Distribution Software Checklist: 31 Buyer Questions

0 of 31 ticked

Ask the vendor to show each point on screen with your kind of data. Tick it only when you have seen it working.

Primary and secondary sales01Can it show primary purchases from each company and secondary sales to retailers separately?02Can it keep separate price lists for each company, customer class or area?03Can it bill quickly with a barcode scanner and handle free goods on the same bill?04Can it convert a salesman's or retailer's order into an invoice without retyping?05Can it give stock and sales statements company-wise, in the format each principal asks for?

Schemes, claims and returns06Can it apply quantity, value and slab schemes automatically at the time of billing?07Can it prepare scheme and rate-difference claims on the company, with supporting bill details?08Can it track each claim from submission to credit note, and list claims still pending?09Can it handle damaged and expired returns from retailers and pass them on to the company?

Batch, expiry and warehouse10Can it track batch number, expiry date and MRP for every item in stock?11Can it pick the earliest-expiring batch first and block billing of expired stock?12Can it list stock nearing expiry by company, so that you can return or clear it?13Can it handle the same item at different MRPs without creating duplicate items?14Can it manage several godowns and van stock, with transfers between them?

Field sales, beats and van sales15Can you set beat plans for each salesman and see visits made against visits planned?16Can a salesman take orders on a phone app, even with a weak network?17Does the app show the salesman each retailer's outstanding, last orders and current schemes?18Can a van salesman bill, print and collect payment on the route, and settle at day end?19Can retailers place orders themselves through an app or link, with current stock and prices?

Credit control and collections20Can it warn or block billing when a retailer crosses the credit limit or credit days?21Can it show bill-wise outstanding with ageing by salesman, beat and area?22Can salesmen record collections on the app against specific bills, with cheque details?

GST, accounts and compliance23Can it generate e-invoices and e-way bills from the bill, singly and in bulk?24Can it reconcile your purchase register with GSTR-2B and list the mismatched bills?25Can it handle TDS and TCS entries and give data for your returns?26Is accounting built in, so that bills, receipts and ledgers come from one entry?

Owner reports, data and ownership27Can you see today's sales, collections and stock value on your phone?28Will the vendor migrate items, batches, retailer ledgers and pending bills, and state this in writing?29Can you export all your data to a spreadsheet or take a full backup yourself?30Does the proposal state who owns the data and any custom code written for you?31If you leave, will you get your complete data in a usable format?

Red flags

Walk away if you see these.

Schemes are applied by the billing clerk from memory, and claims are prepared outside the system.
The salesman app is a separate product, and orders have to be typed again in the office.
Expired or near-expiry stock can be billed without any warning.
Credit limits exist on the party master but nothing happens when they are crossed.
Per-user charges for the mobile app are not stated in the proposal.
The vendor avoids the question of who holds your data and how you get it back.

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FAQ

Questions, answered.

What is the difference between billing software and a DMS?

Billing software raises invoices and keeps accounts. A distributor management system also covers schemes and claims, beat plans, the salesman app, van sales, credit control and reports for principals. If you handle more than one company or have field staff, you need the wider set.

My principal company already gives me its own DMS. Do I need another?

A company's system covers only that company's products and reports to them. If you distribute several lines, you still need your own system for combined stock, accounts and outstanding. Check whether it can exchange data with the company's system to avoid double entry.

How do I test scheme and claim handling in a demo?

Give the vendor one real scheme from last month, bill three retailers under it, and ask for the claim statement. Then check it against your own working. If the figures match without manual adjustment, mark it yes.

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Distribution software checklist: 31 questions to ask before you buy