Most billing software demos look the same. A clean screen, a fast scan, a printed bill, and a price. The differences that matter only surface three months later, usually at an inconvenient moment.
Here are ten questions worth asking first. They apply whichever vendor you are talking to, including us.
1. Is it IRD-approved, and can you see the proof?
Ask directly, and ask to see the registration rather than a claim on a website. “IRD compliant”, “IRD ready”, and “IRD approved” are not the same statement, and only one of them means the software is registered.
2. Does it support CBMS integration?
Approval and CBMS capability are related but separate. If your turnover is near the integration threshold, you need both — and you need to know it now, not after your next assessment.
3. What is the plan when the internet drops?
There are two legitimate designs here, and it is worth knowing which one you are being sold.
Installed software with an offline queue keeps billing when the line dies and transmits afterwards. Cloud software needs a connection, but not a particular one — any device with internet becomes a counter, so a staff phone on mobile data or a hotspot has you billing again in minutes. A fixed line failing does not usually mean mobile data has failed too.
Two follow-ups that matter more than the label:
- If it queues offline, how do you know the queue has cleared? Those invoices are still untransmitted to CBMS. The problem is deferred, not removed.
- If the counter machine itself dies, what happens? Installed software stops until it is repaired. Browser-based software carries on from any other device.
Neither design is wrong, but one will suit you better. If your location has genuinely poor mobile coverage, prioritise offline capability. If you have reasonable 4G, a backup connection is cheaper and simpler than the complexity offline queueing adds.
4. Can it count stock the way you actually sell?
This is where generic software most often fails. If you buy wire by the roll and sell it by the metre, or buy a carton and sell strips, the software must convert between units automatically. If it cannot, someone does that arithmetic by hand on every sale — and the stock figure drifts from day one.
Bring your three most awkward products to the demo. Not your simplest ones.
5. Does it handle what your trade specifically needs?
- Pharmacy: batch numbers and expiry dates
- Electronics: serial or IMEI tracking and warranty dates
- Restaurant: recipe-level ingredient consumption, not just finished dishes
- Hardware: multiple units and thousands of near-identical variants
- Distribution: separate price lists per customer type, and route-wise sales
If your requirement is being described as “we can customise that later”, treat it as not present.
6. Is the billing and stock connected to the accounting?
The single largest source of wasted effort in Nepali businesses is entering the same transaction twice — once in a billing program and again in an accountant’s file. If the software does not post sales and purchases to a ledger automatically, you have bought a billing program, not a business system.
7. Who owns your data, and how do you get it out?
Ask how to export your full product list, party list, and transaction history, and in what format. Ask what happens to that data if you stop paying. A vendor who cannot answer this plainly is one worth being cautious about.
8. What does support actually look like?
Specifically: is there a phone number, is it answered during your business hours, and does the person answering know your setup? A busy counter cannot wait a day for an email reply.
Local matters here. So does knowing whether “support” means the team who built the product or a reseller who installed it.
9. What is the real total cost?
The licence or subscription is rarely the whole figure. Ask about:
- Onboarding and data migration
- Training for your staff
- Additional users, branches, or warehouses
- Barcode scanners, printers, and any required hardware
- Annual renewal, and how much it has risen historically
A low quotation with paid extras for each of these is not cheaper.
10. Can you switch mid-year without breaking your records?
Most businesses do not switch at the start of a fiscal year — they switch when the current system finally becomes intolerable. Ask whether the software can continue your existing invoice numbering, import opening stock and balances, and keep the year’s records continuous.
How to run the demo
Two suggestions that reveal more than the feature list:
Bring your own data. Ask the vendor to set up ten of your real products, with your real units and prices, and bill them. Prepared demo data is designed to work.
Have the person who will actually use it attend. The owner evaluates features; the counter staff discover in the first ten minutes whether the screen is workable during a rush. Their reaction is the more reliable signal.
In short
Billing software is a long commitment — migrating a second time costs far more than choosing carefully the first time. The vendors worth working with will answer all ten of these plainly, and will tell you when the answer is no.
Lotussoft ERP is IRD-approved billing software with CBMS integration, multi-unit inventory, and connected accounting, built in Nepal for Nepali businesses. Book a free demo and bring your most awkward products.