Expiry Date Management in Pharmacy ERP

Expired Medicine: The Most Dangerous and Costly Mistake in Pharmacy

Selling an expired medicine — even unintentionally — can result in patient harm, license cancellation, and legal liability. Yet it happens every day in pharmacies relying on manual systems where thousands of medicine batches are tracked on paper registers.

Pharmacy ERP software manages the complete expiry lifecycle — from the moment stock enters your pharmacy to the moment it's sold, returned, or disposed of — with zero chance of expired medicine reaching a patient.

The Complete Expiry Management Lifecycle in ERP

Step 1: Expiry Date Capture at Purchase

When you receive medicines from a distributor, ERP makes expiry date entry mandatory for each medicine batch. You cannot complete a purchase entry without recording the batch number and expiry date. This data becomes the foundation of all expiry tracking.

Step 2: Automatic FEFO During Billing

FEFO (First Expiry First Out) is the globally recommended method for pharmacy stock management. When you bill any medicine, ERP automatically selects the batch with the earliest expiry date first — ensuring older stock is always dispensed before newer stock.

Step 3: Near-Expiry Alerts

ERP generates automatic alerts for medicines expiring within your configured timeframe (typically 60–90 days for pharmacy). The near-expiry report shows:

• Medicine name and manufacturer
• Batch number
• Expiry date
• Current stock quantity
• Distributor from whom it was purchased
• Distributor's return window eligibility

Step 4: Return to Distributor Before Expiry

Most distributors accept near-expiry returns 3–6 months before the expiry date. ERP creates a return challan and adjusts stock and GST automatically. This converts potential write-offs into recovered cash.

Step 5: Expiry Block During Billing

If a batch has passed its expiry date and somehow remains in the system, ERP blocks it from being added to any bill. Expired batches are automatically flagged and cannot be sold — protecting patients every time.

Step 6: Expired Stock Write-Off

For expired stock that cannot be returned, ERP facilitates a proper write-off with accounting entries. The expired quantity is removed from stock and the cost is recorded as a loss — keeping books accurate.

MILAAN ERP Expiry Management at a Glance