Opening a new bar in Maharashtra involves a long licensing and compliance checklist most owners already know well. The software side is smaller, but it's easy to leave until the last week — and it shouldn't be, because getting it wrong on night one is expensive in a way that's avoidable.
Before you open, have these ready
- Excise licence details on hand — licence number, type (FL-III, FL-BR-II, or CL-III), district, and capacity — so your billing software's compliance fields are correct from bill one, not backfilled later.
- GSTIN captured and configured, with your food GST rate set (default is commonly 5% but confirm your applicable rate).
- Menu and liquor stock entered before service begins, not during the first rush — HotelBarDost pre-seeds 90+ Indian liquor brands to speed this up, but pricing, categories, and pour sizes still need setting.
- A thermal receipt printer (58mm or 80mm) sourced and tested with your chosen software, since this is typically sourced separately from the billing software itself.
- Staff roles decided and PINs assigned — Owner, Manager, Cashier, Stock Keeper, Auditor, Kitchen, Bar — so day-one access matches how your team actually works.
Decide these before your first excise-relevant sale
- How pegs will be priced — cost plus a fixed ₹/bottle commission, or a percentage margin.
- Whether you'll track counter stock and store stock separately from day one (recommended) — retrofitting this after stock is already commingled is harder than starting with it.
The software decision itself
Whatever you choose, run it through a real trial before committing — a 2-day free trial is enough to enter your actual menu and stock and bill a few real transactions, which surfaces workflow issues a demo alone won't. HotelBarDost is built specifically for Maharashtra's FL-III/FL-BR-II/CL-III licence fields and FLR 1/A/FLR-4-style registers, offline, for a one-time ₹17,000.
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