Gold Shop Management Software: A Buyer's Guide for Egypt

Gold shop management software has to think in grams and karats, not in pieces. It should know the weight and karat of every item, price each sale from today's karat rate plus workmanship, and keep scrap, workshop gold, customer credit and the cash drawer under named responsibility. If a system cannot do that, it is a general retail till wearing a jeweller's sign, and you will still be closing the day with a calculator.

TL;DR. A gold shop sells "grams × today's karat price + workmanship", while ordinary retail software sells "one item × a fixed price". Before you buy, check that the system holds stock in grams for each karat (18, 21, 24), puts a barcode with a recorded weight on every piece, updates the price per karat once and lets every sale follow it, calculates workmanship, accepts scrap trade-ins, tracks gold issued to and received from the workshop with the loss, keeps trader and customer-credit accounts, hands the treasury over per shift to a named person, and reports inventory value by karat. Ask the vendor to show each of these live, not on a slide.

Why a generic POS breaks in a gold shop

Most point-of-sale systems were designed for shops where a product is a code, a price and a quantity. Sell three, the count drops by three, the drawer goes up by three times the price. That model fits a pharmacy or a clothing store. It does not fit a counter of rings and bangles.

In a jewellery shop, the item on the tray does not carry a fixed price. Its price is assembled at the moment of sale from its weight, the day's rate for its karat and the workmanship charge (المصنعية). Here is an illustrative example with hypothetical round numbers, not market prices: a 21-karat bracelet weighing 8 grams, a hypothetical rate of 1,000 EGP per gram and workmanship of 60 EGP per gram. The sale price is 8 × 1,000 + 8 × 60 = 8,480 EGP. Tomorrow the rate moves, and the same bracelet has a different price. A generic POS either makes someone re-key every price by hand or quietly keeps selling at yesterday's number.

The deeper problem is what the system counts. A retail POS counts units. A gold shop owner thinks in weight per karat: how many grams of 21 do I hold, how much of it is finished pieces and how much is scrap. Retail software also has no concept of a customer paying partly in old gold, of metal that is out at the workshop and not yet back, or of a cash drawer that changes hands between cashiers. So owners who try one usually keep a paper notebook beside it, and now there are two records that disagree.

The 10 capabilities to demand from gold shop management software

The list below follows the order of a working day in an Egyptian gold shop, from opening the treasury to closing the books.

1. Stock held in grams for each karat

The system's home screen should answer one question instantly: how many grams of 18, 21 and 24 do I have, split between finished pieces (مشغولات) and scrap (كسر)? Karat is a purity scale. The World Gold Council defines 24 carat as pure gold and 18 carat as 75% gold, and notes that purity is also written as fineness in parts per thousand, so 18 carat is .750. By the same arithmetic, 21 karat is 21/24 of pure gold, or 87.5%. Good gold inventory software keeps these separate and lets you see the value of each.

2. One barcode per piece, carrying its weight

Two rings from the same mould rarely weigh exactly the same, so the barcode must identify the individual piece, not the design. Scanning it should pull up the weight, karat and type, and calculate the price without anyone re-weighing and typing.

The karat you record should come from the hallmark on the piece. In Egypt, the hallmarking authority (مصلحة دمغ المصوغات والموازين), which Egypt's State Information Service places under the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade, is the body that tests gold items and hallmarks their karat. Take the karat from the stamp during your stock count, not from memory.

3. A daily gold price per karat that drives the sale price

There should be a single place to enter today's rate for each karat, and every price in the shop should follow it. A useful test: if the rate changes at noon, how many screens do you have to touch? The right answer is one.

4. Workmanship calculated automatically

Workmanship is a large share of a shop's margin and differs by item type. The software should calculate it for you and show it separately from the metal value on the invoice. That way, at month-end, you can tell how much you earned from workmanship and how much from metal.

