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How it works

Your set-up checklist

Kila lists what your business needs before it trades and ticks each step off by itself when the work is done. A shop has twelve steps, from the KRA PIN to the first sale.

Find it: Administration, then Setup, or search setup in Kila

Steps differ for General businesses and couriers, transport and hire businesses.

Kila opens the checklist as soon as you sign up, and keeps it under Administration › Setup until every step is done. Each step says what it needs and has a button that takes you there. When Kila can see the work is done, such as a product added or a sale made, it ticks the step off by itself: “Each one Kila can see ticks itself off when the work is done.”

Set up Nuru General Store: how many of the 12 steps are done, with the free trial date (1), First branch, opening hours and till marked Done with 1 branch, 1 till (2), and Products with prices and VAT To do with No products yet (3).

The steps depend on your kind of business. The twelve here are a shop’s; a restaurant, a salon or a school has its own list, in the same way.

Open a step

Tap a step to open it. Kila says why it matters and gives you the buttons to do it. The products step, for example, offers Add a product, Import from a spreadsheet and Move everything in from another system.

The step Products with prices and VAT opened: Add what you sell one by one, or bring your whole list of products from a spreadsheet, with Add a product, Import from a spreadsheet and Move everything in from another system (1).

A shop’s twelve steps

Step	Kila ticks it off when	How
1. Business details and KRA PIN	The KRA PIN, business phone and address are all recorded. Until then it says what is missing, such as Missing: KRA PIN, address.	Your business details
2. First branch, opening hours and till	There is a branch with a till. Done when you sign up.	Your business details
3. Products with prices and VAT	At least one product can be sold.	Add your products, Import products
4. Opening stock	Opening stock is recorded, or any product has stock.	Record your opening stock
5. Suppliers	You have added a supplier.	Below
6. Reorder levels	Any product has a reorder point.	Below
7. Staff and roles	You have invited someone else.	Add your staff
8. M-Pesa till or paybill	M-Pesa is set up, and so is eTIMS.	Choose how you take money, eTIMS
9. KRA eTIMS and item codes	eTIMS is set up, in test mode for now.	eTIMS
10. Scanner, receipt printer and drawer	A receipt printer, cash drawer or scale is set up on a till.	Set up your till
11. Returns policy and till rules	The till and returns rules have been saved once.	Below
12. First sale	The first sale is complete.	Make your first sale

Good to know

Staff and roles ticks itself off as soon as you invite someone. Until they choose their password and sign in, it still says Only you so far.

Suppliers

The people you buy from, under Purchasing › Suppliers: “Who you buy from: their prices, terms, what you owe them and how reliably they deliver.” Tap New supplier, type the supplier’s Name and anything else you know, such as their Category, KRA PIN, Contact person, Phone and Payment terms, and tap Save supplier. Kila says Supplier added. This step cannot be marked not needed.

Reorder levels

How low a product’s stock may go before Kila warns you, and how much to order then: Reorder point (“Alert at or below”) and Reorder quantity, on each product, or the reorder_point and reorder_qty columns when you import. Inventory › Reorder then suggests what to buy: “You decide what to order.”

Returns policy and till rules

Under Administration › Till and returns rules: “Returns, rounding, selling by amount and waste: the rules the till and stock follow.” A shop starts with a returns policy switched on, for returns within 14 days. Rounding can take the cents off: “Cash and M-Pesa have no cents: lines are rounded down to the shilling (or 5 or 10), the cents coming off as a discount.” Waste reasons are the reasons stock may be written off as waste. Check them and tap Save the returns policy, or the save button of the part you change.

A step that does not apply

Some steps can be put aside. Open the step and tap Not needed: Kila marks it Not needed for now and counts it as done. Staff and roles says I work alone for now, and M-Pesa till or paybill says Cash and M-Pesa codes for now. Mark as to do puts it back.

Scanner, receipt printer and drawer marked Done with Not needed for now (1), opened with the Mark as to do button (2).

Steps Kila can see for itself, such as the products or the first sale, have no such button: they tick themselves off.

When every step is done

The checklist says your business is ready to trade: “Ready to trade. Every step done.” The Setup item leaves your menu, and the page stays at the same address if you want to look back. Once set up, a business stays set up, even if you later switch a till off.

For your business

For General businesses

A General business’s checklist starts with What your business does: switch on the groups of modules that fit, in one step. See Add what your business does.

For couriers, transport and hire businesses

A logistics business has its own steps, such as M-Pesa and proof of delivery: see Set up a logistics business.

Steps differ for General businesses and couriers, transport and hire businesses. Nothing here differs for your business, .

Sign up your business: the checklist opens straight after.
Shops: how Kila works for a business that sells over a counter.

Next: Set your business details, opening hours and tills: step 1 of the checklist.