Setup Wizard
Use this page to get through the first-run setup wizard, which gets a brand-new store ready to sell in about five minutes.
Quick steps
- Sign in to the admin panel as an admin. On a new store, the wizard opens by itself.
- Basics: check your Store name, pick What do you sell?, choose your Time zone and enter your Default sales tax rate (%).
- Work through the next steps — Hardware, Registers, Features, Operations, Rounding, AI and Staff. Fill in what you know and click Save & continue →. Not sure? Click Skip this step.
- On the Staff step, add up to three people with a name, email, 4-digit PIN and role.
- On the last screen (You're ready to sell), click Finish setup & go to the admin.
Almost everything can be changed later in Settings. Pick the obvious answers now.
Common questions
Can I skip the wizard? Yes. Click Skip wizard for now below the first step and confirm. Setup is marked done and you go to the admin. You can run it again later.
How do I run the wizard again? Open Settings (the main page, not Edit Settings) and click Run setup wizard again. Your current settings are kept.
I picked the wrong "What do you sell?" Settings has no option for it. Run the wizard again and change it on the Basics step, or contact support.
What password do the staff I added get?
password123. Each person can change it after they sign in.
I'm stuck on a step. Click Need help? in the bottom-right corner, describe the problem and tap Send to support. Support sees which step you were on.
More detail: how the wizard works
This page explains what the wizard does and walks through each step. For the full configuration checklist (categories, products, compliance, loyalty tiers, receipt text, and more), see Store Setup — the wizard is the fast on-ramp, and Store Setup is the complete reference.
The wizard appears only for newly created stores. Until setup is finished, an admin who opens the admin panel is sent to the wizard. Stores that existed before the wizard was introduced were marked as already set up, so established stores never see it.
How It Works
The wizard has up to nine steps, with a progress bar at the top showing "Step X of Y." Each step saves its answers when you click Save & continue →. If you leave partway through, you're sent back to the wizard the next time you open the admin panel, and the steps you already answered keep your choices. Setup is marked complete when you click Finish setup & go to the admin on the last step (or use Skip wizard for now — see below).
The steps, in order:
| # | Step | What it sets |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Basics | Store name, what you sell, time zone, default sales tax rate |
| 2 | Hardware | Your register device, which hardware you'll use, the Printer Bridge download, and a live test of each device |
| 3 | Registers | Name your registers |
| 4 | Features | Customer loyalty, employee time tracking & shift scheduling |
| 5 | Operations | Selling below 0 stock and accepted payment methods |
| 6 | Rounding | Canadian cash rounding and optional discount rounding |
| 7 | AI | Turn on the Big Brother AI assistant |
| 8 | Staff | Create up to three staff accounts |
| 9 | Done | Confirmation and quick links to the register, products, staff, and settings |
Steps or options that your subscription doesn't include are left out — for example, the AI step doesn't appear if your plan doesn't include the AI assistant.
Who can run it
Only store admins can open the wizard, and only admins are sent to it. Managers and clerks can sign in and work normally while setup is unfinished. Brother POS support staff signed in to your store aren't sent to it either.
Navigation
- Save & continue → saves the step and moves forward.
- ← Back returns to the previous step.
- Skip this step moves forward without saving that step's answers.
- Skip wizard for now (below the first step) asks you to confirm, then finishes setup right away and takes you to the admin. The wizard won't open on its own again after that, but you can run it again from Settings.
The "Need help?" button
Every wizard step has a Need help? button in the bottom-right corner. It opens a panel titled "BrotherPOS support is here" with:
- A link to this walkthrough — plus, on the Hardware step, links to Printer Bridge setup and Connecting printers & scales.
- A message box. Describe what you're stuck on and tap Send to support. Your message reaches the Brother POS support team along with the step you were on, so you don't have to explain where you got stuck.
You can change your wizard choices later — most in Settings, and all of them by running the wizard again. Pick the obvious answers now and refine them once you're up and running.
