Phone shop software for stock, accessories and repairs

The turnover is in the handsets, the profit usually is not

A phone shop looks busy in a particular way. The big numbers come from handsets, because one sale is 600,000 shillings, and the owner's sense of the month rests on how many phones went out.

The margin tells another story. A mid-range handset might clear 40,000 on 620,000 of turnover — under seven per cent — while a case bought at 4,000 sells at 12,000 and a screen replacement is mostly labour. The counter that feels like small change is carrying the shop.

PesaScope separates the three. Handsets and accessories are products with their own cost and price; repairs are services, with spare parts recorded as products used. At month end you see the margin on each rather than one lump of takings.

Setting it up the way the shop actually works

1. One product per model and variantThe 128GB and the 256GB are two products, not one with a note. A shared line makes the count meaningless.
2. Repairs are a service, parts are productsThe screen replacement is a service priced for labour; the screen itself is a product whose stock goes down. That is how you learn whether the bench pays or is merely busy.
3. Deposits on repairs and ordersTake part payment at drop-off. The balance sits on the debtors list under the customer's name until they collect.
4. A count on the expensive lines, weeklyTwelve handsets are quick to count. Anything that does not match is adjusted with a reason and a date, so a discrepancy has a week attached.

What the catalogue looks like

Pick "Electronics & phone shop" at sign-up and this list is already there — grouped into Handsets, Accessories and Repairs.

Discontinuing an old model hides it from new sales but keeps the history, so last year's figures stay intact.

A month, split three ways

Handsets were 69% of turnover and 22% of gross margin. Accessories and the bench, which tie up almost no capital, made the other 78% — the case for one fewer phone and two more shelves of cables.

No serial numbers, no warranty register

PesaScope does not record IMEIs or serial numbers, and has no warranty register. It cannot tell you which particular handset went to which customer, or whether a phone returned in eight months is still in cover.

What it tracks is quantity per product per branch. You should have eleven of that model, you can see you have ten, and the adjustment taking the count down carries a reason, a date and a name. That is the difference between noticing in a week and never.

The sale record still holds the date and the price, so you can look up when a customer bought. If you need serials against units, keep the book you keep now.

Where a phone shop leaks

1. The negotiated price nobody wrote downRecord the price actually charged and you learn what the habit costs over a month.
2. Repairs collected without the balance paidA part payment at drop-off puts the balance on the debtors list, not in someone's memory.
3. Accessories that walkCables and cases are easy to lose. Count them monthly and the log shows the true rate.
4. Capital asleep in a slow modelTwo handsets nobody wants are over a million shillings not working.

The detail, if you want it

Questions phone shop owners ask