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Order entry systems often need to handle more than just capturing quantities, they must ensure pricing accuracy, apply correct tax structures, and enforce operational rules such as delivery timing and scheduling. When these elements are not built into the process, teams end up relying on manual checks, which can lead to inconsistencies at scale.
If your business runs daily replenishment orders, whether for retail distribution, wholesale supply, or field sales, you already know how error-prone the process gets when it's done manually. Reps select the wrong delivery slot. Taxes (like GST in India) get calculated incorrectly. Orders go in for the wrong date. By the time someone catches the mistake, the supply chain has already felt it.
This guide walks you through building a fully functional daily order entry app in Clappia that automates pricing, splits taxes (for example, GST into CGST and SGST), and enforces delivery-slot and date rules at the point of submission, all without writing a single line of backend code. This is achieved by structuring the solution across multiple apps, where each app handles a specific part of the process and feeds into the final order entry.
By the end of this guide, you'll have a connected system of four apps; one for managing dealer details, two for managing different types of product data, and one main app for creating and submitting orders:
| App | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Dealer/Shop Master | Stores dealer details, pricing category, discount, and route info |
| Product Master – Long Shelf-Life Products | Stores item details, Marked Price, HSN code, GST %, and delivery preferences |
| Product Master – Short Shelf-Life Products | Same structure for perishable or fast-moving items |
| Daily Order Entry App | The main order form that links to MIS, auto-calculates pricing and tax, enforces slot rules |
Before building the order form, you need a source of truth or an MIS for your dealers or shops. This master app stores the information that gets automatically pulled into every order.
In your Clappia dashboard, click on ‘New App’ and go to Design App. Add the following fields in a single section:
Required fields:
Optional fields (recommended for larger operations):
No display conditions are needed here, keep all fields always visible. No workflows are required either. This is pure master data.
Once you're done, submit a few dealer records so you have data to test with. To do that, you can go to App Home and enter them one by one. Or if you already have existing data, you can upload it all in one shot in the Submissions tab.
Here we have taken two types of products: long shelf-life items (packaged goods, dry items) and short shelf-life items (perishables, daily-made goods). Each gets its own master app, but the structure is nearly identical. You can maintain just one product master or more if you need.
Required fields:
Optional fields:
Planning fields:
Helper formula field: Add a Calculation & Logic block with this formula to create a quick reference label:
CONCATENATE({item_name}, " - ", {delivery_day})
This creates a combined label using the item name and delivery day (e.g., “Product A – Monday”), making it easier to identify and select products during lookup when your product list is long.
For the Short Shelf-Life master, use the same required fields.
Add a few product records before moving on.
This is where everything comes together. The order app has one section with a mix of lookup fields, user-entered fields, hidden calculated fields, and validations.
Add a Get Data from Other Apps block and configure it as follows:
Lookup 1: My Shop
Lookup 2: Select Product
Keeping pulled fields hidden (except Marked Price) reduces visual clutter and prevents users from accidentally focusing on intermediate values rather than their actual task.
These are the fields the order taker fills in manually:
This is the core of the automation. All pricing fields are hidden from the user, they exist purely for backend calculation and reporting.
Add a Calculation & Logic block for each of the following. Mark each as Hidden.
{markedprice} - {markedprice} * ({discount} / 100)
What it does: Deducts the dealer's discount percentage from the Marked Price to get the effective selling rate.
Example: Marked Price = ₹100, Discount = 10% → Rate After Discount = ₹90
({rate_after_discount} * 100) / (100 + {gst_percent})
What it does: Back-calculates the base price before GST, since Marked Price is typically inclusive of tax.
Example: Rate After Discount = ₹90, GST = 12% → Basic Rate = ₹80.36
{basic_rate} * {quantity}
What it does: Multiplies the pre-GST rate by the quantity ordered.
Example: Basic Rate = ₹80.36, Quantity = 10 → Total Basic = ₹803.6
({total_basic} * ({gst_percent} / 100)) / 2
What it does: Calculates the Central GST component — half of the total GST on the order.
Example: Total Basic = ₹803.6, GST = 12% → CGST = ₹48.22
({total_basic} * ({gst_percent} / 100)) / 2
What it does: Calculates the State GST component — equal to CGST.
