If you run a shop, a wholesale business or a distribution company, billing and inventory software in Pakistan has to cope with things that foreign product pages rarely mention: stock spread across a shop and one or more godowns, customers who buy on credit, power cuts, unreliable internet and tax invoicing that depends on your own situation. This post is a checklist of what to look for and what to ask before you pay for anything.
Wellsoft is a software company based in Lahore. We build IDP, a desktop system for inventory, sales and accounts, so we will be clear about what it does and what it does not.
Start with how your business actually works
Before comparing software, write down four things:
- How many places hold stock: a shop, a godown, a second branch?
- How many customers buy on credit, and how much is outstanding at any time?
- How often do power or internet fail while you are trading?
- What invoice format do you or your accountant need?
Those four answers will remove most of the products on any list.
Billing and inventory software in Pakistan: stock per godown
A shop with a godown behind it, or a distributor with two warehouses, does not have "a stock quantity". It has a quantity in each place. A tool that shows one total will happily tell you that you have forty cartons while the shop shelf is empty and all forty are in a godown across town.
Good billing and inventory software in Pakistan should:
- Track quantity per godown, warehouse or shop.
- Record goods received at each location.
- Let you transfer stock between locations with a record of who sent what and who received it.
- Support gate passes, so there is a document for goods leaving a warehouse.
- Refuse a sale that would take a location below zero, instead of only showing a warning.
- Send low-stock alerts before an item runs out.
Our post on moving stock between warehouses explains why a logged transfer is better than editing two numbers by hand.
Udhaar: credit customers and balances
Selling on udhaar is part of normal trade in Pakistan, and it is also where many businesses lose track of money. A notebook or a phone app can record who owes you, but it usually cannot connect that balance to the invoice, the stock that left and the cash that came back.
Look for software that:
- Keeps a running balance for every customer and every vendor.
- Lets you set a credit limit, so a large invoice to someone already over their limit is noticed before it goes out.
- Records each payment against the right account.
- Connects balances to your cashbook and ledgers, so a payment is entered once.
If you now keep customer balances in a khata notebook or in a spreadsheet, five spreadsheets, one system describes the point at which a single system starts to save more time than it costs.
Cashbook and accounts in the same place
When billing, stock and accounts are separate, someone has to copy figures between them, and the copies drift apart. Check that the software includes a cashbook, ledgers, a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet drawn from the same transactions as your sales and stock. Ask your accountant whether the reports are in a form they can use.
Working when the power or internet goes
Power cuts and weak connections are a normal part of trading in many areas. If the software only runs in a browser, a dropped connection means you cannot bill a customer who is standing in front of you.
Offline-first software runs on your own computer, so billing and stock continue without the internet. IDP is offline-first and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and there is a cloud-hosted option for businesses that want it. Whatever you choose, ask the vendor to show you what happens when the internet is switched off, and ask how data is backed up.
FBR and GST invoicing: ask before you assume
Whether and how you need to issue invoices in the format the Federal Board of Revenue expects depends on your business, so confirm the current requirement with your accountant or tax adviser. Then ask every vendor exactly what their software does about it, and ask to see it on screen.
Be careful with phrases such as "FBR ready" on a product page. Ask what that means in practice. For IDP, FBR/GST invoicing can be added to match your requirements. It is not something we describe as built in. Tell us what you need during the demo and we will say whether it fits your setup.
Who is on the system matters too
Check who will use the software and what each person should be allowed to do. A counter cashier needs to bill and take payment, but should not be able to change a cost price or delete an invoice. A storekeeper needs to receive and transfer stock, but not see the profit and loss. Roles and permissions protect you from honest mistakes as well as the other kind, so ask how they are set up and whether there is a charge for extra users.
Questions to ask every vendor
- Is stock tracked per godown, and are transfers recorded?
- Does it stop a sale that would make stock negative?
- Can I see each customer's balance and set a credit limit?
- Are cashbook, ledgers, profit and loss and balance sheet included?
- What happens when there is no internet or electricity?
- Which computers does it run on?
- How is the data backed up, and can I export it if I leave?
- Is there a long contract? Are there per-user or per-transaction fees?
- How does it handle FBR/GST invoicing for my business?
How IDP is priced
IDP is billed monthly. There is no long-term contract, no per-user fee within the plan limit and no per-transaction fee. Starter covers up to 3 users and 1 warehouse; Business covers up to 15 users. Current plans are on the pricing page.
What IDP does not cover
If you need something IDP does not cover, or you want software shaped around your own way of working, we also build custom software, web apps and AI agents. See our services.
Next steps
Read the full module list on the product page: inventory across multiple warehouses, sales and invoicing with point of sale, customers and vendors, cashbook, ledgers, financial reports, fixed-asset depreciation and roles and permissions.
If you would like to see it working with your own questions, contact us and we will arrange a demo.