Ask ten solar EPC owners what software they need and half will say ERP and half will say CRM. Both are right about something. The words describe two halves of the same business: the half that wins and serves customers, and the half that buys, stocks, pays and books. This guide explains the difference for an Indian rooftop EPC firm, what to put in place first, and where Raymitra sits today.
CRM and ERP: the difference in one paragraph
A CRM runs everything that touches a customer: the enquiry, the follow-up, the survey, the quote, the subsidy application, the install, the invoice and the service visit. An ERP runs the back office: purchase orders, stock in the godown, vendor bills, accounts, HR and payroll. In a large manufacturing company they are separate systems with separate teams. In a 5 to 20 person rooftop EPC firm, the same three or four people do both, so the line matters less than one question: does every rupee of a job trace back to the customer and the quote that created it?
Quote to cash: where rooftop EPC money leaks
A residential job runs: enquiry, survey, quote, advance, material, install, net meter, subsidy and final payment. Money leaks at the joins between those steps, not inside them:
- The quote and the invoice disagree. The quote said one price with one GST split; the invoice, typed later in another tool, says another. The customer notices before you do.
- GST is wrong on the quote. A rooftop system is taxed as 70% goods at 5% and 30% services at 18% since 22 Sep 2025, a blended 8.9%. A tool with one flat rate typed in years ago quotes the wrong number on every job.
- Milestone payments are not chased. The advance comes in, the install happens, and the balance sits for weeks because nobody owns the follow-up.
- The subsidy file stalls. The customer's last payment often waits on the subsidy. An application that ages past 60 days without a reason is a problem for the vendor too, under the MNRE notice, 24 Aug 2026.
In Raymitra the invoice is made from the quote, with the goods and services lines and their GST already split, so the two cannot disagree. Advance and milestone payments are recorded against the project, and the money page shows who still owes what. Each PM Surya Ghar application is a row that turns amber at 45 days and red at 60, so the subsidy that the final payment waits on is never out of sight.
The project cashbook: is this job making money?
The ERP question owners ask most is the simplest: did this job make money? Raymitra keeps a cashbook per project in plain words. Money in is what the customer paid, the subsidy received and any loan disbursed; money out is what was paid to technicians, spent on material and other costs. Profit and margin for each project follow from those lines, and the cashbook page lists every project with its money in, money out, profit and margin. It is not a replacement for your accounting software or your CA; it is the view of the job that an accounting ledger does not give you.
Two limits are worth saying plainly. The cashbook is not double-entry bookkeeping, and it does not file GST returns; those stay with your accountant and your accounting tool. What it gives the owner is the answer to the question asked on site, in the evening, with the customer's next payment due: how much has this job brought in, how much has gone out, and what is left. For a firm running twenty installs a month, that answer per job is what tells you which kW sizes, which areas and which price lists are worth repeating.
AMC and service: the part of the year after the install
A rooftop system is a 25-year relationship. Cleaning visits, inverter faults and AMC renewals are both revenue and reputation. Raymitra keeps AMC contracts with their renewal dates and service tickets on the same customer record as the sale, so the person who takes the complaint sees the system, the install photos and the payment history in one place.
Stock and purchase: honestly, next
Panels, inverters and structure held in the godown, sent to site, fitted and returned are an ERP job. Raymitra does not do inventory yet. It is the next stage on our list, and we will not sell it until it works on the demo company. If stock control, purchase orders, HR or payroll are what you need first, an ERP built for that is the better first purchase; our comparisons with OctaBees and SolarERP set out what their sites say they cover.
Questions to ask any ERP or CRM vendor about money
Whichever you buy, the money questions are the ones that show whether the system will hold up at the end of a busy month. Ask to see each answer on screen, on a sample job, not on a slide:
- Make an invoice from a sent quote. Do the goods and services lines, their GST and the total carry over without retyping, and what happens if the quote changes after the advance?
- Record a part payment against a milestone. Where does the balance show, and who is reminded to chase it?
- Record the subsidy when it reaches the customer or the firm. Does the job's profit change on the same screen?
- Pay a technician and buy material for one job. Can you see that job's money in and money out without an export to a spreadsheet?
- Renew an AMC. Is the renewal on the customer's record with the install, or in a separate list someone has to remember to open?
A system that answers these on one record saves more time than one with more modules. A system that needs an export for every answer will be dropped by the team in a month, whatever it is called.
What to put in place first
For most rooftop firms the order is: customer record and subsidy file first, money second, stock third. The first two protect revenue you have already won; the third protects margin you can measure once the first two are in place. A firm that buys a heavy ERP first often ends up with a stock module full of numbers and a sales team still working from WhatsApp.
- Every enquiry on one board with a next step, and the survey on the phone.
- Quotes from your own price book with subsidy and GST from dated tables.
- The PM Surya Ghar application file, aged in days.
- Invoices from the quote, payments against milestones, a cashbook per project.
- AMC and service on the same record.
- Stock and purchase, when the first five are steady.
Raymitra covers the first five today. For the questions to ask any vendor before you buy, read the solar EPC software buyer's guide; for the stage-by-stage view of a solar CRM, read what a solar CRM must do. Setup is ₹5,000 once, free for the first 20 customers, and the trial is 14 days with no card.
Questions
Is Raymitra a solar ERP?
It is a solar CRM that also runs the money side of each job: invoices from the quote, milestone payments, a cashbook per project and AMC. Inventory is next; HR and payroll are not in it.
Do I need an ERP or a CRM first?
For most rooftop firms of 5 to 20 people, the customer record and the subsidy file come first, money second and stock third.
Does the cashbook replace my accounting software?
No. It shows money in and out per project so you can see each job's profit; your accounts stay with your accountant and your accounting tool.
What GST does Raymitra put on a rooftop invoice?
The split from its dated table: 70% goods at 5% and 30% services at 18%, effective 22 Sep 2025.
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