# The assistant manager’s manual This manual is for the key-holder who receives stock, approves at the register and opens on the weekend. Read it with the office open in another window: every chapter is one thing you will actually do, walked step by step, with a screenshot of each page you will see — and where a step belongs to someone else, the walk says so. **What you need.** An assistant manager’s sign-in to the office, and a few minutes per chapter. Nothing here changes your records until you press a save button yourself; the walks show where things are and what happens when you act. **The example shop.** The screenshots and the figures come from **Linden & Vale** — a fictional Toronto boutique with a year of trade, born for these pages. Every figure below was read from its own records on 17 October 2026; nothing is typed by hand. Your own shop’s pages will show your own figures in the same places. ## 1. Receive stock against an open purchase order In the office this is the play **Stock arrives — from purchase order to the shelf** — How goods enter your business on paper and in fact: you order from a vendor, the order is approved and issued, and when the boxes arrive a receipt records exactly what came in — your stock figures move only when the receipt posts. The mechanisms in this chapter: [Lists — finding things](/manuals/how-the-office-works/#3-lists-finding-things) · [A record page](/manuals/how-the-office-works/#4-a-record-page) ### What you will do The order was raised by you or by the manager; its approval and its issue are the manager’s. When the delivery lands, you start the receipt against the order, capture the quantities that actually arrived, and post it — your stock figures move only when the receipt posts, and a mistaken receipt cancels instead. ### The walk This walk starts wherever you are in the office. **Step 1.** The order is the agreement — what you asked the vendor for, at what cost, for which location. Open Purchase orders and create one; add the lines you are ordering. Open **Purchase orders**. ![Purchase orders — /purchase-orders](/manuals/assistant-manager/shots/1-1.png) **Step 2.** Not yours — Submit, approve, and issue it is a manager’s step. **Step 3.** The receipt is the arrival record — what actually came, against which order lines. Start a receipt for the order and capture the quantities that arrived. Open **Receipts**. ![Receipts — /receipts](/manuals/assistant-manager/shots/1-3.png) **Step 4.** Posting moves your stock figures — until then nothing is on hand; a mistaken receipt cancels instead. Post from the receipt page once the quantities are checked. Open **Receipts**. ### What you see The floor item of **Tops style 1 (FW25)** (BTQ-V-0001-MIDWASH-XS) stands at 0 on hand · 0 available — a posted receipt is what moves that figure. ### Try it - Open Purchase orders and read one that is issued and waiting for its delivery. - Open Receipts, start a receipt against it, and capture the quantities line by line. - Post the receipt; open the stock card of one line and read the on-hand figure move. ### Where to learn more - The receipt record and its operations: [Receipt](/reference/receipt/); the purchase order: [Purchase order](/reference/purchase-order/). - The same walk as the office runs it: [Stock arrives — from purchase order to the shelf](/use-cases/stock-arrives/). - Your course lists the tasks you can do end to end; this one is walked here as your part. ## 2. Correct stock on hand, with a reason In the office this is the play **Correct stock on hand, with a reason** — Write stock on or off outside buying and selling — corrections, damage, shrink — with a reason code, move stock between buckets without changing the total, and read the full movement story of an item. The mechanisms in this chapter: [Lists — finding things](/manuals/how-the-office-works/#3-lists-finding-things) · [A record page](/manuals/how-the-office-works/#4-a-record-page) ### What you will do Write stock on or off outside buying and selling — a correction, damage, shrink — with a reason code that stays on the item’s ledger forever; move stock between buckets, sellable to damaged, without changing the total; and read the item’s whole movement story in order. ### The walk Where it starts: the office’s **Inventory items** page. ![Inventory items — /inventory-items](/manuals/assistant-manager/shots/2-0.png) **Step 1.** Write stock on or off with a reason code — a signed movement, recorded forever. **Step 2.** Move stock between buckets — sellable to damaged — without changing the total. **Step 3.