Explore Sentra

Sentra Insights

Practical knowledge for starting, running, and growing a business in the Philippines.

• About Sentra Insights

  Who publishes Sentra Insights and the editorial standards for its practical guidance for Philippine businesses.

• Sentra sitemap

  Find Philippine business guides, help with using Sentra, and information about Sentra, organized by topic.

Starting a Business

Plan a business in the Philippines, from testing an idea to checking local opening requirements.

• How to start a coffee shop in the Philippines

  Decide when to commit to a Philippine café: test orders needed to cover costs, check location and registration evidence, and use lease-to-opening decision gates.

Running Your Business

Practical POS choices and daily operating routines for Philippine shops, cafés, and other small businesses.

• Choosing a POS system for a small business in the Philippines

  Compare POS systems for a Philippine shop or café using repeatable demo tasks, an evidence scorecard, PHP cost assumptions, and separate BIR invoicing checks.

Sales

Understand your sales and improve the checkout experience for customers in the Philippines.

• How to Read a POS Sales Report: A Guide for Philippine Shops and Cafés

  Read a worked peso sales report, separate sales from profit and collections, and investigate changes in orders, discounts and average basket value.

• Excel to CRM: When Is Your Philippine Business Ready?

  Spot missed follow-ups, disputed commissions, and scattered customer history. Compare Zoho, HubSpot, and a practical social-inquiry pipeline for Philippine MSMEs.

Inventory

Stock counts, supplier deliveries, and reorder planning for Philippine retailers and food businesses.

• Low-Stock Alerts and Smart Purchasing for Philippine Shops and Cafés

  Set useful low-stock thresholds, check supplier lead times, and act before a rush. Use worked purchasing and margin examples for Philippine shops and cafés.

• Multi-Branch Inventory in the Philippines: Moving Beyond Spreadsheets

  Use a branch stock worksheet, transfer controls, and freshness checks to reduce stockouts and investigate differences across Philippine shops and warehouses.

• Inventory management for Philippine shops and cafés

  Use worked stock worksheets for Philippine shops and cafés: convert cases to pieces, reconcile ingredient use, investigate count differences, and size supplier orders.

Employees

Build clear team routines and understand the employment questions facing Philippine businesses.

• Payroll Cutoff Checklist: Reconciling Attendance for Philippine Shops and Cafés

  Prepare payroll inputs with worked examples for missing clock-outs, overnight shifts and pay-rate changes, plus a reusable attendance correction record.

Payments

Cash, card, and merchant QR payment workflows for shops and cafés in the Philippines.

• Daily cash reconciliation for Philippine shops and cafés

  A worked closing procedure for Philippine shops and cafés: reconcile a peso drawer, match merchant QR transactions, trace settlement deductions, and hand over open items.

Growth

Plan the next step for your Philippine business with practical guides to customers, capacity, and expansion.

• Cloud ERP vs. Traditional POS: Which Scales Better in the Philippines?

  Choose between standalone POS, connected tools, and cloud ERP for Philippine expansion. Compare payroll, warehouses, procurement, costs, and vendor demo tests.

Sentra Support Center

Find answers and step-by-step help for using Sentra to run your business in the Philippines.

Getting Started

Set up Sentra and find the right tools for your business.

• Contact Sentra support

  Send a Sentra support request with the account, branch, device, and error details the team needs to investigate your issue.

• Get started with Sentra

  Prepare your business, branch, products, opening stock, and employee access before your first Sentra POS sale.

• Troubleshoot connection or loading problems in Sentra

  Check your connection, account, and branch, restart Sentra, and record the details needed to investigate an error.

POS & Sales

Open a POS session, take orders, and check completed sales.

• Complete a sale in Sentra POS

  Review your branch, cart, payment method, and checkout result when recording a sale in Sentra POS.

• Save and reopen an order in Sentra POS

  Use Save Order and Saved Orders to keep a customer order, find it by name or order number, and load it for checkout.

Products & Inventory

Manage your product catalog, stock, and inventory activity.

• Check an unexpected inventory quantity in Sentra

  Verify the branch and product variant, review Inventory history, and collect the details needed to investigate a stock difference.

Printers & Hardware

Set up receipt printing and troubleshoot your connection.

• Troubleshoot a receipt printer in Sentra

  Check printer power, paper, connection, and Sentra printer controls before reporting a receipt printing problem.

Account & Security

Manage sign-in, account settings, and account deletion requests.

• Reset your Sentra password

  Request a password reset link using the email address associated with your Sentra account and regain access.

Billing & Subscription

Find your subscription details and get help with billing.

• Review your Sentra plan and subscription

  Open Subscription Plan from More in the Sentra browser app to review your business plan, status, and available billing information.

Branches

Work with branches and check the branch you are managing.

• Check which branch you are using in Sentra

  Find your branch details and check the location shown in Products, POS, and the sales Dashboard when records look unexpected.

Employees & Payroll

Find employee records, attendance, schedules, and payroll tools.

• Set up employee payroll settings in Sentra

  Find an employee’s attendance PIN, pay details, effective date, and commission settings in Sentra when payroll is available.

Reports & Intelligence

Find business reports and use Sentra Intelligence.

• Review sales and ask Sentra Intelligence Assistant

  Check branch and date filters on the Sentra Dashboard, inspect transactions, and ask SIA a focused sales or inventory question.

About Sentra

Company information and terms for using Sentra.

• Privacy Policy | Sentra

  Learn what information Sentra collects, how it is used, and the choices available to you.

• Terms and Conditions | Sentra

  Read the terms and conditions that govern your access to and use of Sentra.

• Sentra | AI-Powered Business Management & POS for Philippine Businesses

  Meet Sentra, the AI-powered POS and business management platform for Philippine businesses, published by Sentralabs. Explore SIA, features, apps, and support.