A fresh store shows a six-step setup checklist on the dashboard. Work through Store Config first, then locations, items, employees, and hardware, and ring up a practice sale in test mode before you sell for real.

A brand-new store opens on the dashboard with a setup checklist headed "Complete the steps below to get started with PHP Point Of Sale". It lists six steps, each with a Go » button that jumps straight to the right screen:

1. Store Config — Configure your company information
2. Locations — Configure your locations
3. Items — Add your inventory/items
4. Employees — Add and Update Employees
5. Customers — Add your customers
6. Sales — Complete your first sale

Steps are crossed off automatically as you complete them. You can do them in any order, and a Dismiss link hides the checklist whenever you're done with it — once dismissed it doesn't come back, but every step is an ordinary screen you can reach from the left menu at any time. The sequence below expands the checklist into a practical first day: configure the store first, then load your items, then ring a practice sale before the first real customer walks in.

Start with Store Config

Open Store Config and work through three sections:

• Company Information — your company name, your logo, and optionally a Tax ID and Website. The name and logo appear on receipts and invoices, so getting them right now means everything you print later already looks finished.
• Taxes — set your Default Tax Rate so every sale, including the very first, charges the right amount. Tax groups, tax-inclusive pricing, and exemptions are covered in setting up taxes.
• Receipt — the details and text your receipts show. A minute here saves reprinting awkward receipts all week; customizing receipts goes deeper.

While you're there, check the Currency section if you don't trade in US dollars, and the Application Settings section for the interface language and date format. Store configuration basics tours the whole page, including its keyword search for finding any setting.

Set up your locations and registers

If you have more than one location, add them all before you begin, so items, employees, and stock can be assigned to the right places from the start. Open Locations, and give each location its address and phone number — these print on that location's receipts. Then add the registers for each location in the location's Registers & Terminals section: create one register per checkout lane. Locations and registers covers every field, and registers and cash management explains how registers track cash counts and closeouts.

A single-location store can skip straight ahead — your store starts with one location already created.

Add your suppliers (optional, but worth it)

If you want supplier-level reporting or plan to generate purchase orders later, enter your suppliers now in the Suppliers module, before importing items — items reference their supplier, so having suppliers in first makes the item import cleaner. Suppliers explains the profile fields.

Load your items

Items in PHP Point Of Sale can be anything you sell — a physical product with stock, or a service such as a repair or a massage. If you carry a handful of products, add them by hand in Items → New Item — creating items explains the item form. If your inventory lives in a spreadsheet or another system, use the import wizard instead: importing your data takes you through the template, column mapping, and validation, and it's far faster than typing. Import suppliers first, then items, then customers.

Add your employees

Give each person who touches the register their own login instead of sharing one. Sales, drawer activity, and hours are tracked per employee, and permissions control who can give discounts, run reports, or change settings. Employee accounts covers creating logins; permissions and templates covers granting each person exactly what their job needs. Assign each employee to the location(s) they work at.

Connect a receipt printer

Connect your receipt printer — and cash drawer, if you have one — before your first real sale, so opening day at the counter isn't also hardware-troubleshooting day. Receipt printers, cash drawers and PrintNode covers the ways to print and which fits your setup. If you'll scan barcodes, a USB or Bluetooth scanner needs no setup beyond plugging it in — see scales, scanners and customer displays — and barcodes and labels covers printing your own labels.

Connect card processing (optional)

If you will take cards at the register, connect processing once the printer is ready. PHP POS Payments is the built-in option; choosing a payment processor compares the alternatives, and setting up credit card processing walks through the per-location setup and terminal pairing. You can also go live with cash and other tenders first and add cards later.

Ring up a test sale in test mode

Before you sell for real, switch on test mode: the dashboard shows an Enable test mode panel — click it, and a red banner confirms "You are in test mode. Sales will NOT be saved". While it's on, the sales you ring up aren't saved at all, so you can practice freely without polluting your reports or inventory counts. Add an item to a sale, take a pretend payment, and print the receipt — this one dry run confirms your printer, taxes, logo, and receipt details all look right together. Ringing up a sale explains the register screen itself.

When everything checks out, click Disable test mode in the banner. From that point on, every sale is real.

When the checklist is done

Dismiss the checklist and the dashboard becomes your daily view — sales statistics, quick tasks, and expiring stock; finding your way around tours it. That's a working store, but not the end of what you can turn on. When you're ready for more, the usual next steps are customer loyalty programs, price rules and promotions, and gift cards.

If you'd rather have hands-on help getting set up, especially with migrating data from another system, onboarding services are available.

Common questions

Do I have to follow the checklist in order? No — each step is independent, and every step is reachable from the left menu. The order above just avoids rework (for example, suppliers before items, and items before your first sale).

I dismissed the setup checklist. How do I get it back? Dismissing is permanent — the checklist doesn't return. Nothing is lost, though: each step is an ordinary module (Store Config, Locations, Items, Employees, Customers, Sales) that you open from the left menu.

Do practice sales in test mode show up anywhere? No. While test mode is on, sales are not saved at all — they don't touch reports, inventory quantities, or customer histories. Just remember to disable test mode before real selling; the red banner reminds you it's on.

Do I need to add customers before I can sell? No — sales don't require a customer unless you turn on the Store Config setting that requires one. Attaching customers is what powers loyalty, store accounts, and purchase history, so add regulars as they come in.

I only have one store. Do I still need the Locations step? Your store comes with one location already created — just open it to fill in the address and phone that print on receipts, and add a register per checkout lane if you plan to track cash in drawers.

When should I connect card processing? Any time before you want to accept your first card payment. Many stores go live on cash first; nothing else in setup depends on a processor being connected.

Can I import my old data instead of typing it in? Yes — items, customers, suppliers, and more come in through spreadsheet imports with templates and column mapping. See importing your data.