Shop software is a long-term choice. Your records, your staff's habits and your customers' balances all end up inside it. A tool that looks impressive on a demo but does not fit how a Pakistani shop works will be abandoned within weeks. Use this checklist to compare any option, including eKhata, against the things that actually matter day to day.
Key points
- Check that it handles udhaar, wallets and your own units natively
- Make sure one entry updates the khata, stock and cash together
- Look at who can see what, and how your data is backed up
- Try it free on your own shop before you commit
Does it speak your language and your trade?
Check for Urdu and English with proper right-to-left layout, not a half translation. Then check the units: can you sell by the kilo, metre, yard, thaan, bag or maund, with fractions? Software built for another market often cannot.
If you have to bend your trade to fit the software, it is the wrong software.
Is udhaar a first-class feature?
In Pakistan credit is not an extra, it is the business. Look for a proper customer and supplier ledger with a running balance, dated entries, part payments and the ability to send a statement or reminder on WhatsApp.
- A running khata for every customer and supplier
- Part payments on bills
- PDF statements and reminders on WhatsApp
Does it understand cash, banks and wallets?
Check that the cash book can separate cash, bank, Easypaisa and JazzCash, and that sales, expenses and salaries post to it automatically. If you must type each cash entry twice, mistakes will creep in and staff will stop doing it.
Is stock tied to billing and cost?
A bill should reduce stock, and a purchase should raise it. Look for low-stock alerts, a movement history for each product and a sensible costing method such as weighted average, so that profit reflects what stock really cost.
If you cut, dye or process goods, check whether the software can follow the stock through that process.
Who can see what, and what if the phone is lost?
Ask about staff logins with permissions for each module, so salesmen do not see your profit. Ask where data is kept and whether it is backed up. A cloud backup means a lost phone is an inconvenience, not a disaster.
Also ask whether each business's data is kept separate from every other business.
Support and price
Software gets stuck on the first day, so check the support. Is there a real person who answers in Urdu on WhatsApp? Will they help you enter your starting balances? Then look at the price model: per month or per year, and whether features are locked behind higher plans or charged per user or per bill.
eKhata plans start at Rs 2,000 a month, every plan includes every feature and there are no per-user or per-bill charges. The most reliable test is still a free trial on your own shop, which eKhata offers for 7 days.