Tensor Shift runs entirely in a web browser — no installation required. Open the URL provided by your administrator and you will be greeted by the login screen.

The Tensor Shift login screen. Enter your email and password to continue.

Logging in

Navigation

The sidebar on the left groups all features into seven areas: Stock, Sales, Purchasing, Production, Reports, Stock Intelligence, and Sage. Click any group to expand it. Your current location is highlighted in the sidebar.

At the bottom of the sidebar you can see which user you are logged in as and find the Log out button (arrow icon). A Dark mode toggle is also available for comfortable low-light working.

The Dashboard is your business command centre. It shows the most important numbers at a glance and lets you jump to common tasks without navigating through menus.

The Dashboard on a typical working day — KPIs at the top, job pipeline, recent activity, and quick actions on the right.

KPI Cards (top row)

• Total Revenue — cumulative paid revenue with a breakdown of how much has been collected.
• Outstanding Invoices — total value of unpaid invoices; a warning indicator shows if any are overdue.
• Quote Pipeline — total value of open (unsent/sent) quotes not yet converted to an invoice.
• Stock Value — current on-hand inventory value. A red "low" badge appears when any item is below its reorder threshold.

Secondary KPIs (second row)

• Active Jobs — job cards currently in Pending or In Progress.
• Production Hours — total estimated hours across all active jobs.
• Jobs Completed — lifetime completed count.
• Pending Orders — purchase orders awaiting delivery.

Job Pipeline bar

A stacked horizontal bar shows the distribution of all job cards by status (Pending → In Progress → QC Review → Completed) so production managers can see workflow balance instantly.

Quick Actions

The panel on the right provides one-click shortcuts to the most common daily tasks: New Quote, New Invoice, New Purchase Order, Inventory Management and Customer listings.

The inventory module tracks every item you buy, build, or sell. It covers raw materials, finished goods, and assemblies (products built from multiple components). Stock levels update automatically every time goods are received on a purchase order, issued to a job, or sold via an invoice.

Inventory List

The inventory list showing items, SKUs, quantities, categories, and reorder status.

The list shows each item's name, SKU, category, on-hand quantity, unit price, and a colour-coded status badge. Items below their reorder threshold are highlighted with a Low Stock badge (Low Stock) — these should be prioritised when raising purchase orders.

Item Detail Page

An individual inventory item showing full details, stock history, and BOM components.

Clicking any item opens its detail page, which shows:

• Full specifications (SKU, category, description, cost vs sell price, reorder point, reorder quantity).
• Stock movement log — every receive, issue, and adjustment with timestamps and the user who made the change.
• For assembly items: the Bill of Materials listing each component and its required quantity.
• A barcode that can be printed for scan-station receiving.

Adding a New Item

The new item form. Required fields are marked with an asterisk.

Bulk Import (CSV)

The bulk import screen: upload a CSV, then a plain-English guide to every column.

When you're loading many items at once — or updating lots of prices — adding them one at a time is slow. Bulk Import lets you upload a single CSV (from Excel, Google Sheets, or LibreOffice) and create or update items in one go. Open it from Stock → Inventory and click Bulk Import.

Everything is matched by SKU:

• A new SKU adds a brand-new item, using all the columns you provide.
• An existing SKU updates that item's selling price only — stock, cost, and every other field are left untouched. Leave the price blank to skip an item.

A quote is a priced proposal sent to a customer before work begins. When the customer approves it, accepting the quote in Tensor Shift triggers the next step automatically — either opening a production job or converting it directly to an invoice (for direct sales).

Quotes List

All quotes with their status and fulfilment type badges. "Direct Sale" quotes bypass the job-card workflow.

Creating a Quote

The quote form. The Fulfilment field determines whether acceptance creates a job card or goes straight to invoicing.

Quote View & Actions

An accepted quote. "Convert to Invoice" becomes the primary action once a quote is accepted.

From the quote view you can:

• Send the quote to the customer by email or WhatsApp (the status changes to Sent).
• Accept the quote internally (or let the customer accept it through the portal). For production quotes, a Job Card and BOM are created automatically. For direct sales, the quote moves straight to accepted with no job.
• Convert to Invoice — available on any accepted quote. Creates a draft invoice with all line items and any deposit already recorded.
• Save PDF — download a print-ready PDF version to attach to an email manually.

Quote Statuses

• Draft — work in progress, not yet sent.
• Sent — delivered to the customer, awaiting response.
• Accepted — approved; production or invoice conversion can proceed.
• Rejected / Expired — closed quotes retained for history.

Credit notes reverse or partially reverse an issued invoice — for example, when goods are returned or a billing error is corrected.

The credit notes list. Each credit note links back to its source invoice.

Creating a Credit Note

Delivery notes accompany goods when they leave your facility. They list what was dispatched, allowing the customer to verify they received the correct items and quantities.

Delivery notes, each linked to its source invoice.

Create a delivery note from any invoice by opening the invoice (go to Sales → Invoices and click the invoice), then clicking the Create Delivery Note button found in the Invoice View & Actions panel. The note inherits the invoice's line items. You can then print or PDF it for the driver or customer.

Purchase orders (POs) are sent to suppliers when you need to restock inventory. When goods arrive, you receive them on the PO and stock levels update automatically.

