The kinds of business it is set up for
When you register you choose an industry. Navigate then applies a starter pack of roles, product categories, units and defaults, and adds the go-live steps that matter for that industry.
- Retail
- Wholesale and distribution
- Automotive and spare parts
- Manufacturing
- Professional services
- Construction
- Agriculture and agro-dealers
- Logistics
- Hospitality
- Healthcare and pharmacy
- SACCO and cooperative
The operating realities it was designed around
| Reality | What Navigate does about it |
|---|---|
| Customers pay by phone | Bank, cash and mobile money are all money accounts with their own ledger account. With M-Pesa connected in Kenya, a payment prompt goes to the customer's phone and the payment is matched. |
| Tax authorities want e-invoices | In Kenya, invoices and credit notes can be signed through KRA eTIMS. If signing fails, the failure is kept on the document and can be retried. |
| Several shops or stores | Branches and warehouses are built in. Reports split by location, and each person can be limited to their own branches. |
| Staff in the field with weak signal | Visits and sales orders can be captured on a phone with no connection and are sent later. Nothing is recorded twice. |
| Stock that goes missing | Counts, serial numbers, batches, approved transfers and a reconciled end of day for each sales van. |
| Cash handled by many hands | Till sessions with counted cash, petty cash funds with counts, staff advances cleared with receipts, and approval steps. |
| Imported goods | Import records carry goods in transit, duty by item and landed costs. Goods cannot be sold until they are costed and released. |
| Owners who are not in the shop | A daily report by WhatsApp and email covers sales, cash, stock and what needs attention. |
| Currencies that move | Multi-currency documents and exchange rates, with a local currency and a group currency. |
Countries
Navigate has a starting template for all 54 African countries, with the currency and phone code. Where a standard VAT rate is on file it is offered as a starting value, and each organisation manages its own tax in Settings.
That is not the same as full local coverage in each country. The table shows the difference for the four markets named on the website.
| Country | Currency | Tax connection | Payroll rates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya | KES | KRA eTIMS available | Kenya 2026 set up for you |
| Uganda | UGX | URA EFRIS planned | You add the rates before running a pay group |
| Tanzania | TZS | No connector yet | You add the rates before running a pay group |
| Rwanda | RWF | No connector yet | You add the rates before running a pay group |
Size and stage
The plans run from a single spare-parts shop to a business with many branches and specialist operations. Pricing follows how complex the business is rather than how many people sign in. Each plan includes users, branches and stores, and you can add more for a monthly fee instead of moving up a plan.
A reasonable sign of fit: you buy or sell physical goods or run jobs, you need the stock and the money to agree, and more than one person enters transactions.
Who probably should look elsewhere
A one-person business with few transactions may be fine with simple invoicing software. A multinational group that needs consolidated accounts across companies today should ask the Navigate team directly, because the holding-company feature keeps companies apart and does not consolidate them.
Where Navigate may not fit
- Coverage is deepest in Kenya. Outside Kenya there is no live tax-authority connection today.
- Direct Airtel Money and MTN MoMo connections are planned. Today other wallets, such as Tigo Pesa, can be kept as money accounts with payments recorded by reference, or reached through a card provider where it supports them.
- Offline work covers customer visits and sales orders on the phone only.
- Translation covers English, Kiswahili and French. Printed documents stay as entered.
- Industry packs set up roles, categories and defaults. They are not separate vertical products, so check that your specific workflow is covered.
Frequently asked questions
Is Navigate only for Kenyan businesses?
No. A business in any African country can register and work in its own currency. But M-Pesa through Daraja, eTIMS and the preloaded payroll rates are specific to Kenya, so elsewhere you would use card and provider checkouts and set up your own payroll rates.
We have one shop. Is it too much for us?
It can be, but the small plans leave out the ledger and specialist modules, and modules your industry rarely needs can be hidden from the menu. The demo shows how the screens feel.
We run several companies. Does it handle that?
One person can sign in once and switch between companies in a group. Each company keeps its own books. There are no inter-company transactions or consolidated reports. The Navigate team sets up the holding company.
Does it work with poor internet?
Partly. The phone screens for customer visits and sales orders work offline. Invoices, payments, stock levels, reports and the POS need a connection.