SawaPOS Documentation

SawaPOS is a cloud point-of-sale system built for retail shops, restaurants, supermarkets, pharmacies and service businesses. This guide walks new business owners through first-time setup — from creating an account to processing your first sale.

1. Create your account

1. 1Visit the SawaPOS homepage and click "Get Started" or "Sign Up".
2. 2Register with your email and a secure password (or continue with Google).
3. 3Verify your email with the OTP code we send to your inbox.
4. 4You'll be guided through Business Setup automatically on first login.

2. Complete Business Setup

1. 1Enter your business name — this appears on receipts and your store URL.
2. 2Pick your business type (Retail, Restaurant, Pharmacy, Supermarket, Service, etc).
3. 3Choose your country and currency — this controls tax defaults, payment methods, and compliance.
4. 4Add your phone, address and (optional) logo for receipt branding.
5. 5Save — your unique store URL is generated (sawapos.com/store/your-shop).

3. Choose your subscription plan

Every new business gets a free 14-day trial — no card required. When the trial ends, pick the tier that fits where your business is today (you can upgrade or downgrade any time):

• Starter — POS essentials, basic CRM, up to 2 staff, shopfront preview (not public yet).
• Advanced — live public shopfront, customer segmentation, 5 staff, loyalty & quotations.
• Pro — custom domain, priority support, unlimited staff, multi-location reporting.
• Elite — white-label receipts, dedicated account manager, unlimited everything.

Billing is monthly or yearly (save ~17% on yearly). Pay with M-Pesa (Kenya), Card via Stripe (worldwide) or Flutterwave (most of Africa).

After login, business admins land on the Admin Dashboard. It gives you a real-time pulse of your shop without digging through reports.

What you'll find here

• Today's Sales: total revenue and number of transactions for today.
• Today's Profit: revenue minus buying cost — instant margin visibility.
• Revenue Trend Chart: 7-day sales trend so you can spot good and bad days.
• Top Products: your best-selling items this week.
• Low Stock Alerts: products below their minimum threshold — restock before you run out.
• Subscription Status: days remaining on your plan with a one-click renewal.

Use the left sidebar to jump to any module. On mobile, tap the menu icon in the top-left corner to open the same navigation. A bottom bar gives you quick access to the four most-used screens.

The POS Terminal is where 90% of your daily work happens. It's designed for speed — touch a product, tap a payment method, print or send a receipt. Works on any phone, tablet or laptop and stays usable even when the internet drops.

Ringing up a sale

1. 1Open POS Terminal from the sidebar (or sign in via your store URL as an attendant).
2. 2Search by product name or barcode, OR tap a category and pick the item.
3. 3Adjust quantity with the +/- buttons. Items show stock, price and any discount.
4. 4Pick a payment method: Cash, M-Pesa, Card, KopoKopo, etc.
5. 5Confirm payment → receipt is auto-printed (and emailed / SMS'd if customer details are added).

Payment options at the POS

• Cash: enter cash received → system calculates change automatically.
• M-Pesa STK Push: type the customer's phone, they get a prompt on their phone.
• M-Pesa Paybill / Till: show the customer your number, system auto-detects the payment.
• KopoKopo: till-based mobile money with same auto-detect flow.
• Card: external card terminal — just record the transaction.
• Split payment: allow part-cash, part-M-Pesa on one bill.

Helpful POS features

• Park a sale: save an unfinished cart and resume later — perfect when a customer steps away.
• Order types (restaurants): tag orders as Dine-in / Table, Parcel, or Normal.
• Kitchen Display (KDS): orders fire to a kitchen screen so cooks see what to prepare.
• Customer Display (CFD): second screen showing the customer their cart and total.
• Reprint receipt: reprint with a reason — fully logged for audit.
• Returns: scan original receipt, pick items to return, restock automatically.
• Quotations: generate quotes that convert to sales in one click when approved.

Manage every item you sell from the Products screen — set prices, track stock, attach barcodes, manage variants (size/colour) and group items into categories.

Adding a single product

1. 1Go to Products → click "Add Product".
2. 2Enter name, optional SKU, and barcode (scan or type).
3. 3Set the buying price (cost) and selling price — profit is calculated automatically.
4. 4Set opening stock quantity and a low-stock threshold so you get alerts.
5. 5Pick a category (or create one inline) and upload an image if you like.
6. 6Save — the product is live on the POS immediately.

