DineFlow manual · Chapter 1
Setting up your restaurant
Create your account, finish the setup wizard, and set the rules DineFlow uses for every order: order types, tax, service charge, receipts, branches and payment methods.
Create your account
- 1Open the DineFlow console and choose Create an account.
- 2Enter your restaurant name, your name, email and phone, and a password. You become the restaurant’s Owner.
- 3You start on a free trial. Pick a plan any time under Settings → Subscription.
- 4Verify your email from the link we send — it’s how password resets reach you.
You can sign in with your email or your phone number, in any Kenyan format (07…, +2547…, 2547…).
The setup wizard
After signing up, the wizard walks you through what DineFlow needs before you can trade. Required steps first; you can come back to the optional ones.
| Step | What you set | |
|---|---|---|
| Business details | Name, legal name, KRA PIN, restaurant type, logo | Required |
| Location & contacts | Address, phone, email, map pin | Required |
| Operating hours | Opening hours for each day (overnight hours allowed, e.g. 18:00–02:00) | Required |
| Order types & acceptance | Dine-in, takeaway, pickup, delivery; auto-accept online orders; prep time | Required |
| Tax & service charges | Prices include tax or not, VAT rate, service charge %, packaging fee, cash rounding | Required |
| Receipts | Header, footer, 58 / 80 mm paper, tax breakdown | Optional |
| Payment methods | Cash, M-Pesa, card, bank transfer | Optional |
| Kitchen stations | Grill, Bar, Pastry… and which categories go where | Optional |
| Invite your team | Staff invitations by email | Optional |
Business settings
Everything from the wizard can be changed later in Settings → Business settings:
- Tax — whether menu prices already include VAT, the default rate, and extra rates (e.g. exempt items).
- Service charge — a percentage, its label on the bill, and which order types it applies to (usually dine-in only).
- Packaging fee — added to takeaway, pickup and delivery orders.
- Cash rounding — round cash payments to the nearest KES 1, 5 or 10.
- Receipts — header and footer text (“Asante! Karibu tena”), paper width, tax breakdown.
- Online ordering — publish online ordering, flat delivery fee, delivery area note, announcement, your terms and privacy notice.
DineFlow always calculates prices, tax and charges on the server, the same way on the POS, the app and online — a till can’t accidentally charge a different price.
Branches
- 1Go to Settings → Branches and add each location with its own code, address and phone.
- 2Set each branch’s weekly hours and its holidays or special hours (e.g. closed on 25/12, half day on 31/12).
- 3Choose which order types each branch offers, and switch online orders on or off per branch.
- 4Mark one branch as the main branch.
Staff can be limited to the branches they work at. Anyone with more than one branch switches between them from the branch name at the top of the console or app.
Payment providers (M-Pesa, card, bank)
- 1Open Settings → Payment providers and add your M-Pesa Paybill or Till (Buy Goods) with the Daraja keys from Safaricom.
- 2Press Test connection, then Register confirmations so payments made straight to your Paybill / Till are matched to orders automatically.
- 3Add a Card (PDQ) provider if you take cards on a terminal, and Bank transfer with your account details if you accept transfers.
- 4Pay KES 1 against a test order to confirm M-Pesa end to end.
Your M-Pesa keys are stored encrypted and are never shown again after saving. An M-Pesa payment only counts as paid when Safaricom confirms it — never just because someone pressed a button.