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Join Masanchara Early Access with your email address or WhatsApp number. It takes less than a minute. When the Android app is ready, we send you the download link and the launch pricing, and we help you set it up for your shop: adding your products, your staff and your opening stock. You need an internet connection once, the first time you open the app, so it can activate on your device. After that, day-to-day selling does not need the internet.

Every plan starts with a 5-day free trial, and you do not need a bank card to start it. During the trial you use the app exactly as you would on a paid plan, with your real products and real sales, so nothing has to be re-entered when you start paying. When the trial ends, choose a plan to keep selling. If you do not, the app stops allowing new sales, but your records stay on your device. Nothing is deleted.

Early-access shops get one-on-one help from us. We go through your products and prices, set up your staff and their roles, choose your receipt paper size and tax rate, and make sure your first backup is working before you start trading. Products can be added one at a time in the app, and scanning the barcode on each item with the camera or a barcode scanner makes this quicker. If you have a long product list, send it to us and we will plan the setup with you.

The app is built for 22 languages: English, Shona, Ndebele, Swahili, Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese. The translations are built into the app itself, so they work offline. Translation coverage is still being completed for some languages before launch.

Android phones and tablets. There is no iPhone or iPad version. A tablet gives you a bigger screen at the counter, but an ordinary Android phone works too. You do not need to buy special till hardware to start. The minimum Android version will be published at launch.

Yes, in two ways. You can use the device camera, which needs no extra hardware. Or you can connect a USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner of the common type that behaves like a keyboard: scan an item and it goes straight into the sale. Scanning works the same way when you add new products, so building your product list is quicker.

Yes. Receipts are laid out for the two common thermal roll widths, 58 mm (most handheld and Bluetooth printers) and 80 mm (most counter-top printers), and you choose your paper size in the app. Printing goes through Android's own print system, so it works with printers your Android device can print to. Some Bluetooth and network thermal printers need their maker's print app installed on the device first. If you prefer not to print, you can share the receipt as a PDF, for example on WhatsApp.

Every plan covers one device for one shop. Plans differ by features and by how many staff accounts you get: up to 2 on Starter, 5 on Professional and 10 on Business, and all your staff sign in on that device with their own PINs. Please know one thing before you plan your counters: each device keeps its own records. Two devices do not share one set of sales, stock and books with each other, because the app works on the device rather than through the internet. If you need more than one till, talk to us before choosing a plan so we can advise you honestly.

Yes. Selling, stock, customers, expenses, day and shift close and reports all run on the device with no connection, and a dropped connection never stops a sale in progress. As long as your phone or tablet has battery, you can trade. The app needs internet the first time you set it up, and then briefly from time to time to renew its licence. It does this quietly in the background whenever it has a signal. If a device has had no connection at all for about three days, it switches to read-only (you can still look at everything) until it connects again, even for a moment.

Your sales, stock, customers and books live in an encrypted database on your own device. They are not uploaded to Masanchara, and we do not hold a copy. Encryption means that someone who copies the files off your device cannot read them. Every sale and ledger entry is also sealed with a digital fingerprint (SHA-256), so a change made to past records afterwards shows up. Because your data lives on your device, backups are your responsibility. The app makes them easy (see the next question).

The app can make backups automatically on a schedule, and you can make one at any time. Each backup is checked after it is written, so you know it can be restored. You can also export a full backup off the device to a place you choose, such as a memory card, a USB drive or a cloud folder like Google Drive, through Android's file picker. You can protect that copy with your own passphrase. Keep at least one recent backup somewhere other than the device itself.

If you have a backup off the device, install Masanchara on your new device and restore it, and you carry on from that backup. If you have no backup anywhere else, the records on that device cannot be recovered. We do not keep a copy of your data, so there is nothing for us to restore it from. This is the honest trade-off of keeping your data private and on your own device, and it is why setting up backups is part of our setup help.

The app has a guided move. It makes and checks a full backup, exports it off the old device, and gives you a one-page checklist for installing the app on the new device and restoring the backup there. Once you have confirmed everything is on the new device, it retires the old one. If you get stuck, message us on WhatsApp and we will walk you through it.

Yes. Reports can be exported as CSV files, which open in Excel or Google Sheets, and your backups are files that you keep. Your records are never held hostage on our servers, because they were never on our servers in the first place.

Cash, mobile money and bank transfer on every plan, plus sales on credit to a customer's account and store credit from Professional. You can combine methods on one sale, for example part cash and part mobile money. Each method is recorded in your books separately, so at the end of the day you can see how much came in through each one.

You choose your shop's currency when you set up the app, from a list that includes the US dollar, South African rand, Kenyan, Tanzanian and Ugandan shillings, Nigerian naira, Ghanaian cedi, Botswana pula, Namibian dollar, Malawian kwacha, Rwandan franc, euro and pound sterling. Your prices, receipts and books are kept in that currency.

Yes. You set your tax rate, and tax is calculated on every sale after discounts, so your tax and your profit figures stay correct. Masanchara is not a fiscal device. If your tax authority requires a fiscalised till or fiscal printer for your type of business, check that requirement for your shop.

