TMSoft

Download the manual as a PDF

TM Studio — Easy User Guide & Playbook

Welcome to TM Studio! Whether you run a bakery, confectionery shop, catering business, restaurant, or commercial commissary, this software is designed to take the guesswork out of your kitchen costs, recipe pricing, invoicing, and production planning.

This manual is written in plain, friendly language with step-by-step instructions, real-world kitchen examples, and helpful tips.

Quick Navigation

💻 Installing & Starting TM Studio

Installing

  1. Run the installer you downloaded (TMStudio-Setup-1.0.0.exe).
  2. Windows asks "Do you want to allow this app to make changes?" — click Yes. The installer then offers Install for all users (recommended, into C:\Program Files\TM Studio) or Install for me only (no administrator rights needed).
  3. Click Next through the steps and tick Create a desktop shortcut if you like. At the end, leave Launch TM Studio ticked and click Finish.

If Windows shows "Windows protected your PC" or your antivirus raises an alert, see If Windows or your antivirus shows a warning under Updates & Getting Help.

Starting and closing

  • Start TM Studio from the desktop shortcut or the Start menu. It opens in your web browser (the address is http://localhost:8000) and a small TM Studio icon appears near the clock.
  • The first time, a Welcome screen asks for your company name. You can change it later in Settings.
  • To close it, click Close Program at the bottom of the sidebar, or right-click the icon near the clock and choose Quit.

Where your data is

Everything you enter (recipes, invoices, settings, backups) is stored in Documents\TM Studio on your PC — not in the program folder — so installing an update or uninstalling never touches it. Settings > System & Backup > About & Updates > Open my data folder opens it.

Uninstalling

Use Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps > TM Studio > Uninstall (or Uninstall TM Studio in the Start menu folder). Your data folder is not deleted, so reinstalling brings everything back. Delete Documents\TM Studio yourself only if you want your data gone for good (make a Full Backup first).

🌟 The 5-Minute Quick-Start Roadmap

To get the most out of the system, follow this simple 4-step flow:

  1. Raw Products (Flour, Sugar, Eggs, Boxes)
  2. Sub-Recipes (Sponge, Buttercream, Sauces)
  3. Final Recipes (Birthday Cake, Box of Cupcakes)
  4. Invoices & Sales (Sell by Piece or Whole Batch)
  1. Add your Raw Ingredients: Enter what you buy from suppliers with their prices (e.g. Flour at €1.20/kg, Cake Box at €0.85/piece).
  2. (Optional) Make Sub-Recipes: Combine raw ingredients into building blocks you use often (like a 5kg batch of Buttercream or a sheet of Sponge Cake).
  3. Build your Final Recipes: Combine your ingredients, sub-recipes, and packaging into finished goods. The app immediately tells you what it costs to make and suggests what price you should charge.
  4. Create Invoices & Sell: Bill your wholesale or retail customers. The app tracks your profit, manages payments, and prints professional PDF invoices and receipts.

🧭 Screen Tour: Where Everything Is

When you open the app, you will see a clean, modern screen divided into three main zones:

1. The Left Sidebar (Your Navigation Hub)

  • Dashboard: Your business command center — sales graphs, unpaid bills, and profit overview.
  • Products: Your raw ingredients, packaging, and supplier prices.
  • Net Products: Ingredients with peeling, trimming, or cooking waste (e.g. peeled carrots, trimmed beef).
  • Sub-Recipes: Kitchen building blocks you don't sell directly (e.g. cake bases, doughs, glazes).
  • Final Recipes: The finished cakes, meals, or pastry boxes you sell to customers.
  • Invoices: Customer billing, payment tracking, PDF printing, and sales reports.
  • Reporting: Detailed sales reports, customer history, tax summaries, and recipe profitability.
  • Tools: The Shopping List Generator, Batch Production Planner, and Cost of Sales Calculator.
  • Settings: Company address, bank details, logo, customer list, tax rates, and backups.

