Billing for your stationery and book shop in Gujarat
The chopda season, the textbook bundle and the summer colour sets, counted on one phone.
The chopda season before Diwali, a textbook bundle from the district distributor and a May of colour sets
The chopda season, when every trader wants a fresh red account book for the new year
In the weeks before Diwali, traders come for chopda, the red cloth-bound account book for the new year, in sizes from a pocket book to a large ledger, with calendars, pens and file covers. A trader orders for himself, his brother and his staff, and the sizes are written on a slip. By the week of the festival the large size has finished, and the slip does not say how many were promised.
The textbook bundle from the district distributor, signed for before it is opened
The new session's textbooks come from the district distributor in bundles tied by standard, a few days before the schools open. The driver's paper is signed at the door and the van drives on, and the boy cuts the bundles open afterwards and stacks them on the floor. A customer asks for a book that should have been in the bundle, and the shop cannot tell whether the distributor sent it or the stack hid it.
May, when the summer classes start and every child needs a colour set
When schools close for the summer, children join drawing, craft and hobby classes, and parents come for colour sets, drawing books, brushes and craft paper. The shop has stocked for June's notebooks, not for May's paints, and by the second week the colours that every class asks for have run out.
The chopda sizes counted, the textbook bundle ticked off, the summer art stock ordered early
The chopda by size, so the large ledger is seen going before it is gone
Make each chopda size an item. A trader's order for himself, his brother and his staff goes on one bill with each size on its own line. The count of the large size falls with every sale, and you see it going while the festival is still two weeks away. The calendars and the pens that go with the ledgers are counted the same way.
The signed-for bundle, opened after the van has gone and written against its paper
The distributor's van leaves a bundle you signed for before opening. The paper says what is inside. Open it after the van has gone and note what truly came against the order, standard by standard. When a parent asks for a book that is not on the stack, the line says if it was sent. A parent who comes back for a priced book is not charged twice.
The colour sets and drawing books ordered in April, while the wholesaler still has them
Set a low-stock mark for colour sets, drawing books and craft paper. When the first week of May brings them near the mark, the app shows it, and you order while the wholesaler can still deliver for the second week.
Rajkot, Surat and Bhavnagar: the Gujarat cities whose schools a stationery shop serves
Three Gujarat cities, and what each is known for.
- Rajkot's Soni goldsmiths and silver craftsmen make jewellery, and the city is also known for textile printing and for metal and wood carving.
- Surat accounts for 70% of India's rough diamond cutting and polishing and 40% of its man-made fabric production, says the city corporation.
- Bhavnagar is an important trade city, 50 km from Alang, the world's largest ship-breaking yard, and is famous for its ganthiya snack.
What a Gujarat stationery counter keeps on its phone, from the chopda season to the summer colour sets
Orders to suppliers
The order for red account books, by size, sent to the wholesaler before the new year, with each lot noted as it comes in.
Credit book (khata)
A page for the trader's firm that takes chopda for the whole office and pays after Diwali, each size dated.
Low stock warnings
A warning when the colour sets or the drawing books come near the mark you set, in the first week of May.
Questions Gujarat stationery shops ask about chopda books, free and priced textbooks and summer art supplies
A trader takes chopda with calendars and pens for his customers and pays after Diwali. Can that be one page?
Yes. Open a page for the firm. The chopda, the calendars and the pens are separate items billed together on one day, and the page holds the amount until he pays after Diwali.
Parents ask whether a book is free or priced. Can I keep only the priced books on my phone?
Yes. Keep only the priced textbooks as items, standard by standard. The free books are not on your stock, so the count shows only what you can sell.
I stamp a trader's firm name on the cover of his chopda. Where does the stamping go on the bill?
Make the stamping an item with its own charge and put it on the trader's bill beside the chopda. The count of the stamping item is the count of chopda you stamped.
Textbooks in Gujarat: the board, the distributors and the shop
Gujarat's Textbook Board supplies textbooks to 39 district distributors, who in turn deliver them to local stationery shops and book vendors in their districts. A stationery shop in the state is the last stop of that chain, with one distributor to ask when a book is missing.
For 2025-26 the Gujarat State School Textbook Board delivered about 4.5 crore free and 1.5 crore priced textbooks to schools before the new academic session began. The free books go straight to schools, and the priced ones are the books a family may have to buy.