Help & support.

The Setup Wizard (7 Steps)

When you open OgreBill for the first time, a step-by-step setup wizard guides you through configuring your business. Each step has a unique colour theme and a progress indicator at the top.

Step 1 — Welcome

A welcome screen lists what you will set up. You can choose the app language here. Review the Privacy Policy and Terms (shown in English), accept them to continue, then tap Get Started.

Step 2 — Backup & Restore

Backups are local .db database files. On iPhone they are saved in the OgreBill folder in the Files app. You can also choose a folder to export copies to. If you use a synced folder, its provider handles synchronization under its own terms. If a previous backup is found, you can restore it here or import a backup file.

Step 3 — Location

Choose your country and currency. Choosing a country suggests the matching currency and loads that region's suggested defaults, such as the tax label, sample rates, ID field names, and date and number formats. These are defaults to save typing and can be incomplete or out of date. Review and change them before using them for business records. If your country is not listed, use the generic profile.

Step 4 — Business Information

Enter your business name (required), owner name, phone, email, and address. This step also holds your record retention settings; see Business Information in Settings.

Step 5 — Tax Configuration

Add the tax rates you want to use on invoices. The step shows what your region profile suggests. It is optional, and you can continue without adding a tax. OgreBill helps prepare records; it does not determine which tax rules apply to your business.

Step 6 — Payment Methods

Add your bank details, PayPal, UPI or other payment methods. You can attach QR code images from your photo library to payment profiles. These appear on your invoices so clients know how to pay you. Optional — you can skip and configure later.

Step 7 — Network Sharing

Set up Wi-Fi or Personal Hotspot sharing for transferring invoice PDFs to nearby devices. Add trusted network details only if you want clients to join through a QR code. Optional — you can skip and configure later.

Setup Complete — Ready to Invoice!

After setup, review the current access choices shown in the app. Purchase terms and available features can change, so check the current details before you continue.

Bottom Navigation Bar

The home screen has a bottom navigation bar with tabs for each major section:

• Invoices — your invoice list
• Clients — customer management
• Services — reusable line items
• Expenses — expense tracking
• Analytics — business insights (Pro)
• Settings — all configuration

Summary Cards

At the top of the Invoices, Clients, and Expenses lists you'll see summary cards showing quick stats — this month's revenue, outstanding amounts, invoice counts, etc.

To keep them permanently collapsed, go to Settings → Collapse Summary Cards.

Invoice List Screen

The invoice list shows all your invoices with colour-coded status badges:

• Draft — grey, still editable
• Sent — blue, shared with client
• Paid — green, payment received
• Overdue — red, a sent invoice that is past its due date
• Cancelled — muted, voided

Credit notes appear in the same list with a CN badge.

Features on this screen:

• Search — type client name, invoice number, or amount to filter instantly.
• Status filter — show only Draft, Sent, Outstanding, Overdue, Paid or Cancelled invoices.
• Date filter — All, This week, This month, This year, or a custom range.
• Sort — sort by date, amount, invoice number, or client.
• Summary card — total invoiced, outstanding, and this month's stats.
• Export CSV — export the invoices you are viewing as a CSV file. This is available on the free plan.

Tap the + button (bottom right) to create a new invoice.

Creating / Editing an Invoice

The invoice form lets you build a complete professional invoice:

1. Select a client — pick from your saved clients or add a new one on the spot.
2. Add line items — for each item enter a description, quantity, unit price, and optional item-level discount (% or fixed). You can also pick from saved Services for instant fill.
3. Invoice discount — optionally apply a discount to the full invoice (percentage or fixed amount).
4. Dates — set the invoice date and, optionally, a due date. Some region profiles also show a Supply Date (delivery date) field for when it differs from the invoice date. It is printed on the PDF when set.
5. Taxes — pick from the taxes you configured, quick-add a suggested tax, or add a custom one.
6. Notes — add any extra information or terms for the client.
7. Review totals — subtotal, discounts, tax, and grand total are calculated automatically in real-time. If your region profile rounds totals (for example to the nearest 0.05), a Rounding line is shown on the invoice and the PDF.
8. Tap Save — the invoice is saved as a Draft. Save & Share saves it and opens the Share screen.

Invoice Detail Screen

Tap any invoice to see its full detail. This screen shows:

• Status badge with colour and icon
• Client information — name, email, address
• Invoice number & date
• Due date — highlighted in red if overdue
• Line items table — description, quantity, unit price, item discount, line total
• Totals breakdown: Total before discounts, line item discounts, subtotal, invoice-level discount, tax, rounding (when your profile uses it), grand total
• Notes
• Audit log — a timeline of every action (created, edited, sent, paid, etc.)