Bulk import & mass-add

Have hundreds of items? Use Bulk Import to upload an Excel/CSV file, or Mass Add to quickly type a list and save them all at once.

Advanced product features

• Variants: same product, different size/colour with their own stock and prices.
• Dispensable items: fuel, oils, juices — sell by portion from a bulk volume.
• Discounts: percentage or fixed-amount discounts on individual products.
• Flash sales / Best sellers: flag items for promotional display.
• Barcode generation: auto-generate and download printable barcode labels.
• Image gallery: add multiple product photos for clearer identification.

Categories

Create categories like Beverages, Snacks, Vegetables. Categories speed up the POS (one tap shows all items in a group) and unlock category-level reporting. Optionally set a commission rate per category for staff incentives.

Stock History

Every stock change — sales, returns, manual restocks, adjustments — is logged. Open Stock History to audit any product's movement and answer "where did my stock go?"

SawaPOS supports unlimited staff with role-based access. Each team member signs in with a 4-digit PIN on your store URL — no separate emails needed.

Available staff roles

• Admin (you): full access — sales, products, staff, reports, settings, payments.
• Manager: everything except sensitive settings (no payment gateway keys, no plan changes).
• Cashier / Attendant: POS only — sells, prints receipts, sees their own sales history.
• Accountant: read-only access to sales, reports, customers and quotations.
• Kitchen Staff: Kitchen Display only — sees and marks orders ready.

Adding an attendant

1. 1Open Attendants from the sidebar → click "Add Attendant".
2. 2Enter full name, phone, nickname (shows on receipts) and role.
3. 3Set monthly salary (optional, used for payroll deductions).
4. 4System generates a 4-digit PIN — share it with the staff member.
5. 5They sign in by visiting your store URL and entering the PIN.

Day-to-day staff features

• PIN reset / change: staff can request a new PIN; admin approves on the PIN Approvals screen.
• Cart item removals: require an authorising PIN before items can be removed from a cart (anti-fraud).
• Tasks: assign daily tasks (e.g. restock fridge, clean counters) and track completion.
• Profile completion: staff add their own ID and bank details on first login.
• Suspend / Block: temporarily disable a staff PIN without deleting their history.

Shifts & cash-up

Every cashier opens a shift when they start (declaring their opening cash float) and closes it at end of day. The system calculates expected vs declared cash and flags any variance. Admins review on the Shift Reports screen and decide whether to top up, deduct from salary, or waive small differences.

SawaPOS supports the major payment methods used by African and global SMEs. Configure each gateway once in Settings → Payment Methods and they appear as payment options in the POS automatically.

M-Pesa STK Push (Lipa na M-Pesa)

Push a payment prompt straight to the customer's phone. Best for paybill / till numbers already registered with Safaricom.

1. 1In Settings → Payment Methods, enable M-Pesa.
2. 2Enter your Paybill or Till number (shortcode).
3. 3Enter the Passkey supplied by Safaricom when you registered for Daraja API.
4. 4Pick environment: Sandbox (testing) or Production (live money).
5. 5Save → test by running a small sale on the POS.

M-Pesa Paybill / Till — auto-detect

For shops that don't want STK push: show the customer your paybill / till, they pay manually, and SawaPOS automatically detects the payment landing in your account and closes the sale. Configure the same paybill/till credentials as above.

KopoKopo

1. 1Sign up at app.kopokopo.com and get your Client ID + Client Secret.
2. 2In Settings, enable KopoKopo and paste your credentials.
3. 3Add your till number.
4. 4KopoKopo will appear at checkout — customers pay via STK or buy goods, you see it auto-confirmed.

Card payments (Visa / Mastercard)

For shops with a physical card terminal, simply enable "Card" as a payment method. The cashier swipes on the external terminal then records the sale in SawaPOS. For online subscription payments, SawaPOS uses Stripe and Flutterwave under the hood — no setup required by you.

Flutterwave (multi-currency)

Operating outside Kenya? Flutterwave handles Visa, Mastercard, mobile money across Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, etc.) and bank transfers. Used by SawaPOS for subscription billing in non-Kenyan markets — no merchant setup needed from you.

