Jewellery wholesale software: what B2B jewellers need

How jewellery wholesale works in India

A wholesaler sells to retailers, not to walk-in customers. The goods move in lots, often before anyone has agreed a final price. A retailer takes a tray of chains on approval, sells some, sends the rest back and settles part in cash and part in old gold or fine metal. The metal rate may be fixed that day or weeks later.

So the real record is not a list of bills. It is a running account with each party, in rupees and in grams of fine metal, plus the pieces lying with them on memo and the gold lying with your karigars. A general accounting app sees only the rupees. That is why B2B jewellers end up keeping the metal side in a separate register, and why the two rarely match at the end of the month.

Good jewellery software for wholesale keeps all of this in one place, so the account you show a retailer is the same one your CA sees.

Memo: goods on approval, and settling them

A memo (also called approval or jangad in some markets) is a list of pieces you hand to a retailer to show their customers. Nothing is sold yet. Each line carries the piece, its gross weight, purity, stones and the terms you agreed.

Settling a memo means going through it line by line: which pieces were sold and must be billed, which came back, and which are still out. Your software should show every memo still open, how long it has been out and how many grams are with each party.

For GST, CBIC has clarified, in a circular written with jewellery suppliers in mind, that goods sent on approval can move on a delivery challan, and the tax invoice can be issued when the sale actually happens. Jewellery needs no e-way bill under the national rules, though a state can require one for movement within it. If the goods are sold in another state, it is an IGST sale. The GST Act sets a limit: the invoice is due when the piece is sold, or six months after it left you, whichever comes first.

Metal accounts, fine weight and rate fixing

Gross weight is what the scale shows. Fine weight is the pure metal in it: 10 g of 22K at 91.6% is 9.16 g fine. The trade settles in fine weight, so every sale, return and receipt of old gold must be turned into fine grams. The purity converter shows the working.

A trade account (metal account) keeps each party’s balance two ways: how many rupees they owe you, and how many grams of fine gold or silver. A retailer may pay labour and stones in cash and the metal in fine gold, or the other way round.

Rate fixing is when a metal balance is turned into rupees at an agreed rate. Some parties fix on the day of the bill, some later, some in parts. Your software should record each fixing with its date, rate and grams, and move the amount from the metal side to the rupee side. When to raise the GST invoice for goods delivered before the rate is fixed is a question for your CA, as practice varies.

B2B quotes and GST bills

A B2B quote lists each piece with its weight and purity, the metal rate, the making or labour and the stones at their own rates, so the retailer can see how the price is reached. It should turn into a bill without retyping.

A B2B tax invoice carries the buyer’s name, address and GSTIN. GST on jewellery is 3%: CGST and SGST for a buyer in your state, IGST for a buyer in another state. Read the GST billing guide for the full list of what a bill must show.

E-invoicing applies once your aggregate turnover has crossed ₹5 crore in any financial year from 2017-18. Each B2B bill is then reported to the government’s invoice portal and gets an IRN and QR code. With turnover of ₹10 crore or more, the portal does not accept e-invoices more than 30 days old. E-invoices cover B2B bills, so they matter most to wholesalers; ask your CA where you stand.

Karigar and job work: metal out, pieces in

Most wholesalers give gold to karigars or workshops to make pieces. Every issue of metal and every receipt of finished pieces should be weighed and recorded against the karigar, with the wastage allowed and the labour due. The gap between fine metal issued and fine metal received is where losses hide.

Under GST, a registered jeweller can send gold to a job worker without paying tax, as long as it comes back, or is supplied from there, within one year. If not, it is treated as supplied on the day it was sent out. Businesses with turnover above ₹5 crore file the ITC-04 return on job work twice a year, and others once a year. Job work charges on gold and silver jewellery carry 5% GST. Your CA will confirm the paperwork.

Checklist for choosing jewellery wholesale software

• Two balances for every party: rupees and fine grams of gold and silver, in one account.
• Memos you can settle: open, part-billed and returned lines, with grams out by party.
• Rate fixing: fix all or part of a metal balance at a rate and date you choose.
• Fine weight everywhere: gross weight and purity turned into fine weight on every line.
• B2B quotes: metal and stone rates line by line, turned into a bill without retyping.
• GST done right: buyer GSTIN, CGST and SGST or IGST, HSN codes, and e-invoices with IRN when you need them.
• Karigar metal: issue and receipt by weight, with wastage, labour and due dates.
• Outstanding by party with reminders, so nobody has to chase from memory.
• People and access: each person sees what their role allows, and your CA gets their own login.
• Your data is yours: an Excel export, and a way into Tally for your CA.

Questions to ask in a demo

• Send 20 pieces on memo to a retailer, bill 6 and take 4 back. What does the memo show now?
• A retailer owes ₹40,000 and 50 g fine gold. They fix 30 g today. Show me both balances after.
• How is fine weight worked out for a lot with mixed purities?
• Make a quote with metal, labour and stones on separate lines, then turn it into a bill.
• What changes on the bill when the buyer is in another state?
• Issue 200 g to a karigar and receive pieces back. Where do I see the difference?
• Show every party’s outstanding, in rupees and grams, oldest first.
• How does my CA get the GST figures and e-invoices? Can they log in themselves?
• What is the full price, and which plan has the wholesale tools?

How CaratOS handles wholesale

• Built for B2B on Growth: pieces on approval (memo), trade accounts in cash and metal, and B2B quotes with metal and stone rates. See plans and prices.
• Memo: send pieces out on memo and track every gram until it comes back or is billed.
• Trade accounts: balances with retailers and suppliers in rupees and in grams, with fine gold and fine silver kept apart. A wholesale estimate can have its metal rate fixed later, by you.
• People, not AI, decide: fixing a wholesale rate, settling a memo and issuing or receiving karigar metal always stay with a person in your shop.
• Karigar jobs on every plan: see which karigar has which piece, and when it is due back. Growth adds production stages, karigar pay and wastage.
• GST on every bill: CGST and SGST, or IGST for another state, with every GSTIN and place of supply checked before the figures go to your CA. Growth adds GST e-invoices with IRN. See GST and your CA.
• Dues: every unpaid bill in one list, with one-tap WhatsApp reminders; on Growth they go out by themselves from your shop’s number. See dues and money.
• Larger wholesalers and workshops with their own way of working are on Custom. Book a call and walk us through a memo and a rate fixing from your own books.

Questions shop owners ask