--- title: Welcome order: 1 updated: 2026-07-12 --- # Welcome This guide walks you through the everyday work you will do inside the app: handling customer enquiries, sending vendors requests for quotes, tracking stock in your warehouses, marking attendance, and keeping your master records tidy. It is written for the people doing the work, not the people who set up the system. The app is a single tool that many people in your firm use at once, each with their own login. What you can see and do depends on the permissions your administrator has given you, so two people on the same screen may see different buttons. That is normal and by design. ## Two ways to run it The same app comes in two shells that connect to the **same data**, so you can switch between them freely and pick up where you left off. - **In your browser** — open your firm's web address and sign in. Nothing to install; it works on any modern computer. - **As a desktop app** — a downloadable program your firm may provide. It behaves the same but adds a window title bar, keeps itself up to date automatically, and lets you tune a few desktop-only display options. A few features differ between the two shells, and this guide flags each one as *desktop only* or *browser only* where it comes up. There is also a phone companion — see [The mobile app](/docs/getting-started/mobile-app). ## Getting in You sign in with three things: a *Company ID* (which firm), a *Username* (which person), and a *Password*. Only one device can be signed in to a user at a time — signing in somewhere new signs the old device out. If you forget your password or username, you can recover both yourself from the sign-in page. The full walkthrough, including the emailed reset code and its limits, is in [Signing in](/docs/getting-started/signing-in). After you sign in, the app opens on your [dashboard](/docs/getting-started/dashboard). ## What you can do here Everything is reached from the left sidebar (or, on desktop, an optional menu bar — see [The app frame](#the-app-frame)). The areas are: - *Dashboard* — a snapshot of sales, customers, inventory, procurement, HR, and expenses for a date range you choose, plus the deep printable reports that used to live on a separate *Reports* page. See [Your dashboard](/docs/getting-started/dashboard). - *Sales* — where customer enquiries are captured, quotations are generated and sent, follow-ups are chased, and confirmed orders are recorded. See [Enquiry Bank](/docs/enquiry-bank/overview). - *Procurement* — build a cart of items you need to buy, send requests for quotation (RFQs) to vendors, compare their responses, and turn them into purchase orders. See [Procurement](/docs/procurement/overview). - *Inventory* — record what arrives at the warehouse, what goes out, and where everything is stored, plus delivery and arrival receipts. See [Inventory](/docs/inventory/overview). - *Human Resources* — attendance, leaves, employee expenses, and the HR settings behind them. See [Human Resources](/docs/human-resources/overview). - *Data Entry* — your master records: products, customers, suppliers, and utilities (manufacturers, product units, and warehouses). See [Master records](/docs/records/overview). - *AI* — an optional assistant that reads incoming mail and drafts enquiries and vendor quotations for you to review. This area appears only if your firm has AI features switched on and you have been given AI permission. See [How the AI works](/docs/ai/how-it-works). - *Settings* — firm, user, and document configuration. Some of it is administrator-only. See [Settings](/docs/settings/overview). ### Set up your master records first If you are new to the firm, populate *Data Entry* before you start transacting. A **customer must exist before you can raise an enquiry** for them, and a **supplier must exist before you can send it a request for quote**. Products, manufacturers, units, and warehouses work the same way — they are the building blocks every other screen draws on. The [Master records](/docs/records/overview) chapter covers that setup. ## The app frame Once you know the frame around your work, every screen behaves the same way. ### The sidebar The sidebar sits on the left as a slim strip of icons. **Point at it (or click it) and it expands** to show the full module names; move away and it collapses again, so it never eats into your working space. The page behind it dims slightly while it is expanded. Modules that have sub-pages expand to list them when you open the module. The active screen is highlighted. **The sidebar only lists modules you have permission for** — if a module is missing, you have not been given access to it, not that it is broken. ### The desktop title bar *(desktop only)* In the desktop app a thin bar runs along the very top of the window. It carries the standard **window controls** — minimise, maximise/restore, and close — on the right. The browser version has no such bar; you use the browser's own window. By default this bar **auto-hides when the window is maximised** and slides back down when you move your pointer to the top edge, giving you a little more vertical space. You can turn that off (see [Display preferences](#display-preferences)). ### Sidebar vs. menu bar *(desktop only)* On desktop you can choose how you navigate: - **Sidebar** (the default) — the left strip described above. - **Menu bar** — turn on *Disable Sidebar* in your preferences and the modules move up into the title bar as a row of drop-down menus instead, freeing the left edge entirely. In the browser the sidebar is always used; this choice applies only to the desktop shell. ### Light and dark theme A *Dark Mode* switch (in your [Personalisation](/docs/settings/personalisation) settings) flips the whole app between a light and a dark colour scheme. Pick whichever is easier on your eyes; it changes nothing about your data. This works in both the browser and the desktop app. ## How you work inside a page Almost every screen is built from the same handful of parts, so learning them once carries everywhere. These are covered in depth in [Finding your way around](/docs/getting-started/navigating) and [Tables, search, and modals](/docs/getting-started/tables-and-actions); here is the short version. ### Lists and tables Records are shown in a table — a header row on top, one row per record below. You can sort, and on screens that offer a *Toggle Columns* control you can show or hide columns to suit your work. Long lists are split into pages with a pager at the bottom; the *#* column keeps counting across pages so a row's number never shifts. ### Search and filters Most lists have a search box that narrows the list as you type. Each screen decides which columns