Viewing payments

• Payments screen: every sale, subscription payment and refund in one searchable list.
• M-Pesa Paybill viewer: see every M-Pesa transaction landing in your paybill — match unidentified payments to sales.
• Till payments viewer: same view but for till-based KopoKopo / M-Pesa.

Every cashier works in a shift. Opening a shift records the cash float they start with; closing a shift reconciles what they took in against what the system expected. This is the single most important anti-fraud control in your shop.

Opening a shift

1. 1Cashier signs in on the store URL with their PIN.
2. 2POS prompts them to open a shift — enter opening cash float (e.g. KES 2,000).
3. 3Shift is now active; every sale is tagged to this shift.

Closing a shift (cash-up)

1. 1Cashier hits "Close Shift" at end of day.
2. 2System shows expected totals: cash, M-Pesa, card.
3. 3Cashier counts the till and enters declared cash / M-Pesa / card.
4. 4Variance is calculated automatically. Cashier adds a note if there's a difference.
5. 5Shift is sent to admin for review.

Admin review (Shift Reports)

Open Shift Reports to see every shift with system vs declared, variance, cashier notes. Mark deficits as:

• Topped up: cashier paid the difference in cash.
• Salary deducted: amount added to their deductions for next payroll.
• Waived: small forgivable difference (e.g. < KES 50).
• Other: with a free-text resolution note.

SawaPOS turns every sale into actionable insight. Open the Reports screen to filter by date range, cashier, category or payment method.

Available reports

• Sales Report: every transaction in a date range — receipt #, attendant, items, total, payment method.
• Profit &amp; Loss: revenue minus cost of goods sold — daily, weekly, monthly views.
• Top Products: best- and worst-selling items by quantity and revenue.
• Cashier Performance: sales by attendant — see who's pulling their weight.
• Category Breakdown: revenue per category to find your most profitable segment.
• Payment Methods: how much came in via cash vs M-Pesa vs card.
• Stock Valuation: current inventory value at cost and at selling price.
• Shift Reports: open / closed shifts with declared vs system cash and any variance.

Exporting

Every report can be exported to PDF or Excel for your accountant, lender or auditor. Use the date filter to generate VAT-period or monthly-financial reports.

SawaPOS includes per-country tax configuration so every receipt is compliant out of the box. For Kenyan businesses, it's also fully ready for KRA eTIMS.

Setting up VAT / Sales Tax

1. 1Open Settings → Tax & Compliance.
2. 2Toggle "Tax enabled" on.
3. 3Pick mode: Inclusive (price already includes tax) or Exclusive (tax added at checkout).
4. 4Set your tax rate (e.g. 16% VAT for Kenya, 20% for UK, 15% for SA).
5. 5Enter your tax authority registration number (KRA PIN, VAT number, EIN, GSTIN, etc).
6. 6Save — every receipt now shows a tax line.

KRA eTIMS integration (Kenya)

eTIMS is mandatory for VAT-registered businesses in Kenya. SawaPOS supports both OSCU (Online Sales Control Unit) and VSCU (Virtual SCU).

1. 1In Settings → eTIMS, toggle eTIMS on.
2. 2Pick OSCU or VSCU based on your KRA registration.
3. 3Enter your KRA PIN, branch ID (00 for HQ), and device serial number.
4. 4Pick environment: Sandbox to test, Production when KRA approves you.
5. 5Paste the API URL and API key issued by KRA.
6. 6Save → SawaPOS automatically transmits every sale to KRA in real time.

Receipts & record-keeping

Every receipt includes your business name, address, tax number, itemised lines with VAT, and the cashier's name. Customers can request an email or SMS copy. Reprints are logged with a reason for audit.

The Customers module turns walk-ins into known customers. Every saved customer tracks lifetime spend, last visit and accumulated loyalty points.

Customer features

• Saved profiles: name, phone, email, address — searchable at the POS.
• Purchase history: every receipt this customer has ever paid.
• Loyalty points: earn points per shilling spent, redeem for KES off future purchases.
• Customer notes: track preferences, allergies, credit terms.

Loyalty Program

Set your earn rate (e.g. 1 point per KES 1), redeem value (e.g. 1 point = KES 0.01) and a minimum redemption threshold (e.g. 100 points). The system handles the rest — points are awarded automatically on every sale and customers see their balance on every receipt.

