1. Start Here!

Welcome to LightSpeed

Welcome to the User Guide for LightSpeed, the groundbreaking Point of Sale software for Mac OS X and iOS!  This guide will take you step by step through all the sections of LightSpeed and the Web Store - through every feature, every setup, every workflow.   

One-Page Format 

For a printable, single-page format of the entire User Guide, click here. However, it is a large file (~20mb) and may take a few minutes to load. (updated 1/6/12)

We recommend that you to go through each article chronologically - they're arranged to give you information in the order we think you'll need it. The navigation buttons at the bottom of each article should help with that. However, after going through the Getting Started articles and configuring LightSpeed, which section you go to next really is up to you. And there's a search at the top of the Training section that will show you results for the things you want to know. Please keep in mind that this User Guide is new and we're still refining things. If you have any feedback on how we can improve the User Guide, don't hesitate to email us at training@xsilva.com. 

The User Guide articles contain screenshots to help illustrate a workflow or a feature - click them to see an enlarged version. There are also help notes throughout that spotlight a particular point of importance. The User Guide is also full of links that look like this. Clicking one of these links will take you to another article.

Getting Started

The Getting Started section is devoted to a complete explanation of the basics and essentials you need to know for setup, configuration, navigation, and basic use.  Read up on the three components of LightSpeed (POS, Browser, and Web Store), the four sales documents (Quote, SRO, Order, and Invoice), and all things related to setting up LightSpeed for maximum benefit. 

The Configuration I article outlines the steps required for configuring LightSpeed to operate, including the setup of taxes, products, and customers. Configuration II is the next phase of setup, full of tips on how to get the most of LightSpeed's features, with explanations of how to configure the powerful retail tools available to you.  

Because the Configuration I and II articles reference all sections of the software, it is best if you open them in one web browser window, and use another web browser window to access articles specific to what you are in the process of configuring.   

Navigating

There are three major components of LightSpeed: 

• The POS screen, a streamlined sales interface intended to process transactions on a retail floor, provides a simple, rich, and efficient experience for both the salesperson and the customer.
• The Browser, normally accessed by logging into LightSpeed, by clicking the "Browser" icon in the Tool Bar, or by leaving the POS screen, puts the majority of your business processes in one window, giving you a clear overview of the activity for the day, the month, and the year, streamlining and automating workflows.
• The Web Store takes your existing Products and offers them for sale online, uploading them to a web host, and downloading the orders your customers place. The Web Store must be purchased and installed separately.

This guide is an overview of the basic requirements for configuring LightSpeed, and does not include explanation of all features. For more complete explanations, please see the different articles outlining the various features.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Configuration and Setup

To get the full benefit of LightSpeed and its many features, there are several settings that must first be configured, including information about your Company, your region’s taxes, and the users who will be using the software.  The majority of these are found in the Tools menu, under the Setup option.  

While LightSpeed has many features that can be configured, there are basic requirements you must configure first for you to get started with the software.  A step-by-step guideline on how to configure these settings can be found in the Configuration I article of this section. Configuration II outlines the settings that, while optional for some users, will maximize the daily workflows of you and your staff. Please see the entire Getting Started section for a solid overview of the entire setup process. 

Workflow Basics

The sales and purchasing workflows of LightSpeed are at the heart of a retail business's daily operations. Though more detail can be found in other articles, a general overview of the possible sales and purchasing workflows is as follows:

• Quote-to-Invoice: A Customer wants to purchase items they have been quoted on. An Invoice is created from the Quote, and can be edited before completing the sale. More detail found here. 
• Quote-to-Order: You want to reserve existing available inventory for a Customer who does not yet want to purchase the item(s), or create an Order Request that will eventually be compiled onto a Purchase Order that will request the Product be ordered from a Supplier. 
• Order-to-Invoice: A Customer wants to purchase Product(s) they have reserved on an Order. 
• Invoice-to-Order: You need to backorder Product(s) that the Customer wants to purchase but were not available to sell, and must be brought in from a Supplier on a Purchase Order. 
• Order-to-Purchase Order: A Product that is not reserved can be converted to a PO directly, using the Purchase Order button on the Order itself, or it can be compiled, along with other Products purchased at the same Supplier, using the purchasing workflow outlined in the Purchasing article of the Inventory and Purchasing section. 

Inventory

LightSpeed's inventory features allow you to create, count, and track your inventory in all the ways you need to manage your stock levels and make intelligent decisions about what to buy, and when.  

Purchasing

LightSpeed allows you to map your Suppliers and their Costs to each Product, making the Purchasing process a one-click operation that saves you time every time you compile a PO.  LightSpeed will also prompt you to reorder Products that have reached a critical level, and compile Customer backorder requests with existing stock orders for the most efficient stock management.  

Accounting

LightSpeed integrates with QuickBooks for Mac and MYOB, as well as some versions of QuickBooks for Windows, for an export of General Ledger summaries with accrual-based accounting, and for payables owing to Suppliers.  

Reporting

The Reporting modules of LightSpeed let you pull relevant data regarding sales, payments, inventory, taxes, and more in a simple configurator that allows you to print, preview, or export your results. 

Customer Management

LightSpeed's detailed AR workflows track oustanding credits and balances for Customers whose purchase histories are brought together in a single place, the Customer card. This card stores all relevant information about your Customers, giving you a source to track your correspondence, enter credit and terms information, and more. 

Web Store

Integrating LightSpeed's Web Store module brings your existing Products database online, and downloads the Web Orders that your Customers have placed into LightSpeed for fulfillment.