Paper and Packaging Distribution in Nepal: Specifications, Account Orders and Credit

In paper and packaging, the customer is rarely a stranger. A printing press buys sheets every week, a food factory orders cartons every month, a sweet shop needs boxes before Tihar, and a hardware shop restocks bags and tape. Most sales are repeat orders from known accounts, often on credit. What makes the trade hard is not finding customers; it is getting a long list of specifications right, delivering before the customer's line stops, and collecting from many mid-size buyers. This guide follows an order from specification to collection and shows where gamitrack fits at each step.

Specification is the product

A carton that is one ply short, or paper that is 70 GSM instead of 80, is the wrong product. Returns, reprints and lost accounts in this trade usually start with an unclear specification.

The cure is a strict naming pattern used by everyone who sells, packs and bills:

Element	Example
Type	Kraft bag, corrugated carton, art paper, duplex board
Size	In the unit your trade uses, written the same way every time
Grade or weight	GSM, or ply for cartons
Pack	Ream, bundle, roll, per piece

In gamitrack, each specification is its own SKU, with weight in kg where it matters. When a salesperson searches for a product, the name tells him exactly what it is. When stock is counted, each specification has its own level. Set low-stock alerts on the items your regular accounts buy every month, so you reorder before an account's line is at risk.

Know your accounts

Different buyers behave so differently that it helps to plan each group on its own terms.

Buyer	Typical order	Delivery urgency	Credit pattern	What they punish
Printers and press owners	Sheets, board, rolls; weekly	High: jobs are waiting	Running account	Wrong GSM, late delivery
Factories and food producers	Cartons, wrappers, labels; monthly	High: packing line stops	Longer terms, larger amounts	Short supply, inconsistent spec
Shops and retailers	Bags, wrapping, tape	Medium	Short credit or cash	Missing items
Schools and offices	Office paper	Seasonal	Statement	Late delivery at session start

Demand moves with your customers. Packaging rises before festivals when sweets, gifts and food sell more. Printing demand often rises around the school session and in years with elections or big campaigns. Look at your own order history by specification to see which months matter for which items.

From quote to cash: the life of an order

1. Price comes from a list, not a note

Quotations go stale when raw material prices move. Keep a default price list and update it when costs change. Strategic buyers can have a party override, and groups such as printers or retailers can share a price list for their party type. The order always picks the price in that order: party override, then party type, then default. A quote taken from the list is consistent; a quote written in a notebook is not.

2. The salesperson visits and books

Account-based selling still benefits from routes. Build a route of printers, factories and shops with ordered stops. The salesperson starts the day in the app, and each visit is checked against the customer's geofence with a photo. Visits outside the geofence, very short or without a photo are flagged for the manager.

The order is booked in the app at the current price, with the specification written into the order where the SKU alone is not enough. Orders need a connection to save; if the factory floor has no signal, the salesperson saves the order once back in coverage, while the location trail is stored and synced later.

3. Dispatch all at once

Dispatch is all-or-nothing: an order goes out complete, or it waits. For a factory that cannot pack with half its cartons, that is the right behaviour, and it forces a clear conversation when one item is short. Weights on the order help plan vehicle loads.

4. Delivery with proof

Assign a delivery person to each dispatch. The driver's tab shows the amount due, the location and directions. At the customer, the driver records proof of delivery with GPS, a photo of the delivered goods and the receiver's name. A delivery marked far from the customer's location is flagged. The driver can also collect payment after delivery.

5. Invoice and due date

Invoices follow the IRD format, numbered per fiscal year with Bikram Sambat dates, and VAT at 13% applies only on taxable lines. Check the current IRD rules at ird.gov.np if you are unsure about a product. Payment due days are counted from dispatch.

6. Collection

Record payments by cash, cheque, bank, eSewa, Khalti or Fonepay. They are allocated oldest-first, and the party statement and aging show each account's position. Each week, a collection plan lists the accounts that should pay and compares planned against actual.

A short-delivery dispute, resolved (hypothetical)

Suppose a food factory calls to say it received 450 cartons instead of 500. Without records, it is your driver's word against the store keeper's. With them, the steps are clear:

1. Open the dispatch: the order shows 500 cartons with its weight.
2. Open the proof of delivery: a photo of the stacked cartons, the time, the GPS point and the receiver's name.
3. If the photo supports a full delivery, share it with the buyer.
4. If it does not, record a return or adjustment with a reason and issue a credit note, and check the loading process.

Either way, the dispute ends with a record rather than a lost account. The figures here are illustrative.

The weekly credit hour

Many packaging suppliers have dozens of buyers who each owe a modest amount. Together, those amounts can tie up much of the working capital. A fixed weekly hour helps:

• Open aging and sort by the oldest overdue balance.
• Give every overdue account an owner and a date.
• Put those accounts at the start of the salesperson's route for the week.
• Hold new orders for accounts that are far past due, unless you decide otherwise on purpose.
• Check last week's collection plan: planned against actual.

Checklist: signs your operation needs tightening

• Two people describe the same product with different names.
• Stock of a repeat item is a guess until someone walks to the godown.
• Quotes differ for the same specification depending on who wrote them.
• A delivery complaint takes days to settle.
• Nobody can say quickly which ten accounts owe the most.

If three or more apply, start with SKU naming and proof of delivery; they solve the most disputes for the least effort.

Your first 30 days

• Week 1. Name every SKU by type, size, grade and pack, and load current stock into the warehouse branch.
• Week 2. Set up the default price list, party types and overrides for your largest accounts.
• Week 3. Assign deliveries to drivers and start recording proof of delivery with photos.
• Week 4. Run the first weekly credit hour from aging and the collection plan.

Related reading: institutional and B2B sales, delivery, dispatch and proof of delivery and credit control and collections.

To see whether gamitrack suits your accounts and specifications, review the plans on our pricing page or contact us.