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ELROI 1.0 Built on Odoo 19 Community. Ethiopian fiscal calendar, VAT and withholding configured from day one. See the rollout
01 — ELROI
Business operating platform · Ethiopia

Run your business with confidence. Not surprises.

Elroi brings sales, accounting, inventory, payments, tax, cash flow and operations into one intelligent business system built for Ethiopian companies.

Hanan AhmedHair salon · KazanchisBookings, stylists & retail stock
Dr Meaza TesfayePrivate clinic · MegenagnaPatient billing & pharmacy stock
Selamawit BekeleDistribution group · Addis AbabaMonth-end close in two days
Rahel GirmaRetail chain · PiassaBarcode counts across four stores
Nahom AlemuImport & distribution · BoleLanded cost on every LC shipment
Tewodros KebedeConstruction · AyatProject cost, materials & payroll
Yohannes GirmaRestaurant · BoleRecipe costing & 38 staff on payroll
02 — WHAT IT'S FOR
What Elroi is for

Elroi doesn't just help you record your business. It helps you control it.

Know what has happened, what is coming, what needs your attention, and what actions keep your company profitable, liquid and compliant.

Know your cash.Bank truth, a thirteen-week forecast, and the number you can actually spend today.
Know your profit.Margin by job, branch, customer and product — from real cost, not an estimate.
Know your tax.VAT, withholding, payroll and income tax reserved before they are due.
Know your risks.Early warnings while there is still time to act, not after the fact.
Know your target.The gap between where sales are and where the obligations say they need to be.
Know what to do next.Collections, quotations and commercial moves that close the gap.
No cash surprises
No tax surprises
No missing money
No flying blind
03 — THE DAILY REALITY
The daily reality

Running a business shouldn't feel like constantly putting out fires.

Money moves faster than your records.

Transactions clear at the bank days before anyone posts them, so the books describe last week rather than today.

Taxes appear before you are ready.

The obligation was building all month, but it only becomes visible in the week it is due — when the cash is already committed.

Sales look good, but cash is still tight.

Revenue and collection are not the same event. A strong month on paper can still leave you short on payday.

Important financial documents go missing.

A receipt lives on someone's phone, an invoice in a chat thread — and the evidence has to be rebuilt months later.

Elroi is designed around these problems.

Chapter 01

Run your business

Sales · Inventory · Purchase · Production · Services

04 — PLAIN LANGUAGE
Built for non-accountants

You shouldn't need to understand ERP terminology to set up ERP.

Same configuration underneath. A different question on top — one a person who runs a business can answer without a manual.

Traditional ERP

Configure analytic dimensions.

Elroi

Would you like to see profit separately for each branch?

Traditional ERP

Configure stock valuation accounts.

Elroi

Do you keep products or materials in stock?

Traditional ERP

Configure fiscal document mode.

Elroi

How does your business issue official sales receipts?

05 — SMART SETUP
Smart business setup In development

Tell Elroi what business you run. We prepare the system for you.

Not a blank database and a consultant's invoice. Pick your industry and Elroi proposes the modules, chart of accounts and configuration that business actually needs.

Recommended setupPrinting & Packaging12 items
    06 — PRODUCT TOUR
    Inside the system

    Five minutes with the screens your team will live in.

    Not marketing renders — these are the working surfaces: the trial balance, the stock ledger, a work order, a payroll run and the board pack. Click through, or let it advance.

    Finance › Trial balancePeriod 12 · Nehase 2018Balanced
    AccountCodeDebit ETBCredit ETB
    Cash & bank — CBE main101014,208,400
    Accounts receivable12009,845,120
    Inventory — finished goods131027,640,900
    VAT payable22102,404,813
    Withholding tax payable2215318,640
    Pension payable — 7% / 11%22301,102,455
    Total51,694,42051,694,420
    Auto-posted 4,182 entries0 unreconciledVAT return draft readyAudit trail complete
    Inventory › Stock by store4 locations3 reorder alerts
    ItemBoleAdamaHawassaVan fleetStatus
    Cooking oil 5L — batch B-24181,24086041096Healthy
    Wheat flour 25kg318924412Reorder
    Packaging film — roll64186Below min
    Detergent 1L — batch D-11902,4101,880960204Healthy
    Stock value at cost
    ETB 41,208,000
    Batch & serial traced to delivery note
    In transit · Bole → Adama
    240 cartons
    Manufacturing › Work order WO-2018-0884Line 2 · shift AOn schedule
    Output vs plan
    3,840 / 4,200 units
    91% complete · 2h 10m remaining
    Yield & scrap
    97.4% yield
    Scrap 2.6% · above 2.0% target
    Bill of materialPlannedConsumedVariance
    Base oil — bulk8,400 L8,512 L+112 L
    Bottle 5L — preform4,2004,248+48
    Label — printed4,2004,196−4
    Labour — line 264 hrs61 hrs−3 hrs
    Real cost per unitETB 214.60
    HR & payroll › Nehase run142 employees · 5 branchesAwaiting approval
    ComponentBasisAmount ETB
    Gross salary142 employees3,864,200
    Overtime & allowancesAttendance, Nehase318,940
    Employment income tax (PAYE)Progressive bands, 2018 E.C.−842,110
    Pension — employee 7%Basic salary−270,494
    Pension — employer 11%Employer cost425,062
    Net to bank2,918,750
    CBE bulk payment file readyPayslips in Amharic & EnglishPension schedule generatedLeave balances updated
    Analytics › Board packAssembled Nehase 30Scheduled to email
    Gross margin by branch
    BOLEADAMAHAWASSAMEKELLEDIREGROUP
    Receivable ageing
    Current5,912,400
    1–30 days2,180,300
    31–60 days1,204,900
    60+ days547,520
    Total AR9,845,120
    13-week cash forecastMargin by SKUInter-company eliminationsIFRS for SMEs mapping
    07 — OPERATIONAL CONTROL
    Operational control

    No invoice. No payment. No uncontrolled delivery.