Actions available:

• Share — opens the Share screen with PDF preview (see Section 4)
• Edit — modify the invoice (only when Draft)
• Delete — remove the invoice (only Draft invoices — Sent/Paid/Cancelled cannot be deleted, to keep a clear record)
• Copy as New Invoice — on a cancelled invoice, start a new invoice from it
• Issue Credit Note — on a sent or paid invoice, when your region profile supports credit notes. You enter a reason; a credit note is a separate document linked to the original invoice. If one was already issued, the app tells you before you issue another.

Status transitions:

• Draft → Sent — mark as sent after sharing
• Draft / Sent → Paid — record payment received (asks you to confirm)
• Sent → Cancelled — cancel the invoice; you add a reason, which is saved in the audit log
• Paid → Sent — move a paid invoice back to Sent. Paid invoices cannot go back to Draft.

The Share Screen

From any invoice detail, tap Share to open the Share screen. Here you see:

• A live PDF preview of your invoice in the selected template theme.
• A template picker — switch between 5 colour themes: Ocean Blue (default), Graphite, Emerald, Coral, Violet.
• Your business name and contact details in the PDF header.
• Your payment method details (bank, PayPal, other payment links, QR images) in the PDF footer.

Below the preview are the sharing action buttons. The top bar also has Download PDF and Print.

Invoice PDFs can print Latin, Cyrillic, Greek and Chinese text. Text in other scripts, for example Arabic, Hebrew, Thai, Korean or Hindi, cannot be printed in the PDF yet and may appear blank. See the FAQ below.

All Sharing Methods

1. Email — Opens an email with the PDF attached, using your email template. The client's address is pre-filled when the app can do so. (Pro feature)
2. WhatsApp — Shown when the client has a phone number. Opens WhatsApp with a message for that number; you send the PDF from the share sheet.
3. AirDrop / Share — Opens your device's share sheet: AirDrop, Messages, Files, clipboard and other apps you have installed.
4. Download PDF — Saves a copy to the OgreBill folder in the Files app, named like invoice_YYYY-MM-DD_INV-XXX_ClientName.pdf.
5. Print — Print the invoice PDF to any AirPrint-compatible printer.
6. QR code (local network sharing) — Share over Wi-Fi or a Personal Hotspot to a nearby device. The receiver scans a connection QR code when needed, then a PDF QR code to download the invoice from your phone. The PDF link expires after 10 minutes or when OgreBill moves to the background. Configure the networks in Settings → Network Sharing.

Sharing sends the invoice to another app or device, so only continue if you trust the destination.

Client List Screen

The Clients tab shows all your customers. Features:

• Search — find clients by name, email, or company.
• View and segment — show active, archived or all clients, and segments such as Outstanding, Overdue or All paid.
• Sort — by name, revenue, outstanding amount, number of invoices, recent activity and more.
• Quick stats — each client card shows total invoices and outstanding amount.
• Export CSV — export the client list as a CSV file. This is available on the free plan.

Tap + to add a new client with their name, email, phone, and address.

Client Detail Screen

Tap any client to see their full profile and business metrics.

Contact Information: Name, email, phone, and address — with quick-action buttons to call or email.

Client Metrics Cards:

• Total Revenue — total billed across all invoices
• Outstanding Amount — total unpaid
• Invoice Count — number of invoices for this client
• Total Tax Collected — sum of tax from their invoices
• Total Expenses — expenses linked to this client

Related Invoices: A full list of every invoice for this client. You can:

• Filter by date range — presets: All, This Week, This Month, This Year, or Custom date range.
• Sort — by date, amount, due date, status, or invoice number.
• Export — export the list shown as CSV or PDF.
• Tap any invoice to jump to its detail screen.

Actions:

• Edit — update client details
• Create Invoice — start a new invoice pre-filled with this client
• Delete — remove the client (only if no invoices are linked). A client with invoices can be archived instead; its personal data is anonymized once the retention period has passed, or you can anonymize it yourself when the period is over. You can unarchive a client from the client list.

Services List & Detail

Services are reusable line items that you can add to invoices with one tap. Each service stores:

• Name and Description
• Default Price
• Unit (for example hour or item)
• Default Quantity

Creating a Service:

1. Go to the Services tab and tap +.
2. Fill in the name, price, unit and quantity.
3. Tap Save.

Using Services in Invoices:

1. When creating or editing an invoice, tap "Add from Services".
2. Search or browse your saved services.
3. Tap to select — the line item is filled automatically.
4. Adjust quantity or price if needed for this particular invoice.

Service Detail Screen: Tap any service to view how it is used, and to edit or delete it. A service used in invoices cannot be deleted, and its name is locked while it is linked to non-cancelled invoices or related expenses.