More detail: Step 1: Basics
Step 1: Basics
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Store name | Shown on receipts, the admin header, and the storefront. Pre-filled from signup. |
| What do you sell? | Your type of business (cannabis, retail, clothing, grocery, restaurant, and so on). This sets up the right product fields for your industry — cannabis stores get THC/CBD, strain type, and pricing templates. Settings has no option for this: to change it later, run the wizard again or contact support. |
| Time zone | Used for receipts, reports, and end-of-day cash counts. The list is grouped by city — pick the city closest to your store. |
| Default sales tax rate (%) | A single combined rate applied to sales. Pre-filled with your store's current rate (0% for stores created through online signup). |
Tax names, split GST/PST, and per-product tax overrides aren't in the wizard — set those later in Settings. See Store Setup → Tax Configuration.
The time zone affects how times appear on receipts and reports. Set it correctly before going live — changing it later doesn't alter past sales, but it changes how times are displayed.
More detail: Step 2: Hardware
Step 2: Hardware
Titled "Set up & test your hardware," this step takes you from "what am I running?" to a working test, so you know your printers, scanner, and scale work before your first sale. It has four numbered sections.
1. What runs your register?
Pick the device your staff ring up sales on. This choice decides what you see below it.
| Device | What happens next |
|---|---|
| Windows PC | Download the Printer Bridge, then test your devices in the browser. |
| Linux PC | Same as Windows, with the Linux download. |
| Mac | A note explains that a Mac can't drive receipt or label printers or a cash drawer — the Printer Bridge only runs on Windows and Linux. Barcode scanner and scale tests still appear. |
| iPad | Request the app invite, then test inside the app on the tablet. |
| Android tablet | Same as iPad. |
2. Which devices will you use?
Tick the hardware you plan to use:
| Option | What ticking it does |
|---|---|
| Receipt printer | Prints customer receipts at the counter. Turns on receipt printing. |
| Label printer | Prints product labels with barcodes. Turns on label printing. |
| Barcode scanner | Ring up products by scanning their barcode. Adds a scanner test. |
| Digital scale | Weigh flower or bulk items at the register. Turns on scale integration. |
3. Install the Printer Bridge (Windows / Linux)
The Printer Bridge is a small free program that lets Brother POS talk to USB receipt and label printers and your cash drawer. This section has download buttons — Download for Windows (64-bit), Windows (32-bit), and Linux — a status box that tells you whether the bridge is detected, and a Re-check button. It also links to the full Printer Bridge guide.
On an iPad or Android tablet, this section is replaced by "Get the app & connect your devices." Tablets don't use the Printer Bridge — they connect to network (Wi-Fi/Ethernet) printers by IP address, or pair Bluetooth printers and scanners. See the app invite note below.
4. Test your hardware
On a Windows or Linux PC, each device you ticked gets a test row (on a Mac, only the barcode scanner and scale) showing the device, a result (starting at "Not tested yet"), and a Test button.
| Device | What the test does |
|---|---|
| Receipt printer | Sends a test receipt through the bridge. Result: "Sent — check it printed." |
| Label printer | Pick the printer's type next to the Test button — Munbyn / other (TSPL) or Zebra (ZPL) — and it sends a test label with a sample barcode in that printer's language. For a Brother QL, it tells you to test from the register's gear (Settings) instead, since a Brother prints pictures rather than text commands. |
| Cash drawer | Appears when you ticked the receipt printer (the drawer opens through the printer). The test pulses both drawer connections, as the register does: "Drawer kick sent — did it pop open?" |
| Barcode scanner | No button — a field labelled "Click, then scan a barcode." Scanning fills it. It only passes at scanner speed, so typing by hand won't count. |
| Digital scale | Connects to the scale and waits for a weight reading. Needs Chrome or Edge. |
A summary line tallies the results — for example, "All tested devices are working. 🎉"
On an iPad or Android tablet, section 4 becomes "Test on the register": open the register in the Brother POS app, tap the ⚙️ settings gear, and use the Test button on each printer or scale — the results show right there.