2. The Top Header Bar

  • Company Switcher (Top-left): Switch between different business entities (e.g. "Catering Co" vs "Bakery Shop").
  • Global Search (Magnifying glass or press Ctrl + F): Quick-find any recipe, ingredient, or customer in 1 second.
  • Theme Switcher (Moon/Sun icon or press Ctrl + T): Switch between crisp Light Mode and eye-friendly Dark Mode.

3. The Bottom Status Bar

  • Undo / Redo Buttons (or press Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Y): Made a typo or deleted something by accident? One click rolls back your change.
  • Active Company & Database: Always shows you which company account you are currently working in.

🏢 Setting Up Your Business Profile

Before sending your first invoice, spend 2 minutes filling in your business details:

  1. Click Settings in the sidebar.
  2. Under the General Setup tab, fill in:
    • Company Name: Your trade or legal name (e.g. Confectionery Ltd). It is the same name shown in the company switcher at the top of the sidebar: changing it here renames the company there too (two companies can't share a name).
    • Company Address: Your street, city, and postal code.
    • VAT Number & Company ID: Legal registration numbers printed on your invoices.
    • Currency: Choose your local currency symbol (supports Euro €, US Dollar $, British Pound £, etc.).
    • Bank Details: Bank name, IBAN, and BIC/SWIFT — this prints on invoice payment slips so clients know where to pay you.
    • Default Markups: Your baseline profit margin (e.g. 30% or 40%). Markups can't be below -100% (that would mean a negative price).
    • Use invoicing & sales: untick this if you only use TM Studio to cost your recipes. The Invoices menu, the Sales dashboard and the sales reports are then hidden (nothing is deleted — tick it again to bring them back).
  3. Upload Your Logo:
    • Click Upload next to Company Logo.
    • Choose your logo file (PNG or JPEG). It will automatically appear on all invoices, receipts, and recipe sheets!
  4. Click Save Settings at the top-right.

🍎 Chapter 1: Managing Ingredients (Raw Products)

Raw Products are everything you purchase from suppliers: dry goods, dairy, meats, produce, as well as packaging materials (cake boards, ribbon, boxes).

How to Add a New Ingredient

  1. Go to Products in the sidebar.
  2. Click the green + Add Product button.
  3. Fill in:
    • Product Name: e.g., Granulated Sugar.
    • Category: e.g., Sugars & Sweeteners (helps keep your pantry organized).
    • Unit: Choose kg, g, l, ml, or piece.
    • Cost per Unit: What you pay per kg or piece.
  4. Click Save Product.

💡 Pro-Tip: The Package Cost Calculator

Don't want to do math in your head? If you buy a 25 kg sack of sugar for €37.50:

  1. In the Add/Edit Product window, click Calculate Cost.
  2. Enter Package Price: 37.50.
  3. Enter Package Size: 25.
  4. Select Package Unit: kg.
  5. Click Apply — the app automatically calculates the exact unit price: €1.50 per kg!

Quick Price Updates (Inline Editing)

When supplier prices change, you don't need to open every recipe.

  • On the Products table, simply click directly on any cost number.
  • Type the new price and hit Enter.
  • Every single recipe in the system that uses this ingredient updates its cost immediately!

Price History Chart

Want to know if butter is getting more expensive?

  • Click the little Trending Up icon next to any product to see a graph of every price change over time.

🛡️ Accidental Deletion Protection

If you try to delete an ingredient that is currently used inside one of your recipes, the app will block the deletion and show you a list of recipes using it. You'll never break a recipe by accident! Products and recipes that appear on invoices can't be deleted either — archive them instead, so your sales history stays complete.

Renaming

You can rename a product or recipe at any time. Its sales history follows the new name (sold quantities, reports and cost of sales), while invoices you have already issued keep printing the name they were issued with. Two names that differ only in capital letters (e.g. Almond Flour and almond flour) are not allowed.

