Getting around the app

The sidebar, switching business, notifications, quick search with Ctrl + K, keyboard shortcuts and dark mode.

#The sidebar

From top to bottom:

Your business, with a pencil to edit it. If you have more than one, click the name to switch.
The screens: Dashboard, New Invoice, Clients, Products, Expenses, Purchases, Recurring, Receipts, Reports, GST Returns, Income Tax, and User Guide, which opens this documentation in your browser (it needs internet). Features you turn off disappear from here.
Update to v…, when a new version is out.
Notifications, Dark Mode or Light Mode, Support & About, Control Panel and Settings.
At the bottom, App Ready when all is well.

At the end of the Dashboard, below the invoices, a small line shows the app's version, a link to DiceCodes and Support. It is never printed.

The ☰ button beside the app name shrinks the sidebar to a slim strip of icons and gives the page more room; it is highlighted while the menu hides itself. Point at the strip to open it. Click ☰ again to keep the menu open.

When a PIN is set, Lock app in the sidebar locks the app.

On a narrow screen, the sidebar folds away behind the ☰ menu button.

#Support & About

Who makes the app, and how to help it grow. Free ways come first: star it on GitHub, tell another business, report a bug or ask for a feature. If you want to give money, scan the UPI QR with any UPI app, for any amount. The page also lists what DiceCodes builds for businesses: custom software and web apps, changes to this app, setup and data migration, support plans, AI integration and automation, and mobile apps.

The app stays free whatever you choose. Nothing is locked, and nothing is ever printed on your invoices. Once you have made 10 invoices, the Dashboard shows a small support card once a day; Not today hides it until tomorrow and Hide for 30 days for a month.

Scanning the QR fills in the payment note "Free GST Billing support - your business name", so DiceCodes can thank you; untick Include my business name to leave it out. The page also shows how much users have given so far and what it is going towards.

Once a month at most, a one-line note at the top of the app asks for a star on GitHub. ✕ hides it for 30 days; Star on GitHub or Already starred hides it for good. It never appears while you are making an invoice.

#Switching business

With more than one business saved, click its name at the top of the sidebar and choose another. Every screen changes to that business's invoices, purchases, expenses, receipts, recurring invoices, reports and returns. Manage profiles… opens Settings.

#Notifications

The bell shows a count of things that need you. Clicking it lists them, and clicking one takes you there:

🔁 recurring invoices created today
⚠ overdue invoices
⏰ invoices due in the next 3 days
📋 GST, TDS, TCS, advance tax and ITR dates in the next 10 days
📦 products low on stock

Mark all as read clears the list. Anything new brings it back. The bell counts all your businesses together.

#Quick search: Ctrl + K

Press Ctrl + K anywhere, even while typing, and start typing. You can:

go to any screen, or start a new invoice;
open an invoice by its number or client;
find a client by name or GSTIN, or a product by name or HSN, which opens their list;
jump to Settings, switch dark mode, or see what is new in an update.

Use ↑ ↓ and Enter. Esc closes it.

Quick search finding a client and their invoices.

#Keyboard shortcuts

`Ctrl` + `K`	Quick search
`Ctrl` + `N`	New invoice
`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `L`	Lock the app (when a PIN is set)
`Ctrl` + `/`	Show all shortcuts
`Esc`	Close a dialog
`Enter`	Confirm a dialog

On the invoice screen there are more: see Keyboard shortcuts on this screen. On a Mac, use ⌘ instead of Ctrl.

#Dark mode

Dark Mode in the sidebar switches the app to dark colours, and Light Mode switches back. Invoices and PDFs always print in their normal colours.

#Opening it like a desktop app

In Chrome and Edge, the app may offer Install App. It then opens in its own window with its own icon, like any other program, and right-clicking the icon jumps straight to New Invoice or GST Returns. It is the same app and the same data.

#"Needs a Quick Start"

If the app's engine is not running, the page says Free GST Billing Software Needs a Quick Start. Your data is safe. Double-click Free GST Billing on your Desktop and click Open App; the page carries on by itself once it is running.