    Turn your company's rules into the system's rules, so nothing depends on whether a staff member remembers that a customer hasn't paid or that an invoice was never issued.

    No delivery without an invoice

    A delivery request checks invoice status first. Without a valid invoice it stops — unless the customer is an approved credit account and the policy allows it.

    Step 1

    Delivery requested

    Step 2

    Invoice status checked

    No valid invoice

    Blocked

    Block by default Approved credit customer Authorised override

    Payment before delivery

    Order, invoice, verified payment, release. Which of those gates apply is your decision, set per customer or per channel — not a single rule forced on every business.

    Step 1

    Order

    Step 2

    Invoice

    Payment verified

    Released

    Full payment first Deposit required Approved credit Cash on delivery Milestone payment Authorised override

    Every override is recorded — who approved it, when, and against which policy.

    08 — OWNER & ACCOUNTANT
    Two people, one system

    Built for the owner and the accountant.

    The owner asks

    • What is happening?
    • Are we profitable?
    • Can I afford this?
    • Will we have enough cash?
    • What requires my attention?

    The accountant asks

    • Are banks reconciled?
    • Are taxes ready?
    • What evidence is missing?
    • Can the period close?
    • Do subledgers reconcile?

    Elroi connects both.

    Chapter 02

    Control your money

    Money Inbox · Bank assurance · Payment verification

    09 — EVIDENCE
    Money inbox Coming soon

    Never wonder where a bank transaction came from again.

    Money left the account. Someone knows why. Elroi asks while the answer is still fresh, then keeps the evidence attached to the transaction for good.

    Unidentified · CBE CurrentNeeds answer
    −ETB 48,500
    Yesterday 14:22 · REF 8841027 · CBE Current ···4102

    What was it for?

    Possible match · ABC Paper — PO 1048ETB 48,500 · dated 2 days ago · awaiting your confirmation
    How Elroi treats evidence
    • Bank statement lines and provider records are the strongest source, and are what reconciliation is settled against.
    • Purchase orders, invoices and receipts in the system are matched against those lines automatically where the amount, date and party line up.
    • Screenshots and SMS confirmations are captured as supporting evidence and attached to the transaction. They are not treated as proof of payment on their own — bank and provider verification remains the deciding record.
    10 — ASSURANCE
    Weekly bank assurance In development

    Your books should never be months behind your bank.

    Once a week, every account is checked: statement received, lines matched, differences explained. Nothing is allowed to quietly drift for a quarter.

    Reconciled
    CBE Current···4102 · statement to 30 Nehase
    Reconciled
    Zemen ETB···7781 · statement to 30 Nehase
    Statement missing
    Zemen EUR···2240 · last statement 16 Hamle
    4 unmatched
    Awash···9013 · ETB 214,700 unexplained
    0%Bank completeness

    Completeness measures how much of your bank activity is both received and explained. Below 100%, Elroi names the exact accounts and lines responsible rather than reporting a vague percentage.

    11 — ALERTS
    Alerts & evidence capture In development

    Elroi remembers what a busy business owner forgets.

    Operational and financial alerts arrive where your team already talks, and payment notifications become accounting evidence instead of a screenshot in somebody's phone.

    Alerts Telegram
    Customer payment received — ETB 184,000Abay Trading · matched to INV/2018/00392
    Weekly bank statement missingCBE main · 9 days since last upload
    VAT reserve is ETB 85,000 shortDue Meskerem 30 · 11 days remaining
    Order ready for deliverySO/2018/0771 · invoice issued, payment verified
    Goods delivered, customer invoice not issuedDO/2018/0448 · 3 days ago

    Turn payment notifications into accounting evidence.

    Arrives

    Bank or payment SMS

    Elroi suggests

    Possible transaction match

    Confirms

    Bank statement

    An SMS or a screenshot is evidence, never proof of payment on its own. Elroi treats it as a strong hint and waits for the bank or provider record before the transaction is confirmed.

    Where alerts can arrive
    In Odoo Telegram Email SMS WhatsApp Mobile push

    Capture on iPhone uses a Shortcuts bridge; on Android, the Elroi companion app with the user's explicit permission. Elroi never reads messages it was not given.

    Chapter 03

    Know what is coming

    Sales targets · Cash forecast · Loans · Safe-to-Spend

    12 — THE HEARTBEAT
    Financial Command Center In development

    Your business has a financial heartbeat. Elroi shows it to you.

    Ten signals, on one screen, answering the questions an owner actually asks. Each one is a number you can act on today — not a report you interpret next month, and not a brochure screenshot: this is the screen your team opens every morning.

    01

    Financial Health

    72/100

    A single score from cash, margin, collections and reserve cover.

    02

    Safe to Spend

    ETB 135k

    What is genuinely free after reserves and committed obligations.

    03

    Cash Runway

    7.4 wks

    Weeks of operating cost your current position covers.

    04

    13-Week Cash Forecast

    3 weeks below floor

    Where the balance goes, week by week, before it happens.

    05

    Sales vs Target

    4.8m of 4.8m

    Booked and forecast against the number you set.

    06

    Expected Collections

    ETB 2.9m

    What should arrive, dated by each customer's real behaviour.

    07

    Upcoming Obligations

    ETB 3.4m

    Payroll, tax, rent and suppliers on their due dates.

    08

    Tax Reserve

    81% covered

    What is set aside against what will be owed.

    09

    Profitability

    31.2%

    Gross and net margin by branch, product and job.

    10

    Bank Completeness

    92%

    How much of your bank activity is reconciled and evidenced.