Coupon Codes

Create one-off or recurring discount codes (e.g. JULY10 = 10% off). Apply at checkout, track redemption count, set expiry dates.

Quotations

For B2B sales — generate a professional quotation with itemised pricing and VAT, send to your customer, and convert to a sale in one click once they approve. Quotations have a validity date and full status tracking (Draft → Sent → Confirmed → Sale).

Run a restaurant, café, fast-food joint or food court? Switch SawaPOS into restaurant mode for kitchen routing, table service and customer order pickup.

Order types

• Dine-in / Table: tag the order with a table number — staff know where to serve.
• Parcel / Takeaway: customer collects from counter; receipt prints with a pickup ticket number.
• Normal: quick-service — no table, no waiting.

Kitchen Display System (KDS)

1. 1Open Settings → Order Queue and enable Kitchen Display.
2. 2Configure kitchen stations (e.g. Grill, Cold Bar, Drinks) if you split prep.
3. 3Open /KitchenDisplay on a tablet or screen in the kitchen.
4. 4New orders appear in real time. Cooks tap to mark Preparing → Ready → Picked Up.
5. 5The Customer Display (CFD) reflects ready orders so customers know when to collect.

Customer Display (CFD)

Open /CustomerDisplay on a second monitor facing the customer. They see their cart building live, the total, and (after checkout) a queue of ready orders by ticket number. Optional voice announcements call ticket numbers when orders are ready.

SawaPOS is browser-based so it works with almost any device. Here's how to connect the most common shop hardware.

Receipt printers

• Bluetooth thermal printers: pair with your phone/tablet via Bluetooth then pick it as the default printer in your browser.
• USB / wired thermal printers: plug into a laptop's USB port — works as a standard printer.
• Wi-Fi printers: share the same Wi-Fi as your POS device; print from any cashier.
• PDF / email receipts: no printer? Email or SMS the receipt straight to the customer.

Auto-print rules

Open Settings → Auto Print to control when receipts print automatically (every sale, only cash sales, only over a certain amount, etc) and to skip the browser print dialog so cashiers save 2 seconds per sale.

Reprints (audit-safe)

1. 1Open the sale from Sales History.
2. 2Click "Reprint" — enter a reason (e.g. "customer lost receipt").
3. 3System logs reprint count, who did it, when and why.
4. 4Admin reviews reprints under Reports to spot unusual patterns.

Barcode scanners

Any USB or Bluetooth scanner works — they act like a keyboard. Click the search box on the POS and scan; the product is added instantly. Use the Products screen to generate and print barcode labels for products that don't have one.

Cash drawers

Cash drawers that connect to a thermal printer open automatically when the receipt prints — no extra config in SawaPOS.

Power outages, ISP issues, slow data — SawaPOS is built to keep working through all of them. Offline mode is automatic. There's nothing to switch on.

How it works

• Automatic detection: the POS shows an orange offline banner the moment your connection drops.
• Sales keep working: ring up cash sales, print receipts, accept M-Pesa till payments — everything queues locally.
• Safe local storage: queued sales are saved in your browser's secure storage; they survive page refresh and reboot.
• Auto-sync on reconnect: the moment Wi-Fi or data returns, queued sales upload silently in the background.
• Duplicate-proof: every offline sale has a unique idempotency key so it never syncs twice.

What's limited offline

STK Push M-Pesa needs internet (to reach Safaricom). Stock levels reflect the last synced snapshot. Cards via Stripe / Flutterwave require connectivity. Cash, paybill / till manual entry and printing all keep working.

Why use it?

• Keep your own books. Your sales data lives in a Google Sheet you own. SawaPOS keeps a copy too, but if you ever stop using us, you walk away with a full history.
• Share with your accountant. One link, view-only access, no exports to email each month.
• Build your own analytics. Pivot tables, Google Looker Studio dashboards, formulas — do whatever you want with your data.
• Audit-ready. Daily tabs make it easy to spot odd days or reconcile against M-Pesa statements.

