People paid in cash are left out.

The file carries whole account numbers, so keep it safe. Every download is recorded.

1. Open the approved run under People → Payroll → Runs.
2. Press Bank transfer file. A CSV file named after the run is downloaded.
3. Use it to set up the transfers in your bank's system.

The file is a general CSV. It may not match your bank's own upload layout; check with your bank how they want it.

Mark the run paid

The run shows Paid with the date and reference. After this nothing about the run can change. Payslips stay available.

1. When the bank transfers and cash payments are done, open the run and press Mark paid.
2. Enter the Date the money went. It starts as today, and cannot be before the month paid or in the future.
3. Enter the Bank reference if you have one.
4. Press Mark paid.

What Finance records automatically

You do not need to post payroll by hand. Two journal entries are made for you, and you can see them under Finance → Journal.

When the run is approved, an entry is made in the month paid: dated the approval day, or the month’s last day if you approve after the month has ended. It records the salary cost (gross pay less no-pay) under Salaries and wages, and the employer's EPF and ETF as a cost. It records what you now owe: EPF (8 % + 12 %), ETF, APIT, other deductions and the net salaries still to pay. Salary advance and loan repayments reduce Staff loans and advances.

When the run is marked paid, an entry dated the day the money went clears the net salaries owed, taking the money from the bank for transfers and from cash on hand for people paid in cash.

The EPF, ETF and APIT amounts stay as owed until you pay them to the authorities.

The accounts these entries use are listed under Finance → Posting rules.

Open a report

Only approved and paid months count. The figures are taken from the payslips themselves, so a return always agrees with what people were paid. Check them against the official form before filing.

1. Go to People → Payroll → Returns & reports.
2. Under Report, choose the one you need.
3. Choose the Month, or for ETF the Year and Half-year, or for APIT for the year the Year of assessment starting in April.
4. Read the table and its totals.
5. Press Download CSV to open it in a spreadsheet, or Print for an A4 page with your employer numbers.

The five reports

1. EPF contributions (C form): for one month, each person's EPF member number, NIC, name, total earnings for EPF, Employee 8 %, Employer 12 % and Total 20 %. These are the figures the EPF C form asks for.
2. ETF contributions (half-year): each person's earnings and the 3 % ETF over January to June or July to December, with the number of months, for the ETF return.
3. APIT deducted (month): for one month, each person's NIC, name, gross pay, taxable pay and APIT deducted, for the monthly APIT schedule.
4. APIT for the year of assessment: each person's taxable pay and APIT from April to March. Press Certificate on a person to print their APIT deduction certificate, listing each month.
5. Payroll register: everyone paid in a month with gross, deductions, net, the EPF, ETF and APIT amounts, and whether paid by bank or cash.

Good to know

If a period has no approved payroll, the report says so.

The reports give you the figures; they do not file anything themselves. For EPF, the e-return file below is ready to upload; for ETF and APIT, copy the figures into the official forms or give the CSV to your accountant.

Uploading the EPF return (e-return file)

If you file EPF online, Sevo makes the two files the EPF e-return upload takes, EVEMP.TXT and EVEMC.TXT, in one zip. Paper filing with the printed schedule above still works as before.

Before the first upload: enter the EPF employer number (for example A/12345) and the EPF district office code under People → Payroll → Employer, and give everyone an EPF member number (digits only) and an occupation grade on their pay. Their NIC and their first and last names in English letters come from People → Employees.

1. Open the approved or paid run under People → Payroll → Runs.
2. Press EPF e-return file.
3. Choose how the EPF is paid, enter the date and, if you have one, the payment reference. Leave the submission number at 1 unless you send several files for the month.
4. Press Download EPF file. If anyone is missing an NIC, a member number or a grade, you are told who; fix it and press again.
5. Upload the zip's two files in the EPF e-return system, and keep the acknowledgement.

Check the first month's acknowledgement from the EPF Department carefully; if it reports a format problem, tell us and we will adjust the file.

What the profile is for

The company profile is what your documents print about you. Receipts use it right away. Fill it in on your first day, before customers see a receipt.

On the right of the screen, the "Receipt preview" shows a sample receipt as you type, so you can check the result before saving.

