Spreadsheet price lists vs cost-plus pricing for spare parts comes down to one question: does your selling price move when your cost moves? A spreadsheet price list moves only when someone updates it. Cost-plus pricing in Takkada's AutoParts billing moves with the purchase bills, because the selling price is worked out from each part's last purchase cost plus your markup. Take a part priced in the sheet at ₹324.00, which was cost ₹240.00 plus 35%. The next purchase comes in at ₹256.50. Cost-plus pricing now bills ₹346.28 before GST, while the sheet still says ₹324.00 until someone edits it. On 50 pieces that is ₹1,114.00 of margin before GST, on one part, from one purchase. A spreadsheet still has real strengths, such as round figures, free-form notes and a printout for the counter, so the fair answer depends on how often your costs move and how many parts you carry.
How the spreadsheet works today
Most parts businesses keep a sheet with columns for part number, cost, markup and selling price. The owner or accountant updates the cost column after big purchases, re-runs the formula and shares the file or a printout with the counter. It is familiar, it costs nothing extra, and it lets the owner write anything in a cell, from "price fixed by company" to "ask me first".
The sheet is as current as its last update. With a few hundred parts and costs that change twice a year, that is often good enough.
Where it falls behind
The sheet starts slipping when part numbers run into thousands and costs move with each consignment. The update becomes a half-day job, so it happens less often. Meanwhile the counter keeps billing from the copy it has, and the gap shows up only when someone compares margins at month end.
There is also the copy problem. The office has one version, the counter has a printout, a salesman has a photo of an older page on his phone.
How cost-plus pricing works in the app
In AutoParts billing, you write the rule once: a Company default markup, a markup on each stock group, and an override on any item. The app reads each part's cost from its latest purchase bill, after the trade discount and before GST, and multiplies: cost × (1 + markup ÷ 100), rounded to two decimals.
On a sales invoice, quotation or sales order from the phone, the part comes in at that price for the party's level. Fifty pieces at ₹346.28 make ₹17,314.00 taxable; at 18% GST, CGST and SGST are ₹1,558.26 each, total ₹20,430.52. Fifty at the sheet's ₹324.00 would have been ₹16,200.00 taxable.
The Purchase price changes screen lists the recent purchase bills and which parts moved, so the review that used to happen in the sheet happens on one screen.
Side by side
| Spreadsheet price list | Cost-plus in AutoParts billing | |
|---|---|---|
| When cost changes | Price changes when someone edits the sheet | Price follows the latest qualifying purchase bill (or the preferred supplier's) once it reaches the app |
| Different markups by brand | A column per row, copied down | One markup per stock group, item overrides |
| Who sees the cost | Anyone with the file | Cost and markup held back from staff not allowed to see purchase costs |
| Parts with no purchase | Whatever was typed | Shown as Never purchased or No usable cost, billed at the normal price |
| Notes and odd rules | Anything in a cell | Exclude an item to keep it on its normal price |
When the sheet is still the right call
If you carry a few hundred parts, buy rarely and like rounding prices to the nearest five rupees, a sheet is simpler. AutoParts billing prices to the paisa from cost, and a part you want to keep at a round figure is better excluded so it stays on its normal price.
If you carry thousands of parts and costs move with each container, the rule-based approach saves the update work and keeps the counter on current costs.
The full rules are in the AutoParts billing guide, and the screens are on cost-plus pricing for Tally.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I keep some parts on fixed prices from my sheet?
A: Yes. Exclude those items from AutoParts billing and they bill at the price they would have had without AutoParts, such as your Tally price list or standard price.
Q: Does cost-plus pricing round to whole rupees?
A: No. The selling price is rounded to two decimals.
Q: Will a price typed on the bill be overwritten?
A: No. If the person billing types a different rate, the line keeps that rate, unless the owner has locked rates for staff.
Talk to us
WhatsApp us at https://wa.me/919435977777 with your current price sheet and we will show you how it maps to group markups.