The services list can also be exported as a CSV file, on the free plan.

Expense List Screen

The Expenses tab lets you log and track all your business expenses:

• Search — find expenses by description.
• Filter — by category (Job, Item, General) and by date: All, This week, This month, This year, or a custom range.
• Sort — by date created, date, amount, or description.
• Summary card — total expenses at a glance.
• Export CSV — export the expenses you are viewing as a CSV file. This is available on the free plan.

Tap + to log a new expense.

Adding & Viewing Expenses

Adding an Expense:

1. Tap + on the Expenses tab.
2. Enter the amount.
3. Choose a category: Job/Invoice Related (you then pick the invoice), Item/Service Related (you then pick the service) or General Business.
4. Set the date.
5. Add a description and, optionally, notes.
6. Tap Save.

Expense data feeds into the Analytics dashboard, for example the expenses-by-category chart and profit figures.

Analytics Overview (Pro)

The Analytics dashboard summarises your business activity. Choose a period: last 3, 6 or 12 months, year to date, or all time. With many invoices you start the calculation yourself, and you can refresh it later.

• Summary — revenue, expenses, tax collected, profit, pending amounts, discounts and collection rate.
• Revenue Trend and Revenue Calendar — revenue over time, by month or week.
• Payment Health — average days to pay, payment rate and overdue invoices.
• Top Performers and Client Performance — your top clients and services.
• Expenses by Category — expenses broken down by category.
• Tax Collected and YTD Tax Summary — the tax recorded on your invoices. This is a summary of your own data, not tax advice.

Totals are shown in your business currency. Amounts in other currencies are listed separately as other currencies and are not added to the totals.

Use the PDF button to export an analytics report. The Excel analytics report is a Pro feature.

Settings Overview

The Settings screen is organised into clear sections. At the top:

• Summary card — your business name, country, and key stats.
• Subscription card — current plan status, upgrade button, restore purchases, and manage subscription.

Below are two main groups: BUSINESS and APP settings, followed by DATA & DOCS.

Business Information

Edit your business name, owner name, phone, email and address, plus the business identity fields your region profile asks for (for example a tax ID). These details appear on your PDF invoices.

Retention. This screen also holds a Retention Period (Years) setting and three options: automatic cleanup on app start, cleanup of archived client data, and deleting old invoices. Archived clients are anonymized or removed once the period has passed. Deleting invoices after the retention period is off by default; if you turn it on, the app deletes eligible paid or cancelled invoices permanently, and it takes a backup first. You can also run the cleanup yourself from Data Safety. The default period is a starting value, not advice; set it according to the rules that apply to your business.

Tax Configuration

Choose a region profile, then review each tax label and rate before using it. Profiles are suggested defaults compiled from public sources. They can be incomplete or out of date, and they are not tax or legal advice. You can add or edit tax rates and choose a default where those controls are available. Check current requirements with your tax authority or adviser; OgreBill does not guarantee tax compliance.

Payment Methods

Add your bank details, PayPal, UPI or other payment methods. Attach QR code images from your photo library. Configured methods appear on your invoices so clients know how to pay you.

Email Template

Customise the email subject, message body, and signature used when sharing via email. Sending an invoice by email is a Pro feature.

Placeholders: {client_name}, {invoice_number}, {invoice_date}, {invoice_total}, {business_name}, {owner_name}, {phone}, {email}, {address}, {signature}

Placeholders are filled automatically with real data.

Network Sharing

Configure Wi-Fi networks or one Personal Hotspot for local invoice sharing. OgreBill uses the saved network name and password to build the connection QR code; the invoice PDF itself is served only over the current local connection while sharing is active. The PDF link expires after 10 minutes or when the app moves to the background.

App Preferences

• Language — System default, English, Deutsch, Français, Italiano, Nederlands, Svenska or Traditional Chinese (繁體中文). The translations are new; the privacy policy and terms inside the app are in English.
• Dark Mode — toggle dark/light theme.
• App Lock — require Face ID or Touch ID to open OgreBill. Biometric data stays on device.
• Collapse Summary Cards — keep summary cards compact by default.
• Default Invoice Template — choose a colour theme: Ocean Blue, Graphite, Emerald, Coral or Violet. Override per invoice on the Share screen.
• Navigation Menu Order — drag and reorder the bottom navigation tabs.

Data & Docs

At the bottom of Settings:

• Data Safety — backup, restore, full data export, diagnostics export, retention cleanup and Delete All Data (see Section 10)
• Export options — column language for CSV and Excel files (English, or your app language as a beta), and an Excel-friendly CSV format for your region
• Help & Support — this user guide
• About — app version, privacy policy, terms of service, impressum, open-source licences

Why Backup Is Critical

OgreBill stores business records in the app’s local database. Keep a separate backup of records you need to retain.