Fill in the profile

1. Open Settings → Company.
2. Under "Identity", enter the "Legal name" as registered, for example Perera Hardware (Pvt) Ltd, and the "Trading name" your customers know you by. When a trading name is set, it is printed instead of the legal name. You need at least one of the two.
3. Type the "Address" with one line per line, up to four lines, then the "City" and "Country".
4. Under "Contact", add the "Phone", "E-mail" and "Website".
5. Under "Tax registration", choose the type (VAT, TIN, SVAT or BRN) and type the number. It is printed on receipts and invoices.
6. Under "Receipt text", add a "Header line" that prints under your name, for example your opening hours, and a "Footer" of up to 240 characters for your return policy or a thank-you note.
7. Press "Save company profile". You see "Company profile saved."

If you leave the footer empty, receipts end with "Thank you!".

Add your logo

The logo is used on A4 documents. Receipts print your name only, not the logo.

1. In the "Logo" section press "Upload logo".
2. Choose a PNG, JPEG, WebP or SVG file of 512 KB or less.
3. The message "Logo uploaded - save to keep it." appears. Press "Save company profile" to keep it.
4. To change it later press "Replace logo"; to take it off press "Remove".

Branches with their own address

The company address is your main address. If each store has its own address, set it on the store under Inventory → Locations.

If the form will not save

The field with the problem is marked with a message. The common ones are: "Enter a legal or trading name.", "Use at most four address lines.", "Enter a valid e-mail address." and "Enter a valid website, e.g. www.example.lk."

If you see "You can see the company profile but not change it - ask an administrator.", your role can only read this screen.

Invite a user

The new user shows as "invited" until they sign in, then "active". If the e-mail went missing, press "Resend" on their row to send a fresh temporary password.

Your plan allows a certain number of users. When you reach it, the screen tells you and points you to Settings → Plan & billing.

1. Open Settings → Users and press "Invite user".
2. Enter the person's "E-mail" and "Display name".
3. Under "Roles", tick one or more roles. At least one is needed.
4. Press "Send invitation". They receive an e-mail with a temporary password and choose their own password at the first sign-in.

Change a user or take access away

Disabling keeps everything the person did, such as sales and stock changes, under their name. You cannot disable yourself.

1. Click the person's row to open "Edit user". Change the name or roles and press "Save changes". The e-mail cannot be changed.
2. To stop someone signing in, press "Disable" on their row and confirm. They are signed out and refused until you press "Enable" again.

Till PINs

When several cashiers share one register, give each a PIN. Press "Till PIN" on their row, type a 4 to 6 digit PIN twice (not 1234 or 1111) and press "Save PIN". On the register they tap their name and type the PIN, so each sale is recorded under the right person. "Remove PIN" takes it away.

The system roles

Every company starts with these roles. They are marked "System": you can edit them but not delete them.

TenantAdmin: everything, including users, roles, company profile, approval limits, currency rates, payroll and billing.

StoreManager: runs the shops. Products and prices, all stock work, purchasing, the register including refunds, discounts and shifts, sales reports, reading Finance, Insights, and People (viewing staff and approving leave).

InventoryClerk: stock work (adjustments, transfers, counts), receiving goods, reading purchasing and Insights.

Cashier: sells on the register and looks up products and stock.

Accountant: reads Finance, purchasing, stock, products and sales reports. Changes nothing. Suits an outside accountant.

Employee: only My space, with their own time, shifts, leave and payslips.

StoreManager, InventoryClerk and Cashier also have My space.

Make your own role

1. Open Settings → Roles (or press "Manage roles" on the Users screen) and press "New role".
2. Give it a "Role name" and a "Description".
3. Tick the permissions it should have. They are grouped by area, such as catalog, inventory and pos.
4. If the role may give discounts, set a "Discount limit (%)": the most discount one sale can have. Leave it blank for no cap.
5. Press "Create role", then give the role to users on the Users screen.

A person with several roles gets all their permissions together. Deleting a role takes access away from anyone who held only that role.

How approvals work

You set an amount for each type of document. A document at or above its limit is not finished straight away. It waits in the Approvals inbox until someone else approves it. The person who raised it can never approve it themselves, whatever their role.

Amounts are in your base currency, for example LKR.