    Financial Command Center In development

    13-week cash forecast

    Projected cash Protected minimum Committed outflows
    PROTECTED MINIMUM · 1.2m 0m1m2m3m W1W4W7W10W13
    Coming soon

    "Can I afford this?"

    Before you commit to a purchase, see what it does to your cash position on the days that matter — payroll, VAT, rent. Move the amount and watch the floor move with it.

    Lowest projected balance todayETB 940,000
    After this purchaseETB 490,000
    Your protected minimumETB 1,200,000
    Week it bitesWeek 4 · Nehase payroll
    Not without moving something This drops you ETB 710,000 below your protected minimum in week 4. Collect from the three late accounts first, or move the purchase past Nehase payroll.
    13 — EARLY WARNING
    Early warning system Coming soon

    Know about problems before they become crises.

    Elroi watches the same handful of things a good finance director would watch, every night, and only speaks when something is genuinely off.

    Critical · Cash

    Projected cash falls below your protected minimum in 18 days.

    Payroll, VAT and a supplier run land in the same week that two large invoices are still outstanding.

    At riskETB 260,000
    WhenWeek 4 · Nehase
    Suggested actionChase 2 invoices, delay supplier run 7 days
    Warning · Collections

    Three customers representing ETB 740,000 are historically late.

    These accounts have paid 18 to 31 days past terms on their last four invoices. The forecast has already dated them accordingly.

    ExposureETB 740,000
    Average slip+24 days
    Suggested actionCall before invoice date, not after
    Warning · Profitability

    Revenue increased while gross margin declined for three consecutive months.

    You are selling more and keeping less of it. Input costs on two product lines rose without the price list following.

    Margin34.1% → 31.2%
    Period3 months
    Suggested actionReview pricing on the two affected lines
    What is wrong

    Stated in one sentence, in business language.

    Why it matters

    The chain of events that produced it.

    How much is at risk

    A figure, not an adjective.

    What to do

    A specific next action you can take today.

    14 — CASH TRUTH
    Sales target & cash forecast

    Hitting your sales target does not always mean having enough cash.

    A target is a sales number. Payroll is a cash number. Elroi converts one into the other so you can see the gap while there is still time to close it.

    Target4.8m
    Orders4.1m
    Invoices3.6m
    Expected collections2.9m
    Cash in the bank2.4m

    Sales against target · last six months

    Booked Forecast Target
    4.6m4.8 forecast TARGET 4.8m 0m2m4m6mMEGMIYGINSENHAMNEH
    Confirmed ordersETB 4,100,000
    Forecast salesETB 4,800,000
    Expected collectionsETB 2,900,000
    Upcoming obligationsETB 3,400,000
    Cash gap−ETB 500,000
    The number that actually matters

    To safely cover payroll, tax, rent and suppliers this month you need to collect ETB 3,400,000 — which means invoicing ETB 4,250,000 and chasing the three late accounts.

    15 — SAFE TO SPEND
    Safe to spend

    The money in the bank is not the money you can spend.

    Tax you have already incurred, payroll that runs next week and supplier commitments you have made are all spoken for. Elroi subtracts them first, so the number you act on is the one that is actually free.

    Safe to spend Coming soon
    Bank cashETB 2.00m
    Protected
    Tax reserve750k
    Payroll520k
    Rent85k
    Supplier commitments310k
    Minimum operating buffer200k
    Safe to spend ETB 135k

    Two million in the account. One hundred and thirty-five thousand that is yours.

    Most businesses that run out of cash were never short of revenue. They spent money that had already been committed — to the Ministry of Revenues, to their own staff, to a supplier who had not invoiced yet.

    Safe-to-Spend is the number that answers the only question an owner actually asks before a decision: can I do this without creating a problem in six weeks?

    01

    Every protected bucket is traceable — click a line and you see the obligations behind it, not a rounded estimate.

    02

    Release a reserve deliberately and Elroi records who approved it and why. It never quietly frees itself up.

    16 — LOANS
    Loans & financing In development

    Know what you owe before it affects your cash.

    Elroi includes future loan principal and interest in your liquidity forecast, so a repayment never arrives as an unexpected cash shock.

    Zemen term loan

    Due in 18 days
    OutstandingETB 2.40m
    Next paymentETB 185,000
    Principal150,000
    Interest35,000
    Next 12 months of repaymentsETB 1.02m

    Import facility · LC 4471

    On schedule
    OutstandingETB 860,000
    Next paymentETB 96,500
    Principal82,000
    Charges14,500
    Next 12 months of repaymentsETB 494,000
    01

    Principal and interest are split on every scheduled payment, so the interest lands in the P&L and the principal reduces the liability.

    02

    Each future repayment is a dated line on the 13-week forecast, next to payroll and tax — the three things that most often collide.

    03

    Change a repayment date and the forecast, the runway and Safe-to-Spend all move with it.

    Chapter 04

    Never be surprised by tax

    Tax Center · Reserves · Advance income tax · Withholding evidence

    17 — TAX CENTER
    Tax center In development

    Every tax you owe, on one screen, as it accrues.

    Every obligation, its filing status, its deadline and whether the money to pay it actually exists — on one screen, updated as you post rather than assembled at the deadline.

    VAT payable
    ETB 1,240,000
    Files in 21 days
    Withholding payable
    ETB 318,600
    Reconciled
    Withholding credits
    ETB 92,400
    Claimable
    Payroll tax (PAYE)
    ETB 842,110
    Filed
    Pension 7% / 11%
    ETB 695,556
    Filed
    Corporate income tax forecast
    ETB 1,420,000
    Year-end
    Advance tax paid to date
    ETB 180,000
    Receipted
    Missing evidence
    4 documents
    Blocks close
    01

    Obligations accrue as documents post, so the figure on screen is today's position rather than last month's close.