App invite (tablets)
On iPad or Android, section 3 includes an app-invite box. Enter the Apple ID email (iPad) or Google account (Android) signed in on the tablet and tap Request app invite. Because the apps are in Apple TestFlight and Google Play testing, this sends a request to the Brother POS team, who email you the install invite. You'll see "Thanks! We'll send your app invite to <email> shortly." If you come back to this step later, the box shows that the invite was already requested.
This step gets your hardware working and tested. Printer IP addresses, scale settings, and per-register printer assignments are managed on the POS and in the admin afterward — see Store Setup → Hardware Setup.
More detail: Steps 3–5: Registers, Features and Operations
Step 3: Registers
Each checkout station at your store is one register. This step lists your registers (new stores start with one, called "Register 1") and lets you rename them and add more.
- Each row shows a fixed register code (e.g.
REG-001) and an editable name — call them "Front Counter," "Drive-Thru," whatever fits your store. - Click Add another register to add a row. Added rows have an × to remove them; the first register can't be removed here.
- When you save, a removed register is deleted only if it has never been used (no sales or cash drawer sessions). Registers with history are deactivated instead, so past sales stay attributed to them.
If your plan includes a set number of registers, the Add another register button disappears once you reach it.
You can rename, deactivate, or add registers later on the Registers page (Cash Drawers → Manage Registers).
Step 4: Features
Turn on whole features. Skip anything that doesn't apply — you can turn these on later in Settings.
| Feature | What it turns on |
|---|---|
| Customer accounts & loyalty points | Track repeat customers, award points per dollar spent, and run loyalty tier discounts. Tiers and rewards are configured later. |
| Employee time tracking & shift scheduling | Staff clock in and out at the register, scheduled shifts, and payroll-ready time reports. This one checkbox turns on both time tracking and shift scheduling. |
Step 5: Operations
How you handle stock and which payment methods the register accepts.
Stock
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| Allow selling below 0 stock | Lets the register complete a sale even when inventory shows a product as out of stock. |
Payment methods to accept
| Method | Notes |
|---|---|
| Cash | Opens the cash drawer and calculates change. |
| Debit (Interac) | Card payments. On the POS this appears as the CARD button. Works with the PayFacto, Helcim, and Kort/Payfirma terminal integrations. |
| E-Transfer | Records Interac e-Transfer payments that you confirm yourself. |
Gift cards, store credit, and house accounts (B2B) aren't in the wizard — they take more setup and can be turned on later in Settings.
More detail: Steps 6–7: Rounding and AI
Step 6: Rounding
Two separate kinds of rounding share this step. Each toggle is independent.
Cash rounding (Canada)
| Toggle | What it does |
|---|---|
| Round cash totals to the nearest 5¢ | Since the penny left circulation in 2013, Canadian retailers round the final cash total to 5¢ (.X1/.X2 → .X0, .X3/.X4 → .X5, and so on). Debit, credit, and e-transfer stay exact to the cent. The receipt shows the adjustment. |
Discount rounding (optional)
For stores that would rather not deal with small change on percentage discounts. Each toggle rounds a different kind of discount to a whole dollar:
| Toggle | Example |
|---|---|
| Round campaign discounts | 15% off $33 becomes $5 off instead of $4.95. |
| Round loyalty tier discounts | A 10% loyalty discount on $33 becomes $3 off instead of $3.30. |
| Round tier-consolidation savings | When weighed flower adds up to an eighth/quarter/half/ounce (e.g. 2g + 1.5g = 3.5g), the POS charges the cheaper tier price — and rounds the savings to a whole dollar. |
| Round manual cashier discounts | When a cashier enters a percentage discount at the register, round it. |
For more on rounding, see Discount Rounding.
Step 7: AI
Turn on the Big Brother AI Assistant — an optional assistant you chat with in plain English to manage your store. Examples: "show me last week's sales for Pink Kush," "set Wedding Cake to 25% off Friday," "list low-stock products under $50."
| Toggle | What it does |
|---|---|
| Enable Big Brother | Reads your store data live to answer questions and run actions on your behalf. |
You can turn the assistant on or off later under Settings → Edit Settings → Sales & Integrations tab → Big Brother AI Assistant, which also has Show Big Brother on POS register.
