System Modes Overview
SmartBill POS is a single SaaS platform with multiple operational personalities. The selected business system_mode decides how the system behaves across key screens.
Main supported modes
retailgrocerypharmacyrestaurantmanufacturing
Core system principle
The business is the root of system behavior.
Important screens read the selected mode and adjust themselves:
- Product Create
- Product Edit
- Billing Page
- Sale Create
- Sale Edit
- Purchase Create
- Purchase Edit
- Stock List
- Stock Adjustment
- reports and dashboard alerts
This means SmartBill is not one POS with random extra fields. It is a mode-aware business operating system.
What the mode engine controls
Capabilities
Capabilities define what the business is allowed to do.
Examples include:
- weighted products
- expiry tracking
- prescription control
- kitchen workflow
- table management
- raw materials
- production
Hidden fields
Hidden fields define which sections disappear from the interface in each mode.
Examples include:
- hiding batch fields in retail
- hiding kitchen fields in pharmacy
- hiding weighted pricing in restaurant
Shared master data
These records stay common across all modes:
- Business
- Location
- User
- Customer
- Supplier
- Brand
- Category
- Unit
- Product
- Stock
- Sale
- Purchase
Shared models keep the platform consistent while each mode changes behavior on top.
Recommended setup order
Set up every business in this order:
- create the business
- select the business
system_mode - create locations or branches
- create users and assign staff roles
- create categories, brands, units, and taxes
- create products according to the mode
- add stock using opening stock, purchase, or production
- start operations through Billing Page or Sale Create
Quick comparison
Retail
- simple finished-goods sales
- direct barcode or search billing
- quantity-based stock
Grocery
- packaged and weighted selling
- decimal quantities
- optional shelf-life visibility
Pharmacy
- batch and expiry-based stock
- FEFO selling
- blocked expired sales
Restaurant
- order flow instead of invoice-only flow
- tables and order staff
- kitchen status
- raw materials and recipe-ready operations
Manufacturing
- raw materials
- recipes
- production logs
- finished stock creation
- cost and traceability control