The complete guide to running a pharmacy or chemical shop in Ghana

A pharmacy or a licensed chemical shop is a shop with higher stakes. The stock is small, valuable and dated. Boxes are opened and sold by the strip. Some lines fly off the shelf every morning and others sit for months. Customers pay by cash and MoMo, often in a hurry. And above all of it sit two regulators whose rules you must keep.

This guide is for owners and managers of community pharmacies and over-the-counter medicine shops in Ghana. It covers the business side: stock, cash, tax and systems. It gives no clinical or dosing advice. Questions about which medicine a customer should take belong with a pharmacist or prescriber.

In this guide:

• Who regulates a pharmacy or chemical shop, and what they cover
• Setting up medicines sold by box, strip and tablet
• Expiry dates, batches and first-expiring, first-out
• Reorder levels for fast-moving lines
• VAT on medicines and mixed receipts
• Stopping stock theft and cash leakage
• Payments, MoMo and credit customers
• Working through network and power cuts
• Choosing, setting up and paying for a POS
• A weekly routine that keeps it all in order

Each section summarises the topic and links to a full article where there is one.

What makes a pharmacy different from an ordinary shop?

A pharmacy differs from an ordinary shop in four ways: its stock expires, it is sold in part packs, part of it may be tax-exempt, and the whole business is licensed by a regulator. Each of those changes how you set up stock, how you count it, and what your till must do.

None of this needs complicated software. It needs the basics done properly, every day.

Who regulates a pharmacy or chemical shop?

Two bodies, with different jobs. The Pharmacy Council licenses the premises and the people: retail and wholesale pharmacies, and over-the-counter medicine sellers. It says it is established under Parts IV and VI of the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act, 2013 (Act 857). The Food and Drugs Authority regulates the products, drawing its mandate from Parts 6, 7 and 8 of the Public Health Act, 2012 (Act 851).

The Council's 2025 guidelines say a pharmacy may supply class A (prescription-only), class B (pharmacist's list) and class C (over-the-counter) medicines, under a registered pharmacist. Its guidelines for over-the-counter medicine sellers say that licence covers only class C medicines, by retail, at the one location named on it.

• 36 m²Minimum floor space, retail pharmacy
• 12 m²Minimum floor space, OTC medicine shop
• 31 JanYearly renewal deadline for both licences
• 12 monthsSuperintendent's post-registration practice

Source: Pharmacy Council Ghana, application guidelines for pharmacies (2025) and OTC medicine practitioners

These figures come from the Council's published guidelines, which it says it may amend without notice. Fees change too, and are not covered here. Our full article on who regulates what: the Pharmacy Council and the FDA sets out what each guideline says and where to check, but the regulator is always the final word.

How should you set up medicines sold by box, strip and tablet?

Set each medicine up in the smallest unit you sell and add bigger sizes as packs of that unit. If you sell strips and boxes, the strip is the product and the box is a pack of 10 strips with its own price and barcode. If you sell loose tablets of a line, the tablet is the base.

This does three things. Each sale takes the exact number out of stock. Each unit charges the price you chose, so a box is not ten strips at the strip price by accident. And your stock count stays true when a box is opened.

Strips cut from a box usually have no barcode, so print your own labels for them. Give the strip a different barcode from the box. Labelling and instructions on split packs are a regulatory matter: the Council's guidelines for OTC medicine practitioners say medicines dispensed must be "appropriately labelled and instructions clearly given", so ask the Council what that means for your premises.

Read selling medicine by the box, strip and tablet for pricing examples and a setup checklist.

How do you control expiry dates and batches?

Record the batch number and expiry date of every delivery when it arrives, sell the batch that expires first, check short-dated stock monthly, and take expired stock off the shelf the same day.

The Pharmacy Council's guidelines list the display and supply of expired medicines among the offences that attract sanctions, and make keeping shelves free of expired stock part of the superintendent pharmacist's duties. The same duty appears in its guidelines for OTC medicine sellers.

First-expiring, first-out (FEFO) is the rule: the earliest date sells first, even if that batch arrived last. On the shelf, short dates go at the front. In the system, each batch carries its own date. Before you accept a delivery, check how much shelf life is left, and agree with each supplier whether they will take back short-dated stock.

