Get started

From download to your first sale, in an afternoon.

The whole walkthrough, in the order you will actually do it. Keep it open beside the app the first time.

01

Create your account

Register on this website, pick a plan or start the 30-day trial, and confirm your email.

02

Install the app

Open Downloads in your dashboard. Take the Windows installer for a computer, or the APK for an Android phone.

03

Sign in

Choose "Sign in with BMan". The app opens this website in your browser, you sign in there and confirm the code the app shows.

04

Set up the business

Restore a backup or start fresh, choose your currency, set a PIN, then fill in your business details.

See plans first
Install

A computer, a phone, or both.

The download lives in your dashboard, so sign in on the device you are installing on.

On a computer

Windows 10 or later, 64-bit.

  1. 1Sign in here and open Downloads in your dashboard.
  2. 2Download the Windows installer and run it.
  3. 3If SmartScreen warns you, choose "More info", then "Run anyway". The warning is about the file being new, not about the file being unsafe.
  4. 4Finish the wizard and open BMan Stock from the Start menu.

On a phone

Android 8 or later.

  1. 1Open Downloads in your dashboard on the phone itself.
  2. 2Download the APK. Android will ask whether to allow installs from your browser: allow it.
  3. 3Tap the downloaded file to install, then open BMan Stock.
  4. 4A phone is good for selling and for looking at figures. Branding and a few other settings are set on a computer.

The first time it opens, choose "Sign in with BMan". Your browser opens this website. Sign in there, with the owner account or with the team account you were invited to, and confirm the code shown in the app. After that the app asks whether to restore a backup or start fresh, which currency you use, and what PIN should lock the till.

Set up

The first hour.

Five things, in this order. Everything else can wait until you have sold something.

01Business details

Open Settings, then Business details. Fill in the business name, phone, business email, TIN, tax rate and address. These are the details printed on every invoice and receipt, so get them right once.

02Categories, with the level you want warning at

Open Products, then Categories. Give each category a name and a "Warn me at" figure. Anything at or below that figure is counted as running low, on the dashboard and in the low stock alerts. Add a starter set if you would rather begin from something.

03Products

Add products one by one, or import a list if you already keep one. Each product belongs to a category, so it inherits that category's low level. Prices, cost and units live with the product.

04Your first sale

Open Sales and start a new sale, or press Ctrl N anywhere in the app. Pick the products, say how it was paid, and record it. Stock comes down as you sell. If you sell abroad, Ctrl I starts an export sale instead.

05Stock in, as a purchase

Stock does not go up by hand. You record what you bought, and the stock follows. Press Ctrl R for a new purchase, choose the supplier (Ctrl S adds one first), list what arrived and at what cost, and give it a reference.

Then

The rest of it, when you need it.

None of this is needed on day one. All of it is there when the shop grows into it.

Documents with your own logo and stamp

  • Settings, then Branding, on a computer
  • One tab each for invoices, proformas, receipts, till receipts, delivery notes and reports
  • Choose a logo, a signature and a stamp file for each, or let them fall back to the default
  • Set the header, the footer and the signing line in your own words

Reports, and reports by email

  • Eleven ready reports, from Sales Overview to Profit and Loss and Tax Summary
  • Ctrl Shift and the report letter runs one straight away
  • Build your own in the custom report editor
  • Set a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly schedule, with the time it should run
  • Turn the email on and BMan sends the figures to you, with the PDF or spreadsheet attached if you pick files

Backup to your own Google Drive

  • Settings, then Backups. Connect Google Drive and sign in with your own Google account
  • Backups go to a private folder that belongs to this app alone
  • Choose how often, and at what time, it should run by itself
  • You can also write a copy to a file, and restore from either
  • A backup holds the business: products, sales, purchases, customers, suppliers, expenses, documents and settings

Staff, roles and branches

  • Invite people from Team in your dashboard on this website
  • Give each person a role: administrator, manager, cashier, storekeeper, accountant, viewer or support
  • Put people in branches, and give a branch an administrator to lead it
  • They install the app, sign in with their own invited account, and work on their own device
  • Their work reaches the owner's computer on its own. The roles your plan allows are listed on the pricing page

The supply network

  • Open Supply. Turn supplying on if you want other businesses to be able to find you
  • Say what you deal in, where you are, your phone, your address and your branches, then send your catalogue
  • Going the other way, the app already knows what you are short of and offers it as a request
  • Search for who carries it, then ask them. Ctrl Q opens your requests, sent and received
  • The other side accepts or declines, and each of you keeps your own record
Keyboard

Keys worth learning.

On a computer these work from anywhere in the app. The app prints the same list under Settings.

  • New saleCtrl N
  • New export saleCtrl I
  • New stockCtrl R
  • New productCtrl P
  • New categoryCtrl G
  • New supplierCtrl S
  • New expenseCtrl E
  • Supply requestsCtrl Q
  • Lock nowCtrl L

Reports run on Ctrl Shift and the report's own letter, so Ctrl Shift S gives the sales overview and Ctrl Shift L the profit and loss.

Stuck anywhere? Our Kigali team will walk you through it.