Welcome to ChargeGrid

Getting started with ChargeGrid

ChargeGrid runs your power-bank swap business: customers pay a refundable deposit, trade a dead power bank for a charged one in seconds, and you collect a swap fee. Follow these steps to go from nothing to your first swap.

1. Set your business basics

1. Open Settings.
2. Open the Business section and enter your Business name.
3. Set your Default swap fee (₦) and Default deposit (₦) — used when a plan doesn't set its own.
4. Set Typical unit cost (₦) — what one power bank is worth to you.
5. Free swap every N swaps controls loyalty — the default is 10, so every 10th swap is free.
6. Tap Save settings.

2. Add a plan

Every customer sits on a membership plan.

1. Open Plans and tap + Add plan.
2. Fill in:

• Plan name — e.g. "Standard".
• Refundable deposit (₦) — the money the customer leaves with you.
• Swap fee (₦) — what each swap costs them.
• Units a customer can hold — how many power banks they may have out at once.

1. Save.

The deposit should comfortably cover the units the plan lets a customer hold — that's what protects your hardware.

3. Add your power banks

1. Open Power Banks and tap Add power bank.
2. Type a Code — 5 letters/numbers (e.g. PB001) and write it on the unit itself. Codes must be unique across all your locations.
3. Optionally add the Serial number, Colour, Capacity (mAh) and Cost (₦).
4. Save. New units start as Ready.

4. Add a customer

1. Open Customers and tap Add customer.
2. Enter their Full name and Phone, and pick their Plan.
3. Let the customer type their own App PIN (4–8 digits) — it's their login for the customer app.
4. Save, then open the customer and tap Collect deposit. Leave the amount blank to record the plan amount.

5. Do your first swap

1. Tap New swap (the ⚡ button).
2. Did they bring a power bank back?

• Yes — type the 5-digit code on the returned unit. ChargeGrid identifies the customer holding it.
• No — search the customer by name or phone.

1. Type the code of the charged power bank to hand out.
2. Pick how they paid — Cash, Transfer or Card.
3. Tap Record swap.

The fee comes from the customer's plan, and a loyalty swap is applied free automatically when one is due. If they're only returning a unit, the button reads Just take it back — no new one.

What ChargeGrid costs

ChargeGrid is included with the Plus plan (or any higher plan). There is no per-swap cut — every swap fee is 100% yours, and every customer deposit stays with you.

Running it day-to-day

The daily loop: record swaps, take deposits, watch for overdue units, and log what you spend. ChargeGrid records your money — you take cash, transfer or card yourself; the app keeps the books.

1. Record a swap

1. Tap New swap.
2. If they brought a unit back, tap Yes — they brought one back and type the returned unit's 5-digit code — the customer is identified automatically. Otherwise tap No — nothing to bring back and search them by name or phone.
3. Type the code of the charged power bank to hand out.
4. Pick Cash, Transfer or Card, and tap Record swap.

Notes:

• A free loyalty swap is applied automatically when one is due — the fee shows as free.
• Returning only? The button reads Just take it back — no new one, and the payment buttons hide.
• If the customer's deposit is below what their plan requires, a warning shows first. Cancel — don't give is the safe choice; Give anyway records a logged override.

Record every swap in the app. A unit handed out off the books isn't tied to any deposit — if it walks off, that loss is yours.

2. Sign up a customer and take their deposit

1. Open Customers and tap Add customer — name, phone, plan, and their own App PIN.
2. Open the customer and tap Collect deposit. Blank = the plan amount.

The Deposits page shows the Total held now and every deposit's status — Held, Part-paid, Refunded or Kept. Tap a row to open the customer.

3. Refund a deposit

1. Open the customer's profile.
2. Tap Refund deposit. Their power bank must be back first.

4. Watch for overdue units

Power Banks shows how long each unit has been out; anything past your holding time is tagged ⏰ Overdue, and Home shows an alert when units are overdue.

• With the holding fee switched on (Settings → Power bank holding), a fee is added for every holding period the unit stays out, and is collected when it's brought back.
• Once a unit passes your Mark as lost after (days) window, the fee stops adding up and the customer's profile flags "Hasn't returned power bank #X" with a Mark lost & forfeit deposit button. Confirming writes the unit off as lost and keeps their held deposit to cover the loss.

5. Take a unit out of service

1. Open Power Banks and tap the unit.
2. Change its status: Damaged, Lost or Retired. It stops appearing as available.

Damage from normal wear is just your hardware leaving the fleet — no one is charged.

6. Record expenses

1. Open Expenses and tap Record expense — what, amount, category, date.
2. Manage the category list under Settings → Expense categories.

The strip at the top shows this month's Money in (swap fees), Money out (expenses) and What's left.

7. Check your reports

Open Reports (admin only) and pick a date range to see:

• Money in, money out and net profit, with your margin.
• Expenses by category — what's eating your takings.
• How customers paid — cash / transfer / card.
• Top customers and daily takings.
• Deposits shown separately — refundable security, not profit.

Staff & locations

Add staff who sign in with their own phone + PIN, and run one location or many from the same app.

1. Add a staff member

1. Open Settings and open the Staff section.
2. Tap + Add staff.
3. Enter their Name, Phone, a PIN (4–8 digits), and pick a Role:

• Staff — can run swaps and work the counter (Swaps, Customers, Power Banks, Deposits, Expenses), but can't see Plans, Reports, Settings or Activity.
• Admin (full access) — sees everything, like you.

1. Save. Use Edit on any staff row to rename them, change their role, or reset their PIN.

2. Give staff their sign-in link

1. Open Settings → Share links.
2. Copy Staff sign-in and send it to them.

They sign in with their phone and PIN and get the same clean app, limited to their role.