🥕 Chapter 2: Prepared Ingredients & Waste (Net Products)

In a commercial kitchen, peeling, trimming, and cooking causes shrinkage and waste:

  • A 1 kg bag of whole carrots costs €1.20.
  • After peeling and topping, you only have 800g of usable carrots left.
  • Your true ingredient cost is not €1.20/kg — it is €1.50 per kg!

Net Products solve this problem automatically.

How to Create a Net Product

  1. Go to Net Products in the sidebar.
  2. Click + Add Net Product.
  3. Name it: Peeled Carrots.
  4. Add your raw ingredient: Raw Carrots, quantity 1.2 kg (Cost = €1.20).
  5. In the Output Quantity, enter the usable amount: 1.0 kg.
  6. The app computes the true net cost as €1.20/kg usable.
  7. Now, when you add Peeled Carrots to a carrot cake recipe, your food cost is 100% accurate!

🥣 Chapter 3: Component Batches (Sub-Recipes)

A Sub-Recipe is any prepared component you make in batches to use inside other recipes:

  • A 5 kg tub of Vanilla Buttercream
  • A tray of Chocolate Sponge Base
  • A pot of Salted Caramel Sauce
  • A batch of Master Stock or Pie Dough

How to Build a Sub-Recipe

  1. Go to Sub-Recipes in the sidebar and click + Build Sub-Recipe.
  2. Enter the name (e.g. Classic Italian Buttercream).
  3. Set your batch output:
    • Output Quantity: Total batch weight/volume (e.g. 4.5 kg).
    • Units per Batch: Total portions (e.g. enough to frost 6 cakes).
  4. Click + Add Row to add ingredients:
    • You can choose Raw Products, Net Products, or even other Sub-Recipes!
    • As you type quantities, the Live Costing Summary on the right tells you the exact cost of the batch and the cost per kg.
  5. Click Save Recipe.

🎂 Chapter 4: Finished Goods (Final Recipes)

Final Recipes are the finished items you package, display, and sell to your customers (e.g. 8-inch Chocolate Fudge Cake, Box of 6 Macarons, Plated Daily Special).

Step-by-Step: Creating a Final Recipe

  1. Go to Final Recipes in the sidebar and click + Build Recipe.
  2. Recipe Information:
    • Name: e.g., Signature 8" Carrot Cake.
    • Output Quantity: Total finished weight (e.g. 1.8 kg).
    • Units per Batch: Total servings/units (e.g. 1 whole cake, or 12 slices).
  3. Add Ingredients:
    • Select your prepared components (e.g. Peeled & Grated Carrots, Cream Cheese Frosting sub-recipe).
    • Add pantry items (flour, walnuts, cinnamon).
    • Add Packaging! Don't forget to add a cake board and a cake box — non-food items are real costs!
  4. Set Your Selling Markups:
    • Markup (Piece): What percentage profit you want when selling individual slices (e.g. 50%).
    • Markup (Whole Batch): What percentage profit you want when selling the whole cake (e.g. 30%).
  5. Attach a Photo:
    • Click the camera/image icon to upload a photo of the finished cake. This photo displays in your catalog and prints on kitchen spec sheets.
  6. Click Save Recipe.

Understanding the Numbers (Pricing Made Simple)

On the right side of the Recipe Builder, the Live Costing Summary does all the math for you:

Card Line What it Means Kitchen Example
Total Batch Cost Total money spent to make the entire cake €8.50
Cost per Piece What 1 slice costs you to make (Total Cost ÷ 10 slices) €0.85
Price/Pc (50% Markup) Suggested selling price per slice (€0.85 × 1.50) €1.28
Price/Out (30% Markup) Suggested selling price for the whole cake (€8.50 × 1.30) €11.05

💡 Markup vs Margin: In this app, markup is simple: if something costs you €10 and you want a 30% markup, you sell it for €10 × 1.30 = €13.00. You make €3.00 profit.

