The short answer
You need an ERP that tracks stock in every warehouse, prices customers consistently, puts freight, duty and clearing charges into item cost, and applies VAT and withholding tax. Entry-level accounting handles tax, not the rest. Prometheus, our ERPNext-based ERP, has a distribution and retail edition covering all four, with naira and US dollars in one ledger. Success depends on pricing and costing rules matching how you trade.
Inventory you can trust
If the system says 40 units and the shelf has 12, every other number is wrong.
Every location
Warehouses, consignment stock and goods in transit; transfers recorded as the truck leaves.
Batches and serials
ERPNext tracks batches with expiry dates for food, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and other dated goods.
Reorder levels
Per warehouse, purchase requests raised automatically; set around real import lead times.
Units of measure
Conversions that work: buy by the carton, sell by the unit.
Cycle counts
Not one painful annual count; adjustments recorded and explained.
Barcode scanning
At receiving, picking and packing, where volumes justify it.
Serving Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt or Kano from several depots makes timely transfers essential. Entry should survive the grid or internet dropping: staff keep receiving and picking, then sync, so check the system and your backup power.
Pricing that stays consistent
List, contract, volume, promotional, naira and US dollar prices: kept in memory or a spreadsheet, they leak margin, and exchange-rate moves make it worse because costs change faster than the price list. ERPNext pricing rules cover most distribution pricing without custom code, by:
- Item, item group or brand
- Customer, group or territory
- Quantity or value range
- Date
- Currency or price list
Quarterly rebates or prices tied to supplier cost changes we build as customisations.
Landed cost: where margin hides
The supplier's invoice is not your cost. Freight, insurance, customs duty and levies, clearing agent fees, port charges, haulage and currency conversion belong in it; posted as general expenses, they make some products look more profitable than they are and others less.
ERPNext's landed cost voucher adds these charges to item valuation on a purchase receipt. Decide how each is allocated (value, quantity, weight or volume) and who enters the clearing agent's invoice. Duties and clearance go through the Nigeria Customs Service and your licensed clearing agent, whose statements feed the same costs; keep the agent's reference and customs documents on the record for a clear trail. Confirm duty and levy treatment with your clearing agent and accountant.
Worked example: one container, two products
A distributor receives 1,000 kettles at USD 12.00 and 500 toasters at USD 20.00, a supplier total of USD 22,000, converted to naira at the rate on the receipt date. Freight and insurance of USD 3,200, duty of USD 1,450 (on the kettles only) and clearing agent fees of USD 300 arrive later on separate invoices. (Shown in US dollars for simplicity; in practice duty and clearing charges are paid in naira and converted at the rate on each invoice.)
- Freight, insurance and clearing fees are allocated by value across both products.
- Duty is allocated to the kettles only.
- The item valuations update, and the next sales margin report shows the true landed cost of each product.
VAT, withholding tax and currency
VAT (currently 7.5 %) applies to taxable goods; some items are exempt or zero-rated, and withholding tax may be deducted from payments to or from you. Prometheus tax templates and rules apply taxes by item and customer, as your accountant directs, and track withholding tax credits for reconciliation. We configure what your accountant specifies; this is not tax advice. Check e-invoicing or tax-reporting requirements with your accountant and the Nigeria Revenue Service. Buying in US dollars and selling in naira needs multi-currency accounting that records exchange gains and losses, not absorbs them: otherwise a devaluation between purchase and sale can erase a shipment's margin unnoticed.
Rather talk it through? Send us a recent import with its freight, duty and clearing invoices, and we will show you the landed cost and margin Prometheus would calculate. Talk to a Promatics specialist
Connecting the rest of the business
- Online store or B2B portal
- Couriers and logistics: rates and tracking
- Order or invoice exchange with large customers
- Warehouse management system
- Bank statement imports
- Payment gateways and mobile wallets
Scope each connection at the start: it shapes how items, customers and prices are structured. See connecting your online store to your ERP.
What usually goes wrong
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Landed costs posted as expenses (margin disappears) | Landed cost vouchers |
| Copied price lists nobody updates; dollar-linked prices lag the rate | Pricing rules and customer groups |
| Opening stock loaded without a count | Count before go-live |
| A separate item per size and colour | A variant structure |
| Online store connected after go-live | Scope integrations first; late ones force item code and pricing changes |
- Every warehouse, consignment location and in-transit stock is listed.
- We know which items need batch, expiry or serial tracking.
- Customer pricing rules are written down, including volume breaks and promotions.
- We have agreed how freight, duty and clearing charges will be allocated.
- VAT and withholding tax treatment has been confirmed with our accountant.
- Currencies and exchange-rate handling are agreed.
- Integrations (store, logistics, customer portals, bank, payments) are listed and prioritised.
- A full stock count is planned before go-live.
When to bring in help
One warehouse, simple prices, no imports? Accounting software with an inventory add-on often works. Bring in an ERP partner when you import, run several warehouses, use contract pricing or connect an online store: set-up decisions there quietly decide margin, and one team should own configuration, migration, integration and support.
Sources and further reading
Product capabilities and guidance change. These are the primary sources this article relies on, checked on the review date above.
- Landed Cost Voucher, ERPNext documentation (Frappe)
- Pricing Rule, ERPNext documentation (Frappe)
- Batch, ERPNext documentation (Frappe)
- Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Customs Service
This article is general information, not legal, accounting or security advice for your specific situation. Examples are hypothetical unless stated otherwise.