Printing and labels
Accounting software for printing presses
Every paper bill, invoice, receipt and payslip already writes its journal, so the month end is checking a few numbers, not posting a stack of vouchers.
In short
SimpleERP is accounting software for printing presses in India. Invoices, paper purchases, receipts, payroll and depreciation on presses post their own journals, and the trial balance, P&L and balance sheet are ready on any date for you and your CA.
Illustration: saving invoice INV-2026-27-0213 moves stock, posts the customer ledger, records CGST and SGST and updates the dashboard in one step.
An accounting day at Kaveri Offset Printers
The accountant at Kaveri Offset Printers comes in on Saturdays. For years her first job was to type the week's bills into the accounts package: forty calendar invoices, nine paper and ink bills, and a pile of receipts written on the back of delivery notes.
Then came the questions nobody could answer quickly. Has the Madurai jeweller paid for last month's calendars, why is the ink dealer's balance different from his statement, and how much did the second press earn after its loan EMI? The answers were in three places.
With SimpleERP the documents are the entries. A posted invoice writes the sale, the GST and the receivable, the paper bill writes the stock and the payable, and her Saturday is spent reconciling the bank and reading the P&L, not typing.
Which ledger accounts does a press actually need?
The seeded chart of accounts already has stock, sales, GST, receivables, payables, wages and overhead. Most presses add two or three of their own, such as separate sales accounts for printed goods and printing services, and a fixed asset account for each press.
- Customer and supplier balances come from their documents, never typed in.
- Fixed assets such as a four-colour press carry depreciation that posts from the asset register.
- Manual journals are kept for what no document covers, like the press loan EMI.
| Account | What posts to it | Month-end check |
|---|---|---|
| Sales: printed goods | Calendar, label and carton invoices | Agrees with the sales register total |
| Sales: printing services | Lamination and customer-paper jobs | SAC lines in the HSN summary |
| Inventory | Paper bills in, invoices and work orders out | Matches the stock value report |
| Output CGST, SGST, IGST | Every posted invoice and credit note | Ties to the GSTR-1 figures your CA files |
| Input GST | Paper, ink and plate bills | Checked against GSTR-2B |
| Sundry debtors | Calendar and label invoices, less receipts and credit notes | Ageing reviewed, statements sent |
| Press and machinery | Purchase of a press, monthly depreciation | Asset register agrees with the ledger |
| Bank | Receipts, payments, payroll | Ticked off against the bank statement by hand |
How do I close a month after the calendar season?
Run the checks in the table, look at the trial balance, then set the lock date to the last day of the month. Posted documents before that date can no longer change, and reopening the month needs an approval that is logged.
- Trial balance always balances, because the database refuses an unbalanced journal.
- P&L by month shows the season's margin once paper costs are in.
- Every report prints on A4 or exports to CSV for your CA.
Illustration of a journal entry where debits and credits differ by ₹1,000, refused, and a posting into a locked month, refused with the lock date.
Who owes me for last season's calendars?
Receivables ageing lists every customer by how long the balance has been open. Calendar buyers often pay after Pongal, so the 61 to 90 day bucket tells you whom to call first, and Copy reminder writes the message with invoice numbers and days overdue.
- Customer statements on A4 with every invoice, receipt and credit note.
- Payables ageing shows which paper dealer is due this week.
- Cancellations reverse the original entries, so the audit trail stays complete.
One system
Where the books connect
Sales, purchases, payroll, expenses and assets all post to one ledger, so the reports read from the same entries.
Printing and labels
Job quotations that become invoices, paper and ink stock, HSN or SAC billing and payroll.
See howGST billing for printing presses
Printed goods and printing services on one GST invoice, each line with its own HSN or SAC code.
See howInventory for printing presses
Paper in reams, board in kilos and ink by colour, per godown and at weighted average cost.
See howPayroll for printing presses
Monthly payroll for press operators and binding staff, with season shifts, advances, PF and PT.
See howManufacturing for printing presses
Bills of materials for repeat cartons and labels, and work orders that cost each batch from real usage.
See howAccounting
A double-entry ledger with journals, bank registers, statements and a lock date.
See how
Honest limits
What SimpleERP does not do yet
- No bank feeds: bank entries are recorded and reconciled by hand
- No multi-currency; every document is in rupees
- GST return filing and e-invoicing are not done inside the product
- No job-wise profit report for one-off print jobs.
Getting started
Start with accounting
Sign up with your phone
Name, phone number and a password. No card for the seven-day trial, and email is optional.
Tell us about the business
Type your GSTIN and the state fills itself. Accounts, GST rates, units, roles and numbering are seeded for you.
Enter opening balances
Enter opening balances for the bank, the press loan, each press at book value, and what each customer and paper dealer owes on the start date.
Run the trial balance
Every posted document is already in the ledger; the trial balance and P&L are ready on any date.
FAQ
Questions, answered
My CA uses Tally. Can I still give him what he needs?
Yes. The trial balance, P&L, balance sheet, sales and purchase registers and the HSN summary all export to CSV, and every report prints on A4. Many presses keep the CA on their own package and hand over the month's reports instead of vouchers.
How do I record the EMI on the new press?
Post a manual journal splitting the EMI into principal against the loan account and interest as an expense. Everything else, from invoices to payroll, posts on its own, so manual journals stay few and easy to review.
Can I see profit on the label business separately from calendars?
Keep separate sales accounts for each line and the P&L shows each one. A profit figure per individual job is not available yet; for repeat label orders, the work order cost against the invoice gives you the margin per batch.
Can someone change last month's figures after I close?
Not without leaving a trace. Once the lock date passes a month, posted documents in it cannot change, and reopening it needs approval that is logged with the name and time. Mistakes are fixed by reversing, never by deleting.
Related
Keep reading
Printing and labels
Job quotations that become invoices, paper and ink stock, HSN or SAC billing and payroll.
Read moreGST billing for printing presses
Printed goods and printing services on one GST invoice, each line with its own HSN or SAC code.
Read morePayroll for printing presses
Monthly payroll for press operators and binding staff, with season shifts, advances, PF and PT.
Read more
See how accounting works in SimpleERP for printing and labels
Seven days free. No card. Your first GST invoice in minutes.