General inventory software counts boxes; the diamond trade needs stones with certificates, parcels kept in pieces and carats, memo out and in, several currencies and, for jewellery, stones and gold with karigars. Choose software that handles these natively, refuses to sell a stone twice, keeps your data in its own database with tested backups — and test it with your own stock before you pay.
Why ordinary inventory or accounting software falls short
Most inventory systems are built for products with a code and a quantity. A diamond is not a quantity: each single stone is unique, with its own weight, grade, measurements and certificate, while small stones live in parcels counted by pieces and carats together. Prices are per carat, often quoted as a discount from a list, and much of the business runs on memo — goods out on approval that are still yours.
A system that cannot hold these natively pushes the real work back into spreadsheets, and the spreadsheet becomes the stock record nobody trusts.
The checklist: what diamond software must do
- Single stones with full grading: shape, colour, clarity, cut, polish, symmetry, fluorescence, measurements, depth and table — searchable and filterable.
- Certificates: the lab and report number, the inscription, and a search that finds a stone by its report number.
- Parcels: pieces and carats together, an average price per carat, and part-sales that take both out with the right cost.
- Memo out and memo in: stones on memo still counted as your stock, memo ageing, and each party’s credit limit including what they hold.
- No double selling: a stone on memo, on hold or already sold must be refused by the system, not just warned about.
- Multi-currency: purchases and sales in dollars, rupees or euros, each with its rate, and stock valued at the purchase rate.
- Stock ageing: how much capital sits in stones older than 30, 60 and 90 days.
- Jewellery making, if you make jewellery: stones and gold issued to karigars, fine metal and wastage, and each piece costed from its labour, stones and metal.
- Branches and staff permissions: each person sees only their branch and what their role allows — including whether they see cost prices.
- Labels and sharing: barcode and QR labels, and a way to send a stone or a selection to a buyer without exporting spreadsheets.
Questions to ask any vendor
- Where is my data kept, and is it separate from other companies’ data?
- How often are backups taken, are they stored off the server, and when was a restore last tested?
- Can I export all my data at any time, in a format I can open without your software?
- Can I bring my existing stock and parties from Excel, and who helps with the import?
- What happens when someone tries to sell a stone that is on memo or on hold?
- Can I add my own fields and change the columns, without paying for custom development?
- Is there a phone app, and does it show the same live data?
- What does it cost per month and per year, for my number of users and branches — and what is not included?
Cloud or installed on your own computer?
Software installed on one office computer works until that computer fails, and it is hard to reach from the bourse, a client’s office or another branch. Cloud software runs in the browser from anywhere and the vendor runs the backups — which is why the question to ask is not “cloud or not” but “how are my data kept apart and backed up”.
If you choose cloud, ask for each company to have its own database, encrypted backups stored off the server, and a restore that is actually tested on a schedule.
How to test software before you pay
- Enter ten real stones — a few singles with certificates and one parcel — exactly as you keep them today.
- Send two of them out on memo, return one, and sell part of the parcel. Check the stock and the memo report show what you expect.
- Try to sell the stone that is still on memo. The software should refuse.
- Buy one stone in dollars and sell it in rupees. Check the margin uses the cost at the purchase rate.
- Give a staff login a limited role and check what they can and cannot see.
- Export the stock to Excel and open it.
How Avirat answers the checklist
Avirat was built for this trade. It keeps singles with full grading and certificates and parcels by pieces and carats; memo out and in with ageing and credit limits; and it refuses a sale when a stone is not in stock, so nothing is sold twice. It works in any currency with stock valued at the purchase rate, shows stock ageing, tracks stones and gold with karigars, and controls what each role sees, including prices. Each company’s data is in its own database, with encrypted off-site backups every 6 hours and a weekly restore test; stock, parties and entries import from Excel; and there are Android and iPhone apps. You can open a live demo company without signing up, or start a 14-day free trial with your own stock.
See how Avirat handles this: Diamond software