Set the limits

1. Open Settings → Approvals.
2. Enter an amount for "Purchase orders" (the order total, converted to the base currency).
3. Enter an amount for "Stock adjustments" (quantity × cost, counting stock taken out as well as stock added).
4. Enter an amount for "Manual journals" (the total of the debits).
5. Enter an amount for "Online-shop refunds" (the total given back, including any delivery charge).
6. Leave a field empty to switch approval off for that type; it shows "Off".
7. Press "Save". You see "Approval limits saved".

Approve or reject

1. Open Approvals near the top of the menu. The number beside it shows how many are waiting.
2. The "Waiting" tab lists each document with its amount, the limit and who asked.
3. Press "Approve" to finish it: the order is sent, the adjustment or journal is posted. A note is optional.
4. Press "Reject" to send it back. A note is required, because the requester reads it.
5. The "Decided" tab keeps the history.

Good to know

A rejected document goes back to draft with your note, so it can be fixed and sent again.

If the requester cancels a waiting document, its request is withdrawn.

Every request and decision is recorded in the audit log.

Leave requests and payroll runs are approved on their own screens under People. The Approvals inbox shows a reminder when some are waiting.

The base currency

Your books are kept in one base currency. It is set from the country chosen when the company was created: for a Sri Lankan company that is LKR. Costs, stock values and reports are in the base currency.

Settings → Currencies & rates shows the base currency at the top, with how many currency pairs have rates.

When you need a rate

Add a rate when you deal in another currency, for example a supplier who invoices in USD. Each document remembers the rate it used, so later changes do not alter old documents.

Until you add a rate, goods from a foreign-currency supplier can still be received, but you must type the rate on the receipt.

Add a rate

1. Open Settings → Currencies & rates and press "Add rate".
2. In "Foreign currency", type the 3-letter code, for example USD. The base currency is filled in for you.
3. In "1 USD =", type how many units of your base currency one unit is worth, for example the LKR value of one dollar.
4. Choose "Valid from": the date the rate applies from. Entering the same date again replaces that day's rate.
5. Optionally note the "Source", for example CBSL or a bank quote.
6. Press "Save rate".

Reading the list

Rates are grouped by pair, such as USD→LKR. The rate in use today is marked "current"; a rate with a later start date is "future"; older rates are "superseded".

"New rate" on a row adds the next rate for that pair. "Delete" removes a rate: documents that already used it keep their copy, and new documents fall back to the previous rate.

The trial

A new company gets a 14-day free trial with no card. A banner at the top counts the days left and links to Settings → Plan & billing.

When the trial ends you have a short grace period to choose a plan; the banner says so. After that the company is paused and sign-in is refused. Nothing is deleted, and you can come back by choosing a plan.

Everything you set up during the trial carries over to your plan.

Your plan and its limits

The top of Settings → Plan & billing shows "Your plan", its status (Trial, Active, Past due, Suspended or Cancelled) and its limits: Registers, Stores & warehouses and Users.

Below are the plans, Starter, Growth, Business and Enterprise, with their prices. Switch between "Monthly" and "Yearly (2 months free)". Prices are in the company's base currency, excluding taxes where applicable. A plan without a listed price shows "Let's talk" and a "Contact us to upgrade" link.

If you try to add more registers, stores or users than your plan allows, you see a message pointing you here.

Pay by card

1. Press the "Choose" button on the plan you want, for example "Choose Growth".
2. Under "How would you like to pay?" pick "Card (PayHere)". PayHere accepts Visa, Mastercard, Amex and LankaQR.
3. Press "Continue to PayHere". You pay on PayHere's secure page and come back to Sevo. Your card details never reach Sevo.
4. The plan updates as soon as PayHere confirms the payment. Card plans renew automatically.

Pay by bank transfer

1. Press the "Choose" button on the plan you want, pick "Bank transfer" and press "Issue invoice".
2. Plan & billing now shows the "Invoice to pay" with our bank details. Use "Copy" to copy the account number and the reference.
3. Transfer the amount at your bank or in your banking app. Put the invoice number as the reference.
4. Under "Paid? Tell us", enter "Paid on", "Amount paid" and the "Slip or transfer reference". Attach a photo or PDF of the slip with "Attach slip" (up to 5 MB; optional but faster).
5. Press "I have paid - send notice". A banner says the payment is being checked, usually within one working day. The plan starts when it matches.

