GPP (Good Pharmacy Practice) is the standard every pharmacy in Thailand must meet to obtain and renew its licence. The part many shops underestimate is record-keeping: purchases, sales, controlled drugs, lot numbers and expiry dates.
Doing this on paper is error-prone and slow during inspections. This article summarises the GPP record-keeping requirements and shows exactly where a good pharmacy POS automates them for you.
What is GPP and why it matters
GPP stands for Good Pharmacy Practice — the standard the Thai FDA requires modern-medicine pharmacies to pass. It covers premises and equipment, personnel (the pharmacist) and quality control, which includes data recording and reporting.
Pharmacies that fail the GPP assessment risk not having their licence renewed, so an auditable record-keeping system is mandatory, not optional.
The record-keeping GPP requires
GPP emphasises complete, auditable records. At a minimum a pharmacy must record:
- Purchase records — source, supplier and quantities received
- Sales records, including dangerous and specially controlled drugs
- Lot/batch numbers and expiry dates per product
- Patient and prescriber details where the law requires it (e.g. controlled-drug registers)
- Dispensing and counselling by the pharmacist
"Force data entry" for controlled drugs
The most common slip is selling a controlled drug without recording the buyer or prescriber. A GPP-oriented POS forces the required fields — lot number, prescriber, reason for dispensing — before the sale can close, so nothing is missing at inspection time.
Forcing entry at the point of sale beats fixing records later: the data is correct from the start and linked to real stock.
Where the POS automates compliance
A good pharmacy POS removes manual recording in several places:
- Automatic stock deduction on every sale, tied to lot and expiry
- Goods-receipt capture with lot numbers and cost from the start
- Sequentially numbered receipts/tax invoices as the law requires
- Searchable, exportable sales history
- FDA registration status checks on products
Data-readiness checklist for GPP
Before an assessment, check your system can do all of the following:
- Find historical sales in seconds
- Know each lot’s expiry date and remaining quantity
- Produce sales and tax reports by date range
- Restrict data access by staff role
- Back up and restore data when needed
Frequently asked questions
Do small pharmacies need a POS to pass GPP?
The law does not mandate a specific brand or format, but it does require complete, auditable records. A POS makes meeting those requirements far easier and more accurate than paper.
How does a POS help with controlled drugs?
A GPP-oriented POS forces required fields such as lot number and prescriber before closing the sale and keeps searchable records, so controlled-drug registers are complete.
How long must sales records be kept?
Keep them for the period the law and inspections require. A good system retains the full history and can export reports any time, without digging through ledgers.
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