Many sari-sari stores run for years on a notebook and memory. The store is busy, the drawer has money in it, and yet at the end of the month it is hard to say whether the store earned anything. The fix is not complicated accounting. It is three short lists, kept every day.
First, keep the store's money separate
Use one drawer or pouch for the store and nothing else. When family needs money, take it out and write it down as money the owner took, not as an expense of the store. Mixing household and store money is the main reason owners cannot tell if the store is making a profit.
List 1: daily sales
Writing down every candy and sachet is not realistic. Count the drawer instead. At closing, count the cash, subtract the change fund you started the day with, and write the result as the day's sales. Add GCash or Maya payments separately. Once a week, add up the seven days.
List 2: utang
Credit to regular customers is part of sari-sari life, and it is also where money quietly disappears. Give each customer who buys on utang their own page or line: the date, what they took, the amount, and every payment they make. At the end of each week, look at who owes the most and for how long. Set a limit per customer and stick to it.
List 3: restocking and expenses
- Every trip to the supplier or the grocery: the date, the supplier and the total. Keep the receipt.
- Store expenses: electricity, rent if any, transport to restock, plastic bags, and permits.
- Your own price list: what each item costs you and what you sell it for. Your margin on rice, load and cigarettes is much thinner than on snacks.
Is the store making money?
At the end of the month, add up your sales, subtract what you spent on stock and expenses, and look at what is left. Then check the shelves: if you bought more stock than you sold, some of your money is sitting on the shelves, not lost. Comparing each month with the one before tells you more than any single month does.
Registration and books of accounts
A registered business has to keep books of accounts, and the rules depend on how the store is registered. Ask your RDO or an accountant what applies to your store. The habits in this guide make that part much easier, because the numbers already exist.
How PrimerLedger helps
PrimerLedger is built around invoices, so it fits best when part of your selling is to known customers: utang to regulars, deliveries, or supplying other stores. Each customer gets their own balance, partial payments are recorded as they come in, and the aging report shows who has owed you the longest. Restocking goes in as expenses with the receipt attached, and items can carry their cost and stock count with a low-stock alert. For small cash sales, some owners record one sale per day with the drawer total. If your store only sells for cash over the counter, a notebook or spreadsheet may be all you need, and that is fine. See invoices and payments and items and stock.