5. Scrap trade-in at the counter

Many sales in Egypt start with a customer bringing old gold to exchange (مقايضة الكسر). The invoice must take in the scrap with its weight, karat and value, deduct it from what the customer owes, and add it to scrap stock in one step. Shops often express mixed scrap in 21-karat equivalent to compare it: 6 grams of 18-karat scrap, for instance, is 6 × 18 / 21, or about 5.14 grams of 21-karat equivalent. Whatever convention you use, it should live in the system, not on a scrap of paper.

6. Workshop issue, receipt and loss

Gold sent to the workshop (الورشة) comes back in a different form and usually slightly lighter. Illustrative example with round numbers: you issue 200 grams of 21 karat, and receive 196 grams of finished pieces plus 2.6 grams of scrap. The workshop loss (فاقد الورشة) is 1.4 grams. The system should hold a running balance for each workshop and calculate the loss on every batch, so you can see whether it stays within what you agreed.

7. Trader accounts in gold and money

Wholesale traders (التجّار) deal with you in metal and cash at once: what came in, what went out, what was paid and what remains. You need a statement per trader in the software, not a balance you carry in your head or trust to the trader's own notebook. Our guide to gold shop accounting shows how to hold that balance in grams and close the day on both the gold and the cash ledger, with a full worked example.

8. Customer credit with aging

Selling on credit (الآجل) to long-standing customers is normal in many shops. What matters is seeing who owes, how much and since when. A balance that is two months old needs a different conversation from one that is two days old, so the report should age the debt.

9. Treasury handover per shift, with a named owner

This is where shops lose the most quietly. If the drawer is short at closing and nobody signed for it, the shortage belongs to no one. The cashier should receive the treasury (الخزنة) under their own name at the start of the shift, every movement should be recorded against them, and they should count and hand it over at the end, with any difference booked to them.

Card and transfer payments complicate the count. According to the Central Bank of Egypt's Instant Payment Network page, the network runs on weekdays and official holidays, and the InstaPay limit is 70,000 EGP per transaction, applied per bank registered in the app. A large bridal set can therefore be paid in more than one way. The software should accept split payments and keep each method separate, so transfers are never mistaken for missing cash. Check the current limits on that page, since they can change.

10. Roles, an activity log and the reports an owner reads

A cashier, a storekeeper and an accountant need different screens and different permissions. Sensitive actions, such as a discount or a sale below cost, should need someone senior to approve. Every action should be logged against the user who did it. And the reports should answer the owner's real questions: today's sales, inventory value by karat, and what the shop owns, owes and earned.

A vendor checklist for jewellery store management software

Bring this table to every demo. A spoken "yes, it does that" is not an answer; ask to see it on screen with sample data.

Capability	Why it matters in a gold shop	Question to ask the vendor
Stock by karat in grams	You manage weight per karat, not unit counts	Show me total grams of 21 karat right now, pieces and scrap separately
Barcode with weight	Every piece weighs something different	When I scan a piece, do weight and karat appear without typing?
Daily karat price	Sales must use today's rate	If I change the 21-karat rate now, do all piece prices update?
Workmanship	Part of your margin, often miscalculated by hand	Is workmanship calculated automatically and shown separately on the invoice?
Scrap trade-in	Many sales start with old gold	Show me one invoice with scrap coming in and a piece going out
Workshop and loss	Metal returns lighter	How do I issue gold to a workshop, receive it back and see the loss?
Trader accounts	Dealings mix gold and cash	Is there a statement per trader with in, out and balance?
Customer credit	You need to know who owes and for how long	Is there an aging report for credit sales?
Treasury per shift	A shortage needs an owner	Does the cashier sign for the drawer, and who carries the difference?
Approvals and log	Discounts and losses are where leakage hides	Who must approve a discounted or loss-making sale, and where is the log?
Owner reports	Decisions need numbers	Can I see inventory value by karat, plus assets, liabilities and profit?
Corrections	Mistakes happen; hiding them should not	Are wrong entries deleted, or reversed with a visible entry?

The last row matters more than it looks. A system that lets you delete a transaction also lets someone hide one. Prefer software where the record is append-only and every correction appears as its own reversing entry.