More detail: Steps 8–9: Staff and Done
Step 8: Staff
Create accounts now so everyone can sign in to the register on day one. The step shows three blank rows, each with first name, last name, email, a 4-digit PIN, and a role.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| First / last name | The staff member's name. |
| Their login email. | |
| PIN | 4 digits, used for fast POS sign-in. Two active staff members can't share a PIN. |
| Role | Admin, Manager, or Clerk (Clerk is pre-selected). |
The three roles offered here:
- Admin — Full access: users, settings, billing, everything.
- Manager — POS plus most admin features (products, inventory, reports, cash drawers), but not users or system settings.
- Clerk — Register only: ring up sales and take payment, no back office.
The Driver role isn't offered in the wizard. Add drivers later from Settings → Manage Users, and give each one a PIN.
Each new account gets the default password password123, which the staff member can change on first login. Leave a row blank to skip it. You can add more people any time under Settings → Manage Users, and adjust what each role can do with the Role Permissions button on that page. For role details, see User Roles & Permissions.
Step 9: Done
A confirmation screen — "You're ready to sell" — with quick links to:
- Open the register — opens the POS in a new tab.
- Add your products — import from CSV or add them one by one.
- Add more staff — create accounts for more clerks, managers, or admins.
- Settings & integrations — the rest of your store's settings.
Click Finish setup & go to the admin to mark setup complete and go to the admin dashboard.
More detail: skipping or re-running the wizard
Skipping the Wizard
- Skip this step skips a single step.
- Skip wizard for now, below the first step, finishes setup immediately after you confirm. You can run the wizard again any time (see below), and the settings it covers are also in Settings — use Store Setup as your checklist.
While setup is unfinished, an admin can't open other admin pages — they are sent back to the wizard.
Running the Wizard Again
Admins can reopen the wizard at any time — for example after skipping it, or to change what your store sells.
- Open Settings (the main Settings page, not Edit Settings).
- Click Run setup wizard again.
- Confirm. The wizard reopens at the first step.
Your current settings are kept. A step's changes are saved only when you click Save & continue → on it, so use Skip this step on any step you don't want to change.
Until you finish the wizard again (or use Skip wizard for now), you're sent back to the wizard whenever you open an admin page — just like a new store.
When you save Basics, the features that come with the business type you picked under What do you sell? are switched on again — even if you picked the same type as before. If you only want to change a different step, skip Basics.
More detail: troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Cause / Solution |
|---|---|
| The wizard keeps opening | You're an admin on a store that hasn't finished setup. Click Finish setup & go to the admin on the last step, or use Skip wizard for now. |
| I can't reach any admin page | Admins are sent to the wizard until setup is finished. Finish it, or use Skip wizard for now below the first step. |
| Managers and clerks don't see the wizard | Expected. Only admins are sent through it. |
| A staff member wasn't added | Each row needs a first name, email, and role — rows missing any of these are skipped. Rows that can't be saved (for example, an email or PIN that's already in use) are listed in a message at the top of the next step. |
| A register I removed is still listed | Registers with sales or cash drawer history are deactivated rather than deleted, so past sales stay attributed. Only never-used registers are fully removed. |
| I picked the wrong "What do you sell?" | Settings has no option for it. Go to Settings → Run setup wizard again and choose the right type on the Basics step, or contact support. |
| Tax looks wrong after setup | The wizard only sets a single combined rate. Set tax names, split GST/PST, and overrides in Settings — see Store Setup → Tax Configuration. |
What's Next?
- Store Setup — The complete first-time configuration checklist: categories, products, receipts, compliance, and loyalty tiers.
- Navigating the Admin — Learn every section of the admin panel.
- User Roles & Permissions — The full permission matrix for your team.
- POS Quick Start — Walk through the cashier experience.
- Admin Quick Start — A faster walkthrough of the essentials.