Helpful Recipe Features

  • Pie Chart Breakdown: Click the pie chart button to see an instant visual breakdown of what ingredients cost the most. Double-click the chart to pop it open in an enlarged window.
  • Scale Batch (Production Sheet):
    • Need to bake 35 cakes for a large wedding?
    • Click Scale Batch from the recipe list.
    • Type 35 in the pieces box — the screen immediately generates an exact kitchen production sheet with every ingredient scaled up.
  • Batch Markup Tool:
    • If dairy and flour prices jump across the country, you don't need to edit 50 recipes.
    • Tick the checkboxes next to the recipes you want to update (or click Select All).
    • Click Batch Markup, enter 35%, and click Apply. All selected recipes update their selling prices in one click!
  • Download Recipe PDF:
    • Click the PDF icon to print a clean kitchen specification sheet with ingredients, prep notes, yields, and photo.

🧾 Chapter 5: Invoices, Payments & Getting Paid

The Invoicing module links your recipe catalog directly to customer billing so you can track sales and gross profit without double entry.

How to Create an Invoice in 60 Seconds

  1. Go to Invoices in the sidebar.
  2. Click + Create Invoice.
  3. Pick your Customer from the dropdown (or type a new one).
  4. Set the Invoice Date and Due Date.
  5. Click + Add Line:
    • Choose a recipe (e.g. Signature 8" Carrot Cake).
    • Choose Sell Mode:
      • Pieces: If selling individual portions or slices.
      • Whole: If selling whole cakes or complete batches. (The invoice PDF will neatly show (whole) next to the line).
    • The price fills in automatically!
    • Enter the Quantity (e.g. 2).
    • Select the VAT tax rate (e.g. STANDARD 19%).
  6. Click Post Invoice (or Save as Draft if you want to work on it later).

The Auto-Pricing Magic

When you add an item to an invoice, the system automatically figures out the right price using this priority order:

  1. Customer Special Price: If this customer has an agreed discount/markup in your Customer Directory, that price is used first.
  2. Recipe Markup: If no customer override exists, it uses the markup you saved on that recipe.
  3. Company Default: If the recipe doesn't have a markup, it uses your default company markup from Settings.

You can always type over the price manually if you want to give a one-off discount!

Reviewing Invoices & The Live PDF Pane

When you click on any invoice, it opens into a full-page workspace:

  • Left Side: All invoice lines, totals, tax amounts, and payment history.
  • Right Side: A live, resizable PDF preview of the official document. Drag the divider to make the document larger or smaller.
  • Prev / Next Buttons: Browse through your invoices like flipping through a binder.
  • Actions Available:
    • Download PDF: Save the invoice to your computer.
    • Print / Download Receipt: Official receipt showing all payments made.
    • Issue Credit Note: Issue a refund or credit note if an order was returned or adjusted. A window lists every line with how much of it can still be credited. The credit note starts empty: type the quantity of each item that was returned (part of a quantity is fine), or click Everything left to credit the whole invoice. The credit note is deducted from the amount due on that invoice straight away. If the invoice owes less than the credit note (for example it was already paid), only the amount due is deducted and the rest stays as credit for the customer, which you can apply to another invoice or later refund. To undo a credit note that was deducted by mistake, remove it from the invoice's payments list first (click it there), then cancel it.
    • Cost of Sales (COGS) Tab: Click this tab to see the exact gross profit you made on this specific invoice!