Notebook vs Excel vs generic POS vs gold-specific software

None of these is wrong for every shop. The question is which one fits how many people touch your stock and cash.

	Paper notebook	Excel	Generic retail POS	Gold-specific software
Grams per karat	Added up by hand	Possible with formulas someone maintains	Usually counts units only	Built in
Daily karat price	Written down, often forgotten	One cell, if the sheet is built well	Edit each product's price	One rate per karat drives all prices
Workmanship	Calculator	Formula	Not modelled	Calculated automatically
Scrap trade-in	Separate page	Separate sheet	Not supported	Part of the invoice
Workshop and loss	Workshop notebook	Possible, fragile	Not supported	Issue, receive, loss
Treasury accountability	None	None	Sometimes shift open and close	Signed handover to a named person
Who did what	Handwriting	Anyone can edit any cell	Limited	Per-user activity log
Running cost	Almost nothing	Low	Licence or subscription	Subscription
Fits best	Owner alone at the counter	Owner who likes numbers and has time	Shops that do not sell gold	Several staff, a workshop and traders

If you stand behind the counter yourself all day, with no workshop and little credit, a careful spreadsheet can carry you for a while. Once a second cashier, a workshop balance or a list of credit customers appears, the sheet becomes a document anyone can change and no one owns. If you are comparing general shop accounting software, free and paid, we cover it in a separate guide: accounting software for small shops.

Desktop software or a gold shop app on your phone?

Many owners start with the same question: should I install gold shop accounting software on the shop computer, or look for a gold shop app on my phone? The answer depends on who uses the system and from where. This table sums up the difference:

	Installed on the shop computer	Cloud software in the browser	Phone-only app
Who can use it	Whoever stands at that machine	Anyone with permission, on phone or laptop	Whoever holds the phone
Owner away from the shop	Usually not	Can follow along from a phone	Depends on the app
If the machine breaks or is stolen	Data can be lost without a backup	Data is not on the shop machine	Ask where the data is stored
If the internet drops	Works as normal	Ask: do sales continue and sync later?	Depends on the app
Updates	Usually manual	Arrive automatically	Through the app store

Whatever name the vendor gives it, the name is not what matters. What matters is that it does the ten things above and passes the vendor checklist. If the shop also sells silver or accessories next to gold, ask the vendor how the system keeps them apart from gold stock.

Tibr is the cloud kind: it runs in the browser on mobile and laptop, designed mobile-first and right to left. According to the FAQ on the Tibr page, prices and stock are cached for fast reading, and sales sync as soon as the connection returns.

Your first week on new gold inventory software

The hard part of switching is keeping the shop selling while you move. This plan assumes you never close the counter.

1. Count and weigh the stock by karat. Pick a quiet day or work after closing. Separate finished pieces from scrap, weigh each piece, and record karat and type. Everything else rests on this count, so do not rush it.
2. Label every piece with a barcode. Each label links to the piece's weight and karat in the system. Start with the display trays that sell fastest, then the safe.
3. Set today's karat rates and workmanship. Enter the rate for each karat and the workmanship for each item type. Ring up a test sale and check the result against your own calculator.
4. Load the open balances. Gold out at workshops, trader balances and customers on credit. These usually sit in separate notebooks; gather them once.
5. Create users and roles. One login per person, with a role that matches the job: cashier, storekeeper, accountant, manager. Give no one more access than the role needs.
6. Open the first shift. The cashier receives the treasury under their name and sells by scanning. Keep the notebook running beside the system for that day only, to compare.
7. Reconcile the treasury at close. Count the cash, compare it with the system and hand over the shift. If there is a difference, find the cause today, not at month-end. When the numbers agree two days running, retire the notebook.

That first step has a guide of its own: how to run a gold shop inventory count covers counting by weight, by piece and at shift handover. And if a workshop holds your gold, workshop and making charge accounts walks through its gram balance, expected loss and the making charge.

If you are still planning the shop, or unsure whether it really earns, read where a gold shop actually makes its margin before you choose any system.