    02

    Missing evidence is named specifically — which document, on which transaction — because that is what blocks a period close.

    03

    Elroi prepares and organises the figures. Filing, and responsibility for it, stays with you and your accountant.

    18 — TAX RESERVES
    Tax reserves & readiness In development

    No tax surprises.

    Elroi helps you prepare for VAT, withholding, payroll obligations and income tax before they are due — so tax deadlines don't become cash-flow emergencies.

    VAT

    Ready
    ExpectedETB 420,000
    ReservedETB 420,000
    DueMeskerem 30

    Withholding

    Short by 34%
    ExpectedETB 92,000
    ReservedETB 61,000
    ShortfallETB 31,000

    Advance income tax

    47 days remaining
    Next installmentETB 400,000
    ReservedETB 260,000
    ShortfallETB 140,000

    Annual income tax forecast

    Preparing
    Projected liabilityETB 1.52m
    PreparedETB 1.08m
    Projected gapETB 440k
    Advance income-tax planning Coming soon

    Plan the next installment before it lands.

    Where applicable under current Ethiopian tax rules, Elroi can use the verified advance-payment rule based on prior-year income-tax liability to estimate upcoming installments — and then tells you what to set aside each month to be ready for one.

    Previous-year income-tax liabilityETB 1,600,000
    Planned installment advance-payment planning basisETB 400,000
    Currently reservedETB 260,000
    Reserve shortfallETB 140,000
    Expected due in47 days
    You're short by ETB 140,000 — and you have 47 days to prepare.

    That is not an emergency. At your current forecast it is two ordinary months of setting money aside, and the low point in week 4 still clears your protected minimum.

    Reserve approximately ETB 70,000 per month for the next two months.

    A note on the 25% figure: it is an advance-payment planning basis where legally applicable — not a corporate income-tax rate, and not a statement of what you owe. Every production figure comes from Elroi's effective-dated, professionally reviewed Ethiopian tax-rule engine, using the rule in force on the transaction date.

    Tax reserve health
    0%
    Two gaps
    VAT100%
    Withholding66%
    Payroll tax100%
    Pension94%
    Advance income tax65%
    Annual income tax forecast71%
    Early warning

    Advance tax reserve warning

    Next planned installmentETB 400,000
    Current reserveETB 260,000
    ShortfallETB 140,000
    Time remaining47 days

    At your current cash-flow forecast, reserving approximately ETB 70,000 per month would close the gap before the expected due date.

    01

    Obligations accrue as documents post, so the reserve target moves with the business rather than appearing in the week it is due.

    02

    Every tax obligation is placed on the 13-week cash forecast beside payroll, rent, suppliers and loan repayments — not tracked on the side.

    03

    Reserved tax is subtracted from Safe-to-Spend. Money already owed should never look like money you can spend.

    19 — TAX SEASON
    The thing nobody sleeps through

    Nobody lies awake over inventory. They lie awake over tax.

    A letter from the Ministry of Revenues, a box of receipts, a calculator, and three days you will not get back. Elroi does not make the tax go away — it makes the answer already be there when you are asked for it.

    The same business after Elroi: one ledger, every invoice compliant, the monthly return ready on the first.
    A business owner surrounded by loose receipts, spreadsheets and a looming filing deadline.
    Before ElroiReceipts in a box. Numbers that don't agree. A deadline you already missed.
    With ElroiOne ledger. Every invoice compliant. The monthly return ready on the 1st.
    Drag right for the old way · drag left for the fixed oneDrag to compare
    01

    Every invoice carries the TIN and a sequential receipt number as it is issued — there is nothing to reconstruct in Nehase.

    02

    VAT and withholding accrue as documents are posted, so the monthly summary assembles itself rather than being rebuilt.

    03

    Your auditor gets read-only access to the ledger — not a box and a calculator.

    Chapter 05

    Know whether you are actually making money

    Job profitability · Branch margin · Cost leakage

    20 — JOB PROFITABILITY
    Job & project profitability

    Know which jobs actually make money.

    Revenue is easy to see. The true cost of a job — materials, outsourcing, delivery, labour and machine time — is where the margin quietly disappears. Elroi assembles it as the job runs.

    JOB #PR-1048 Annual report printing Delivered
    RevenueETB 485,000
    Paper178,000
    Printing62,000
    Finishing38,000
    Outsourcing24,000
    Delivery8,500
    Labour41,000
    Machine cost29,000
    True costETB 380,500
    Gross profit
    ETB 104,500
    Margin
    21.5%

    Where the profit leaked

    Quoted margin was 28%. Elroi compares the estimate line by line against what the job actually consumed.

    Cost lineQuotedActualΔ
    Paper162,000178,000+16,000
    Printing62,00062,000
    Finishing34,00038,000+4,000
    Outsourcing18,00024,000+6,000
    Delivery12,0008,500−3,500
    Labour39,00041,000+2,000
    Machine cost22,00029,000+7,000
    Margin, quoted vs actual28.0% → 21.5%
    01

    Paper overrun and unplanned outsourcing account for ETB 22,000 of the ETB 31,500 gap — the two things to quote differently next time.

    02

    The same view works per project, per branch, per customer and per product line, because every cost carries its dimensions from the moment it is posted.

    Chapter 06

    Stay compliant

    Ethiopian accounting · IFRS · E-invoice · Regulatory updates

    21 — BUILT HERE
    Built here

    Your whole company, fluent in Ethiopia.

    VAT, withholding, payroll tax and pension are structured the way Ethiopian filing expects them. The calendar, the tax structure and the reporting formats were the starting point of the design, not a localisation layer added at the end.

