POS and accounting software for Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Doing business in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Business in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands centres on Port Blair, where Aberdeen Bazaar and Junglighat hold the wholesalers, hardware stores and pharmacies, and on the tourist islands of Swaraj Dweep and Shaheed Dweep, better known as Havelock and Neil. Almost everything sold arrives by ship from the mainland, so stock planning and freight costs shape every margin.

According to the South Andaman district administration, the islands had no sales tax or VAT before GST, and a Department of UTGST was created to run the new tax, with the Deputy Commissioner, South Andaman, serving as Commissioner of UTGST. ANIIDCO, the territory's development corporation, is active in trading and tourism, and local bodies in South Andaman handle trade licences.

Modules Andaman and Nicobar Islands businesses start with

• Accounting and branches
• Multi-branch POS
• Inventory and warehouses
• CRM
• Projects and job costing
• Manufacturing (MES)

Resorts, dive shops and tour operators on the islands

A Havelock beach resort typically runs rooms, a restaurant, a bar and a dive or snorkelling desk, with guests paying for activities on top of their stay. Supplies come in by ferry from Port Blair, so a missed purchase can mean days without an item. Owners on the islands often manage from a mainland city during the monsoon months.

Skyline Nexus ERP offers restaurant point of sale with kitchen features and separate cash registers, so a resort's restaurant and activity desk can each bill guests. Stock is held per location, for example a Port Blair store and a Havelock kitchen, with transfers between them. The owner can read the P&L by location from anywhere, because Skyline Nexus is a cloud service.

Government supply and works contracts

The Union territory administration and its departments are major buyers in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, purchasing everything from stationery and medicines to building works. Contractors and suppliers deal with tenders, staged bills, retention and long payment cycles, and must show clean records when bills are audited.

Skyline Nexus ERP supports projects with tasks, milestones and budgets, so a Port Blair contractor can follow a works order against its budget and compare actuals by cost centre. Receivable ageing shows which department bill is outstanding, and the Audit Pack exports the trial balance, balance sheet, P&L, journals and ledgers for a calendar year into one Excel workbook for the auditor.

From POS to balance sheet for a Port Blair store

Picture an Aberdeen Bazaar provision store in Port Blair, the main market of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, that also supplies resorts on credit. Typical billing apps print the GST bill and count stock, but the books are often kept separately, so the trial balance is rebuilt at year end. Credit-book apps track which resort owes for supplies, but not shipments received, purchases or a full ledger.

Separate accounting packages keep strong books, though counter sales are exported or re-keyed. In Skyline Nexus ERP, once Auto-post Sales Transactions is switched on, every final sale posts a balanced journal for sales, output tax, cost of goods and inventory; purchases, freight expenses and payments post the same way, so the balance sheet stays current.

GST for a business in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a Union territory without a legislature, so a sale within the islands carries CGST plus UTGST rather than SGST, and a sale to a mainland State carries IGST. Every GSTIN registered in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands starts with 35. Registration is due above INR 20 lakh, or INR 40 lakh for suppliers of goods only, except ice cream, pan masala and tobacco.

In Skyline Nexus ERP you build tax groups yourself, for example CGST 9% plus UTGST 9% or IGST 18%, and choose the group on each invoice, with an HSN column from the category code. An island supplier above INR 5 crore needs an IRN, which Skyline Nexus does not generate yet, and e-way bills for ferry shipments are not available either.

Getting started from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Skyline Nexus ERP onboards Indian businesses through the India waitlist on this page and a demo; the buttons are Join the waitlist, Book a demo and Ask on WhatsApp. An island business should prepare products with opening stock per store or kitchen as CSV, contacts with GSTIN and balances, its chart of accounts and its list of locations.

Skyline Nexus is a cloud service, so it needs a working internet connection at each counter; it does not bill offline. It is set to an April financial year, INR, dd-mm-yyyy dates and amounts in words in lakh and crore, with support by WhatsApp, phone and e-mail and no office in India.

1. Check the internet connection at each Port Blair or island counter.
2. List each store, kitchen or activity desk that should be a location.
3. Export products and opening stock, including goods still in transit, to CSV.
4. Book a demo to set up CGST plus UTGST and IGST tax groups.

Questions from Andaman and Nicobar Islands businesses

Do businesses in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands charge SGST or UTGST?

Businesses in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands charge CGST plus UTGST on sales within the territory, because it is a Union territory without a legislature. Sales to mainland States carry IGST. Skyline Nexus ERP lets the user create a CGST plus UTGST group and an IGST group and select one per invoice.

What State code is used for GST in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands?

Every GSTIN registered in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands starts with 35. A business with a branch in Chennai or Kolkata needs a separate GSTIN for that State. Skyline Nexus ERP can keep each branch as a location with its own invoice numbering and layout.

Can Skyline Nexus ERP run a Havelock resort restaurant and dive desk?

Skyline Nexus ERP includes restaurant point of sale with kitchen features and separate cash registers, so a Havelock resort in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands can bill restaurant and dive desk sales separately, track supplies shipped from Port Blair and read the P&L per location. Room reservations are not part of the features described here.

Is Skyline Nexus ERP suitable for a Port Blair government contractor?

Skyline Nexus ERP offers projects with tasks, milestones and budgets, cost centres and receivable ageing. A Port Blair contractor can follow each works order against budget, see unpaid department bills and give the auditor an Audit Pack workbook with trial balance, balance sheet and ledgers.

How is Skyline Nexus ERP different from a billing app for an island shop?

A billing app for an island shop usually prints GST bills and keeps stock counts, while the accounts are often kept in a separate package. Skyline Nexus ERP posts each final sale as a balanced journal once auto-posting is switched on. Some billing apps work offline, which Skyline Nexus does not, so a stable connection is needed.

Does Skyline Nexus ERP offer Hindi for staff in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands?

Skyline Nexus ERP has an English interface and a Hindi interface translation, which suits the many Hindi speakers working in the islands. Amounts are kept in INR, dates can be dd-mm-yyyy, and invoices can show amounts in words in lakh and crore.

How does a Port Blair business start with Skyline Nexus ERP?

Island owners register interest through the India waitlist or a demo booking, as Skyline Nexus ERP is not open for self sign-up in India yet. Before the call, a Port Blair business gathers its item list, stock on hand and in transit from the mainland, contact balances and accounts as CSV files; help then continues over WhatsApp, phone and e-mail.

Skyline Nexus ERP is a cloud service run by Skyline Industrial Solution. We have no office in Andaman and Nicobar Islands; support is by WhatsApp, phone and e-mail.

Figures and rules on this page change. This is general information, not tax or legal advice: confirm the current position with the authority named above or your adviser.