Every school software looks good in a sales presentation. The real test comes three months later, when exams are due, fees are being collected and every teacher has to use the system on their phone. This checklist helps principals and owners in Nepal compare school software on the things that actually matter day to day.
1. Start with your three biggest problems
Before you look at any product, write down the three jobs that take your office the most time. For most schools it is fee collection and follow-up, attendance, and preparing marksheets at exam time. Judge every option on how well it solves those, not on how long its feature list is.
2. NEB and CDC grading must be built in
School software made for other countries often struggles with Nepal's letter grading. Ask to see a grade sheet with A+ to NG grades and credit-hour GPA, continuous assessment for Classes 1–5, and internal and external marks for Classes 6–8. If the vendor needs to “customize” this, it is not built in.
3. Fees should match how your school charges
Check that fee structures can differ by class, student, transport route or hostel, that scholarships work by percentage or fixed amount, and that parents can pay through eSewa and Khalti with receipts issued instantly. Ask how dues reports look, because that is the screen your accountant will open every morning.
4. Attendance has to work without internet
Power cuts and slow connections are normal. Biometric devices at the gate and the teacher app should keep recording attendance offline and sync when the connection is back. Parents should get an absence alert automatically, without anyone sending it by hand.
5. Try the apps yourself
School software only works if teachers and parents use it. Install the teacher and parent apps during the demo. Can a teacher mark attendance and enter marks in under a minute? Can a parent see results, dues and the school bus without calling the office? If the apps are slow or confusing, adoption will be too.
6. One database, not a bundle of separate tools
Some products are several programs sold together. Ask what happens when a student is promoted or transfers section: do the fee structure, subjects and routine follow automatically? In a properly connected system, information is entered once and is correct everywhere.
7. Ask where your data lives and who can see it
Student and fee records are sensitive. Look for role-based access, so an accountant sees fees and a teacher sees only their classes, an audit trail on every transaction, encrypted connections and regular backups. Ask how you can export your data if you ever decide to leave.
8. Setup, data migration and training
Find out who moves your existing records in from spreadsheets, old software or paper registers, how long setup takes and how each group of staff is trained. A good vendor does this for you and lets you start using the system while it happens.
9. Local support you can actually reach
Problems always seem to happen during exams or fee deadlines. Ask how support works: by phone, WhatsApp, email and on-site visits, during school hours, from a team that understands Nepali schools. Check what is included in the first year and what it costs after that.
10. Compare the full yearly cost
The first quote is rarely the full picture. Ask about per-student charges, SMS costs, app fees, paid add-on modules, hosting, devices and support after year one. Our guide to what school software costs in Nepal lists the questions to ask.
Bonus: call two schools that use it
Ask the vendor for two or three schools of a similar size and call them. Ask what they would change, how quickly support responds and whether parents really use the app. Ten minutes on the phone tells you more than any brochure.
The short version
The best school software for your school is the one your staff and parents will use every day: it handles NEB grading and Nepali fee structures out of the box, works offline, protects your data and comes with real local support. AEIMS was built in Kathmandu for exactly this. Book a live demo and we will show it working with your own school's setup.
