How to Choose ERP Software for Your Nepali Company

Choosing ERP is closer to hiring a senior employee than buying a laptop. It will touch every department, you will live with it for years, and a bad choice is expensive to undo. Yet many companies decide after one flashy demo. The steps below help a Nepali owner or finance head choose with clear eyes, whichever vendor ends up winning.

Step 1: write requirements in business language

Do not start with module names. Start with sentences such as "When goods arrive at the Birgunj warehouse, I want stock and the supplier balance to update the same day" or "I want to see which customers are over forty-five days overdue before I approve a new order". Ask each department head for their five most painful tasks and their five most-wanted reports. Group these into must-have, should-have and later.

A list of thirty business sentences is more useful to a vendor than a two-hundred-line feature spreadsheet copied from the internet.

Step 2: define the size of the job

• Number of companies, branches and warehouses
• Number of users and what each does
• Number of items, customers and suppliers
• Monthly volume of invoices and purchase bills
• Any production or batch tracking needs
• Existing software that must connect or be replaced

This sizing drives both the price and the project plan. Share it equally with every vendor you speak to so the quotations are comparable.

Step 3: judge demos with your own scenarios

A canned demo always works. Instead, give the vendor three real scenarios a week before: a purchase with partial delivery and a returned item, a sale to a credit customer with VAT and a post-dated cheque, and a month-end closing. Watch whether the system handles them without workarounds, and how many clicks they take. Invite the people who will use it daily, especially the store keeper and the accountant.

Step 4: check the fit for Nepal

Check	Why it matters
13% VAT invoices, registers and returns	Daily compliance work for registered businesses
Fiscal year starting in Shrawan	Closing, opening balances and reports follow it
Bikram Sambat dates	Staff and auditors think in BS dates
Cheque and credit tracking	Standard in Nepali trade
Nepali language printing	Some documents and letters need it
Local support in your time zone	Problems at month end cannot wait for another continent

Any vendor can say their product is "compliant". Treat that word carefully. No software company can make your business compliant for you, and rules change. Ask how updates for changed requirements are handled and who pays for them, and verify requirements with your accountant and the relevant government office.

Step 5: ask the contract questions

1. Who owns the data, and in what format can I export all of it?
2. Is the software yours, a customised open-source base or a resold product, and what does that mean for support if you stop operating?
3. Are customisations included in the quote, and how are change requests priced?
4. What is covered by the annual support fee, and what response times apply?
5. Where is it hosted, how are backups taken and how often is a restore tested?
6. What is the exit path if we change vendor in future?

Ask for answers in writing. These questions feel awkward, but honest vendors expect them.

Red flags

• A fixed low price before anyone has asked about your business.
• No reference customers you can speak to, or only a logo list.
• Pressure to decide quickly because of a "special offer".
• Reluctance to show how data is exported.
• Promises of going live in a few days for a multi-branch company.
• No mention of training, data migration or parallel running in the plan.

Step 6: plan the people side

Technology is the smaller half. Name a project owner inside the company with authority to decide, set aside time for staff to attend training and test, and be ready to change a few habits. If the store keeper writes on paper and the accountant enters later, the ERP will not magically fix that. You can read more about phased adoption in our guide on ERP software for Nepali companies, and the related note on choosing between systems in accounting software.

Reference checks that tell you something

Ask the vendor for two or three companies of a similar size and sector that you can call. Do not ask whether they are happy; ask how long go-live took compared with the promise, what the first month-end closing felt like, what support response is like at 5 pm on the last day of the month, and what they would do differently. If a vendor is new and has no references, that is not automatically bad, but it means you should ask for a smaller first phase and a clear exit clause.

Comparing quotations fairly

Put each quotation in the same table: modules included, number of users, branches, migration, training days, hosting, support and exclusions. The cheapest line on paper often leaves out items you will need. Ask each vendor to confirm in writing what happens if you add a user, a branch or a report after go-live, so the cost of growth is known before you sign.

Watch the vendor's attitude to "no"

A good vendor will tell you when a request is unwise, too costly or better handled by a later phase. A vendor who says yes to everything is either inexperienced or planning to bill you for it later. Notice who asks you questions about your business during the first conversation; that curiosity usually predicts the quality of the project.

Your next step

Collect your thirty business sentences and the sizing list, then request demos from at least two vendors using the same scenarios. When you are ready to include WebsNP, message +977 9846280400 on WhatsApp with those documents and we will prepare a demo around your scenarios and a written quotation.

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