15. Go-live checklist

Work through this before you put real customers and real money through the workspace. It takes twenty minutes and catches the handful of things that are embarrassing to find later.

Money and documents

• Tax rate and label are right for your jurisdiction, and a test invoice PDF shows them correctly.
• The invoice PDF carries your legal name, tax number and payment instructions.
• Your logo on the PDF is not stretched or clipped.
• A live payment of a small amount has gone through and the invoice flipped to paid on its own.
• Your own bank details are on the invoice if you also take transfers.

Pricing

• Every decoration method you sell has a rate matrix that covers every colour count you would ever quote. No colour count falls through to zero.
• Setup fees match what you actually charge.
• Quantity-break tiers are ordered largest minimum quantity first.
• Three jobs you have already quoted in real life, re-quoted here, come out at the numbers you actually charged.
• Your default price list is your retail list, not a trade one.
• Every imported customer is on the right price list.

Product and stock

• Your main range is in, from a supplier sync or a CSV.
• Unit costs are populated on the SKUs you sell most, so margin reports mean something.
• Reorder points and quantities are set on your top twenty SKUs.
• On-hand counts for those SKUs match the shelf. Use a cycle count rather than editing numbers.

Communication

• Every template has been read aloud once and sounds like your shop.
• You have received one of each message yourself, and every variable substituted.
• The artwork approval email still contains the approval link, and the link works.
• SMS is either connected and tested, or the SMS templates are turned off.
• The reply-to address is a mailbox somebody reads.

People and access

• Everyone who needs a login has one, with the narrowest role that works.
• Labour rates are set for anyone whose time you want costed.
• Commission rates are set for reps who earn them.
• Shared screens use a dedicated viewer login, not the owner account.
• Nobody is on manager just because it was quicker.

The floor

• The floor board is up on the wall, full screen, and the display does not sleep.
• Operator stations are bookmarked at each station.
• The barcode scanner advances a test order correctly.
• The time clock opens and closes a test entry, and the hours land on the order.
• The kiosk, if you are using one, is in Guided Access and creates a real order.

Customer-facing

• The portal preview reads correctly, with your accent colour legible on a light background.
• Two or three trade customers are set up on the portal and know it exists.
• Storefronts, team stores or campaigns you plan to launch are checked on a phone.

A first week that works

Do not switch everything over on a Monday morning.

Day	Do
1	Quote every new enquiry in Printer's Friend. Keep your old process running alongside for existing jobs
2	Convert those quotes to orders and run them across the board. Watch what your staff ask about
3	Turn on customer messaging: approvals and dispatch notifications
4	Put the floor board up and start using the barcode scan and time clock
5	Invite your three best trade customers to the portal
Week 2	Move existing open jobs across. Stop the old process

The order matters: quoting first, because that is where a pricing mistake shows up harmlessly. Customer-facing messages later, once you trust the data behind them.

When something is wrong

• Numbers on a quote look off: open the rules applied trail on the quote, then check pricing rules.
• A customer paid but the invoice looks unpaid: see troubleshooting.
• A message did not send: check the template is active and the relevant integration is connected.
• Something changed and you do not know who did it: audit log.

Next

You are set up. Running the shop covers the daily rhythm, and selling online covers storefronts and campaigns when you want them.