    Live · today's date

    The 13-month year, kept properly

    Meskerem to Pagumē, running beside the Gregorian date. Hover a month to read it.

    Live · try the slider

    VAT and withholding, computed as you post

    15% VAT added, 2% withholding deducted at source — the arithmetic your customer will check.

    Subtotal
    VAT 15%
    Withholding 2%
    Payable
    Live in Odoo 19 config

    An invoice that is already compliant

    TIN, sequential receipt number and the tax breakdown printed on the document itself — not bolted on at filing time.

    INV/2018/00418TIN 0012345678
    Goods96,000
    Freight4,000
    VAT 15%15,000
    Withholding 2%−2,000
    Total due113,000
    Amharic printSequentialAudit trail
    22 — REPORTING FRAMEWORK
    Reporting framework

    Your year-end pack, ready when your fiscal year closes.

    Choose the framework that applies to you during onboarding, in plain language, and Elroi keeps tax, management and financial-reporting adjustments separate from that point on.

    Choose during onboarding
    Full IFRSFor entities with public accountability or a group requirement to report on full IFRS.
    IFRS for SMEsThe lighter framework most Ethiopian private companies will use.
    Applicable statutory basisWhat you file locally, kept reconcilable to the framework above.
    Named secondary basisA second reporting basis for a lender, investor or parent company.

    For businesses on the Ethiopian fiscal-year cycle, Elroi closes the year, reconciles accounts, calculates depreciation, prepares tax schedules and assembles the annual financial-statement package around the Sene / Hamle transition. The fiscal year is configurable for companies whose approved reporting period differs.

    Elroi is designed to support IFRS and IFRS for SMEs reporting. We do not describe it as certified or unconditionally compliant until independent professional validation is complete.

    Generated at year end Annual financial report
    1. Statement of financial position
    2. Profit or loss
    3. Cash flow
    4. Changes in equity
    5. Accounting policies
    6. Notes
    7. Tax reconciliation
    8. Fixed assets
    9. Receivables
    10. Payables
    11. Inventory
    12. Payroll
    13. VAT & withholding
    14. Approvals
    23 — DIGITAL TAX
    Digital tax readiness Coming soon

    Ready for Ethiopia's digital tax future.

    Elroi is designed around electronic invoicing, fiscal receipt controls, tax evidence and structured integration with Ethiopia's evolving digital-tax ecosystem.

    E-invoiceStructured invoice documents with the fields a digital tax system expects.
    Fiscal cash registerReceipt controls and sequencing for point-of-sale trade.
    Authorised printed invoiceFor businesses still issuing authorised printed documents.
    Mixed modeDifferent document types per branch or channel during a transition.

    We do not claim ministry certification or official integration. Those statements will appear here only once they have actually been completed and approved.

    24 — TAX-RULE ENGINE
    Tax-rule engine In development

    When the rules change, Elroi helps you keep up.

    Rule packages are reviewed, versioned and released centrally with an effective date — so a change reaches every tenant the same way, on the day it actually applies.

    01

    Official Ethiopian source

    02

    Elroi regulatory review

    03

    Rule validation

    04

    Versioned release

    05

    Tenant notification

    06

    Effective-date activation

    Tax rule update available A new VAT rule package becomes effective on 1 Meskerem.

    Affected: VAT calculation · invoice validation · tax reporting.

    Historical transactions keep the rule that applied on their transaction date. A rule change never silently rewrites a period you have already closed and filed.

    25 — ARCHITECTURE
    How the system is put together

    Every branch writes to one ledger. Everything downstream reads from it.

    There is no nightly export, no reconciliation between two systems, no separate tax database. Capture happens at the edge — often offline — and lands in a single posted ledger that the revenue office, the banks and the board all read from.

    CAPTURE · OFTEN OFFLINE SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH DOWNSTREAM Branch POSSELLS WITH NO CONNECTION WarehousesTRANSFERS · CYCLE COUNTS Factory floorWORK ORDERS · SCRAP Field salesVISITS · VAN STOCK Head office Elroi core ONE POSTED LEDGER MASTER DATA TAX ENGINE 13-PERIOD CALENDAR AUDIT TRAIL Ministry of RevenuesVAT RETURN · WHT · PAYE Banks & walletsCBE · AWASH · TELEBIRR Board & analyticsMARGIN · AGEING · CASH AuditorREAD-ONLY EVIDENCE PACK Partner systems · API
    Posted transactions flow in as they happen, or on reconnect Downstream systems read the same ledger — no export step
    26 — TRUST
    Security & trust

    Named controls, not adjectives.

    Everything below is something we can point at and show you. We have deliberately left out the phrases that sound reassuring but describe nothing.

    Isolated tenant environments

    Each company runs in its own database with its own credentials — no shared tables between customers.

    Encrypted backups

    Backups are encrypted at rest and stored separately from the running environment.

    HTTPS everywhere

    All traffic between your browser and Elroi is served over TLS.

    Controlled access

    Role-based permissions per user, per company and per module.

    Audit trails

    Postings record who made them and when, and are not silently editable.

    Managed releases

    Updates are applied on a managed schedule, not pushed unannounced.

    Backup and restore process

    A documented restore procedure, exercised rather than assumed.

    Odoo 19 Community foundation

    Built on a widely audited open-source core rather than an unexamined stack.

    Service level commitments · Managed Custom contract
    Monthly uptime target99.9%
    P1 incident response≤ 1 hour
    Recovery point objective1 hour
    Recovery time objective4 hours
    Support hoursEAT 07:00–21:00
    Named implementation leadIncluded

    What we have deliberately not claimed

    No certification badges, no “military-grade” anything, and no compliance statement we cannot evidence on request. The figures above are contractual targets in the Managed Custom plan, not marketing numbers — ask to see the agreement and the incident log.

