POS and ERP software for Kochi traders, exporters and shops

Doing business in Kochi

Kochi is Kerala's trading city. Cochin Port on Willingdon Island and the Vallarpadam container terminal move cargo; Mattancherry's old warehouses still deal in pepper, ginger and other spices; Broadway in Ernakulam is a maze of wholesale and retail shops; MG Road carries showrooms and offices; and Kakkanad hosts Infopark and the Cochin Special Economic Zone. Fort Kochi adds heritage hotels, homestays and cafes.

A Kochi business registers for GST with the State administration, takes a trade licence from Kochi Municipal Corporation and deals with the Ernakulam district administration on local matters; units inside the SEZ follow the zone's own rules. The Spices Board and the marine products export authority are both headquartered here, which tells you how much of the city's trade is about spices and seafood.

Modules Kochi businesses start with

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

Port, forwarding and seafood export in Kochi

Kochi's forwarders, customs brokers and transporters work around Willingdon Island and Vallarpadam, billing agency fees and passing on freight and terminal charges. Seafood processors near the fishing harbours buy daily landings, freeze and pack them, and ship to buyers abroad. Both wait on receivables, often from buyers abroad, while keeping their books in rupees.

Skyline Nexus ERP records services, reimbursable charges and supplier bills, and posts payments to the ledger when posting is switched on, with receivable and payable ageing per client. A seafood processor can run manufacturing work orders and bills of material from raw catch to packed cartons, with FIFO or LIFO lot costing per cold store. The ledger stays single-currency, in INR.

Spice and produce wholesale in Kochi

A Mattancherry spice house buys pepper and cardamom from Idukki growers and auction lots, cleans and grades it, and sells to Broadway retailers, upcountry wholesalers and exporters. Stock sits by grade and godown, prices change with every auction, and many customers buy on credit with long-standing accounts that the owner knows by heart.

Skyline Nexus ERP keeps that stock per godown with FIFO or LIFO costing, prints a separate invoice series per location and posts every final sale to sales, output tax, cost of goods and inventory once auto-posting is on. Receivable ageing replaces the memory of who owes what, and a Kochi trader can limit each clerk to the godown or counter they run.

From POS to balance sheet for a Kochi trader

Take a Broadway dry-fruit and spice wholesaler with a retail counter and a godown in Mattancherry. Typical billing apps print GST bills and count stock, while the books are often kept by an accountant in another package, so the trial balance is rebuilt at month or year end. Credit-book apps record retailer dues, without stock or purchases. Separate accounting packages keep strong books, yet the counter's sales are exported or typed again.

With Auto-post Sales Transactions switched on, Skyline Nexus ERP posts each final POS sale as a balanced journal soon after saving, and purchases from growers and payments to suppliers post the same way. The Kochi wholesaler sees a current trial balance, profit and loss and balance sheet, for the counter, the godown or both. Some other providers are ahead today on e-way bills, which Skyline Nexus cannot produce yet.

GST for a Kochi business

A Kochi GSTIN starts with 32, the Kerala State code. Selling from Broadway to a shop in Thrissur means CGST plus SGST at half the rate each; sending a consignment to Coimbatore or Bengaluru means IGST. Registration applies above INR 20 lakh aggregate turnover, and goods-only suppliers may use INR 40 lakh, except ice cream, pan masala and tobacco.

Kochi exporters and B2B suppliers above INR 5 crore aggregate turnover must get an IRN from the IRP for each invoice, which Skyline Nexus ERP cannot do yet. In Skyline Nexus you set up tax groups such as CGST 9% + SGST 9% or IGST 18%, choose the right one on each bill and print HSN from the category code. GSTR returns are not prepared yet.

Getting started from Kochi

Kochi businesses start with Join the waitlist on this page, Book a demo or Ask on WhatsApp. Get ready the item list with opening stock per counter, godown or cold store, customers and suppliers with GSTIN and opening balances, the chart of accounts, and the shops, yards or properties that should run as separate branches.

During set-up, Skyline Nexus ERP is given an April-to-March financial year, INR, dd-mm-yyyy dates and amounts in words in lakh and crore. Items, opening stock and contacts are uploaded from CSV files. Support is by WhatsApp, phone and e-mail, and the Skyline team works remotely because it has no office in India.

1. Create the Kochi counter, Mattancherry godown or cold store as locations.
2. Import spice grades, seafood packs or goods with opening stock per location.
3. Load retailers, growers, agents and suppliers with GSTIN and balances.
4. Switch on auto-posting and check receivable ageing after the first month.

Questions from Kochi businesses

Which GST State code does a Kochi business have?

A Kochi business registers under Kerala, so its GSTIN starts with 32. Skyline Nexus ERP stores the GSTIN on each customer and supplier, so a Kochi seller can see whether a buyer is in Kerala, for CGST plus SGST, or in another State such as Tamil Nadu, for IGST. The user picks the tax group on the bill.

Can a Kochi seafood exporter issue IRN e-invoices from Skyline Nexus ERP yet?

Not yet for IRN e-invoices. A Kochi seafood exporter above INR 5 crore aggregate turnover must report export invoices to the IRP, and Skyline Nexus ERP has no IRP connection yet, so that exporter should join the waitlist. Smaller exporters can run processing, cold-store stock and books in Skyline Nexus.

Does Skyline Nexus ERP suit a Mattancherry spice trader?

Skyline Nexus ERP keeps spice stock per godown and grade with FIFO or LIFO costing, prints bills per counter and posts each final sale to the ledger when auto-posting is on. A Mattancherry spice trader in Kochi also gets receivable ageing for retailers buying on credit and payable ageing for growers.

Can a Kochi freight forwarder track client receivables in Skyline Nexus ERP?

Skyline Nexus ERP lets a Kochi forwarder bill agency fees, record reimbursable freight and terminal charges, and post customer and supplier payments to the ledger. Receivable ageing shows which client is overdue, and cost centres can separate the customs desk from transport. The ledger is single-currency in INR.

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

On a Broadway counter, a billing app's job usually ends when the GST bill is printed and the stock count drops; the ledger is assembled later by someone else. Skyline Nexus ERP, after an administrator enables auto-posting, writes the matching sales, tax, cost and inventory entries for each final Kochi sale, so the books are current. Where billing apps are ahead today is e-way bill generation, which Skyline Nexus does not have yet.

Can Kochi staff use Skyline Nexus ERP in Malayalam or Hindi?

Skyline Nexus ERP has an English interface and a Hindi interface translation; a Malayalam interface is not claimed, so a Kochi team should ask in the demo. The currency is INR, dates can be shown as dd-mm-yyyy and invoice totals can be written in lakh and crore.

What does a Kochi business need before moving to Skyline Nexus ERP?

A Kochi business moving to Skyline Nexus ERP needs its item list with opening stock, customers and suppliers with GSTIN and balances, a chart of accounts and a list of branches, all in CSV form. Access in India is by waitlist and demo, and support is by WhatsApp, phone and e-mail.

Skyline Nexus ERP is a cloud service run by Skyline Industrial Solution. We have no office in Kochi; 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.