Know what you ordered, what actually arrived and what you still owe each supplier. SmartBiashara records the whole buying cycle, from the purchase order to the goods received note to the supplier's balance, and updates your stock the moment goods are received.
Included on every plan, from TSh 15,000 a month. See pricing
Purchase orders
Purchases
Open orders
8
Owed to suppliers
TSh 7.4M
Received this week
5
| PO | Supplier | Branch | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PO-0331 | Flour & grain wholesaler | Kariakoo | 3,250,000 | Received |
| PO-0330 | Lake Zone oil mill | Mwanza | 1,980,000 | Ordered |
| PO-0329 | Cement supplier | Arusha | 4,100,000 | Part received |
| PO-0328 | Sugar distributor | Kariakoo | 2,600,000 | Paid |
| PO-0327 | Soft drinks depot | Dodoma | 870,000 | Ordered |
The day-to-day problems this module is designed to remove.
You call the supplier in Kariakoo, agree on quantities and prices, and two weeks later nobody can say exactly what was ordered or at what price.
The invoice says 100 cartons and 92 came off the lorry. Without a receiving check against the order, you pay for stock you never got.
Goods taken on credit are written on loose pages or kept in the supplier's head. When they ask for payment, you cannot check whether the figure is right.
New stock goes straight onto the shelf and the system still shows the old quantity, so reorder decisions are made on wrong numbers.
Past buying prices are scattered across receipts, so comparing suppliers or noticing a price rise is guesswork.
Create a purchase order with the supplier, products, quantities and agreed prices before the goods are sent. The order becomes your reference when the delivery arrives and when the invoice comes in. The supplier gets a clear list of what you asked for, at the prices you agreed.
When the delivery arrives, record a goods received note for what actually came in. Stock at the receiving shop or warehouse goes up by the received quantity, so the shelf and the system agree from day one. Any shortfall against the order is easy to see before you pay.
Each supplier has a running ledger of purchases, payments and the balance between them. When a supplier's agent visits asking for TSh 2.4 million, you open their ledger and see exactly which deliveries make up that figure. Supplier reports export to Excel, PDF or CSV when you need to go through the figures together.
Many Tanzanian wholesalers sell on credit terms. SmartBiashara keeps track of what you bought on credit, what has been paid and what is still open, so you can plan payments around cash coming in from sales. Paying a supplier by M-Pesa, bank transfer or cash is recorded against their balance.
Low-stock alerts show which products need buying, and because receiving updates stock, those alerts reflect what is actually on the shelf. You can see what sold since the last delivery before deciding how much to order.
Purchases and supplier payments feed the accounting module, which is also included from Starter. Your cost of stock and what you owe suppliers come from the same records your buyer entered, with no second round of typing.
An example: a pharmacy in Mwanza restocking from a wholesale distributor on 30-day credit.
The low-stock alert shows paracetamol and oral rehydration salts below their minimum level at the main branch.
The manager creates a purchase order to the distributor with quantities and agreed prices, then shares the order with the distributor.
The delivery arrives three cartons short. The GRN records what actually came in, and stock at the main branch rises by that amount.
The supplier ledger now shows the amount owed for the goods received, due in 30 days.
When the owner pays by bank transfer, the payment is recorded against the supplier's balance and the ledger shows nothing outstanding for that delivery.
Purchase orders
Purchases
Open orders
8
Owed to suppliers
TSh 7.4M
Received this week
5
| PO | Supplier | Branch | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PO-0331 | Flour & grain wholesaler | Kariakoo | 3,250,000 | Received |
| PO-0330 | Lake Zone oil mill | Mwanza | 1,980,000 | Ordered |
| PO-0329 | Cement supplier | Arusha | 4,100,000 | Part received |
| PO-0328 | Sugar distributor | Kariakoo | 2,600,000 | Paid |
| PO-0327 | Soft drinks depot | Dodoma | 870,000 | Ordered |
Illustrative view: an open purchase order, its goods received note and the supplier's running balance.
Receiving against the order brings short deliveries to light before money leaves the business.
When a balance is disputed, both sides can look at the same list of deliveries and payments.
Because every delivery is entered on arrival, reorder alerts and stock reports reflect what is really there.
Knowing what is owed and when helps you time each payment against the sales you expect that week.
Past purchase orders show what each supplier charged, which makes a price increase obvious the next time you order.
Still have a question? Ask our team on WhatsApp, phone or email.
Yes. Purchases, together with POS, sales and inventory, are part of the essentials included in every plan, starting with Starter at TSh 15,000 a month. Higher plans add more locations, users and products, and modules such as CRM.
A goods received note (GRN) is the record of what physically arrived from a supplier. Entering it in SmartBiashara adds the received quantity to your stock and gives you a document to compare against the purchase order and the supplier's invoice. It is the simplest way to catch short or wrong deliveries.
Yes. Every supplier has a ledger showing purchases, payments and the outstanding balance. Goods taken on credit raise the balance, and each payment you record reduces it.
Yes. When you record the goods received, you choose the location, and only that location's stock goes up. If you later need to move some of it, you record an inter-store transfer. More than one location requires the Basic plan or higher.
You pay the supplier through your usual channel, then record the payment in SmartBiashara against their balance. Cash, mobile money and bank transfer payments can all be recorded. SmartBiashara does not send money to suppliers on your behalf.
Product lists can be bulk-imported from Excel, which saves typing when you start. For a large supplier list, ask our team on WhatsApp at +255 749 900 050 for the quickest way to bring it across.
Start a 14-day free trial with no credit card, enter your next delivery as a GRN and watch the stock and supplier balance update together. Prefer a guided walk-through? Book a demo with our team.
