Herbal Medicine Stock and Expiry in an Ayurveda Dispensary

An Ayurveda dispensary holds an odd mix of stock: raw herbs by the kilogram, powders by the gram, oils and syrups in bottles, tablets in strips and proprietary products in boxes. Each moves at a different speed and has a different shelf life. Without a system, shelves are either overfull of slow items or empty of fast ones. This guide describes a practical herbal medicine stock and expiry routine for Nepali dispensaries. It is about inventory records, not about the medicines' effects.

Decide your units

Start by deciding how each item is bought and sold. A raw herb might be bought by the kilogram and sold by the gram. A preparation might come in bottles and be sold by bottle or by the dose. Record the purchase unit, the selling unit and the conversion between them once, so the system can reduce stock correctly. Mistakes here are the most common cause of stock that never matches the shelf.

Record batch and expiry on receiving

When stock arrives, check the bill against what is delivered and enter each item with its batch number and expiry date, if one is printed. For loose herbs without a printed expiry, record the purchase date and set your own review period. Label containers with the received date. This single habit makes everything else possible.

First in, first out

Sell older stock first. If you hold two batches of the same item, the one expiring sooner goes to the front. A system that shows batches in expiry order at the time of issue helps the dispensary follow this naturally, without anyone remembering. Without it, newer boxes are placed in front and older ones forgotten behind them.

A monthly expiry review

Once a month, list everything expiring in the next two to three months. For each, decide between three actions: sell it first, return it to the supplier if they accept returns, or remove it. Record whatever is discarded, with a reason, so that your stock figure stays honest. Never keep expired items on the shelf. It is a risk to patients and to your reputation.

Reorder levels

For each item set a level below which you reorder. Fast movers deserve a higher level than rare items. Review the levels each quarter. Seasons affect demand, and herbs from certain regions arrive late in the monsoon when roads are blocked, so you may want a larger buffer before the rains. A low stock list printed every week turns the purchasing job into a quick routine.

Check	How often
Low stock list	Weekly
Near expiry list	Monthly
Physical count against system	Quarterly, or by section in rotation
Reorder levels	Quarterly

In-house preparations

If your clinic prepares some items, treat each preparation as a small production batch. Record the date, the raw materials used with quantities, the finished quantity and the person responsible. The finished item then enters stock with its own batch and an expiry date set by your practice. If you buy from local gatherers, record the supplier and date as well. Keep to whatever standards your professional body and the relevant authority expect, and ask them if you are unsure.

Purchases and VAT records

Keep supplier bills in order, with the supplier's PAN or VAT number where given, and record payments due. The standard VAT rate is 13%, but how it applies to a particular item or business is for the IRD or your accountant to confirm. Your software should store the information and give your accountant clean purchase and sales lists. See inventory management software for the general approach.

Using software

WebsNP Ayurveda clinic software includes units with conversions, batch and expiry tracking, low stock and near expiry lists, in-house preparation records, and purchase and supplier ledgers. We set up your item list with you, so the units match how you really sell.

Storage notes that help your records

Stock records only work if the physical shelf is organised to match. Give each item a fixed place, label shelves with the item name and keep older batches at the front. Store raw herbs in clean, labelled, dry containers and keep powders and oils away from direct sun and moisture. Damp is a particular problem in the monsoon months. When a container is topped up from a new purchase, never mix batches, because a mixed container has no honest expiry date. Write the batch or received date on the label. These habits cost almost nothing and make the monthly review quick, because anyone can see at a glance what is old and what is new.

Who does what

Name a person for receiving, a person for issuing and the owner for approving write-offs. When one person does everything, errors and losses go unnoticed. When roles are separated, even in a small clinic with two or three staff, mistakes are caught early and nobody is unfairly blamed for a loss they did not cause.

Keep a wastage log

Spillage, spoilage and expired items are normal in a herbal dispensary, but they should be recorded. A simple wastage log with the date, item, quantity and reason shows which items are ordered too often in large amounts and which suppliers send poor quality. Over a year, it becomes a useful negotiating tool and a reason to adjust reorder levels.

Your next step

This week, pick one shelf and count it. Compare it with your register and note the differences. Those differences show exactly where a system would help. Then message us on WhatsApp to see the same shelf set up in software.

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