How to Choose Pharmacy Software for a Nepali Medical Shop

Good pharmacy software does three things well: it stores every purchase by batch and expiry, it bills at the counter in seconds with the correct pack unit and it warns you about stock before it expires or runs out. Everything else is secondary. A generic billing app can print a bill, but without batch and expiry it leaves your biggest risk, ageing stock, invisible.

This guide covers what to test during a demo, which features are optional and which questions to ask any vendor. It deals only with stock and billing records; it is not medical advice.

Understand the risk you are buying protection against

A pharmacy's stock is perishable in a way that hardware stock is not. Every product has a date after which you cannot sell it. If you find an expired box late, you carry the loss or argue with the distributor about returns. Software cannot prevent every loss, but it should make the dates visible early enough to act: sell faster, return to the supplier or move stock to a busier branch.

Essential features to test

Batch and expiry at purchase

When you enter a purchase bill, the system must ask for batch number and expiry for each line. Watch how many fields and clicks this takes. If entry is slow, staff will skip it, and the whole benefit disappears. Ask whether you can use a standard month and year format for expiry.

Earliest-expiry-first selling

At the counter, when two batches of the same medicine exist, the system should suggest the one that expires first. Ask what happens if staff choose another batch; a good system allows it but records the choice.

Strip, box and carton units

Customers buy strips, and wholesalers buy cartons. The product master should define how many strips in a box and boxes in a carton. Test it by selling three strips from a box and checking the remaining stock.

Near-expiry and low stock reports

Ask to see a report of everything expiring within three months, grouped by supplier. This is the list you send to the company representative for return or replacement, where the supplier allows it.

Supplier ledger and returns

You should be able to record a purchase return with reason and see how it affects the supplier balance. Expiry returns are routine in pharmacy, so this flow must be simple.

VAT billing

Bills should carry your PAN or VAT number, Bikram Sambat date and a sequential number. Treatment of VAT can differ between product categories, so the product master should allow a setting per item. Verify the correct treatment of each category with the tax office or your accountant.

Features that are nice but secondary

• Loyalty points and offers.
• Complex dashboards with many charts.
• Integration with third-party delivery apps.
• Barcode scanning, which helps if your products carry barcodes but is not required for a small counter.

Choose these only after the essentials pass your tests.

A simple scoring table

Test	Good result
Enter a purchase with two batches of one product	Both batches saved with expiry
Sell that product	Earliest expiry suggested
Sell three strips from a box of ten	Stock shows seven strips left, as boxes and strips
Run near-expiry report	Grouped by month and supplier
Return expired stock	Supplier balance reduces
Print a VAT bill	PAN, date, sequence and totals correct

Common buying mistakes

1. Using a general retail POS. It prints bills but has no batch or expiry concept.
2. Not testing speed. A busy counter cannot wait several seconds per line.
3. Skipping data import. Entering thousands of products by hand takes weeks.
4. Neglecting staff roles. Not every employee should be able to edit purchase rates or delete bills.
5. Ignoring backups. Your records may be needed for inspection or a dispute.

How to run a useful demo

Bring a real supplier bill and a handful of awkward products. A good demo for a pharmacy has these steps:

1. Enter the purchase bill, with two batches of one product and different expiry months.
2. Sell a few strips from a box and then a full box of the same item.
3. Bill a customer who buys on credit and record a part payment later in the week.
4. Return one near-expiry item to the supplier and look at the supplier balance.
5. Print the near-expiry report and the day's sales summary.

Time the counter steps. A pharmacy at peak hours cannot afford a slow search, so type a partial name and see how fast results appear. Ask also what a new employee sees on screen: if they can see purchase rates and margins, you may not want that.

Ask for the quote in writing, naming users, branches and modules, so you can compare two or three vendors on the same terms.

Questions for any vendor

• Can I see a batch entered at purchase and traced to a sale?
• How does the system behave with a power or internet break?
• How is VAT treatment set per product?
• Can I limit what counter staff can see, such as purchase cost?
• What does support cover and for how long?
• How is the price decided for several branches?

Next step

List your twenty fastest products and five awkward ones, such as items with several pack sizes, and ask for a demo using them. WebsNP can show Pharmacy Management Software on those items. If you hold stock across rooms or branches, also read about inventory management software. Message +977 9846280400 on WhatsApp to book a demo and quote.

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