How it works in plain English

1. You connect your Google account once (under Settings → Google Sheets Export).
2. The first time we export, SawaPOS creates one spreadsheet in your Drive named "<Your Business Name> — Daily Sales".
3. Every day after that, yesterday's transactions are written to a brand-new tab inside that same file. Tabs are named with the date, e.g. 2026-06-13.
4. POS sales and shopfront orders appear together, with a Source column telling them apart.
5. The export runs automatically the first time you open your dashboard each day. You can also trigger it on demand anytime.

Step-by-step: connecting your Google account

1. Sign in to SawaPOS as the business admin.
2. Open Settings from the left sidebar.
3. Click the Google Sheets Export section.
4. Click the green Connect Google Sheets button.
5. A new tab opens with Google's sign-in screen. Pick the account you want to use.
6. Google asks you to grant SawaPOS permission to "see, edit, create and delete only the specific Google Drive files you use with this app". Click Allow.
7. The tab closes automatically. SawaPOS shows a green Connected badge.

Doing your first export

After connecting, click Export yesterday's sales now. SawaPOS will create the spreadsheet, add a tab for yesterday's date, and fill it with every POS sale and shopfront order from that day. Then click Open in Google Sheets to verify everything looks right.

What the daily tab looks like

Each row in the daily tab contains:

• Date / Time — when the transaction happened (UTC).
• Source — POS for in-store sales, Shopfront for online orders.
• Reference — receipt number or order number.
• Customer / Phone — captured at checkout when available.
• Items — a compact list like Soda×2, Bread×1.
• Subtotal / Fees / Total — money columns in your business currency.
• Payment Method / Status — cash, M-Pesa, card, paid, awaiting payment, etc.
• Fulfillment — delivery, pickup, table service, parcel…
• Attendant / Channel — who rang the sale or where it came in.

The last row of every tab shows the TOTAL for the day at a glance.

Sharing with your accountant

1. Open the spreadsheet from the SawaPOS panel.
2. Click the blue Share button at the top right of Google Sheets.
3. Add your accountant's email. Choose Viewer (read-only) or Commenter.
4. Click Send. They now see every new day automatically.

Common questions

"Will this slow down my POS?"

No. The export runs in the background once a day and only takes a few seconds. Your POS is never blocked.

"What if I forget to open my dashboard for a few days?"

The next time you open the dashboard, the automatic export will catch up on the most recent missed day. You can also manually trigger exports for older dates by re-running and selecting the date in your spreadsheet's URL.

"Can different shops have different spreadsheets?"

Yes — every SawaPOS business has its own connection and its own spreadsheet. Each shop owner connects their own Google account, so the data goes wherever they want it.

"How do I disconnect?"

Click the Disconnect button on the Google Sheets Export panel. Future automatic exports stop immediately. Your existing spreadsheet stays in your Drive — SawaPOS can't touch it after you disconnect.

"Is my data safe?"

Yes. SawaPOS uses Google's drive.file scope, which means we can only access the one spreadsheet we create on your behalf. We cannot read any of your other Drive files, even if we wanted to. The OAuth connection is stored securely on Base44's infrastructure and never exposed to the SawaPOS frontend.

"Can I export to Excel instead?"

Inside Google Sheets, use File → Download → Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) on any tab. You can also use the SawaPOS Reports page for built-in Excel and PDF exports.

Why use marketing integrations?

• Reach customers where they are. Push every new shopfront product to your existing social audience without copy-pasting links.
• Save hours every week. Slack and Discord webhooks announce drops to your team automatically.
• Look organised. Schedule meetings with customers, suppliers and staff via a reusable Google Meet link.
• Consistent branding. Same product description, image and shopfront link across every channel.

What's included on each plan

• Starter — preview only, upgrade required to activate any channel.
• Advanced — TikTok auto-share + Google Meet scheduling.
• Pro — everything in Advanced, plus Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
• Elite / Lifetime — everything in Pro, plus Slack and Discord product alerts.
• 14-day trial — full preview, every channel unlocked so you can test before committing.

Where to find it

Sign in as the business admin and open Marketing Integrations from the left sidebar (right below Online Shopfront). You'll see a card for every supported channel showing the plan it unlocks on and whether it's connected.

Connecting a social channel (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn)

1. Click Connect on the channel card.
2. Enter your public handle (e.g. @yourshop).
3. Paste your full profile or page URL.
4. Pick whether to auto-share new products and/or auto-share offers.
5. Click Save. The card turns green with a Connected badge.

