Industry playbook
Plywood & hardware dealers
How plywood dealers automate billing, stock and GST with hisabkitab
Picture a two-branch plywood and hardware dealer in Surat billing around 40 invoices a day to carpenters, contractors and interior firms. The item list runs past 600 SKUs across plywood, MDF, laminates, veneers and fittings, and the same four staff handle counter billing, dispatch and payment follow-up.
See hisabkitab for Plywood & hardware dealers →
The challenges
Why plywood billing breaks ordinary software
Every sheet is a maths problem
Customers buy full 8×4 sheets, cut sizes and laminates in one order, but the rate is per square foot. Staff multiply length × breadth × pieces on a calculator, type the answer into the billing screen and hope the decimal landed right. One slip on a 19mm BWP line can wipe out the margin on the whole bill.
Stock you cannot see by thickness and grade
The same brand comes in 4mm to 19mm, in commercial, MR and BWP grades. When the stock register only knows 'Plywood', the owner discovers that 18mm BWP has run out when a contractor is already waiting at the counter with a truck outside.
Contractor credit that quietly ages
Carpenters and site contractors take material on credit and pay in parts after their own client pays them. Without party-wise ageing, older bills slide past 60 and 90 days, and follow-up depends entirely on what the owner remembers on a busy Saturday.
Two branches, two versions of the truth
Transfers between branches are written in a challan book and entered later, if at all. By month-end one branch shows negative stock and the other shows sheets nobody can find, so nobody trusts the closing stock figure the CA needs for the books.
E-way bills for every site delivery
Bulk site orders routinely cross the ₹50,000 e-way bill limit, and some go out of state. Logging into the portal, copying vehicle numbers and re-keying invoice values for every load eats most of the dispatch clerk's afternoon and creates mismatches with the invoice.
A day in the life
A day before vs after hisabkitab
Before
Counter staff jot sizes on a slip, work out square feet on a calculator, then type totals into desktop billing.
The dispatch clerk opens the e-way bill portal separately and re-enters invoice value, HSN and vehicle number.
Branch transfers go into a handwritten challan book and stock is 'adjusted' at month-end.
On Saturday the owner flips through the ledger to decide which contractors to chase for payment.
With hisabkitab
Staff enter length, breadth and pieces; hisabkitab writes the square feet into quantity and prices the line at the per-sqft rate.
The e-way bill and e-invoice are generated in one click from the saved invoice, with vehicle number captured on the bill.
Branch transfers move on delivery challans, so stock by location, brand and thickness is live on the dashboard.
Auto-WhatsApp sends each invoice and payment reminder, and the Customer Ageing report shows who to call first.
Solutions
How hisabkitab solves it
Manual sqft calculation
Custom Field (Item Level) + Formula
Add Length, Breadth and Pieces as item-level fields on plywood, MDF and laminate items. The formula Total Qty = Length × Breadth × Pieces fills the quantity on every purchase and sale line, and the rate per sqft prices it. No calculator, no decimal errors.
Stock blind spots by thickness and grade
4-level item grouping + Low Stock Report
Group items Material → Type → Brand → Thickness. Stock Summary rolls up at any level, so you see all BWP stock or just 19mm, and the Low Stock Report flags fast movers before they run out.
Contractor credit that ages unseen
Customer Ageing + Auto-payment reminder
Every bill is tracked against the contractor's ledger. The ageing report buckets dues by days outstanding, and automatic WhatsApp and email reminders go out on schedule so the owner only calls the accounts that need a personal nudge.
Branch stock mismatch
Multi-location + Delivery Challan
Set each branch up as a location. Transfers move on a delivery challan, so goods leave one branch and arrive at the other in the same record, and Stock Summary by location replaces the month-end guesswork.
Portal re-entry for e-way bills
One-click e-way bill & e-invoice
Generate the e-way bill and IRN straight from the invoice; values, HSN and GSTINs flow across automatically. The vehicle number sits in a transaction-level custom field, so Part B is ready when the truck is.
No margin view per order
Bill-wise and Item-wise Profit Reports
See the margin on every invoice and every SKU. Spot the brand or thickness that sells in volume but earns little, and price the next contractor quote with real numbers instead of instinct.
Inside the software
Built for your books
Custom formula example
Total Qty (sqft) = Length (ft) × Breadth (ft) × Pieces. Example: 8 × 4 × 12 pcs = 384 sqft; 384 sqft × ₹92/sqft = ₹35,328 before GST.
4-level grouping
Items: Plywood → BWP → Brand A → 19mm. Customers: Area (Vesu) → Buyer type (Contractor) → Salesman → Party.
Reports you’ll use
Stock Summary · Low Stock Report · Customer Ageing Report · Bill-wise Profit Report · Item-wise Profit Report · GST Report
Compliance notes
Plywood, laminates and most hardware fittings generally fall in the 18% GST slab, but confirm each HSN code because rates were rationalised in September 2025. Consignments above ₹50,000 need an e-way bill, and intra-state rules vary by state. If your aggregate turnover crosses the e-invoicing threshold, B2B invoices must carry an IRN and QR code, and contractor buyers rely on your correct GSTIN and HSN data to claim input tax credit.
Recommended plan
The plan that fits
Advanced
₹6,999/year, exclusive of 18% GST (or ₹13,999 for 3 years)
Two branches and roughly 40 bills a day puts this dealer in distributor territory: unlimited e-way bills and e-invoices, AI-OCR for supplier bills and an Audit Trail. A single-counter plywood shop gets the same sqft formula on Boost.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Can hisabkitab bill plywood in square feet when I buy in sheets?
Yes. Enter length, breadth and pieces on both purchase and sale lines, and the formula writes square feet into the quantity. Stock stays consistent in square feet, while the custom fields keep the sheet count and size visible on every invoice, so your customer and your store both see what actually moved.
Should I create a separate item for each thickness?
We recommend one item per brand, grade and thickness, then grouping them four levels deep: Material, Type, Brand, Thickness. Billing stays fast because staff pick one item, and reports roll up whichever way you want to read them, from total plywood sales down to 19mm BWP of one brand.
Can I move from Tally without losing contractor outstandings?
Yes. Export your Day Book and Trial Balance and the Tally Connector brings them in, including opening balances, party outstandings and item stock. hisabkitab migrates your history without charging extra, and we ask you to tick one closed period's Trial Balance against Tally so you know it matches.
How many e-way bills and e-invoices can I generate?
Launch covers up to 400 a year, Boost up to 1,500 and Advanced is unlimited. A dealer sending several site loads a day usually outgrows 1,500 within the year, which is one reason multi-branch plywood dealers choose Advanced. Each one is generated with a single click from the saved invoice.
Can I check stock and dues from my phone?
Yes. The iOS and Android apps use the same login as the web. You can raise a quick invoice, share it on WhatsApp and view dashboards. On Advanced, you can also ask the Hisabkitab AI assistant plain questions such as how much 18mm BWP is in stock, or which contractors owe the most.
Put the calculator away for good
Book a demo and we will set up the sqft formula and thickness groups on your own item list. Migration from Tally, Busy or Excel is included at no extra charge.
