Two ways to run it. Neither needs the internet.
One machine, or the whole office off one server. The database stays yours either way.
Standalone
One machine, one local database. Install and bill — nothing else to set up, and nothing to pay for a connection you are not using.
- Local database on a disk you own
- Database location you choose — including another drive
- Scheduled encrypted backups, retained and verified
LAN server & clients
One machine holds the books and serves the rest of the office over your own network. Counter staff work on thin clients; no data leaves the building.
- Runs headless in the system tray as an office server
- Clients ride the server’s licence — no activation each
- Fleet inventory: which machine, which user, which version
- Clients update from the server, not the internet
Multi-counter shop? See the counter setup.
What a browser cannot do
These are the reasons the Desktop Suite exists — not preferences, but things a web app is structurally unable to offer.
Silent printing
An 80mm receipt to a named thermal printer with no dialog, on every sale. A browser must show the print dialog every time.
Your database, your disk
A local database file you can put on a network share or a second drive, back up yourself, and carry to another machine.
Backups that leave the building
Scheduled, encrypted, retained and integrity-checked — and written into a synced cloud-drive folder automatically when one is present.
One honest exception: AI needs a connection. The copilot, the CFO report and the business agent reach our secure gateway. Everything else — billing, accounting, GST, inventory, reports — runs with the network unplugged, and the Pharma AI tools are deterministic and work offline.
Questions
Do the LAN clients each need their own licence?+
No. A thin client rides the server’s licence and skips activation entirely — one key licenses the office. Your plan sets how many clients may connect at once.
What happens if the internet goes down?+
Nothing. The database is local and every screen except AI works without a connection. Licence validation has a 30-day offline grace period, after which the app becomes read-only rather than locking you out.
Where is my data stored?+
In a SQLite database on the machine you choose — including a network share or a second drive. You can move it and the app will find it again.
Can clients update themselves without internet?+
Yes. The server mirrors updates on the LAN, so clients pull the new build from the office server rather than from the internet.
How do the counters find the server — do we need a static IP or a domain?+
No domain and no static IP. This is a local-network setup: one PC runs the server role — it holds the books and sits headless in the system tray — and each counter simply points at that machine over your own LAN. Nothing is exposed to the internet, so there is no router configuration, no hosting and nothing for an ISP to provide.
What happens when the server machine is switched off?+
The counters lose the books until it is back on — one machine holds the single database, and the thin clients have nothing local to fall back on. Nothing is lost: the database file is untouched and work resumes where it stopped. The practical rule is to make the server a machine that stays on through trading hours, which is also why it can run headless in the system tray.
Can the database sit on a NAS or a network share?+
Yes. The SQLite database file lives wherever you point it — the server’s own disk, a second drive or a network share on a NAS. The server machine still does the serving either way; the share only holds the file. Scheduled encrypted backups take a destination of their own, so the backup can sit on a different disk from the books.
How do I add another counter mid-plan?+
Install the client on the new machine and point it at the server. There is nothing to activate — clients ride the server’s licence — so the only gate is your plan’s connected-machine count: one on the entry plan, two to three on Pro, more on Enterprise. If every seat is taken, moving up a plan raises the count.
What is the portable build for?+
It is the same Windows app shipped without an installer — for a machine where you cannot run installers, or where you would rather keep the program in a folder you control. Nothing about the data changes: the database is still a local SQLite file in a location you choose. Most offices use the regular installer; the portable build exists for the cases where the installer itself is the obstacle.
What should I do before replacing the server PC?+
Take a backup and move the database file — that is the whole job. Point a backup at a location off the old machine, install LekhaPro on the new PC, place the database where you want it and open it from the new install. The counters then connect to the new server. Because the books live in one database file, the move is a copy, not a migration.