    Chapter 07

    Let Elroi help you grow

    Sales gap · Collections · Marketing · Marketplace

    27 — FROM GAP TO ACTION
    From gap to action Coming soon

    Don't just show the gap. Say what to do about it.

    A target you are behind on is only useful if it comes with the next move. Elroi works back from the obligations you actually have to the collections and sales that would cover them.

    September sales
    TargetETB 5.00m
    ForecastETB 4.10m
    Projected gapETB 900,000
    To safely cover payroll, tax and supplier commitments, an additional ETB 620,000 of collections or equivalent new sales is needed before September 28.
    Suggested commercial actions
    • Follow up 8 overdue customers — ETB 740,000 outstanding
    • Chase 11 quotations awaiting approval
    • Re-engage 14 customers who have not ordered in 90 days
    • Promote the packaging line — highest margin, lowest utilisation
    Suggested marketing schedule Coming soon
    MondayLinkedIn — packaging case study
    TuesdayFacebook — business card offer
    WednesdayInstagram — printing process reel
    ThursdayLinkedIn — corporate printing package
    FridayFacebook — customer testimonial

    Elroi recommends campaigns. It does not publish them, and it does not spend advertising budget, without a person approving each one.

    Starts as

    Financial need

    Becomes

    Sales need

    Becomes

    Commercial action

    Becomes

    Marketing action

    28 — MARKETPLACE
    shop.elroi.et Coming soon

    Your ERP can become your storefront.

    Switch on the marketplace and your approved products and services get a public storefront — with orders landing straight in the same sales, inventory and invoicing flow you already run.

    shop.elroi.et/printet
    Business cardsFrom ETB 900 / 100
    BooksQuoted per specification
    Roll-up bannersFrom ETB 2,400
    PackagingQuoted per specification
    Design servicesFrom ETB 1,500
    Large formatFrom ETB 380 / m²
    01

    Marketplace order

    02

    Elroi sales order

    03

    Inventory or production

    04

    Invoice

    05

    Payment

    06

    Delivery

    No second system, no re-keying, and no separate stock figure to reconcile at month end. The storefront is a channel on the ledger you already have.

    29 — AI ADVISOR
    AI financial advisor Coming soon

    AI that understands your numbers.

    Not a chatbot bolted onto a help centre. It reads your ledger, your ageing and your forecast, and answers in the terms of your own business.

    AI explains, forecasts and suggests. Important accounting and tax actions require human approval — nothing is posted, filed or paid on the strength of a suggestion alone.

    Elroi AdvisorReading your ledger

    Why is cash getting tight even though sales increased?

    Sales increased 18%, but average collection time increased from 27 to 46 days. ETB 1.2m is overdue while payroll and VAT totalling ETB 710k are due within 14 days.

    Recommendation

    Prioritise collections from Customer A and Customer B this week.

    30 — ALL FEATURES
    Everything else, by category

    The whole system, without the whole page.

    The story above is what Elroi is for. This is what is in it. Pick a category rather than scrolling through forty features you may not need.

    Financial Command Center

    In development

    Ten signals on one screen — health score, safe-to-spend, runway, receivables, payables, reserves and what needs attention today.

    Open

    Safe-to-Spend

    Coming soon

    Bank cash minus tax reserve, payroll, rent, supplier commitments and your minimum operating buffer.

    Open

    13-week cash forecast

    In development

    Every expected inflow and dated commitment — payroll, rent, suppliers, loans and tax — on one line you can read in five seconds.

    Open

    Loans & financing

    In development

    Outstanding balance, next payment, principal and interest split, and twelve months of scheduled repayments in the forecast.

    Open

    Tax reserve & readiness

    In development

    Expected obligation, amount reserved, shortfall, due date and the weekly or monthly amount that would close the gap.

    Open

    Job profitability

    True cost per job including outsourcing, delivery, labour and machine time, compared against the margin you quoted.

    Open

    IFRS / IFRS for SMEs

    Pick the framework during onboarding in plain language; tax, management and financial-reporting adjustments stay separate afterwards.

    Open

    Ethiopian accounting

    Live

    Thirteen periods including Pagumē beside the Gregorian date, statutory report formats and a configurable fiscal year.

    Open

    Year-end financial pack

    Fourteen statements and schedules assembled at close, from the statement of financial position to the approvals sheet.

    Open

    Multi-company & consolidation

    In development

    Separate books per company, common group reporting, account mapping, intercompany reconciliation and eliminations.

    ABC Group · three entities
    Group revenueETB 82.4m
    Group profitETB 11.2m
    Group cashETB 14.1m
    IntercompanyReconciled

    Peachtree migration

    In development

    Chart of accounts, customers, suppliers, opening balances, AR/AP and journal history — validated and reconciled before go-live.

    Peachtree export
    Validation
    Reconciliation
    ElroiLive

    Compatibility is confirmed per Peachtree edition during discovery rather than assumed.

    Invoice before delivery

    Delivery is blocked without a valid invoice, with an exception path for approved credit customers and authorised overrides.

    Open

    Payment before delivery

    Full payment, deposit, approved credit, cash on delivery or milestone — chosen per customer and per channel, not forced.

    Open

    Money Inbox

    Coming soon

    Every unexplained bank line gets a question, a suggested match and attached evidence — never an unlabelled entry.

    Open

    Weekly bank assurance

    In development

    A completeness score per account and a nudge when a statement has not arrived, so reconciliation never slips months behind.

    Open

    Payment proof verification

    Coming soon

    Screenshots and SMS are treated as evidence alongside the stronger bank or provider record — never as proof on their own.

    Open

    Withholding evidence

    Live

    Withholding certificates captured against the invoice they relate to, so credits can be claimed without a year-end search.

