How to Choose School ERP Software in India: 26-Point Checklist

TL;DR: Don't start with "which is the best?" Start with your own must-haves, then test each vendor against the same checklist, live, using your own data. The 26 points below cover daily operations, parents, multi-branch, data and commercial terms. We've scored our own product, EduTechMonitor, on every point, including the many places where the answer is "No" today.

Step 1: Write down your must-haves before any demo

Sales demos are designed to impress. If you walk in without a list, you'll judge the software on its most polished screens instead of your daily problems.

Spend 30 minutes with your principal and office head and answer:

• What do we do on paper or in Excel today that wastes the most time? (Usually fees, attendance and certificates.)
• What do parents complain about most? (Usually not knowing fee dues, attendance, or results.)
• What will the board, the department or the auditor ask us for?
• How many branches, institutions and students will we have in three years?
• Who in our office will own the software day to day?

Mark each checklist item below as Must, Nice or Not needed for your school. Only the "Must" column decides.

Step 2: The 26-point checklist (with our own honest score)

How to read the last column: Yes = works in EduTechMonitor today. Partly = some of it works; the note says what. No = not available yet. We've listed our gaps on purpose so you can rule us in or out quickly.

Daily operations

#	Check	What to test in the demo	EduTechMonitor today
1	Student records	Open a student; are admission number, class and parent details in one place?	Yes
2	Online admission form	Can a parent fill a form online that lands in the office?	Yes
3	Bulk import from Excel	Import your own 20-row sample live. How are errors reported?	Yes
4	Daily attendance by teachers	Mark one class as a teacher. How many taps?	Yes
5	Attendance reports	Pull a class or student report for last month	Yes
6	Fee heads and structures per class	Set up Tuition + Exam fee for one class	Yes
7	Fee collection and printed receipts	Record a payment and print the receipt	Yes (collection is recorded by the office)
8	Online fee payment by parents	Can a parent pay by UPI/card from a link?	No
9	Exams, marks entry and report cards	Enter marks for a class and print one report card in your board's format	No
10	Class timetables	Build one class timetable	Yes
11	Staff records	Add a staff member with role and contact details	Yes
12	Payroll	Run a salary sheet with PF/ESI	No
13	Transport	Routes, stops, bus fees	No
14	Homework / daily diary	Teacher posts homework; parent sees it	No
15	Certificates (TC, bonafide)	Generate a TC from student data	No

Parents and communication

#	Check	What to test	EduTechMonitor today
16	Parent access to information	Log in as a parent. What can they see?	Partly: web login shows attendance, timetable and fees
17	Parent mobile app	Is there an app on the Play Store today?	No (coming; not available yet)
18	SMS/WhatsApp alerts (absence, fee due)	Trigger an absence alert	No (SMS is used only for login OTP)

Structure and security

#	Check	What to test	EduTechMonitor today
19	Role-based logins	Log in as a teacher; can you see fee totals? (You shouldn't.)	Yes: trust, institution and branch admin, teacher, student, parent
20	OTP login	Is a one-time password needed at login?	Yes, by SMS
21	Multi-branch under one trust	Log in as Branch A's admin and try to open a Branch B student	Yes: trust → institution → branch, separate admin per branch
22	School and coaching batches together	If you run tuition/coaching, can both live in one system?	Yes
23	Government portal exports (UDISE+, SATS, APAAR)	Ask for a sample export file	No

Commercial and trust

#	Check	What to ask	EduTechMonitor today
24	Price known before the demo	Is a rupee price published?	Yes: ₹1,20,000/yr + 18% GST up to 250 students; ₹20/student/month above
25	Refund terms in writing	What happens if it doesn't work for you?	Yes: 21-day money-back on the first payment
26	Support you can actually reach	Hours, channel, on-site visits	Yes: Mon–Sat 10am–6pm IST from Dharwad; on-site by appointment

Two more things to ask every vendor, including us, because the answer should be in your contract and not only in a conversation:

• Data export on exit: can you take all your data out in Excel/CSV if you leave, and at what cost?
• References: can you speak to a school of your size, in your region, that has used the product for a full academic year? We don't have public reviews yet, so ask us directly.

Step 3: Run the demo like a test, not a show

• Bring your own data. A 20-student Excel with real-world mess: a missing phone number, a misspelt class name. Ask them to import it.
• Let your office head drive. If they can't record a fee payment after ten minutes of guidance, daily use will be painful.
• Ask to see the parent login on a phone browser or app, whichever exists.
• Ask what's live versus "coming soon". Get the "coming soon" list in writing, with dates, and don't pay for it until it exists.
• Check the boring parts: how a receipt is cancelled, how a student is moved to the next class, how a wrong attendance entry is corrected.

Step 4: Compare cost over three years

Get a written quote for your exact student count, including GST, add-on modules, messaging, setup and training. Put every vendor in one table and compare the three-year total and the per-student cost. Our cost guide has a template and the published price ranges we could find.

Step 5: Check the contract

• Price and the cap on yearly increases
• What's included, by module
• Refund and exit terms
• Data export format and timeline
• Who owns the data (it should be you)
• How the vendor handles students' personal data, given India's DPDP Rules notified on 14 November 2025, which require verifiable consent before processing children's personal data and phase in over 18 months. Ask your legal advisor what your school needs in the contract.

Red flags

• "Every feature you need, we have": ask them to show each one, live.
• A price that changes a lot after you mention your school's name
• No written refund or exit terms
• Claims like "number one", "most trusted" or "AI-powered" without evidence you can check
• Pressure to sign this week for a "special discount"

Is EduTechMonitor a fit?

Honestly: if exams and report cards, a parent app, online fee payment or transport are must-haves for you this year, we are not the right choice today, and this checklist should show that clearly.

We are a good fit where the must-haves are clean student records, admissions, attendance, fees with receipts, timetables, multi-branch structure, or running coaching batches next to school classes, and where a transparent price and a support team you can meet in person matter to you. See the product page or the multi-branch guide.