Changed your mind before sending the payment notice? Press "Cancel this checkout". The invoice is voided and your plan stays as it is.

Upgrades and cancelling

When you change plan, unused days of your current plan are added to the new period.

To stop, press "Cancel at period end". You keep full access until the end of the period you paid for, then the company is paused. Until then, "Keep my subscription" undoes it.

Invoices

Every invoice is listed under "Invoices" on the same screen with its status: Open, Paid or Void. "View invoice" opens it, and "Print" prints it or saves it as a PDF for your accountant.

The checklist

Settings → Data migration lists seven steps in the order that works best. Each step is short. Steps the system can check tick themselves and say so, for example "Profile set." or "Suppliers exist."

You can keep the sample data while you work. Once your own products are in, remove it in one go under Settings → Company → Sample data.

1. "Company profile": names, address, tax number and logo. "Open Company" takes you there.
2. "Stores and warehouses": one location for each place that holds stock. "Open Locations".
3. "Products and prices": import your product list from the CSV template on the Products screen. "Open Products".
4. "Opening stock": post one opening-stock adjustment per store with quantities and unit costs. "Open Adjustments".
5. "Suppliers": press "Import suppliers".
6. "Customers": press "Import customers", so the till finds them by phone number.
7. "Opening balances": press "Import balances" to bring in the old books' closing balances.

Import suppliers or customers from a CSV

1. Press "Import suppliers" or "Import customers".
2. Press "Download template". Open it in Excel or Google Sheets. It has the exact column headers and an example row.
3. Fill one row per supplier or customer. Only "name" is required. The supplier template also has code, contact name, e-mail, phone, address, tax ID, payment terms in days, currency and notes. The customer template has name, phone, e-mail and notes.
4. Save as CSV and press "Choose CSV…".
5. Check the preview, which shows how many rows are ready and how many were skipped.
6. Press the import button. Rows are created one by one; a row that fails does not stop the others. The results table shows "Created" or "Failed" with the reason for each row.

If you see "The file is missing these columns", download the template again and copy your data into it.

Import opening balances

1. Press "Import balances" and then "Download template".
2. Fill one row per account with its code and either a debit or a credit, never both. The account codes must exist in Finance → Chart of accounts.
3. Choose "As of": usually the last day of your old system's final period. Add a "Memo" if you like.
4. Press "Choose CSV…" and check the totals. The sheet must balance to the cent. If it does not, add the difference to an equity account such as Opening balance equity.
5. When it says "Debits equal credits - ready to post.", press "Post opening balances".

The audit log

Settings → Audit log records every change in your company: when, who, what action and on which record. Entries cannot be edited or deleted.

1. Open Settings → Audit log. The newest changes are at the top.
2. To narrow the list, type part of an action in the filter box, for example catalog.product or pos.sale.
3. Click a row with an arrow to see the values before and after the change.
4. Press "Load older" to go further back, and "Back to newest" to return.

The Dashboard's "Latest activity" card shows the most recent entries at a glance.

How your data is protected

Your data is stored in the cloud in AWS Asia Pacific (Singapore). Each company's records are kept apart from every other company's by the database itself.

The database keeps a continuous history of changes, so the Sevo team can restore it to an earlier moment if something goes badly wrong. Restores are rehearsed, not just assumed.

Card payments for your plan go through PayHere; Sevo never sees your card number.

Taking copies of your figures

Several reports have an "Export CSV" button that you can open in Excel: Finance → Reports, Finance → Journal and Inventory → Stock valuation. Documents such as invoices and payslips can be printed or saved as PDF.

Good habits

1. Give every person their own login. Never share one login between staff: the audit log then cannot tell who did what.
2. Give each person the smallest role that lets them do their job.
3. When someone leaves, disable their user under Settings → Users on their last day.
4. Use a strong password and do not write it on the till. For shared registers, use till PINs.
5. Tick "Remember my e-mail" only on your own devices, and sign out on shared computers.
6. Set approval limits so large orders, adjustments and refunds need a second person.

If you stop using Sevo

Cancelling pauses the company at the end of the paid period. Your data is not deleted at that moment, and you can come back by choosing a plan.