Lightweight ERP · built for India

ERP software for small business — without the ERP price tag.

Accounting, GST, invoicing, inventory, payroll and manufacturing in one product. Most small businesses don't need a full ERP implementation — they need this. Built by Chartered Accountants.

Reviewed July 2026
6 min read
CA Anil Agarwal & the TatvaBooks team

Do you actually need an ERP?

"ERP" gets searched a lot by small business owners who've hit the limits of spreadsheets or a billing-only app — but full ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, heavily customised Odoo) are built for organisations with procurement chains, multi-warehouse logistics, HR across hundreds of staff and multi-entity consolidation. Implementing one is a project: weeks of setup, an implementation partner, and often ₹1–5 lakh or more before you've raised a single invoice.

Most Indian small businesses don't have that problem. They have GST invoices to get right, stock to track, a small team to pay, and books their CA needs to see — and they need it running this week, not next quarter.

What a small business really needs

Strip an ERP down to what a small business actually uses day to day, and it's a short list: GST-correct invoicing and books, purchase and expense tracking, basic stock across one or two locations, payroll for a handful of employees, and a CA who can see the same numbers you do. Everything else — procurement RFQs, shop-floor scheduling, CRM pipelines — is overhead most small businesses pay for but never open.

Everything in one product

TatvaBooks covers the small-business list above natively, in one login:

Accounting & GST — double-entry books, GST-correct invoices, GSTR-2B reconciliation. See cloud accounting software.
Inventory — FIFO / weighted-average stock, purchase vouchers, multi-location godowns on Growth. See inventory management software.
Payroll — PF, ESI, PT, TDS and full-and-final settlement for up to 25 employees on Growth. See payroll software India.
Manufacturing — single-level BOM with AS-2 periodic valuation for small workshops and factories. See manufacturing accounting software.

No separate modules to license, no integration project to stitch them together.

ERP vs TatvaBooks — the honest comparison

A true ERP still has a place — large manufacturers with multi-entity consolidation or complex procurement chains outgrow what any lightweight platform offers. For most small businesses, though, here's the honest trade-off:

	Heavyweight ERP	TatvaBooks
Setup time	Weeks to months — implementation partner, data migration, configuration.	A few hours. Sign up, a CA helps bring your opening balances over.
Cost	Licence + implementation fee + AMC, often ₹1–5 lakh+ to start.	Free on Solo (₹0); ₹599/month once you need inventory and multiple users.
Who runs it	Usually needs a dedicated admin or IT person to maintain.	Runs in a browser. No server, no IT person, no patching.
GST correctness	Often a bolted-on localisation module, configured separately.	GST, HSN and place of supply are built into every invoice by default.
What you actually get	Modules for procurement, HR, CRM, manufacturing — most unused by a small business.	Accounting, GST, inventory, payroll and manufacturing — sized for what a small business actually runs.

Pricing

TatvaBooks Solo is ₹0 — free forever, no card — for solopreneurs. Business is ₹599/month with inventory and up to three users. Growth (₹1,099/month) adds payroll and manufacturing for a scaling small business. No implementation fee, no AMC, no per-module pricing. Full comparison on the pricing page, or see how the platform fits a small business generally on the for small business page.

Frequently asked questions

Does a small business in India need ERP software?

Usually not. ERP systems (SAP, Oracle NetSuite, Odoo with heavy customisation) are built for organisations with procurement chains, multi-warehouse logistics and HR workflows spanning hundreds of employees. Most Indian small businesses need correct GST invoicing, clean books, basic stock tracking and payroll for a small team — which a focused accounting-plus platform delivers without the implementation cost or the admin overhead of a full ERP.

What's the difference between accounting software and ERP?

Accounting software manages your books, invoices, GST and payments. ERP additionally tries to manage procurement, HR, CRM, manufacturing planning and often multi-entity consolidation — as one large, usually customised, system. TatvaBooks sits between the two: full double-entry accounting and GST, plus inventory, payroll and manufacturing (BOM + AS-2 valuation) in the same product, without the ERP-style implementation project.

Can TatvaBooks replace an ERP for a small manufacturer?

For most small manufacturers, yes. Growth (₹1,099/month) includes single-level BOM with AS-2 periodic valuation, multi-location inventory and payroll — the pieces a small factory or workshop actually needs. If you require multi-level BOM, shop-floor scheduling or multi-entity consolidation, you've likely outgrown what any lightweight platform offers and a true ERP may be worth the cost. See our manufacturing accounting software page for what's included today.

What is the cheapest ERP alternative for small business in India?

TatvaBooks starts at ₹0 (Solo, free forever) and the Business plan is ₹599/month with GST invoicing, inventory and up to three users — a fraction of even a modest ERP implementation. There's no licence fee, no implementation partner and no annual maintenance charge. Full plan breakdown on our pricing page.

Will I outgrow TatvaBooks and need a real ERP later?

Possibly, if you scale into multi-entity manufacturing, complex procurement chains or large HR headcounts — but most small and mid-sized Indian businesses never reach that point. TatvaBooks Growth already covers multi-location inventory, payroll up to 25 employees and manufacturing with AS-2 valuation; Practice adds multi-client support for firms managing several companies. We'll tell you honestly if you've outgrown us.

Keep going.

What's included

By who you are

Switch & pricing

Free on Solo · no card · India-hosted

Skip the ERP project. Start with what you actually need.

Sign up with email or Google and start billing in minutes — GST, stock and payroll covered without an implementation partner.

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