Purchase management for pharmacies and healthcare retail in Bangladesh
Raise a purchase return for near-expiry or damaged stock against the original bill, record the supplier credit, and apply it to the next payment. Item-supplier links show who sold you what.
Pharmacy buying is high frequency and low value per line, with distributors delivering several times a week and credit notes flowing back the other way for expired and damaged goods.
The administrative weight sits in the returns rather than the purchases. A pharmacy that does not systematically claim credit for expired stock is writing off money that the distributor was contractually going to give back.
What goes wrong for pharmacies
Everyday problems in this trade, from the industry guide.
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Expired medicine found on the shelf
Expiry dates are checked by walking the shelves once a month, if there is time. Strips expire quietly at the back, and the loss is only noticed when a customer points it out.
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Supplier returns missed
Companies accept near-expiry returns within a window. Without a list of what is approaching expiry and which supplier it came from, the window closes and the stock is written off.
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Thousands of items in a khata
Purchases from many distributors are noted in books, stock is a guess, and the same item is bought from two sources at different prices without anyone noticing until the money is gone.
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Slow counter at peak hours
Evening rush, one person on the counter, prices looked up by memory. Mistakes on price and change are common, and a held bill for a customer who forgot their prescription is lost.
Supplier returns and credit
How Purchase & Suppliers handles it.
Raise a purchase return for near-expiry or damaged stock against the original bill, record the supplier credit, and apply it to the next payment. Item-supplier links show who sold you what.
What you get
The parts of Purchase & Suppliers that matter most here.
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Goods receipt (GRN)
Receive goods against a purchase order, in full or in part, into a specific warehouse with serial numbers or batch and expiry captured at the door. Approve and complete the receipt to update stock.
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Purchase returns
Return damaged or wrong goods to the supplier against the original receipt or bill. Stock, payables and input VAT reverse automatically and the return shows on the supplier ledger.
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Bills matched to receipts
Record the supplier bill against the receipt and order, with differences visible before approval. Direct bills cover cash purchases without an order and still post stock and accounting entries.
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Supplier ledger and ageing
Each supplier has a party ledger of bills, payments, returns and credits with a running balance, and aged payables group dues into buckets so you decide who to pay first.
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Item-supplier links
Link items to the suppliers who stock them with their price, so a buyer sees who to order from and at what cost when a requisition comes in, and the purchase order fills itself.
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Supplier payments
Pay bills by cash, bank transfer, cheque, card or MFS, in part or in full, and see the remaining balance per bill. Refunds and supplier credits settle returns and overpayments against future bills.
A working day for pharmacies
The sequence this trade actually runs, from the industry guide.
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Receive stock with batch and expiry
Company representatives deliver against orders. Staff enter the GRN with batch numbers, expiry dates and purchase price, and print barcodes for loose items that lack one.
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Sell at the counter
Items are scanned, the earliest-expiring batch is picked, cash or MFS is taken and a receipt is printed. Held bills wait for customers who return with a prescription.
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Act on near-expiry alerts
The near-expiry list shows items and their suppliers. Short-dated stock is moved to the front, discounted, or returned to the supplier with a purchase return.
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Transfer between outlets
Stock the branch is short of is transferred from the main shop with a transfer record, and both outlets' stock figures update immediately.
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Close and review
Each counter runs a Z-report, and the owner checks sales by outlet, supplier dues and the reorder suggestions produced by replenishment rules.
Questions
Answered plainly, including where the answer is no.
Can returns to the distributor be tracked?
Yes. Purchase returns are recorded against the original purchase with supplier credit raised, so what was sent back and what has actually been credited are both visible on the supplier ledger.
How do repeat orders work?
Item to supplier links record who supplies what, and auto replenishment rules flag items below their level, so a reorder starts from data rather than from walking the shelves.
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