Key points
- Start with GST, billing, inventory, purchase and accounts: every business needs these.
- Then add what your trade needs: batches for pharmacy, sizes for garments, serials for electronics, BOM for factories.
- Check reports and mobile access for the owner.
- Don’t forget user rights, backups and support.
- Test features with your own data in a demo, not just on a feature list.
Core features every business needs
GST and billing
- Automatic CGST/SGST or IGST from the customer’s state
- HSN codes and rates on every item
- GST invoice formats that meet the rules, in A4 and thermal sizes
- Credit and debit notes linked to original bills
- GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B data export
- E-invoice and e-way bill support if your turnover or dispatches need them
Inventory
- Stock that updates with every bill and purchase
- Minimum stock and reorder alerts
- Multiple units (box and piece, kg and gram)
- Stock by location if you have a godown
- Physical stock check with adjustments
Purchase
- Purchase orders and supplier bills
- Purchase returns
- Supplier balances and payment tracking
- Input tax credit recorded on every bill
Accounts
- Customer and supplier ledgers
- Cash and bank books
- Day book, profit and loss and balance sheet
- Outstanding by bill, with ageing
Features that depend on your trade
| Trade | Features to look for |
|---|---|
| Pharmacy | Batch and expiry, Schedule H1 register, loose tablet billing, supplier expiry returns |
| Supermarket | Barcode and weighing-scale billing, offers, multiple counters, shift close |
| Garments and footwear | Size and colour matrix, tag or box labels, exchanges |
| Electronics and mobiles | Serial or IMEI tracking, warranty, EMI and finance sales |
| Wholesale | Price lists, credit limits, salesman app, schemes, transport details |
| Manufacturing | BOM, production orders, material issue, costing, job work |
Features for the owner
- A dashboard with today’s sales, collections and stock alerts
- A mobile app or phone access
- Profit by product, customer and period
- Alerts for low stock, overdue customers and expiring items
Features people forget to check
- User rights: can you limit discounts, rate changes and deletions by user? See role-based access.
- Audit trail: is every change logged?
- Backups: automatic, and tested?
- Data import and export: can you bring your data in and take it out?
- Support: phone or WhatsApp help in a language your staff understand?
- Offline working: what happens when the internet goes down?
How to use this checklist
- Mark each feature Must-have, nice-to-have or not needed for your business.
- Ask for a demo With your own items and a typical bill, not a sample company.
- Check the plan Many features sit in higher plans; confirm which plan includes what you need.
- Talk to a current user Ideally in your own trade.