Rules That Keep Your Records Correct

  • Drafts can be edited freely (Edit Draft); Save as Draft keeps them as drafts until you click Post.
  • Amounts are always rounded to cents, so the lines on the invoice always add up to the total.
  • Payments can only be recorded on posted invoices, and never for more than the amount still due.
  • To cancel or reset to draft an invoice that has payments or credit applied, first click the payment under Payments and choose Unreconcile (or Delete payment if it was a mistake).
  • If you edit a paid invoice so its total goes up, it becomes Unpaid again for the difference.
  • A credit note is dated the day you issue it. You can credit an invoice in several steps (for example one returned item now, another later); the app never lets the credit notes of an invoice add up to more than was invoiced. Cancelling a credit note makes its quantities available again.
  • Cancelled invoices and drafts never count in sales, cost of sales or dashboard figures.
  • Invoice dates can't be more than 31 days in the future — this catches a mistyped year. Dates must also follow the invoice numbers; if an earlier invoice has a wrong date, the message tells you which one, so you can open it and correct the date with Edit & Re-Post.
  • An invoice is marked Paid by recording its payment (date and amount), so every payment appears in the Payments Received report.
  • A credit note reverses exactly the cost recorded on the original invoice, even if the recipe has changed since. For a partial credit the cost is reversed in proportion to what is credited.
  • When you post an invoice with an item that isn't one of your recipes or products (e.g. a typing mistake in an imported invoice), you are asked to confirm, because no cost of sales is recorded for it. The invoice import preview marks such lines with no cost.

Recording Payments & "PAID IN FULL" Receipts

Getting paid by cash, bank transfer, or card?

  1. Open the invoice and click Record Payment (or click the green card icon on the Invoices list).
  2. Choose Full Payment or Partial Payment (e.g. if the customer pays a €100 deposit on a €300 order).
  3. Enter the payment date and click Save Payment.

What Happens Automatically:

  • If partially paid: The invoice badge turns blue: Partially Paid and shows the remaining balance due.
  • If fully paid: The badge turns green: Paid.
  • Click Print / Download Receipt: The document will be retitled RECEIPT with an official green PAID IN FULL stamp!

Exporting Your Sales

From the Invoices page, you can export your data anytime:

  • Reports ▼ > Sales Report (Excel): One line per invoice for your accountant.
  • Reports ▼ > Detailed Sales Report (Excel): Full breakdown of every line sold with matched food costs and profit.
  • Reports ▼ > COGS Report (Excel): Total ingredient usage over any date range.
  • All PDFs (ZIP): Downloads every single invoice PDF in a single ZIP folder for your records.
  • Xero CSV: Formatted for direct upload to Xero accounting.

🛒 Chapter 6: Kitchen & Production Tools

Click Tools in the sidebar to access three powerful kitchen utilities:

1. The Shopping List Generator

“We have 3 wedding cakes and 5 catering platters to deliver this weekend. What do I need to order from the wholesale supplier?”

  1. Go to Tools > Shopping List Generator.
  2. Select the recipes and the number of batches or pieces needed.
  3. Click Generate Shopping List.
  4. The app checks every recipe, sub-recipe, and net product, calculates the exact raw ingredients needed, and combines them into one clean list (e.g. 24.5 kg Flour, 12.0 kg Butter, 140 Eggs).
  5. Export the list to PDF or Excel and send it straight to your supplier!

2. Batch Production Planner

Generates step-by-step production sheets for your kitchen staff. Choose a recipe and batch multiplier to print out exact ingredient weights for the day's prep.

3. Cost of Sales Calculator (POS Sales Importer)

If you ring up daily sales on a Point-of-Sale terminal (Square, Toast, Clover, Lightspeed):

  1. Export your monthly item sales report from your POS as an Excel (.xlsx) or CSV file.
  2. Go to Tools > Cost of Sales Calculator and upload the file.
  3. Match the column names (e.g. match your POS column "Item Name" and "Qty Sold").
  4. Click Calculate: The app explodes all your actual sales against your recipes and tells you your exact monthly food cost and gross profit!

4. Recalculate All Costs

If you update multiple product prices or import a new price list, click Recalculate All Costs in the page header to instantly refresh every cost and margin in the entire database.