    Open

    Sales

    Live

    Quotations, orders, price lists per channel, commissions and point of sale, all writing to the same ledger.

    Purchase

    Live

    Requests, purchase orders, supplier bills, three-way matching and supplier ageing.

    Inventory

    Live

    Multi-warehouse, batch and serial traceability, reorder rules, transfers and van stock.

    Manufacturing

    Live

    Bills of material and routings, work orders, scrap and yield, and true cost per unit.

    Imports & landed cost

    In development

    Proforma, FX application, LC / TT / CAD, shipment, customs, clearing, goods in transit and every charge that lands on the item — so you know what an imported product really costs before you price it.

    Foreign purchase · example
    Supplier priceUSD 28,000
    FreightUSD 2,800
    InsuranceUSD 320
    Bank / LC chargesUSD 460
    Customs duty · VAT · clearing · inland transportPer declaration
    True landed cost per unitPosted to stock

    Services & projects

    Live

    Timesheets, project costing, progress billing and retention for construction and consulting work.

    Self-onboarding

    In development

    Say what business you run and Elroi prepares the chart of accounts, journals, tax structure, workflows, roles, reports and UAT scenarios — then asks only for what it cannot know.

    Elroi still needs from you
    TIN · bank accounts · usersYours
    Opening balances · stock countsYours
    Customers · suppliers · assetsYours
    Open

    Telegram alerts

    In development

    Payments received, missing statements, reserve shortfalls and orders ready to ship, delivered where your team already talks.

    Open

    SMS capture

    Coming soon

    Bank and payment notifications become candidate transactions, with the user's explicit permission on each device.

    Open

    Regulatory updates

    In development

    Reviewed, versioned, effective-dated rule packages — and historical transactions keep the rule that applied when they happened.

    Open

    AI financial advisor

    Coming soon

    Explains the numbers, forecasts and suggests. Important accounting and tax actions require human approval.

    Open

    E-invoice readiness

    Coming soon

    E-invoice, fiscal cash register, authorised printed invoice or a mixed mode during transition.

    Open

    Sales targets

    In development

    Target against forecast, and the collections figure that would actually cover payroll, tax and supplier commitments.

    Open

    Collections strategy

    In development

    Overdue customers ranked by what chasing them would actually do to the forecast, not just by age.

    Open

    Marketing schedule

    Coming soon

    A suggested week of campaigns tied to the gap — recommended, never published or funded without approval.

    Open

    shop.elroi.et

    Coming soon

    A public storefront for your approved products and services, with orders landing in the sales flow you already run.

    Open

    Branch & product margin

    Live

    The same profitability view by branch, customer and product line, because every cost carries its dimensions.

    Open

    Industry configurations

    Live

    Ten business types with their own chart of accounts, workflows and reporting prepared in advance.

    Open
    31 — WHO IT'S FOR
    Who runs on Elroi

    Three shapes of company, one platform underneath.

    The modules, permissions and reporting depth change. The ledger, the calendar and the tax engine never do.

    01

    Growing businesses

    Retail, services and trading companies moving off Peachtree, spreadsheets and a receipt book.

    • Live in weeks, not quarters — opening balances migrated for you
    • VAT return worksheet ready on the 1st of every month
    • One price, no per-report or per-integration surprises
    02

    Manufacturing & distribution

    Factories, importers and wholesalers where cost per unit and stock accuracy decide the margin.

    • Landed cost from LC and franco-valuta imports, duty included
    • Batch traceability from raw material to the delivery note
    • Van sales and distributor stock visible from head office
    03

    Groups & enterprise

    Holding groups and large firms consolidating several companies, branches and currencies.

    • Multi-entity consolidation with inter-company elimination
    • SSO, granular roles, full audit trail on every posting
    • Dedicated environment, in-country hosting option, signed SLA
    32 — INDUSTRIES
    Industry solutions

    Configured for how your industry actually works.

    Each industry arrives with its own chart of accounts, costing method and reports — so the first month is operating the system, not building it.

    Restaurant

    Recipe costing, table and delivery channels, daily cash-up, stock by ingredient.

    Explore

    Printing & Packaging

    Job costing, paper and ink consumption, machine dimensions, work in progress.

    Explore

    Manufacturing

    Bills of material, routings, scrap and yield, real production cost per unit.

    Explore

    Salon & Spa

    Appointments, stylist commission, retail stock alongside services.

    Explore

    Distribution

    Van sales, multi-warehouse transfers, landed cost, distributor stock visibility.

    Explore

    Professional Services

    Time and project billing, retainers, staff utilisation, work in progress.

    Explore
    33 — WHO'S ON IT
    The people behind the ledger

    A salon, a shop, a restaurant and a finance office — one system.

    Elroi is not only for factories. The same ledger, calendar and tax engine run a four-chair salon in Kazanchis and a distribution group with eleven branches. Turn the wheel, or let it turn.

    Illustrative personas — placeholder copy and stock portraits, to be replaced with named customers
    4 businesses
    one ledger
    “I close the month in two days now. The VAT worksheet is already sitting there when I open it on the first.”
    Selamawit Bekele · Finance Director · distribution group, Addis Ababa
    FinanceVAT & withholding11 branchesBoard pack
    “Landed cost lands on the item, not in a spreadsheet. I know what a carton cost me before I price it.”
    Nahom Alemu · Owner · import & distribution, Bole
    Landed costMulti-currencyWarehousingVan sales
    “Bookings, stylists and stock in one screen. No more double-booked chairs on a Saturday.”
    Hanan Ahmed · Owner · hair salon, Kazanchis
    SchedulingStaff commissionRetail stock4 chairs
    “I finally know what a plate actually costs me — down to the oil and the injera.”
    Yohannes Girma · Owner · restaurant, Bole
    Recipe costingPurchasingPayroll38 staff
    34 — HONEST COMPARISON
    Against what you run today

    The honest comparison, including where the others still win.

