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Taza: a crossroads between east and west
Located on the corridor linking Fez to the Oriental region, Taza lives from trade, administrative services and farming: cereals on the plains, olive, almond and walnut trees on the slopes, and livestock. Its industrial zone hosts oil mills, flour mills and packing units, as well as aluminium joinery, metalwork and door and window makers. Tazekka National Park and the Friouato caves are bringing nature tourism to the area.
The local economy is made up of small, often family-run businesses, many of which still keep their accounts in a notebook. That is not a flaw; it is a stage. The move to software succeeds when it is gradual and when the tool speaks the language of the people using it.
From notebook to software: a five-step method
Most successful starts follow the same order: records first, then balances, then day-to-day transactions. SOGESTIO accepts Excel or CSV imports of customers, items, opening stock, opening balances and entries, so nothing has to be re-keyed. The 14-day free trial lets you go through these steps with your own data, which is kept if you subscribe.
Practical tip: choose a switch-over date, such as the first day of a month, close the notebook on that day and issue every new invoice in SOGESTIO. Numbering then restarts cleanly, assigned by the server per document type and per year.
| Step | What you prepare | What SOGESTIO does |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Your company | Company name, address, ICE, IF, RC, business tax number, bank details, logo | Prints these details on every quote and invoice |
| 2. Customers and items | An Excel file with your customers and items | Imports the records with no re-keying |
| 3. Opening stock | A count of your stock on the switch-over date | Records quantities and values them at CMUP |
| 4. Opening balances | What each customer owes you and what you owe each supplier | Imports balances to track receivables and payables |
| 5. Daily transactions | New sales, purchases and payments from the switch-over date | Numbers documents, computes VAT and posts CGNC entries |
Shops and wholesalers: customer credit, cheques and petty cash
Selling on credit to regular customers is part of trade in Taza as elsewhere. SOGESTIO sets a credit limit per customer, computes the due date from the chosen terms and lists overdue accounts: a customer who has owed 12,000 DH for 75 days appears at the top of the list instead of getting lost in the notebook's pages. Cheques and bills of exchange (LCN) are recorded with bank, due date and status.
The petty cash book records every inflow and outflow, and shop expenses are classified by category with their deductible VAT. The dashboard sums up revenue, margin, unpaid invoices and items below minimum. SOGESTIO is not a cash register: it manages invoiced sales, not till receipts.
Aluminium and metalwork shops: quotes, deposits and manufacturing
A workshop that makes doors, windows and railings issues a quote, collects a deposit, buys profiles and glass, manufactures and installs. The quote goes out in Arabic or French, the deposit and balance are invoiced on the same job, and the Projects module tracks costs and invoicing per site.
On the Pro and Group plans, a standard window can become a bill of materials: profiles, glass, seals and fittings, with an offcut rate. The production order consumes these components and books the finished window at real cost, so later quotes rest on solid figures.
Olive oil mills and local produce
During the season, an oil mill receives olives from the area's farmers. Some mills buy the olives, others press on behalf of farmers and invoice a service. In the first case, each delivery is a goods receipt at net purchase cost, with its batch; in the second, the service invoice takes seconds, for example 2,000 kg pressed at 0.80 DH per kilo, or 1,600 DH excluding VAT. Cash payments to growers go through petty cash.
Producers of almonds, walnuts or honey who sell to resellers benefit from the same tools: stock, price lists, invoices and payment tracking.
An online service, in Arabic, across the province
SOGESTIO has no office in Taza: it is an online service usable anywhere in Morocco, and setup is remote. The interface works fully in right-to-left Arabic, or in French and English: each user picks a language. The Android app and the web app, which can be installed on iPhone, keep working offline in mountain areas and sync when the network returns.
To keep data on its own premises, a business can install the On-premise edition on its server, which runs without Internet. The Starter plan, at 199 DH/month or 1,990 DH/year excluding VAT for two users, is enough to start; you move to the Pro plan as the business grows, without losing data.
Frequently asked questions
I keep my accounts in a notebook: where do I start?
First fill in your company record, import customers and items from Excel, then enter opening stock and balances at a switch-over date. From that date, every new invoice is issued in SOGESTIO.
Can we bring in our customers and stock from Excel?
Yes. SOGESTIO imports customers, items, opening stock, opening balances and accounting entries from Excel or CSV.
What happens to our data if we stop the subscription?
After a 7-day grace period, the account becomes read-only: you can still view and export your data. Nothing is locked away without a way to retrieve it.
Is the software really usable in Arabic?
Yes. The interface is fully translated into Arabic and displays right to left. Quotes and invoices can also be printed in Arabic, French or English.
Do we need a SOGESTIO office in Taza?
No. SOGESTIO is an online service with no local branch or reseller: sign-up, setup and the subscription, paid by bank transfer, are handled remotely.