The full routine, with a monthly shelf walk and what to do with expired stock, is in medicine expiry dates and batches.

How do you set reorder levels for fast-moving lines?

Set a reorder level for each fast-moving line from two numbers: how many you sell in a day, and how many days your supplier takes to deliver, plus a few days of safety stock. When stock falls to that level, you order.

Reorder level = average daily sales x (supplier delivery days + safety days)

Here is a worked example for a strip that sells steadily.

These numbers are examples. Yours come from your own sales report: take a normal month, divide units sold by the days you were open, and you have your daily figure.

• 2 days48 strips
• 3 days60 strips
• 5 days84 strips
• 7 days108 strips

Source: Example figures: 12 strips a day, 2 safety days

Two cautions for a pharmacy. First, do not chase fast lines by ordering huge quantities: every extra box is another box that can expire. Order the amount you will sell well before the date. Second, keep a separate, lower reorder level for slow lines, or order them only when a customer asks. Slow lines are where expiry losses pile up.

Review the levels every quarter, and before seasons that change demand, such as the rainy season or school reopening.

How should VAT work on a pharmacy receipt?

Treat each product according to its own tax status. As of October 2026, the Ghana Revenue Authority's exemptions page lists "medical services, essential drugs as listed under Chapter 30 of the 'HS Code' produced or supplied in Ghana, specified active ingredients for essential drugs, and selected imported special drugs determined by the Minister for Health and approved by Parliament" as exempt. GRA also says that goods and services exempt from VAT are exempt from NHIL and GETFund.

That does not make every item in a pharmacy exempt. Toothpaste, soap, cosmetics and drinks such as Milo and Voltic have their own status. Under the VAT Act 2025 (Act 1151), effective 1 January 2026, the standard rates are VAT 15%, NHIL 2.5% and GETFund 2.5%, all on the same value. And only VAT-registered businesses charge VAT at all.

Confirm with GRA or your accountant which of your lines are exempt, mark them once, and print a test receipt with an exempt and a taxable line. VAT on medicines in Ghana has a worked receipt, and Ghana VAT in 2026 covers the wider reform.

How do you stop stock theft and cash leakage?

Make every sale, void, refund and price change traceable to a person, and count the things that go missing. In a pharmacy, leakage tends to hide in five places: strips missing from opened boxes, cash sales never rung up, voids after the customer has left, short deliveries, and expiry write-offs that nobody checks.

The controls are simple:

• One login per person, so every action has a name on it.
• A manager for voids, refunds and large discounts, with a reason.
• A counted float to open the till and a counted drawer to close it.
• A weekly count of your 20 most valuable or fastest lines, in strips or tablets.
• Deliveries counted against the invoice before the driver leaves.
• Every expiry write-off checked by a second person and the stock kept apart.

Read preventing stock theft and cash leakage in a pharmacy for the full list and a 20-minute weekly check. The general version for any shop is in stop stock and cash leakage in your mini-mart.

How should a pharmacy take payments?

Take cash, MoMo and card, and record each one properly at the till. For MoMo, use only the business's own number and record the transaction ID on every sale, then match the day's MoMo total against the wallet statement. Card payments on a separate terminal should still be recorded at the till as card, so your totals add up.

Some pharmacies sell on credit to regular customers, staff or nearby businesses. If you do, put each one on an account with a credit balance, give statements, and follow up debts before they grow old. Do not keep credit in a notebook behind the counter.

Insurance and NHIS sales are a different matter. Claims to an insurer or the NHIS have their own process and paperwork, which a till does not replace. Our guide to reconciling Mobile Money payments shows the end-of-day check in detail.

What happens when the network or power goes off?

Your till should keep selling. A customer with a headache at 7 in the evening will not wait for the network to come back. A system that keeps working offline, records each sale, and syncs when the connection returns means you never fall back to a paper book you have to retype later.

Keep a charged phone or a small UPS for the till device and printer, so a power cut does not close the counter. Keep selling when the network goes off explains how an offline POS works.

What should a pharmacy POS do, and what should it not claim to do?

A pharmacy POS should handle sales, stock, batches, tax and cash, and be honest about what it leaves to other records. Use this checklist when you compare systems.