From then on, every product you add to your shopfront is queued for sharing on that channel. You can pause auto-share or disconnect anytime from the same card.

Connecting Google Meet

1. Go to meet.google.com and create a reusable meeting link.
2. Back in SawaPOS, click Connect on the Google Meet card.
3. Enter a workspace/display name (e.g. "Your Shop Team").
4. Paste the Meet link you created.
5. Click Save. The link is now ready to be shared with customers, suppliers and staff for video meetings.

Connecting Slack

1. In Slack, open Apps → Incoming Webhooks and click Add to channel.
2. Pick the channel where you want product alerts (e.g. #marketing).
3. Copy the generated Webhook URL.
4. In SawaPOS, click Connect on the Slack card.
5. Paste the webhook URL and (optionally) the channel name.
6. Click Save. New products will now post to that Slack channel automatically.

Connecting Discord

1. In Discord, open Server Settings → Integrations → Webhooks and click New Webhook.
2. Pick a channel and copy the Webhook URL.
3. In SawaPOS, click Connect on the Discord card.
4. Paste the URL and (optionally) name the channel (e.g. #drops).
5. Click Save. Product drops will appear in your Discord channel automatically.

Managing or disconnecting a channel

Click Manage on any connected card to update handles, webhook URLs or toggle auto-share. Click Disconnect to stop sharing immediately — your existing posts stay where they are.

Common questions

"Will old products be back-posted?"

No. Auto-share only fires on new products created after the channel was connected, so your audience isn't spammed with your existing catalog.

"Can I post manually?"

Yes — Slack and Discord webhooks fire instantly for every new product. For TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, posts are queued for your review before going out so you can polish copy or add a custom image.

"Do I need a Pro plan to use Google Meet?"

No. Google Meet and TikTok both unlock on the Advanced plan.

"What if my Slack/Discord webhook stops working?"

The channel card will show a warning. Regenerate the webhook in Slack or Discord, click Manage, paste the new URL and save.

Business Settings

• Business profile: name, logo, address, phone, receipt footer.
• Tax & compliance: VAT/GST rate, mode, tax number and country-specific fields.
• Payment methods: enable / disable cash, M-Pesa, card, KopoKopo per shop.
• POS Mode (NEW): pick Cashier Shift mode (one cashier per shift — supermarkets, retail) or Shared Terminal mode (POS stays open, every sale needs the waiter's 4-digit PIN — restaurants, cafés, bars).
• Hardware: auto-print rules, printer settings, customer display theme.
• Order queue (restaurants): configure kitchen stations, ticket numbering and prep times.
• Cart removal authorisation: require a supervisor PIN before items can be removed.
• Shift close rules: force end-of-day cash-up, variance thresholds.

POS Operating Modes

SawaPOS supports two terminal workflows. Switch any time in Settings → POS Mode:

• Cashier Shift Mode (default): Each cashier logs in with their PIN and opens a cash float at the start of their shift. Every sale is auto-attributed to them. Best for supermarkets, retail shops, pharmacies, hardware stores.
• Shared Terminal Mode: A manager opens the terminal once with the day's cash float — then the POS stays open all day. When any staff member rings up a sale, they enter their own 4-digit PIN and the sale is attributed to them. Best for restaurants, cafés, bars and food trucks where waiters share one screen.

Notifications

The bell icon at the top of every page shows unread alerts — low stock, pending PIN approvals, payment confirmations, daily summaries. Open the Notificationsscreen to see your full history and clear read items.

My Subscription

Track your plan, expiry date, marketing & voice credit balances, and payment history. Upgrade or downgrade any time — changes take effect immediately and your new monthly email quota tops up automatically on the next renewal.

Online Shopfront

Every business can design and preview their public online shop from the Shopfront screen — add a banner, tagline, delivery/pickup options and the payment methods customers can use. The live public URL(sawapos.com/your-shop) is unlocked from Advanced upwards. Starter and trial businesses see a "preview only" banner — public visitors are shown an upgrade-required message until you move to Advanced or higher.

Help & Support

Stuck? Open the Help & Support screen. Start with our built-in AI assistant — it answers most questions instantly. Not resolved? Escalate to a human and a SawaPOS support agent picks up the ticket. Every conversation is saved against your business for future reference.