Billing Software for Hardware and Paint Shops

Hardware, paint and sanitaryware shops. A hardware or paint shop deals with two kinds of buyer at the same counter: a walk-in customer paying cash, and a contractor running a monthly account who needs a purchase order number on the bill. This is the billing and stock system I built for a home furnishing retailer, written up for the hardware, paint and sanitaryware trade, where supplier bills, delivery charges and contractor credit matter as much as the sale itself.

What makes this trade different

• A contractor's bill needs a purchase order number on it, and their account needs to carry a running balance, not be settled every visit.
• Delivery of heavy goods carries its own freight charge, which needs its own tax treatment, not buried inside the price of the goods.
• Supplier bills for pipes, fittings, tools and paint arrive by the dozen each week, often as a PDF from the distributor.
• Goods sometimes have to go back to the supplier, and that needs its own paperwork, not a quiet adjustment.
• Stock spans hundreds of SKUs across several categories, each possibly taxed differently.

How it handles each one

• A purchase order number on the bill. A PO number box sits under the customer's GSTIN, up to 40 characters, and prints on every bill format once filled, so a contractor's own order reference is on the invoice.
• Freight as its own line. Freight or cartage gets its own box in the totals, with its own HSN code and GST rate, printed with its own tax split, separate from the price of the goods.
• Supplier bills read from a PDF. A supplier's bill can be typed in or read from their PDF. Either way, it updates stock and that item's purchase rate, and a new product can be created straight from the bill.
• Goods sent back to a supplier. A debit note has its own number series, removes the stock, reverses the GST, and shows against the original purchase bill.
• A contractor's running account. A buyer's full history, what they owe and what they have paid sit on one screen, whether they are a walk-in or a contractor on credit.
• A tax rate set once per category. Set a tax rate on a category, such as paints or sanitaryware, and every product in it picks it up, rather than setting the rate item by item.
• E-way bill for big deliveries. An e-way bill is raised from the bill itself once a delivery crosses the threshold that makes one compulsory, for a customer with or without a GST number.

What it doesn't do

• It does not weigh or mix anything itself, such as a paint tinting machine or loose hardware sold by weight. Items are billed by piece, length or the unit you set on the product, not by a connected scale.
• Billing needs an internet connection. There is no offline billing today; a phone hotspot is enough to carry on.
• The billing counter is made for an iPad or a computer. Staff get a simple phone screen to look up stock, not to bill from.

Questions

Can a contractor's purchase order number go on the bill?

Yes. A PO number box sits under the GSTIN on the bill, prints on every invoice format once filled, and Bills search can find a bill by that number.

Can delivery charges be billed separately from the goods?

Yes. Freight or cartage is its own line in the totals, with its own HSN code and GST rate, kept out of bill discount and coupons.

Does it read a supplier's PDF bill?

Yes. A purchase bill can be read from the supplier's PDF instead of typed in line by line.

Who helps when something breaks?

I do. You message me, I look at it, and I fix it. I don't disappear after deploy.

Contractor accounts with a PO number on the bill, freight billed as its own line, and purchase bills read straight from a supplier's PDF. See how it works for a hardware or paint shop, or leave your number and I will call you back. Retail POS, stock and GST billing.