Part 4
Using software and AI
Everything in Parts 1 to 3 can be done with a register and a calculator — that is how most stockists started. Software does not change the rules; it does the repetitive steps without getting tired and keeps the records linked. AI goes one step further: it reads a photo, hears a voice note, answers a question about your data. This part shows what to automate, how to choose and switch software, and how to use AI without letting it make decisions it shouldn't. Screenshots show demo data only.
- 4.1Register, Tally or appWhat each does; where manual work goes wrong
- 4.2What to automate firstRanked by time saved and errors avoided
- 4.3Clean masters firstCustomers, products, prices, taxes, routes, staff
- 4.4Order to cash in softwarePhone order to updated outstanding
- 4.5Stock in softwareBatches, expiry, purchase entry, count adjustment
- 4.6Accounts and tax in softwareEvery document posts itself; GST reports ready
- 4.7Payroll and incentives in softwareTargets and achievement from billing data
- 4.8Reports to read every dayMIS, ageing, sales by beat, salesman, product
- 4.9Choosing softwareQuestions to ask any vendor
- 4.10Going liveMigration, opening balances, parallel run, cut-over
- 4.11Keeping data safeRoles, backups, audit trail, passwords
- 4.12What AI is and isn'tFast and fluent, sometimes confidently wrong
- 4.13AI for office workDrafting, translating, summarising, reading price lists
- 4.14AI reading documentsA photo becomes a proposed entry
- 4.15Speaking instead of typingTamil voice entry; where it mishears
- 4.16Asking questions of your dataInactive outlets, old claims, unusual entries
- 4.17Checking AI's workAI proposes, a person approves
- 4.18Data privacy with AIWhat never goes into a public AI tool; DPDP Act in plain words