You buy phones at EGP 7,000 each, then you pay for shipping and customs. If you price them off the invoice alone, you think you made money when you made much less, and sometimes you lost.
And the supplier's account? On a scrap of paper, or in your head, and nobody remembers how much was paid and how much is left. This post walks through how Mobilat handles a purchase invoice step by step, and where its limits are.
Why the invoice price isn't your cost
The real cost of a device is everything you paid to get it on your shelf: the supplier's price plus shipping, customs and any other charge on the goods. Accountants call this the landed cost.
If you record the device at the invoice price only, your profit report shows a number nicer than the truth. Then you set prices and give discounts based on the wrong number.
Recording a purchase, step by step
- Pick the supplier, or make a cash purchase without a supplier for a quick buy.
- Add the items, quantities and purchase prices. If an item doesn't exist yet, you can add it right from the invoice.
- Add the extra costs to the invoice: shipping, customs, anything that came with the goods.
- Pay in full or in part, from the cash box or any wallet.
- Save. Stock, cost and the supplier balance all update together.
How shipping and customs are spread
Extra costs are spread across the invoice lines by value, and the average cost updates. So the pricier item carries a bigger share than the cheaper one.
A simple example: an invoice of 10 phones at EGP 7,000 each, so EGP 70,000. You pay EGP 5,000 for shipping and customs. The phones are identical, so each carries EGP 500, and its cost is 7,500, not 7,000.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Supplier price per phone | 7,000 |
| Share of shipping and customs | 500 |
| Real cost | 7,500 |
Sell it at 7,400 thinking the cost is 7,000 and you count a 400 profit. In reality you lost 100.
Phones by IMEI
If an item is tracked by IMEI, you scan or paste the device numbers into the invoice. Each device is recorded on its own with its own landed cost. At the POS you then pick the device by IMEI or its last 6 digits, and reports show profit per device.
Accessories stay counted by quantity, and their average cost updates with each invoice.
Paying in parts and the supplier statement
Most wholesale deals are part cash now, part later. You pay what you have from the drawer or any wallet, and the rest stays on record until you settle it.
Each supplier has a statement showing:
- What you owe, and what you're owed if there are returns.
- How long you've owed it, from the debt aging report.
So before you call a wholesaler or go to pay, you already know where you stand.
When you make a mistake or return goods
- Voiding an invoice: reverses stock, money and the supplier balance in one step. Nothing is deleted, and the correction is logged under the person who did it.
- Returning to a supplier: recorded at the purchase cost, and stock and the account adjust.
- Buying a used phone from a person: choose "From a person" and enter the seller's name, phone and national ID number, plus an ID photo if you like. The ID number is stored encrypted and the photo privately. Only people you allow can see them, and every view is logged.
Limits to know
- Costs are spread by value, not always equally, so two items at different prices carry different shares.
- You have to add the extra costs to the invoice. Forget them and the cost will be lower than reality.
- The IMEI is checked only as a valid 15-digit number. Mobilat doesn't check the device with any outside party, and the telephony registration status is typed in by you.
- IMEI tracking isn't available on the Wallets plan, which has no inventory.
What changes at the end of the day
When cost is right from the first invoice, the profit report is right. Real profit is sales minus their cost, minus expenses, plus wallet commissions, and every number opens the lines behind it. If an item has no cost, profit is marked incomplete until you fill it in, so it never misleads you.
See the full page at Purchasing & suppliers, or try the app without signing up. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial with everything and no card, and prices are on the pricing page.