3. Add a location

1. Open Settings and tap Manage locations.
2. Tap + Add location and give it a name, phone and address.

4. Switch between locations

Tap the location chip at the top of any screen and pick a location. Power banks, customers, swaps and takings all follow the chip — each location keeps its own.

A power bank can be returned at any location — codes are unique across your whole business.

5. Per-location settings

Settings sections tagged Per location save their own values for the location you're viewing:

• Share links — customer links carry the location you're viewing, so sign-ups land in the right branch.
• Landing page, Sign-in & sign-up and Support contact — each branch can show its own wording, phone and hours.

Switch the location chip, edit, save. Leave a field blank to fall back to your business-wide default.

6. See who did what

Open Activity (admin only). Every swap, deposit, staff action and location switch is logged with who did it and when. Use the filter chips or the search box to narrow it down.

Customizing ChargeGrid

Everything is tuned from Settings. Sections tagged Per location save separately for each location — leave a field blank to use your business-wide default.

Business

1. Open Settings → Business.
2. Set your Business name, Currency symbol, Default swap fee (₦), Default deposit (₦) and Typical unit cost (₦).
3. Set Free swap every N swaps — default 10 — to control automatic loyalty.
4. Tap Save settings.

Power bank holding

Controls how long a customer may keep a unit, and what happens when they don't bring it back.

1. Open Settings → Power bank holding.
2. Set the Holding time (hours) — default 24.
3. Set Charge a holding fee? to Yes to charge for keeping a unit past the limit, and enter the Holding fee (₦) — per period. The fee repeats for every holding period the unit stays out, and is collected when it's returned.
4. Set Mark as lost after (days) — past this, the fee stops adding up and you can write the unit off from the customer's profile and keep their deposit. 0 = never.

Landing page & sign-in wording (per location)

1. Open Settings → Landing page to edit the kicker, headline and sub-text on your public welcome page.
2. Open Settings → Sign-in & sign-up to reword both customer screens the same way.

Support contact (per location)

Set your Support phone, WhatsApp and Hours — shown to customers in their app.

Push notifications

Free phone alerts via the ntfy app. On by default.

1. Open Settings → Push notifications.
2. The alert topic defaults to your phone number — change it if you like, and keep it the same once staff have subscribed.
3. Install the free ntfy app, tap +, and subscribe to your topic exactly. Share the topic with staff so they get alerts too.

Text messages (SMS)

Optional — most businesses just use push. To text customers via Twilio, turn SMS (Twilio) on and paste your Twilio SID, token and from number.

Customer portal

• Require a PIN to look up — whether a customer must enter their PIN to see their account.
• Let customers sign themselves up — allow sign-ups through your public Sign up link.

Staff, locations and expense categories

• Staff — add and manage staff logins (see the Staff & locations tutorial).
• Manage locations — add or rename locations.
• Expense categories — the list you pick from when recording an expense.

Things to be careful with

Your currency is set once at signup and can't be changed later.

• A plan's deposit should cover the units it lets a customer hold — too low leaves your hardware unprotected.
• Set the Typical unit cost honestly — it's what a lost unit is worth in your books.
• Not sure about a setting? Leave the default — they're chosen to suit most businesses.

What ChargeGrid costs

ChargeGrid is included with the Plus plan (Premium, Business and Elite include it too). No per-swap cut — every swap fee is 100% yours, and all deposits stay with you, however busy you get.

Sharing with customers

Your customers get their own app — they sign in with phone + PIN, see their deposit and the unit they hold, and check their swap history. You bring them in with your share links.

1. Get your share links

1. Open Settings → Share links.
2. Tap Copy (or Open to preview) next to the link you want:

• Landing page — your public welcome page with sign-up buttons. Put this on posters, social media and your website.
• Customer sign-in — where existing customers log in.
• Sign up — where new customers register themselves.
• Staff sign-in — for your team only.

Share links are per location — the customer links carry the location you're viewing, so sign-ups land in that branch. Switch the location chip before copying.

Demo mode — show the app to anyone

Want to show ChargeGrid to a potential partner or investor? Turn on Demo mode (Settings → Customer portal) and you get a special /demo link: whoever opens it can tap any staff member or customer and be signed straight in as them — no PIN, nothing to set up. Next to the link, Settings also gives you a ready-made invite message (a short write-up of what the app does and what to try) to copy and paste into WhatsApp or email along with the link, so you never have to explain the app from scratch. It's all sample data, so they can tap around freely. Turn Demo mode off before real customers use the app — while it's on, anyone with the link can sign in as anyone.

2. Let customers sign themselves up

1. Open Settings → Customer portal and set Let customers sign themselves up to Yes.
2. Share your Sign up link. The customer enters their name and phone and chooses their own PIN.
3. When they visit, put them on a plan and tap Collect deposit — then they can start swapping.

Prefer to control sign-ups yourself? Leave it off and add customers from the Customers page.

3. What customers see in their app

• Their deposit balance.
• The power bank(s) they're holding — including any holding fee owed if a unit is out too long.
• Their full swap history, with a shareable receipt for every swap.

They can also install the app on their phone — the landing page shows an Install button (or an Add-to-Home-Screen hint on iPhone).

4. Make the pages yours

1. Open Settings → Landing page to write your own kicker, headline and sub-text.
2. Open Settings → Sign-in & sign-up to reword the customer sign-in and sign-up screens.

Both save per location, so each branch can greet customers its own way.

5. Use your own domain

Connect a domain under Pancho's Account → Domains and your customer-facing pages run on your own web address automatically.