A device failure, reset or app removal may make local records unavailable. A backup gives you a copy to restore, but keep it in a location you trust.

Method 1 — Manual Backup (Recommended)

Create a backup file on demand. Open Settings → Data Safety → Open Backup & Restore Center.

1. Optional: tap "Choose Export Location" and pick a folder for external copies. For cloud protection pick a folder inside iCloud Drive or another trusted Files-compatible cloud folder.
2. Tap "Backup Now".
3. A timestamped .db file (e.g. backup_20260418T143022.db) is saved in the OgreBill folder in the Files app. If you chose an export location, a copy is also saved there.
4. You will see a confirmation. If the copy to your chosen folder fails, the app tells you; the backup in the OgreBill folder is still saved.

To send a copy somewhere else, tap "Share Backup Copy" and pick a destination in the share sheet. The center also shows a Backup History of backup and restore activity.

Method 2 — Automatic Backup

Auto Backup is a Pro feature that checks for work when the app is running and when it moves out of the foreground. It is a best-effort app feature, not a background schedule that guarantees a backup at an exact time.

1. Go to Settings → Data Safety → Open Backup & Restore Center.
2. Optional: choose an export location for external copies.
3. Turn on "Enable Auto Backup".
4. Choose Hourly, Daily or Weekly.
5. Optionally enable "Incremental only (skip if unchanged)". This skips a run when the app detects no changes; it does not create a partial backup of changed rows.

The app creates its local backup and, when an export location is configured, also attempts to copy it there. The folder copy can fail even when the local backup succeeds. Check the latest successful-backup time and the backup history, and confirm the file exists in the destination before relying on that copy.

Method 3 — Import a Backup File

Restore from a backup file that lives anywhere on your device, or received via AirDrop, email, or messaging.

1. Go to Settings → Data Safety → Open Backup & Restore Center.
2. Tap "Import from Files / Other Location".
3. Browse to the .db file and select it.
4. The app validates the file, then asks you to confirm.
5. Your current data is replaced and the app restarts.

Method 4 — Restore from the App's Backups

Restore the newest valid backup, or browse the backup files stored in the app and restore any one.

1. Go to Settings → Data Safety → Open Backup & Restore Center.
2. Tap "Restore Best Available Backup" to restore the most recent valid backup, or "Browse Backup Files (App Data)" to choose one.
3. Confirm. Your current data will be replaced.
4. The app restarts with the restored data.

Copying Backups to Your Mac or Computer

Every OgreBill backup is a standard .db file visible in the Files app on your iPhone.

Option A — iCloud Drive (easiest, automatic):

1. Set your backup destination to a folder inside iCloud Drive.
2. All backups sync to iCloud automatically.
3. On your Mac: Finder → iCloud Drive — same folder, same files.

Option B — AirDrop:

1. Open Files app → navigate to your backup folder.
2. Long-press a .db file → Share → AirDrop → select your Mac.

Option C — USB cable (Finder):

1. Connect iPhone to Mac with USB.
2. Finder → select iPhone → Files tab.
3. Expand OgreBill → drag backup files to your Mac.

Exporting Your Data (CSV and Excel)

Your data is yours to take out, on the free plan too.

• CSV from the lists. The Invoices, Clients, Services and Expenses lists each have Export CSV. It exports what you are viewing, including your filters. Choose Share CSV or Save to OgreBill Folder.
• Full data snapshot. Go to Settings → Data Safety → Export Full Data Snapshot (Excel). An .xlsx workbook is created with a sheet for each data table.
• Export options. In Settings → Export options you can pick the column language for CSV and Excel files and switch to an Excel-friendly CSV for your region (semicolons and decimal comma).
• Analytics report. Analytics can export a PDF report. The Excel analytics report is a Pro feature.

Backup Best Practices

1. Back up at least once a week — daily if you invoice frequently.
2. Use a cloud-synced folder such as iCloud Drive or another trusted Files-compatible cloud folder.
3. Keep multiple backups — don't delete old ones too soon.
4. Treat .db backups like financial records — keep them only in trusted storage.
5. Test a restore occasionally — verify your backups actually work.
6. Export a CSV or Excel snapshot periodically — a spreadsheet is a readable safety net.
7. Consider Auto Backup (Pro) so you're protected even when you forget.
8. Copy at least one backup to your Mac.

Need More Help?

Email support@ogrelabs.de with a short description of the issue. Include device or app details only if they help explain the problem. If you choose to attach a diagnostics export, review it first because it can contain your business name and app or error details.

Email: support@ogrelabs.de