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Security agencies

ERP software for security agencies

Bill every client site for the month, pay hundreds of guards on time with their deductions and advances, and keep uniforms and torches counted, all on one ledger.

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In short

SimpleERP is ERP software for security agencies. Monthly site invoices bill man-days with the right tax, guard payroll runs from attendance with deductions, bonus and advances, and uniforms are tracked as stock.

Illustration of a payslip with Basic salary, Allowances, Bonus and net pay of 4,440.

A day in a security agency

A guarding business sells hours on duty, so its month swings between two dates: the day invoices go out and the day wages are due.

A security agency in Dubai has 300 guards spread across 24 client sites: hospitals, apartment towers, warehouses and a business park. Each site keeps a register at the gate, and on the first of the month the supervisors bring those registers to the office. Someone has to count who stood which shift, who was absent and who covered for whom.

From those counts come two jobs that cannot slip. Every client wants an invoice per site, worked out as guards times days times the agreed price, with tax on top. Every guard expects wages on time, at or above any minimum wage that applies, with the right deductions and any advance recovered. New joiners need two sets of uniform, shoes and a torch before their first shift.

SimpleERP keeps both jobs on one set of books. Attendance feeds the payroll run, the site invoices feed receivables and the tax account, and uniform purchases and issues move stock at average cost, so the owner can see on the fifth whether the clients' money will cover the wage bill.

Billing

One invoice per site, worked out from man-days

Set up guard, supervisor and armed guard as services billed in man-days, then raise one invoice per client site each month. Each service carries its tax rate, so the invoice adds the tax without anyone working it out.

  • A man-day unit so the line reads 180 man-days at $95, not a lump sum.
  • Site address on the invoice, so the client's accounts team knows which gate it covers.
  • Notes and terms for your guard licence number or contract reference.
  • Receivables ageing by client, because hospitals and developers pay on their own clock.
LineQuantityAmount
Guard, 12-hour shift180 man-days @ $95$17,100
Supervisor, day shift30 man-days @ $120$3,600
Taxable value$20,700
Tax 5%$1,035
Invoice total$21,735
One month's invoice for one client site, at an example 5% rate. Rates differ by country and change, so confirm the rate for your goods with your accountant or tax authority before you rely on it.

Payments

See which client is late before wages fall due

A guarding agency pays wages before most clients pay their invoices. Each receipt is allocated to the site invoices it settles, so the ageing report shows who is 60 days behind while there is still time to call.

  • Receipts by bank transfer or cheque, split across several site invoices.
  • Party statement on white A4 to send a client's accounts team.
  • Credit notes when a client disputes days for a guard who was absent.
  • Tax withheld by clients, where your country has it, recorded with a manual journal against the receipt.

Illustration of receivables ageing: 2,441 to collect across 5 buckets, with customer totals.

Receivables by client and by age bucket.

Attendance

Attendance from the site register, without retyping a month

The daily sheet lists every guard. Since days nobody marked count as present and are flagged for review, the office only has to enter the absences and leave written in each site register. Guards with a smartphone can also check in and out themselves.

  • Night shifts that cross midnight count once, on the day they started.
  • Leave requests from the guard's phone, approved by the supervisor or the office.
  • Departments can stand for your large sites, so headcount reads by site.
  • Half days count as half a paid day in payroll.

Illustration of the daily attendance sheet on a phone with a Mark all present button.

The attendance sheet on a phone.

Payroll

Payroll for hundreds of guards, with deductions, bonus and advances

Each guard gets a salary structure with basic pay and allowances, seeded for your country and set at or above any minimum wage that applies. Statutory deductions and employer contributions are components you set once. The monthly run reads paid days from attendance, recovers advances and posts the whole wage bill to the books on approval.

  • Deductions and employer contributions as fixed amounts or a percentage of basic or gross pay.
  • Bonus and overtime as their own earnings, added before you approve the run.
  • Advances recovered a fixed amount each month until settled.
  • Payslips on the guard's phone once the run is approved.

Illustration of a payslip with Basic salary, Allowances, Bonus and net pay of 4,440.

A guard's payslip with deductions and an advance recovery.

Uniforms and equipment

Uniforms, shoes and torches kept as small stock

Each uniform size and each piece of kit is a product with a reorder level. Purchase bills bring stock in with the tax you can reclaim, a transfer sends torches or metal detectors to a site store, and a stock adjustment with a reason records the kit handed to a new guard.

  • Stock by warehouse and site store, valued at weighted average cost.
  • A low-stock list for shirts and shoes in the sizes that run out first.
  • Purchase orders to the uniform supplier, converted to a bill on delivery.

Illustration of stock on hand by warehouse at average cost, with a low-stock row highlighted and a movement ledger.

Stock on hand by warehouse at average cost.

By job

Security agencies by job

For businesses in India

One system

The modules that do this work

Attendance feeds payroll, payroll posts wages, deductions and advances to the ledger, and each site invoice posts the receivable and the tax.

Honest limits

What SimpleERP does not do for security agencies yet

These come up often with guarding businesses.

  • Biometric devices and site register apps are not connected: attendance is marked on the phone or entered from the register.
  • Statutory deductions are not calculated from government tables: you set each one as a component in the salary structure.
  • No shift roster or deployment plan per site, and no relief scheduling.
  • No guard licence or compliance register, and no payroll tax returns or filings.
  • No reverse charge flag on invoices: where a client self-assesses the tax, write the line in the invoice notes.
  • Payroll is monthly only; weekly or daily wages are not supported.

Getting started

Start with your first invoice

  1. Sign up with your email

    Name, email and a password. No card for the seven-day trial.

  2. Tell us about the business

    Pick your country and, if you are registered, type your tax number. Accounts, tax rates, units, roles and numbering are seeded for that country.

  3. Add what you sell

    Add a man-day unit, then guard, supervisor and armed guard services with their tax rate. Services carry no stock, so this takes a few minutes.

  4. Post your first invoice

    Pick the customer, add lines and save. Your first invoice can be out within 10 minutes of signing up.

FAQ

Questions, answered

Which tax rate applies to guard services?

Usually your country's standard VAT, GST or sales tax rate; many US states tax security services and some do not. In SimpleERP you set the rate on each service once and every invoice applies it. In India, some guard services fall under reverse charge, so check with your CA. Rates differ by country and change, so confirm the rate for your goods with your accountant or tax authority before you rely on it.

What if my client accounts for the tax instead of me?

Some countries move the tax on certain services to the buyer under a reverse charge. SimpleERP has no reverse charge flag, so bill the line at a zero rate where your accountant confirms it applies and write the reverse charge wording in the invoice notes.

Can I deduct social security or pension from guards' wages?

Yes, as components you add yourself. Create the deduction as a percentage of basic or gross pay and the employer's share as a contribution, then add both to the guards' structures. Confirm the current rates and ceilings before you set them.

Can one client with five sites get five invoices?

Yes. Raise one invoice per site against the same client, with the site address on each. The client's ledger and statement show all five, and a single payment can be allocated across them.

Related

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