Be wary of any system that promises everything. Prescription records, a controlled-drugs register, and NHIS or insurance claims are specialised jobs with their own rules. The Council's guidelines list improper record keeping on restricted drugs among offences, so keep those records in the form the regulator requires, whatever till you use.

Our general guide on how to choose a POS system in Ghana covers devices, support and contracts.

How do you set up a POS in a pharmacy?

Start with your best-selling lines, not the whole shop. Getting 50 products right in a week is better than 2,000 products half right.

1. 1Export your product list to Excel or CSV
2. 2Clean it: one row per product, smallest unit, cost and price
3. 3Import it, then add box packs with their own prices
4. 4Mark VAT-exempt medicines after checking with your accountant
5. 5Enter opening stock with batches and expiry dates
6. 6Print barcode labels for strips and loose units
7. 7Create a login for each staff member
8. 8Run a full day of sales, then count your top 20 lines

If you are moving from Aronium, your export can be imported directly. Our comparison of MPOS and Aronium covers what moves across.

Train staff on three things only in the first week: scanning, the quantity prompt, and closing the till. Everything else can wait.

What does a pharmacy POS cost?

POS pricing in Ghana comes in two shapes: a monthly subscription, or a one-time licence with a yearly renewal. Over three or four years the totals can be very different, so work out the full cost for the time you expect to use it, including hardware, setup and support. One-time licence or monthly subscription walks through the comparison.

Hardware for a small pharmacy is usually modest: a laptop, tablet or phone you already own, a barcode scanner, and a thermal receipt printer. A second device helps if you have a busy counter or a second branch.

Do you still need an accountant or Tally?

You still need an accountant for your returns and advice. Whether you also need separate accounting software depends on how you work. Many small pharmacies can run their books from the till, with sales, purchases and expenses posted automatically, and give the accountant a trial balance at month end. If you need GRA E-VAT e-invoicing or payroll with SSNIT and PAYE, you will need another tool for those. MPOS vs Tally explains when to keep both.

A weekly routine for a well-run pharmacy

The owners who stay in control do a few small things on a fixed day, every week.

• Monday: read last week's sales, voids, refunds and price changes. Ask about anything odd.
• Tuesday: review low-stock lines and place orders using your reorder levels.
• Wednesday: count your top 20 lines in their smallest unit.
• Thursday: check deliveries received against invoices, and supplier credits for returns.
• Friday: check the expired-stock box against the write-off record, and match the week's MoMo totals.
• Monthly: walk every shelf for dates, and mark anything under three months.
• Yearly: renew your licence before 31 January, and check the Council's current guidelines.

How MPOS fits a pharmacy

MPOS runs in the browser on any phone, tablet, laptop or Mac and keeps selling offline. The till is scan-first: after each item it asks how many, you type the number and press Enter, and scanning the next item keeps 1. Medicines are set up in their smallest unit with packs such as a box of 10 strips that have their own price and barcode, and part quantities such as half a box work too. Batches carry expiry dates and sell first-expiring-first. Stock is kept per branch, with low-stock warnings, stock takes by scanning, suppliers, purchases and supplier returns.

Any item can be VAT-exempt, and receipts show VAT, NHIL and GETFund on taxable lines. Each person has their own login, voids, refunds and big discounts need a manager, and every void, refund, price change and cash-up is in an activity log. MoMo payments record the transaction ID and the money goes to your own wallet. If a till closes short, the owner can get an SMS alert.

What it does not do: MPOS does not keep prescription records or a controlled-drugs register, and does not do NHIS or insurance claims. It does not connect to GRA E-VAT. Keep those where they belong.

Pricing is a setup and licence fee agreed with each business, then a yearly renewal for cloud, data and support.

What to do next

Pick one thing from this guide and do it this week. For most owners, the best first step is the shelf walk: date every product and add up what expires in the next three months. The second is a weekly count of your top 20 lines in strips.

Then work through the articles in this guide:

• Pharmacy Council or FDA: who regulates a pharmacy in Ghana?
• Selling medicine by the box, strip and tablet
• Medicine expiry dates and batches
• VAT on medicines in Ghana
• Preventing stock theft and cash leakage in a pharmacy

If you would like to see packs, batches and exempt medicines working on your own products, you can start a free trial for 14 days, with no card needed.