📊 Chapter 7: Dashboard & Reports (Knowing Your Numbers)

Dashboard

The Dashboard has two views — switch with the Costing / Sales buttons at the top (it remembers your choice):

Costing — your recipes and ingredient costs:

  • Cards: number of products and recipes, recipes that can't be costed (e.g. a unit that can't be converted), and your lowest markup.
  • Lowest Markups and Most Expensive Recipes (click a bar to open the recipe).
  • Ingredient Cost by Category: Sold shows the ingredient cost of what you actually invoiced in the period; Recipes shows what one batch of every recipe is made of. Both include ingredients inside sub-recipes.
  • Products by Category, Top 5 Used Ingredients, Per-Recipe Cost Breakdown.
  • Ingredient Price Changes: cost changes in the last 90 days and which final recipes they affect.
  • Cost / Revenue Overview table: every final recipe with cost, price and markup for pieces and whole, plus sold quantities and revenue for the period. Riskiest pricing first; click a row to open the recipe.

Sales — invoices and money:

  • Cards: sales and gross profit for the period, outstanding balance and overdue invoices.
  • Revenue vs COGS, Monthly Invoice Volume, Outstanding by Customer, Payment Status (received, settled by credit notes, and outstanding — the outstanding part is the same amount as the Outstanding Balance card), Cumulative Gross Profit, Most & Least Popular Products, Customer Mix and Cost Mix.

Period: Last 30 Days, This Quarter, Year-to-Date, All Time or custom dates. Every chart says underneath whether it follows the period or shows all dates / current recipes.

  • Double-Click Enlarge: Double-click any chart to open it in a large, interactive pop-out window!
  • Download Chart Image: Click the download icon on any chart to save a high-resolution PNG image.
  • Drag a chart by its handle to reorder it.
  • Custom Chart: build your own chart and pin it. Choose Show on dashboard under: Costing or Sales — the pinned chart then appears only in that view. To move a pinned chart later, click → Sales / → Costing on its card.

The Reporting Suite

Go to Reporting in the sidebar to generate in-depth reports:

  • Recipe Profitability Report: Ranks all recipes by food cost percentage.
  • Customer Sales Report: See who your most valuable clients are and their average spend.
  • Invoice Aging Report: Shows overdue bills organized by 0–30 days, 31–60 days, 61–90 days, and 90+ days.
  • Dynamic Pivot Analysis: Click Pivot Analysis on any report to create custom crosstabs (e.g. Total Sales grouped by Customer on rows and Month on columns).

📁 Chapter 8: Downloading Templates & Bulk CSV Importing

Already have your ingredients, recipes, or customers in Excel? You don't have to retype them one by one!

Navigate to Settings > Imports:

  1. Click Template next to any section (Products, Recipes, Customers, VAT, Categories, or Invoices) to download a ready-to-use CSV template.
  2. Paste your data into the template using Excel or Google Sheets.
  3. Click Import CSV and select your file.
  4. The Preview Window: The app shows you a preview of your data before saving anything!
  5. Choose your mode:
    • Skip: Only adds new records; leaves existing items untouched.
    • Update: Updates existing items with the new prices or details from the file.
  6. Click Commit Import.

💡 Itemized Invoice Import Tip: If you import sales invoices with blank unit prices, the system will automatically calculate the price using the recipe's cost and markup!

🛡️ Chapter 9: Peace of Mind: Backups & Undo

Automatic Startup Backups

Every time you open TM Studio, the system automatically creates a timestamped backup of your database. It keeps the last 7 backups in the backups folder inside your TM Studio data folder, which is Documents\TM Studio. Settings > System & Backup > About & Updates > Open my data folder opens it for you. Please don't rename, move or delete files in it while TM Studio is running. If Windows ransomware protection (Controlled folder access) is on, allow TM Studio through it, or it can't save your data.

TM Studio also keeps a safety copy automatically:

  • Before an update changes your database for the first time (before_upgrade_…).
  • Before a restore replaces your data (before_restore_…). Restore only accepts real TM Studio backup files.

Making a Manual Full Backup (All Companies)

We recommend saving a backup to an external USB flash drive once a week:

  1. Go to Settings > System & Backup.
  2. Click Full Backup (All Companies).
  3. A single .zip file will download containing all your company databases, logo images, and stored invoice PDFs.
  4. To restore, simply click Restore Full Backup and select your ZIP file.

Undo & Redo (Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Y)

Did you accidentally delete an ingredient row or make a mistake while typing?