Example: SGST = ₹48.22
{total_basic} + {cgst_amount} + {sgst_amount}
What it does: The final invoice value — pre-GST amount plus both GST components.
Example: ₹803.6 + ₹48.22 + ₹48.22 = ₹900.04
All six formula fields should be marked as Hidden. Users don't need to see intermediate values as they just need to submit the order. The calculated data is still available in submissions, analytics, and any future exports or reports.
This is the most important layer of logic in the app. It prevents orders from being placed with the wrong supply slot or wrong delivery date, which are among the most common errors in distribution workflows.
How it works: Add a hidden Calculation & Logic block called Computed Supply from Time. This field determines which supply slot is correct based on the time the order is being placed:
IF(AND({time_selector} >= "06:00", {time_selector} <= "11:30"), "Second Supply", "First Supply")
What it does: If the order is placed between 6:00 AM and 11:30 AM, the system expects the user to select Second Supply. Outside that window, it expects First Supply.
Now add a Validation block. Set the validation type to Custom and configure it as:
This blocks submission entirely if the user's Supply selection doesn't match the system-computed expectation.
How it works: Add another hidden Calculation & Logic block called Expected Delivery Date for First Supply. The logic checks whether a First Supply order placed on the current day should use today's date or the next day's date, based on the time of order entry and the selected delivery date.
IF(
AND({supply} = "First Supply", {time_selector} > "11:30"),
{delivery_date} + 1,
{delivery_date}
)
Now add a second Validation block:
This ensures that when placing a First Supply order after the Second Supply window has closed (i.e., after 11:30 AM), the rep must select tomorrow's date as the delivery date and not today's.
Once the app is set up, you need to give the right people access and make sure it works in the field.
In the Distribute tab of the app, go to Users and invite your order-entry team. For field reps who only need to submit orders, assign them the Submitter role; they can fill and submit forms but cannot edit the app design or view other users' submissions unless you configure that in the app's Submission Access settings.
For supervisors or managers who need to review all orders, assign the Reviewer role or give them Custom access.
The Clappia mobile app is available on both Android and iOS. Once your reps log in, the Daily Order Entry app will appear on their dashboard. The lookup fields, formula calculations, and validations all work identically on mobile. There is no extra setup for the mobile app.
Offline mode: Clappia supports offline data entry. Reps in areas with poor connectivity can fill out orders offline, and submissions will sync automatically once connectivity is restored. This is particularly useful for field sales teams covering remote routes.
If your business also handles perishable or fast-moving items, you can replicate the entire order app and point the product lookup to the Short Shelf-Life master instead.
The pricing formulas (Rate After Discount, Basic Rate, CGST, SGST, Total Bill) remain identical. You may want to adjust the delivery date logic, fresh items often have tighter lead times and might require same-day or next-morning delivery rules rather than the First/Second Supply window used for long shelf-life items.
To clone the order app: go to Design App > Configuration > Clone App. This creates a copy you can modify without affecting the original.
Once orders start coming in, each submission contains:
| Field | Visibility | Value Type |
|---|---|---|
| Dealer Name | Visible | Pulled from master |
| Product Name | Visible | Pulled from master |
| MRP | Visible | Pulled from master |
| Quantity | Visible | User entered |
| Delivery Date | Visible | User entered |
| Supply | Visible | User selected |
| CGST Amount | Hidden | Auto-calculated |
| SGST Amount | Hidden | Auto-calculated |
| Total Bill Amount | Hidden | Auto-calculated |
| Route Details | Hidden | Pulled from master |
All fields — visible or hidden — are captured in the submission and available in the Submissions view, exports, and analytics.
Before rolling out to your team, run through these scenarios:
Here's what this app system gives you:
The combination of master data lookups, hidden formula logic, and submission-time validations means your order entry process is accurate by design, not by hope.
Built using Clappia — a no-code platform for building business process apps. For more guides, visit the Clappia Help Centre.
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L374, 1st Floor, 5th Main Rd, Sector 6, HSR Layout, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560102, India
3500 S DuPont Hwy, Dover,
Kent 19901, Delaware, USA
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3500 S DuPont Hwy, Dover,
Kent 19901, Delaware, USA
L374, 1st Floor, 5th Main Rd, Sector 6, HSR Layout, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560102, India
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