** Read the item’s full stock story at the location — every movement, in order. ### What you see Last month the example shop’s shrink read 1 reasons · -1 units — every write-off a reason on an item’s ledger. ### Try it - Open Inventory items and open one; read its on-hand and available figures. - Write two units off with a reason, and read the stock card: the movement, signed with your name. - Move one unit from sellable to damaged and read the total — unchanged. ### Where to learn more - The inventory item record and its operations: [Inventory item](/reference/inventory-item/). - The same walk as the office runs it: [Correct stock on hand, with a reason](/use-cases/correct-stock/). - The course in the office: on the Playbook, open **Learn** and the lesson **Correct stock on hand, with a reason**. ## 3. Approve what the till may not do alone In the office this is the play **Approve what the till may not do alone** — A discount, a return or a void above someone’s limit files an approval request; a manager grants it — lending their authority to that exact act — or denies it. The mechanisms in this chapter: [The office at a glance](/manuals/how-the-office-works/#2-the-office-at-a-glance) · [Lists — finding things](/manuals/how-the-office-works/#3-lists-finding-things) ### What you will do A discount, a return or a void above someone’s limit files an approval request from the register. As the key-holder you read the request, grant it — lending your authority to that exact act — or deny it. The requests wait in the Needs attention panel and on their own list. ### The walk Where it starts: the office’s **Approval requests** page. ![Approval requests — /approval-requests](/manuals/assistant-manager/shots/3-0.png) **Step 1.** Ask for approval of the blocked act. **Step 2.** Grant it — your authority unblocks that exact act; never self-approve. **Step 3.** Or deny it. ### What you see The example shop is **Linden & Vale**; every approval its tills ask for stands on this list with the name of the key-holder who granted or denied it. ### Try it - Open Approval requests and read what is waiting and who asked. - Grant one and read its page: your name, the moment, the act it unblocked. - Deny one and read the words the register will show. ### Where to learn more - The approval request record and its operations: [Approval request](/reference/approval-request/). - The same walk as the office runs it: [Approve what the till may not do alone](/use-cases/approve-what-the-till-may-not-do-alone/). - The course in the office: on the Playbook, open **Learn** and the lesson **Approve what the till may not do alone**. ## 4. Refund a return In the office this is the play **Take a return and refund it** — Create the return, take the goods back — sellable or damaged as received — approve it, pay the customer back on the original method where possible, and close it. At the till with a receipt, one step does the whole walk. The mechanisms in this chapter: [Lists — finding things](/manuals/how-the-office-works/#3-lists-finding-things) · [A record page](/manuals/how-the-office-works/#4-a-record-page) ### What you will do Open the return, take the goods back as received — sellable or damaged — approve it under your own name, pay the customer back on the original method where possible, and close it. At the till with a receipt, one step does the whole walk. ### The walk Where it starts: the office’s **Returns** page. ![Returns — /returns](/manuals/assistant-manager/shots/4-0.png) **Step 1.** Create the return. **Step 2.** Take the goods back — stock returns bucketed as you receive it. **Step 3.** Approve it — the approval names you. **Step 4.** Pay the customer back — money out, permanently — and close it. **Step 5.** At the till, with a receipt: approve, receive and refund cash from the drawer in ONE step. ### What you see The example shop counts in **CAD** and takes CAD and USD; a refund goes back the way the customer paid where it can, and the return keeps who approved it. ### Try it - Open Returns and read one that is waiting; open the order it came from. - Receive the goods — sellable or damaged — and approve the return. - Refund it and close it; read the return’s page once more and find your name on the approval. ### Where to learn more - The return record and its operations: [Return](/reference/return/). - The same walk as the office runs it: [Take a return and refund it](/use-cases/take-a-return/). - The course in the office: on the Playbook, open **Learn** and the lesson **Take a return and refund it**. ## 5. Open the Saturday drawer as the key-holder In the office this is the play **Open, run and close a till day** — Open the drawer with a counted float, record cash moving in or out outside a sale, open the drawer without a sale when you must, freeze it for the closing count, and close it — the over/short is the shift’s record. The mechanisms in this chapter: [Lists — finding things](/manuals/how-the-office-works/#3-lists-finding-things) · [A record page](/manuals/how-the-office-works/#4-a-record-page) ### What you will do Open the drawer with a counted float, record the cash that moves outside a sale — a paid-in, a paid-out, a drop — with a reason, open the drawer without a sale when you must, then freeze it for the closing count and close it. The drawer ledger lists every entry with its reason; the over or short at the close is the shift’s permanent record. ### The walk Where it starts: the office’s **Till sessions** page. ![Till sessions — /till-sessions](/manuals/assistant-manager/shots/5-0.png) **Step 1.