Kirana store billing software for the busy neighbourhood counter

What a kirana counter actually needs

A neighbourhood grocery has hundreds of small items, many repeat customers and thin margins. The owner is usually also the cashier, the stock-keeper and the accountant. Software for this shop has to be quick enough for a queue at 8 am, simple enough for a family member to use, and forgiving when the internet or the power is unreliable.

RathTech Billing POS runs on the shop PC and stores everything locally, so billing continues through an internet outage. Read more about offline billing.

Billing in a few key presses

A short thermal receipt prints for walk-in customers. If a nearby small business buys from you and wants a GST invoice, print the A4 version of the same sale. See GST billing.

• Search by a few letters of the name, or scan a barcode, and the item is in the cart.
• Change quantity, price or discount on a line when a regular negotiates.
• Choose Cash, UPI, Card or Credit and press F4 to complete and print.
• Save a half-finished cart as a draft with Ctrl+S when a customer remembers something at home.

Udhaar, without the notebook

Credit to regular families is how kirana shops keep their customers, and also how they lose money. In the app, you pick the customer and choose Credit when billing. The amount is added to their outstanding balance and the bill is kept with full details. When they pay, whether in full or a part, you record it from their customer page. You always know each balance, and so do your staff, without anyone flipping through pages. See udhaar and credit tracking for the full flow.

Never run out of the bestsellers

Rice, oil, sugar, tea and biscuits are the items customers judge a kirana shop by. Each product has a minimum stock level, and the dashboard shows how many items are low. When a bill is saved, stock drops automatically, and when goods arrive you record the purchase and stock rises. The top-sellers report tells you what to buy deeper at the next wholesale visit. More in inventory management.

Getting started with an existing catalogue

1. List your products in Excel with name, price, GST percentage and stock, or start from a supplier's list.
2. Import the file into the app in one step.
3. Add barcodes for packaged goods, and print your own labels for loose or repacked items. See barcode billing.
4. Add your regular credit customers with phone numbers.
5. Run a few practice bills, then go live at a quiet hour.

Protect the shop when staff help at the counter

Give each person their own PIN and a role: owner, manager or cashier. Cancelling a bill or deleting records needs the right role, and an activity log records who did what. You can step away from the counter without worrying that someone will change history.

Be sure it fits

RathTech Billing POS is a Windows desktop app and the interface is currently in English. It bills by quantity and price per item. If you need a mobile-only app, expiry-by-batch tracking or restaurant table billing, this is not the right tool. Try the free 14-day trial on your own counter and see whether it suits your routine. Compare with the cloud approach in offline vs cloud billing software.