  • Press Ctrl + Z (or click the Undo button in the bottom status bar) to undo the last saved change.
  • Press Ctrl + Y to redo.
  • While you are typing in a box, Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Y undo and redo your typing instead.
  • The app remembers up to 50 recent changes. Switching company starts a fresh undo history.

🔄 Updates & Getting Help

Which version do I have?

The version is shown in the bottom status bar (e.g. TM Studio v1.0.0) and in Settings > System & Backup > About & Updates.

If Windows or your antivirus shows a warning

A new program can trigger "Windows protected your PC" (SmartScreen) or an antivirus alert, even though nothing is wrong. Click More info, then Run anyway. For an antivirus, choose to allow or restore the file; the program contains no personal-data collection (nothing is sent anywhere except the optional update check).

Installing an update

When a new version is available, a blue Update … available button appears in the bottom status bar.

  1. Click it to see what's new, then click Download. Your purchase page opens; save the installer.
  2. Close TM Studio (sidebar › Close Program).
  3. Run the downloaded installer. Your data is kept — it is stored in Documents\TM Studio, separately from the program, and a safety copy is made automatically before the new version first opens it.

You can also check any time with Settings > System & Backup > Check for updates. (Checking only reads a small public file; none of your data is sent anywhere.)

Reporting a problem

  1. Go to Settings > System & Backup > Report a Problem and click Create support file.
  2. Email the downloaded file to support with a short description of what happened.

The support file contains only the error log and version details — no recipes, invoices or customer information.

❓ Chapter 10: Frequently Asked Questions & Troubleshooting

Q: Why do my recipe prices show €0 on an imported invoice?

A: This happens if the dish name in your imported CSV does not exactly match the name in your Final Recipes list (for example, typing "Carrot Cake 8in" in the invoice instead of "Carrot Cake 8""). Make sure the spelling matches so the system can link the recipe cost.

Q: Can I type commas instead of points for prices (e.g. 1,50 instead of 1.50)?

A: Yes! The system fully supports European comma decimals (1,50), standard points (1.50), and thousands separators.

Q: Can I run this software without an internet connection?

A: Yes! TM Studio runs 100% locally on your machine. Your recipes, customer lists, and financial records never leave your computer.

Q: How do I close the application cleanly?

A: Click Close Program at the bottom of the sidebar. (Or find the small TM Studio icon near the clock in the Windows taskbar, right-click it and choose Quit.) Both safely close the background server.

Q: Why does my screen say "NetworkError when attempting to fetch resource"?

A: This means the frontend browser cannot talk to the local backend server. If you are running the app as TMStudio.exe, simply restart it. If running in development mode, ensure your Python uvicorn server is running on port 8000.

⚠️ Important Note About OneDrive / Cloud Sync

If your software folder is located inside Microsoft OneDrive or Dropbox, cloud sync can occasionally lock database files while trying to upload them.

  • Best Practice: Keep your software in a normal local folder (such as C:\TMStudio\) and use the Full Backup button in Settings to save your backup files to OneDrive or Google Drive.

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Keep your hands on the keyboard to fly through your work:

Shortcut Action What it Does
Ctrl + F Global Search Find any recipe, ingredient, customer or invoice instantly.
Ctrl + N New Item Context-sensitive: opens "+ Add Product" on Products, "+ Build Recipe" on Recipes, "+ Create Invoice" on Invoices.
Ctrl + S Save Saves the recipe or invoice you are editing. (List changes are saved immediately.)
Ctrl + Z Undo Rolls back your last saved change. Inside a text box it undoes typing.
Ctrl + Y Redo Reapplies an undone change. Inside a text box it redoes typing.
Ctrl + T Theme Switch Toggles between Day (Light) and Night (Dark) mode.
F1 Help Opens the shortcuts reference panel.
Escape Close Modal Closes any open dialog, popup window, or search overlay.

TM Studio — Built to make kitchen costing simple, profitable, and stress-free.