Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for seed dealers.
A checklist built from how seed dealers work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Seed lot register
- Season bookings and allotment
- Farmer purchase record
- Expiry and shelf watch
- Credit until harvest
- Company returns and claims
- Demonstration plots and field visits
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For counter staff
- For storekeepers
- For field staff
- For the accountant
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Lots by validity date and germination
- Farmers who bought packets from a named lot
- Season bookings against stock arrived and still pending
- Credit by farmer, village and promised date
- Unsold packets by lot per company
- Sales by crop, variety and pack size
- Plot notes on wilt, blight and emergence
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- Barcode and tag scanner
- Card and payment gateway
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can we find who bought from a given lot?
- How does it deal with expired or near-dated seed?
- Can farmers book a hybrid before it arrives?
- Does it handle credit sales until harvest?
- What about the return of unsold packets?
- Does it keep our regulator’s sale register?
- Can field staff log visits?
- We have seasons with heavy counter traffic. Will it cope?
- How do we start?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- A complaint cannot name its lot
- Expiry dates hide inside stacked bags
- Season returns are counted by hand
- Credit until harvest runs on trust
- Advance bookings do not meet arrivals
Prefer to talk it through? See the seed dealers page.