How to Write an ERP Requirements Document Before Talking to Any Vendor

The best time to document your ERP requirements is before you talk to any vendor. Here is why: every vendor will ask you questions, and if you are not prepared, you will answer them based on what the vendor is already showing you — not what you actually need. This leads to buying what the vendor wants to sell, not what your business needs to run.

A good requirements document takes 4–8 hours to write and saves weeks of back-and-forth and thousands of rupees in scope changes.

What to Include

Section 1: Business Context (1–2 pages)

What your business does — products, clients, geographic reach
Current headcount by department
Current systems in use (Tally, Excel files, WhatsApp, any existing software)
The primary problem you are trying to solve — in plain language
The secondary problems (things that would be nice to fix but are not critical)

Section 2: Process Maps (2–4 pages)

For each major workflow, describe the current state — step by step:

How does a purchase order currently get created and approved?
How does a customer order come in — and how does it get processed?
How is stock tracked from receipt to dispatch?
How does the production floor receive and track job orders?
How is an invoice created and tracked for payment?

You do not need to draw formal flowcharts. A bulleted list of steps is enough.

Section 3: Must-Have Requirements (by module)

For each module you need, list the specific features. Be explicit:

Inventory: must track stock by batch number; must support two warehouse locations; must send low-stock email alerts
Production: must track job orders by machine; must allow supervisor to update status from mobile; must log QC pass/fail per job
Dispatch: must assign vehicles; must send WhatsApp update to client when dispatched; must capture digital proof of delivery

Section 4: Nice-to-Have Requirements

Separate your must-haves from your nice-to-haves. Vendors will price the nice-to-haves separately. Knowing which features are optional gives you negotiation room and helps you control scope.

Section 5: Integration Requirements

Does the ERP need to sync with Tally for accounting?
Does it need to connect to your biometric attendance system?
Does it need to integrate with a shipping or logistics API?
Does it need to connect to an e-commerce platform or external marketplace?

Section 6: Non-Functional Requirements

Number of concurrent users expected
Devices: desktop only, or mobile and tablet too?
Hosting preference: your own server, cloud, or vendor-managed?
Language: English only, or Hindi/regional language support required?
Data retention: how many years of historical data do you need?

How to Use This Document

Send it to vendors before the first call. Ask them to review it and come to the call with questions — not a generic demo. Any vendor who ignores your requirements document and shows you a canned demo anyway is telling you something important about how they will behave after you sign the contract.

If you would like help structuring your requirements document or getting a quote based on it, contact us. We will review it honestly and tell you what is feasible, what is not, and what it would realistically cost.