Rice and dhal "on the book"

Twenty to ten at Perera Stores (a sample grocery). Kamala, who has shopped here for years, takes a kilo of rice and some dhal and says what she always says: put it on the book, I will pay at the end of the month. For decades that meant a dog-eared notebook under the counter, with her name, a date and a figure in pencil. It also meant arguments in the last week of the month about whether it was Rs 850 or Rs 580.

This tour shows the same habit in EasyTaskr's credit book: just as quick as the notebook, but with a limit, a running balance and a receipt.

How is the credit book different from the paper book?

The entry is still a name and an amount. What changes is everything around it.

Step by step

1. Open the credit book and choose the customer. Nimal opens the credit book on the counter phone and picks Kamala. Her card appears at the top with her name.
2. Read the credit she has left. Right under her name: Credit left Rs 5,000 of Rs 5,000. She owes nothing yet this month, and Nimal set her limit at Rs 5,000 when she was added. This is the number to look at before saying yes to a large amount.
3. Choose Gave on credit. A switch under her card offers Gave on credit or Got paid. Today she is taking goods, so it is Gave on credit.
4. Type the amount. Rs 850 on the keypad. There is no basket to build and no item to search for. This is the way the paper book worked, and for a busy counter it is the right way.
5. Add what for, if useful. The field says What for? (optional). Nimal types rice and dhal. It is not required, but at the end of the month a few words make it easy to answer "what was that one?".
6. Let the limit check happen. Before saving, the amount is checked against the credit she has left. Rs 850 is well inside her Rs 5,000. If it were not, Nimal would know before handing over the goods, not afterwards.
7. Tick the WhatsApp receipt. The box reads Send Kamala a receipt on WhatsApp. Ticked, she gets a message with the entry on her own phone.
8. Save. The entry is saved and her balance is now Rs 850, leaving Rs 4,150 of credit. The next time she asks for something on the book, that is the figure Nimal sees.

Why send a receipt for credit?

Because most credit disputes are about memory, not honesty. A customer who took goods three weeks ago genuinely may not remember whether it was Rs 850 or Rs 1,850. A receipt sent at the moment of the sale settles it before it starts. It also changes the feel of the conversation at month end: Nimal is not asking her to trust his notebook; she has the same record on her own phone.

The receipt is not a reminder. It is sent once, when the credit is given, and does not count as chasing.

How much credit should a small shop give?

Enough to keep good regulars loyal, and no more than you can afford to wait for. A simple test: add up what all your credit customers owe. If that total is more than a few days of your cash sales, the shop is funding its customers instead of its shelves. The sample grocery's whole credit list adds up to under Rs 10,000, a fraction of a day's takings, which is a comfortable place to be. Cash flow for small business shows how to work out how many days of sales are tied up in credit.

Credit from the till or from the book: which one?

Both end up in the same place. If a regular brings a basket to the counter, ring it up on the till and finish with On credit, so the stock goes down item by item. If she just takes a few things and wants it noted, or settles an amount agreed earlier, Gave on credit in the book is faster. The rule Nimal uses is simple: if he scanned it or tapped it, finish on the till; if he only needs a figure, use the book.

Tips

• Set a limit for everyone on the book. A regular with no limit can drift up without anyone noticing. Even a generous limit is better than none.
• Use what for on large or unusual entries. A gas cylinder or a school-term stationery list is worth a few words.
• Agree a pay day. "End of the month" or "when the salary comes" is fine, as long as both sides know which.
• Ask before ticking the receipt. Most customers like it. A few prefer not to have messages, and that is their choice.

Common mistakes

• Writing it down later. Credit entered at closing time from memory is where most wrong balances come from. Enter it while the customer is at the counter.
• Raising a limit to fit one big order. If Kamala needs more than her limit, decide deliberately, not because the queue is waiting.
• Mixing credit with cash sales. A regular who pays cash today should go through the till as a cash sale. Only goods not paid for belong on the book.
• Never looking at the totals. The book only protects you if you look at who owes and for how long. That is the next stop in the day.

What to do next

At lunchtime Nimal looks at who owes the shop and sends a reminder. Follow a polite reminder, and the money comes in. For goods that go through the till first, the morning rush shows the On credit button at the end of a sale.

The same principles, set out for bigger businesses with invoices and terms, are in customer credit for wholesalers and how to get invoices paid faster.