** Open the till with a counted float. **Step 2.** Record cash in or out outside a sale — paid-ins, paid-outs, drops, pickups — with a reason. **Step 3.** Open the drawer without a sale — counted, stamped, reason required. **Step 4.** Freeze the drawer for the closing count, then close it — the over/short against the expected totals is permanent. ### What you see The example shop’s drawers count in **CAD**; the over or short at the close is permanent on the session’s record. ### Try it - Open Till sessions and open the drawer with the float you counted. - Record a drop to the safe with its reason, and read the drawer ledger. - Begin the close, count the drawer, close it, and read the over or short on the session. ### Where to learn more - The till session record and its operations: [Till session](/reference/till-session/). - The same walk as the office runs it: [Open, run and close a till day](/use-cases/run-a-till-day/). - The course in the office: on the Playbook, open **Learn** and the lesson **Open, run and close a till day**. ## 6. Post the count In the office this is the play **Count the shelves against the books** — How the books stay honest: a count freezes a location’s lines, the counter works blind against the shelves, captures record what was physically found, and posting moves the books by exactly the differences — no more, no less. The mechanisms in this chapter: [Lists — finding things](/manuals/how-the-office-works/#3-lists-finding-things) · [A record page](/manuals/how-the-office-works/#4-a-record-page) ### What you will do Set up the count for a location, start it so the counters work blind, capture what they find, and post the differences. Posting moves the books by exactly the variances — no more, no less — and the count becomes history. ### The walk This walk starts wherever you are in the office. **Step 1.** The count names its location and why it is being taken — wall-to-wall, a scheduled cycle, or a spot check. Open Stock counts and create one for the location. Open **Stock counts**. ![Stock counts — /counts](/manuals/assistant-manager/shots/6-1.png) **Step 2.** Starting freezes the shelf list into concrete lines and hides the expected figures — an honest count is a blind count. Start from the count page when the counters are ready. Open **Stock counts**. **Step 3.** Each capture records the physically-counted quantity — an explicit zero is a real answer; re-counts overwrite while counting. Capture quantities on the count page, line by line. Open **Stock counts**. **Step 4.** Posting moves the books by exactly the variances and the count becomes history; a recount is a new linked count. Post from the count page once every line is captured. Open **Stock counts**. ### What you see Before a count, the floor item of **Tops style 1 (FW25)** shows 0 on hand · 0 available; a posted count moves that figure by exactly what the counters found. ### Try it - Open Stock counts and create one for the back room. - Start it and capture two lines — an explicit zero is a real answer. - Post it, and open one of the items’ stock cards to read the movement the posting wrote. ### Where to learn more - The count record and its operations: [Count](/reference/count/). - The same walk as the office runs it: [Count the shelves against the books](/use-cases/count-stock/). - The course in the office: on the Playbook, open **Learn** and the lesson **Count the shelves against the books**. ## With your assistant Connect Claude or ChatGPT on the office page Connect your AI assistant. Ask first: where am I, and what is next? The assistant calls whats_next and answers who you are, what needs your attention and what is yours to do. The ready-made questions: Start my day · What needs my attention · Show me a report · Walk me through a play · Teach me. You may ask for every ready-made report (24). The plays you can run whole, by shelf: Catalog (1) · Pricing & money (3) · Customers (3) · Procurement (3) · Address book (1) · Warehouse (5) · POS estate (2) · Selling (4) · Payments & fulfillment (4) · Work (3) · Insights (1) · Integrations (1) · Manage (1). A change is shown as a rehearsal first. It happens only when the person says yes, as them, within their access. People, devices, card payments and new organizations stay in the office.