From Professional: when the sale is linked to a customer, any amount they overpay goes into their store credit automatically. They can use it on their next visit, and nobody waits for exact change. The credit is recorded properly in your books, so you always know how much store credit you owe your customers.

Yes, from Professional. You can sell to a named customer on account, record their payments as they come in, send statements, and see what each customer owes you. On the Business plan, the receivables ageing report shows who owes what and for how long, so you know whom to follow up first.

All three are built in, and each one is recorded properly rather than simply deleting the sale. Returned items can go back into stock, and the money side is posted to your books. Supervisor approval on refunds, voids and discounts works on every plan, so a cashier cannot quietly reverse a sale; on Business you choose exactly which actions need it. Returns without the original receipt, and the returns report, come with Professional.

Close a shift, or the whole day, with a guided cash count: count the money in the drawer and the app compares it with what the sales say should be there, so any shortage or surplus is visible immediately. Cash taken in or out during the day (for example paying a delivery) is recorded as it happens, so the count stays accurate.

On every plan: products, categories, live stock levels, restocking with cost and stock adjustments. You can set a reorder point for each product and the app warns you when stock runs low. Professional adds stock counts (stocktakes) and lets you choose FIFO or moving-average costing, so your profit reflects what your stock really cost. Business adds purchase orders and goods received notes, batch and expiry date tracking (which matters for groceries and pharmacies) and shrinkage analytics.

Yes, from Professional. Keep a record for each supplier, record what you buy on credit, and record your payments to them. Your books always show what you owe. On the Business plan, the payables ageing report shows which supplier bills are due and which are overdue, and bills from service providers (a plumber, a delivery driver) get their own ledger and ageing. Day-to-day expenses are recorded on every plan.

Today's sales, the week's trend and gross profit are on the reports screen, for today, this week or this month, and can be exported as CSV. Every sale is posted to a proper double-entry ledger as it happens, on every plan. Professional adds profit and loss, balance sheet and VAT reports, a full chart of accounts and margin reports. Business adds cash flow forecasts and receivables and payables ageing.

Yes. Each person signs in with their own PIN and role, and sees only what their role allows. Sensitive actions can need a supervisor to approve with their own PIN: voids, refunds, discounts, price overrides, stock adjustments, expenses, cash in or out, supplier payments, and closing a shift or the day. Approvals work on every plan; on Business you choose exactly which actions need one and can fine-tune each person's permissions. Every money-moving action is written to an audit log with who did it and when, and Professional lets you browse that log. The number of staff accounts depends on your plan: up to 2 on Starter, 5 on Professional and 10 on Business.

The app locks itself after a period of inactivity that you choose: immediately, or after 1, 5, 15 or 30 minutes, or an hour. Getting back in needs a staff PIN, so the till cannot be used by someone who walks up to an unattended counter.

An owner or manager can reset a staff member's PIN from the staff screen in a few seconds. There is deliberately no hidden master PIN or back door, because that would be a way into your shop's money. So keep your own owner PIN safe, and keep a recent backup. If you are locked out of the owner account, message us and we will go through your options with you.

Yes. Cash-ups show shortages straight away, approvals stop sensitive actions happening without a supervisor, and the audit log shows who did what and when. Records are sealed, so a change made to past sales afterwards shows up. On the Business plan, the app also flags unusual patterns in the audit log for you to look into.

Early-access pricing for Zimbabwe, in US dollars per month: Starter US$4.99, Professional US$11.99, Business US$24.99. Plans are priced for each country's purchasing power, so you pay a fair local price rather than one global rate. Prices will be confirmed when the app launches, and every plan has a 5-day free trial. You pay with EcoCash from your USD wallet, from inside the app; payments are available in Zimbabwe only for now.

In the app, open Subscribe and choose your plan. The app shows an EcoCash code with the exact amount: tap Dial, press call and enter your EcoCash PIN to pay from your EcoCash USD wallet. When the EcoCash confirmation SMS arrives, paste it into the app and send it. We match it with our own EcoCash records and switch your plan on, and the app shows it as soon as it is approved. If we cannot match a payment, the app tells you why. Payments are available in Zimbabwe only for now.

No. Masanchara does not take a percentage of your sales. You pay your monthly plan and that is it. Because the app works offline, it also does not use mobile data for every sale.

Every plan runs on one device for one shop. Plans differ by features and by how many staff accounts you get. Starter (up to 2 staff) runs the counter: point of sale, stock levels and adjustments, restocking, simple returns, day and shift close, expenses and backups. Professional (up to 5 staff) is for knowing your profit and controlling credit: sales on credit and customer statements, profit and loss, balance sheet and VAT, FIFO or moving-average costing, stocktakes, price books and margins, and supplier payables. Business (up to 10 staff) is for stopping leaks: purchase orders, batch and expiry tracking, shrinkage analytics, receivables and payables ageing, cash-flow forecasts, the Fraud Center and configurable approval rules. All three plans are on sale now. If you are unsure, start the free trial, which unlocks the Professional features, and ask us.

Your records are not deleted. They stay on your device. After your subscription ends there is a short read-only period during which you can still view everything, and after that the app locks until you renew. Make a backup before you stop, so you always have your records.