How Tibr handles this

Tibr is gold and jewellery shop software built by Mindshift for Egyptian shops, in Arabic with a right-to-left interface. Based on what is published on the Tibr product page:

• The cashier's day in three steps: receive the treasury with personal accountability, sell by barcode, then hand over and close the shift.
• Stock by karat: 18, 21 and 24, finished pieces and scrap, with every piece barcode-tracked and its weight in grams.
• Pricing: gold price updates per karat, and automatic workmanship calculation.
• At the counter: several pieces on one invoice, split payment across cash, Visa and InstaPay, and scrap trade-in from the customer. A loss-making sale needs the owner's PIN.
• Workshops: issue gold to a workshop, receive it back, calculate the loss, and transfer between workshops.
• Traders and credit: an account for each trader in money and gold, and customer credit by name and phone, with collection and settlement.
• Reports: assets, liabilities, profit and net worth; customer credit; today's sales; inventory value; and live total weight for each karat.
• People: owner, manager, cashier, storekeeper and accountant roles, with an activity log per user.
• Data: encrypted and isolated per shop, with an append-only transaction log where reversals are recorded transparently.

It runs as a web app on mobile and laptop. You can start free at 0 EGP with no card, and the Pro plan is 499 EGP per month, with an annual option that saves two months. If you are still comparing options, put Tibr through the same checklist above that you would use for anyone else. More guides will appear on the Tibr blog.

Related guides: Gold Karat Conversion: The Formula, With Worked Examples · Jewellery Barcode Tags: One Code per Gold Piece · Selling Gold on Credit: Record the Debt in Grams or Cash?

FAQ

What is the difference between gold shop management software and a regular POS?

A regular POS sells an item at a fixed price and counts units. Gold shop software prices each sale from weight, the daily karat rate and workmanship, holds stock in grams per karat, and handles scrap, workshop gold, customer credit and treasury handover.

Is Excel enough to run a gold shop?

It can be for a small shop where the owner works the counter alone, with no workshop and little credit. Once several people edit the sheet, you lose track of who changed what, and no one is accountable for a drawer shortage.

How do I calculate workshop loss?

Workshop loss is the weight of gold you issued minus the weight of finished pieces and scrap returned, at the same karat. For example, with round numbers, 200 grams issued against 196 grams of pieces and 2.6 grams of scrap returned is a loss of 1.4 grams. The software should do this per batch and keep a balance for each workshop.

Does the software set the gold price by itself?

Ask every vendor this directly. What matters is one place to update the rate for each karat, with every sale price following it. In Tibr, you update the gold price per karat and prices are calculated from it.

How do I stop cash drawer leakage in a jewellery shop?

Make each cashier sign for the treasury at the start of the shift and hand it over at the end, with every movement recorded against them. Require a manager or owner to approve discounted or loss-making sales, and correct mistakes with visible reversing entries rather than deletions.

What should I prepare before switching to new software?

Count and weigh your stock by karat, label every piece with a barcode, and gather the open balances for workshops, traders and credit customers. Then set up user roles, open the first shift, and keep the old notebook running beside the system until the numbers agree.

Is there free gold accounting software?

There are free Excel templates and general programs, but most do not understand grams, karats, workmanship or scrap, so you end up finishing the job on a calculator. If you want to try before you pay, Tibr has a free trial at 0 EGP on ready-made demo data with no card, and the Pro plan is 499 EGP per month. Try it and ask the same checklist questions.

How much does it cost to open a gold shop in Egypt?

There is no honest single figure: cost depends on the location and rent, how many grams you stock the display with, the safe, insurance and fit-out, and licensing. Questions such as how much you need to open a gold shop, or the requirements to open one in Egypt, are best answered by a specialist accountant and lawyer and by the chamber of commerce in your governorate. What we can say is that a small gold shop needs to know its balance in grams for every karat from day one, because that is its real capital.

Written by the Mindshift Team, Tibr product team.

Want to see this on your own shop's numbers? Try Tibr free from its product page.