Purchase Orders List

All purchase orders with supplier, status, and total value.

Creating a Purchase Order

The new PO form. Select a supplier, add the items you are ordering, and set quantities.

Receiving Goods

A purchase order detail page. Use "Receive Items" to log what arrived.

When goods arrive, open the PO and click Receive Items. Enter the actual quantities delivered (which may differ from the ordered amount for partial deliveries). On saving:

• Stock levels increase immediately for each received item.
• The unit cost is updated using a weighted average costing method to keep your cost price accurate.
• The PO status changes to Partially Received or Received.

When a production quote is accepted, Tensor Shift automatically creates a Job Card and a Bill of Materials (BOM). The job card tracks the work; the BOM tracks the materials consumed.

Job Cards List

All job cards, filterable by status. The pipeline view shows where work is piling up.

Job Card Detail

A job card in progress. Customer, quote reference, assigned technician, estimated vs actual hours, and status are all shown.

From a job card you can:

• Update status — move the job through: Pending Production → In Progress → QC Review → Completed.
• Assign a technician — link the job to one of your team members so it appears on their personal dashboard.
• Log actual hours — technicians record time spent; the system flags jobs running significantly over their estimate.
• View & edit the BOM — check which materials have been issued, add components not originally listed, or adjust quantities.
• Upload photos — before/after or in-progress images attached to the job card.
• QC Check — a pass/fail quality control checklist before the job is marked completed.

Bill of Materials (BOM)

The BOM lists every material required for the job. For assembly items on the quote, components are pulled in automatically. You can add, edit, or remove items at any time before the job is completed.

When you issue materials from the BOM, stock levels in the inventory decrease immediately. This is how Tensor Shift keeps on-hand quantities accurate without any manual adjustments.

The Repairs module handles customer items brought in for repair, refurbishment, or re-upholstery. It tracks the item from intake through to customer collection, with photos and linked documents at each stage.

Repairs List

All repair intakes, showing the customer, item, urgency, and current status.

Repair Detail

A repair record in progress. The linked quote and job card statuses are shown directly on the page.

Repair Workflow

Urgency levels (flexible, standard, urgent, critical) are visible in the list view so your team can prioritise incoming repairs.

Stock Intelligence uses your historical sales data to generate machine-learning forecasts that help you stay ahead of demand rather than reacting to stockouts. The models run automatically; you simply read the results and act.

Stockout Risk

Items ranked by stockout risk. The model estimates how many days of stock remain at the current rate of consumption.

Each item is classified as Critical, High, Medium, or Low risk. Critical items have less than 7 days of stock at current demand — raise a purchase order immediately. The recommended order quantity is pre-calculated for you.

Demand Forecast

30-day demand forecasts per item, with confidence intervals. The chart shows historical actuals alongside the predicted range.

The forecast uses your real transaction history. Items with more history produce tighter confidence intervals. Use the forecast to plan purchase orders 2–4 weeks ahead and avoid unnecessary safety stock.

Seasonality

Month-by-month seasonality patterns showing which periods drive the highest demand for each item category.

Seasonality analysis reveals recurring demand spikes — so you can stock up before a busy period rather than scrambling during it. The chart highlights months where sales are significantly above or below the annual average.

Tensor Shift connects directly to Sage Business Cloud Accounting (South Africa). The integration keeps customers, suppliers, inventory, invoices, and supplier invoices in sync between the two systems so you don't need to enter data twice.

The Sage Integration page. A live terminal shows sync activity in real time. The "Connected" banner confirms the API link is active.

What syncs

• Customers — Sage customer records are imported and matched to Tensor Shift customers by email.
• Suppliers — Sage suppliers are pulled in and linked to purchase orders.
• Inventory — item names and prices are kept consistent. Stock quantities are managed in Tensor Shift.
• Invoices — accepted Tensor Shift invoices can be pushed to Sage so your accountant sees them without re-keying.
• Supplier Invoices — supplier invoices from Sage are pulled in and linked to your purchase orders.

Running a sync

Click any of the category buttons (Customers, Suppliers, Inventory, Invoices, Supplier Invoices) to sync that entity, or click Sync All to run all of them in sequence. The terminal window shows each record processed in real time.

Syncs also run automatically on a schedule (every 15 minutes) so the two systems stay aligned without manual intervention.

The Admin section is restricted to users with the admin role. It covers user management, company settings, and system configuration.

User Management

The user management page. Admins can add users, change roles, reset passwords, and deactivate accounts.

Each user account has:

• Role — controls what they can see and do (see Section 18 — User Roles).
• Email — used for login.
• Status — active or deactivated. Deactivating a user immediately revokes access without deleting their history.

Company Settings

Under Admin → Company Settings you can set:

• Company name, address, and logo (displayed on PDFs).
• Default VAT rate applied to new quotes and invoices.
• Bank details printed on invoice PDFs.

The Customer Portal is a separate, secure login that gives your customers access to their own quotes and invoices — without giving them access to any internal data.

The customer-facing login page. Customers use a separate email/password set up by your admin team.

What customers can do

• View quotes sent to them and accept or decline directly — no email back-and-forth required.
• View invoices and their payment status.
• Download PDF copies of any document.

Setting up a customer portal login