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Case Study: Implementation of Zoho Books & Zoho Inventory for MLS Distributors

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Client overview

MLS Distributors is a UAE-based healthcare distribution partner providing wholesale pharmaceuticals, medical instruments, and equipment rental services—such as oxygen concentrators, patient monitors, and suction units—to hospitals, pharmacies, clinics, and patients.

Background & business challenges

MLS Distributors managed multiple product categories and stock locations across regional warehouses. Their accounting and inventory tracking were handled through spreadsheets and manual invoicing, leading to:

Limited stock visibility across warehouses.

Manual entry errors between sales and accounting teams.

No real-time synchronization between purchase, sales, and stock.

Delayed reconciliation of supplier payments and customer dues.

Inaccurate profit tracking per product and customer.

Difficulties in reconciling rental income with financial books.

Difficulty in generating compliance reports (GST filing, audit reports, etc.)

The management aimed to move toward a cloud-based system that could integrate sales, purchase, inventory, and accounting, while meeting pharma industry compliance standards.

Project objectives

The primary goals for implementing Zoho Solutions were to:

1. Manage core accounting and inventory control for medicines and instruments.

2. Ensure accurate stock tracking across multiple warehouses.

3. Maintain real-time visibility of medical instruments on rent, including return dates and conditions.

4. Enable seamless financial reporting and GST compliance.

Solution design

1. Zoho Books – accounting & compliance

Configured Chart of Accounts as per business structure (Medicines Sales, Equipment Sales, Rental Income, Purchase, and Service Charges).

Set up GST with automated return filing and tax segregation.

Created custom invoice templates for product sales and instrument rentals.

Linked bank feeds for transaction reconciliation.

Enabled vendor payments and expense tracking through Books.

2. Zoho Inventory – stock & warehouse management

Migrated all medicine and instrument SKUs into Zoho Inventory.

Configured batch tracking for medicines and serial number tracking for medical instruments.

Integrated Zoho Inventory with Zoho Books for real-time sync of invoices, POs, and bills.

3. Zoho Creator – custom rental tracking application

To handle the rental side of the business, a Zoho Creator app was developed with the following structure:

Modules (forms):

Form namePurpose
Customer DetailsRecords hospital/patient details, contact info, and rental agreements.
Instrument MasterStores all rentable instrument details (Name, Serial No., Category, Current Status).
Rental TransactionLogs issue date, expected return date, rental fee, and condition on issue.
Return FormCaptures actual return date, instrument condition, and late fees (if any).

App features:

Auto status updates: When an instrument is issued, its status changes to “Rented”; when returned, it updates to “Available”.

Rental duration calculation: Automatically calculates rental days and generates rental amount.

Report dashboard: Displays available instruments, rented instruments, and overdue returns.

Integration with Zoho Books: On return confirmation, rental invoices are automatically created in Zoho Books under “Rental Income”.

Reports & dashboards delivered

1. Zoho Books:

Sales by Category (Medicines vs. Instruments)

Rental Income Summary

Outstanding Payments & Expenses

GST Summary & Filing Reports

2. Zoho Inventory:

Stock Availability by Warehouse

Product Expiry & Batch Reports

Purchase vs. Sales Summary

3. Zoho Creator:

Instruments Rented (Active / Returned)

Overdue Rentals

Monthly Rental Revenue Trend

Results & impact

Centralized control over inventory and financial records.

Full visibility into stock status and rental instruments.

Seamless invoice automation reduced manual effort by 60%.

Improved accuracy in accounting and GST filing.

Enhanced client trust through timely rentals and transparent billing.

Client feedback

Conclusion

The implementation of Zoho Books, Zoho Inventory, and Zoho Creator provided MLS with an integrated, cost-effective, and scalable solution.

It successfully digitized their sales, inventory, and rental operations, bringing real-time visibility, financial accuracy, and operational efficiency to their growing distribution business.

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