A cloth shop does not sell in neat pieces. A customer asks for four and a half metres, a merchant takes a whole thaan, another buys a ready suit. Stock is cut, returned and recounted all day. If the records use one unit and the counter uses another, the numbers drift. This guide shows how to keep a cloth shop's stock, bills and balances in step.
Key points
- Count each cloth in the unit you actually sell it in
- Bill customers by the metre, yard or suit, including fractions
- Handle returns properly so stock and balances stay right
- Keep retail customers and wholesale merchants in one ledger
Pick the unit for each cloth
eKhata supports metre, yard, suit, thaan, roll, bale and piece, and you can add your own. Choose the unit that matches how the item is sold. Fabric sold by the metre is counted in metres, ready suits in suits, and a whole roll that moves as one in thaan.
Fractions are allowed, so 4.5 metres is recorded as exactly 4.5.
Add stock with its cost
When you add a product, enter its opening quantity, buying price and selling price. When you buy more, record a purchase bill and the quantity goes up. Weighted average cost updates each time, so the profit you see on a design reflects what it really cost.
- Opening quantity and unit
- Buying price and selling price
- Stock movement history for every product
Bill by the cut
Make a sale bill by choosing the customer, adding the cloth and entering the length or number sold. The bill can be paid in full or in part, and eKhata shows what is still due. Stock falls by the exact quantity sold.
You can print a receipt on a thermal printer or send a PDF invoice on WhatsApp.
Handle returns properly
Customers return cloth for size, colour or change of mind. Record a sale return and the stock goes back on the shelf while the customer's balance or refund is adjusted. Without a return entry, stock and balances drift apart and are hard to untangle later.
Retail customers and wholesale merchants
Many cloth shops sell to both walk-in customers and wholesale merchants who buy on credit. Both live in the parties ledger, each with a running khata. For merchants you can send a PDF statement on WhatsApp showing what they bought and paid.
If you also send cloth out for dyeing or processing, the outsourcing workflow follows the stock through the vendor and adds the vendor's charges and any shrinkage to the cost.