its search box looks at (for example, the customer list matches on the customer name). Where a screen also offers filters — a date range, a status, a supplier — the filters apply **on top of** whatever you typed. ### Adding records An *Add* button, labelled with the record type (*Add Customer*, *Add Enquiry*, and so on), opens a form for creating a new record. It is only present if you have permission to add that kind of record. ### Row actions **Right-click a row** to open a context menu of the actions that screen offers for that record — view, edit, copy, delete, and so on. Some screens also put an inline actions menu on the row itself. A greyed-out action means either it does not apply to that row or you lack permission for it. ### Modals Many actions open a **modal** — a panel that floats over the current page with everything behind it dimmed — instead of taking you to a whole new screen, so you never lose your place. Forms, confirmations, and detail views all use modals. - Close a modal with its corner close button, its *Cancel* button, or the **Esc** key. Clicking the dimmed area behind it also closes it. - Your browser's or the app's **Back** gesture closes the top modal rather than leaving the page. - You can stack modals — opening a linked record from inside a modal floats a new one on top — and closing each one peels back to the one beneath. Saving or submitting from inside a stacked modal returns you cleanly to where you started. ### Confirmations before anything destructive The app never silently deletes or discards. A removal or other hard-to-undo action always opens a **confirmation modal that spells out exactly what is about to happen** — read it before you click the final button. This is deliberate: nothing important happens on a single accidental click. ## Display preferences You can tune how the app looks and performs from *Settings → Personalization*. The full list is in [Personalisation](/docs/settings/personalisation); the ones that shape the whole app are: - *Dark Mode* — light or dark theme. Works everywhere. - *Zoom Level* — scale the entire app up or down. Three levels: `Less Zoomed` (`90%`), `Normal` (`100%`, the default), and `Zoomed` (`120%`). Handy on very large, very small, or high-resolution screens. Works in both shells. - *Disable Sidebar* — *(desktop only)* swap the left sidebar for a title-bar menu, as described above. Off by default. - *Auto Hide Titlebar* — *(desktop only)* hide the title bar when maximised. On by default. - *Low Performance Mode* — *(desktop only)* reduce animations and trim memory use on older machines. Off by default; turning it on reloads the app. Your theme, zoom, and desktop layout choices are remembered on that device. ## Staying current ### The desktop app updates itself *(desktop only)* You never download or reinstall the desktop app by hand. It checks for a new version on launch and periodically while it runs, and when one is available it **downloads and installs it quietly in the background** with no pop-up and no installer window — then restarts itself onto the new version. The only time you see an update prompt is the rare case where an automatic install cannot be applied on your machine (for example, no build exists yet for your platform); then it asks you to open the download page or switch to the web app so you are never left stranded on an outdated build. ### The browser is always current In the browser there is nothing to update — refreshing the page always loads the latest version. If the server ever detects that your open tab is running old code, it prompts you to reload. ## Where notifications appear The app can notify you about things that need your attention — approvals, follow-ups due, and so on. You control which categories reach you actively, quietly, or not at all, and you can browse everything you have received, from *Settings → Personalization → Notifications*, or the wider notification settings. See [Notifications](/docs/settings/notifications). ## Common questions ### Do I need to install anything? Not necessarily. The app runs in your browser, and your firm may also provide a desktop version. Both connect to the same data, so you can use either — or switch between them. ### Do I have to update the desktop app myself? No. The desktop app keeps itself up to date automatically. When a new version is released it downloads quietly in the background while you carry on working — there is no pop-up to click and no installer window to watch. Once it is ready, the app restarts itself into the new version. You are only ever asked to act in the rare case where an automatic install cannot run on your machine. ### Why can I see some menus and not others? What you can see depends on the permissions your administrator has given you. The sidebar (and the desktop menu bar) only list the modules you are allowed into, and even inside a screen a button may be greyed out or absent if you lack permission for that specific action. If something in this guide is not visible for you, ask your administrator — see [Users & permissions](/docs/settings/users-and-permissions). ### Why do the buttons and columns look different from a colleague's? Because permissions and personal preferences are per-user. Two people on the same list can have different row actions, different visible columns, and different add buttons. That is expected. ### Why was I signed out when I logged in on another device? Only one device can be signed in to a user at a time. Logging in somewhere new signs the previous device out automatically. If that happens unexpectedly, change your password and tell your administrator. See [Signing in](/docs/getting-started/signing-in). ### The AI area isn't in my sidebar — where is it? The *AI* area only appears when your firm has AI features enabled **and** you have AI permission. If neither is true it is hidden. Ask your administrator to switch it on for the firm and grant you access. See [How the AI works](/docs/ai/how-it-works). ### Where did the Reports page go? Reports are no longer a separate sidebar item. Every report now lives under its matching tab on the [dashboard](/docs/getting-started/dashboard), below the at-a-glance overview, with a one-click PDF export. ### How do I go back? Use the app's or your browser's back gesture, or close the modal you opened with its close button, *Cancel*, or the Esc key. The screen you were on stays behind the modal, so closing it returns you exactly where you were. ### Where do I report a problem? Speak to whoever set up the app for your firm. Most day-to-day issues come down to a missing permission or a missing master record — both of which an administrator can fix in [Settings](/docs/settings/overview).