    Spreadsheets are free and infinitely flexible. A global ERP has two decades of depth. Here is where each of them costs you, and where Elroi doesn't.

    Capability Spreadsheets & Peachtree Global ERP, localised Elroi
    Ethiopian 13-period fiscal calendar Manual mapping Custom add-on Native
    VAT, withholding & PAYE from the ledger Rebuilt monthly Partner module Built in, kept current
    Full Amharic interface & documents None Partial strings Per user, everywhere
    Telebirr / CBE Birr reconciliation By hand Not supported Automatic matching
    Selling through a power or network cut Paper, then re-key Cloud-only Offline POS, ordered sync
    Landed cost on LC & franco-valuta imports Separate sheet Strong Built in
    Depth for very large multinationals No Deeper than us Groups, not conglomerates
    Typical time to first branch live Immediate, then never closes 9–18 months 5 weeks
    Support in your timezone and language None Regional reseller Addis Ababa, EAT hours

    Comparison reflects typical deployments we encounter in the Ethiopian market — your mileage will vary by vendor and partner.

    35 — ROLLOUT
    Rollout, in order

    Eight weeks from first workshop to a branch running live.

    Each step depends on the one before it — which is why we publish the sequence and hold to it. A named implementation lead stays with you through hypercare.

    01

    Discovery workshop

    Your processes, documents and approval chain mapped with the people who actually run them.

    Week 1
    02

    Chart of accounts

    Accounts, cost centres, tax codes and opening balances agreed with your auditor.

    Weeks 2–3
    03

    Data migration

    Customers, suppliers, items and stock counts loaded — with Amharic and English names on every record.

    Weeks 3–4
    04

    Pilot go-live

    One branch runs real transactions in parallel for a full close cycle.

    Week 5
    05

    Rollout & training

    Remaining branches switched on, staff trained in the language they work in.

    Weeks 6–8
    06

    Hypercare

    Daily support through the first month-end close, then a quarterly review of how you're using it.

    Ongoing
    36 — AFTER GO-LIVE

    You're not left alone after setup.

    Every newly onboarded Elroi company receives one year of included standard support from production go-live.

    37 — PRICING
    Pricing

    Published package prices come from the Odoo package catalog.

    The detailed pricing page reads the current package records from Odoo. These cards mirror the live 2026.07 catalog so the landing page and subscription database say the same thing.

    Annual billing follows the published catalog

    Starter

    For a first managed Odoo launch with one operating team.

    ETB12,500/ month
    • 5 internal users, 1 branch, 20 GB storage
    • Sales and CRM, Inventory basics, Customer portal
    • Daily backups retained for 30 days
    • Standard support, 24-hour target response
    Start with Starter

    Growth

    For multi-branch teams that need tighter support and training.

    ETB28,000/ month
    • 15 internal users, 3 branches, 75 GB storage
    • Sales and CRM, Inventory, Operations, Customer portal
    • Daily backups retained for 45 days
    • Priority support, 12-hour target response
    • 6 included support hours and 6 training hours
    Book a walkthrough

    Managed Custom

    For regulated, multi-company, or roadmap-dependent requirements.

    Quoted
    • Reviewed scope, Approved add-ons, Launch plan
    • Launch plan before subscription or tenant work
    • API access, custom domain, staging review where approved
    • Premium support terms defined during consultation
    Talk to us

    Catalog source: published Odoo package records · excludes VAT · public selection routes to consultation and never provisions a tenant

    Open the database-backed pricing page

    38 — QUESTIONS
    Before you ask us

    The questions procurement always asks.

    If yours isn't here, the walkthrough is the fastest way to get a straight answer — bring your accountant.

    It is your data and you can take it at any time, not only on exit. Every table exports to Excel or CSV from the interface, and the REST API gives you the full ledger, master data and document images programmatically. On termination we provide a complete structured export plus a PDF archive of statutory documents, and delete your tenant on written confirmation.
    We maintain the tax engine — rates, bands and return formats — and publish a note whenever a rule changes, as we did for the 2018 E.C. payroll bands. Filing remains your responsibility and your accountant's; Elroi produces the worksheet and supporting schedules, and keeps an audit trail showing which rule version was applied to every posting.
    Managed Custom plans can be deployed to a dedicated in-country environment where policy or a lender requires data to remain in Ethiopia. Starter and Growth run on our managed regional infrastructure. We do not sell an on-premise licence you maintain yourself — the point of the service is that updates, backups and the tax engine stay our job.
    Budget roughly two days a week from a finance lead and one operations lead across weeks 1–5, concentrated in the discovery workshop and opening-balance sign-off. Data migration is our work, not yours — we take your exports and reconcile back to your trial balance before anyone logs in.
    POS terminals and the field app keep operating from local storage — selling, printing receipts and recording stock movements. Transactions queue with their original timestamps and replay in strict sequence when the connection returns, so the ledger order is preserved. Head-office functions such as approvals and reporting require connectivity.
    Yes — and we prefer to. Your auditor gets a read-only role with access to the full audit trail and an evidence pack they can pull themselves, which usually shortens the audit. Your accountant signs off the chart of accounts and opening balances in week 2 before anything is posted.
    Illustrative — to be replaced with an attributed customer quote
    “We stopped arguing about whose spreadsheet was right. There is one number now, and everybody is looking at it.”
    Finance Director · distribution group · Addis Ababa
    39 — NEXT STEP

    Book a practical Elroi walkthrough.
    Bring your real workflow.
    Leave with a launch path.

    The contact form creates a reviewed CRM lead, captures your company, users, branches, timing and preferred package, and does not create infrastructure or activate service automatically.