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Spot Stock & Dues Problems at a Glance

Updated 7 July 2026 · 5 min read

At a busy counter you don't read the screen — you scan it. A customer is waiting, the phone is ringing, and you have about a second to find the right medicine, notice the strip is close to expiry, and remember that this same customer already owes you for last week. Good software should surface those three things for you, not make you dig for them.

The most recent DravyaOS update is built entirely around that idea: the busiest screens now put what needs your attention first, and show it in a way the eye catches without reading. Here's the thinking behind each change.

Recognise the pack, don't decode the name

Two medicines can have near-identical names and completely different packs — and at the counter, staff recognise the box on the shelf far faster than they parse a brand name off a list. So when you pick or receive a medicine from the built-in catalog, DravyaOS now shows a photo of the pack right next to the name: on the add-medicine screen, when you receive stock, in the substitute finder, and down the inventory list.

It's the difference between "is this the one?" and "yes, that's it." Photos appear automatically for catalogued products that have one; anything you typed in yourself, or a product without a photo, simply shows no image and nothing else changes. Nothing to switch on.

Expiring stock rises to the top

Every expired strip is money you already paid the distributor and can no longer sell — usually a bigger leak than theft or discounts, and almost entirely preventable. The problem is that expiry dates hide at the bottom of a long list, out of sight until it's too late.

The Inventory screen now sorts soonest-to-expire first and puts an expiry tag on each medicine — red once expired, amber within about 90 days. The stock that needs acting on this month is the stock you see first, so you can push it in sales, move it, or return it to the distributor while returns are still accepted. Medicines with nothing dated in stock drop to the bottom, where they belong. (For the full routine behind this, see our guide on managing batch numbers and expiry dates.)

The accounts worth chasing, first

A paper khata sorts by whoever you wrote down last, not by who owes you the most — so the ₹8,000 that's three weeks overdue sits below a ₹40 balance from this morning. The Customers and Suppliers lists now open sorted by outstanding balance: whoever owes you the most (or whomever you owe the most) sits right at the top. The accounts worth a phone call are the first ones on the screen; everyone with a clean slate settles quietly into alphabetical order below. (More on this in managing customer credit.)

And now it works on a phone

Plenty of counter work happens away from the billing PC — checking a balance, glancing at stock, recording a payment on the move. The recent sales, purchases, payments, and returns lists now fold into tidy cards on a phone screen, so every amount and action stays in view instead of hiding behind a sideways scroll, and the Add Sale and Add Purchase forms reflow so fields stack neatly instead of being squeezed into unreadable slivers. Same app, same data, now legible on the device in your pocket.

The common thread

None of these is a big new feature you have to learn. Each one just changes what the screen shows first — the near-expiry batch, the overdue account, the right pack — so the important thing catches your eye in the second you have to look. That's the whole job of software at a busy counter: not more to read, but less to hunt for.

Related reading: the best free pharmacy billing software in India and how to build a GST-compliant medical bill.