El Mersal Trade Case Study: Transparent Import & Container Costing on Zoho

Client: El Mersal Trade · Industry: Import & Wholesale Trade · Country: Ghana

Overview

El Mersal Trade is an import and wholesale trading business operating in Ghana, sourcing goods from China and selling to local buyers. To replace fragile spreadsheet tracking with a real ERP — and to bring full transparency to a complex, multi-currency import operation — Wanas Apps implemented an integrated Zoho Books and Zoho Inventory system built around container costing, true landed cost, and a transparent procurement workflow.

The Challenge

Importing from China and wholesaling in Ghana is an operation full of moving parts: purchase requisitions, ocean freight, customs, container loads, and sales — all spanning three currencies (RMB, USD, and local). El Mersal was running it on manual Excel sheets, which made a few things nearly impossible:

• Knowing the true cost of each product. Without automated landed-cost allocation, the real cost per SKU — freight, duties, and fees included — was a guess.
• Tracing every payment. With sourcing handled through an intermediary agent who controlled payments and currency conversions, money flows weren't transparent — and untraceable conversions can quietly erode margin.
• Seeing the business in real time. Stock levels, shipments in transit, and true profitability were scattered and slow to compile.

The Solution

Wanas Apps designed a fully integrated system on Zoho Books and Zoho Inventory that models the entire import lifecycle — requisition → China shipment → container costing → landed-cost allocation → inventory → wholesale sale:

• Container & landed-cost management. Every shipment is costed at the container level, with freight and other expenses automatically allocated across SKUs — so inventory is valued at its true landed cost.
• Transparent, traceable payments. Multi-currency payment flows (RMB / USD) are captured in the ledger, making every conversion and expense visible and auditable — closing the door on hidden intermediary margins.
• Factory-level purchase tracking. Purchases are traced back to the originating factory even when procured through an agent.
• Structured wholesale operations with real-time visibility of stock, shipments, and profitability.
• Multi-currency, multi-jurisdiction setup — configured for the realities of a China-sourced, Ghana-operating business.

The Results

• True cost visibility — accurate landed cost per SKU, so pricing and margins are based on reality, not estimates.
• Financial transparency — traceable, auditable multi-currency payment flows replace an opaque, intermediary-controlled process.
• No more spreadsheets — a structured ERP workflow from purchase requisition to wholesale sale.
• Real-time insight — live visibility of inventory, shipments, and profitability.

Ready to bring transparency to your trade operation?

From landed-cost accounting to multi-currency inventory, Wanas Apps builds the Zoho systems that import and trading businesses run on. Book a free consultation.