Which 1C to choose for an LLP or sole proprietor: Accounting, UNF, Trade Management or Retail

For most LLPs and sole proprietors in Kazakhstan, the right start is 1C:Accounting 8 for Kazakhstan. Of the four programs in the title, only it keeps accounting and tax records, calculates payroll and produces statutory reporting. UNF, Trade Management (UT) and Retail handle operational accounting: orders, warehouse, prices, cash. Data from them is transferred to Accounting. A short rule: services and simple trade need Accounting alone; a small company with orders, projects or production needs UNF and Accounting; wholesale with a warehouse needs UT and Accounting; a store needs Retail and Accounting. Below we look at what each program can do, how much it costs, and what to choose for a sole proprietor on the simplified declaration, an LLP in services, a wholesale company, a store and small-scale production.

Prices are taken from the 1c-rating.kz price list and were checked on 1 October 2026. Program features are described based on materials from 1C Company on 1c.kz and the partner 1C-Rating.

How 1C:Accounting, UNF, UT and Retail differ

Program	Main task	Accounting and tax reporting	Basic	PROF
1C:Accounting 8 for Kazakhstan	accounting and tax records, payroll, reporting	yes	25 900 ₸	97 250 ₸
1C:Small Business Management for Kazakhstan (UNF)	management accounting for a small company: orders, services, warehouse, production, money	no, data is transferred to Accounting	36 300 ₸	136 250 ₸
1C:Trade Management for Kazakhstan (UT)	trade and warehouse: orders, purchasing, stock, prices, ESF and SNT	no, data is transferred to Accounting	36 300 ₸	136 250 ₸
1C:Retail for Kazakhstan	store and chain of stores: cash register, discounts, retail equipment	no, there is exchange with Accounting and UT	25 900 ₸	97 250 ₸

Prices are for electronic delivery, and each includes a license for one workstation. Accounting and UNF have bundles for 5 users: 226 875 ₸ and 253 750 ₸. The full budget calculation with licenses and support is in the article “How much 1C costs in Kazakhstan in 2026”.

1C:Accounting — the accounting foundation for an LLP or sole proprietor

Accounting keeps records for one or several organizations, and an organization in the database can also be a sole proprietor. The program covers inventory and warehouses, trade operations, bank and cash, and production with cost calculation. It calculates payroll together with taxes and contributions, keeps records of VAT and corporate income tax, and produces financial, tax and statistical reporting. Tax forms are exported to XML for electronic filing.

The warehouse in Accounting is full-featured: transfers, stocktaking, receipt, write-off, several price types. Sales and purchasing management tools, such as orders with goods reservation, purchase planning and delivery schedules, are part of UT and UNF. If you have no such tasks, a separate warehouse program is not needed. Versions and getting the program running are described on the page 1C:Accounting for Kazakhstan.

1C:UNF — management accounting for a small company

UNF is designed for companies that manufacture products, provide services, do contract work or trade. According to 1C-Rating, from one or two to ten users work in it. One program brings together customer orders and orders to suppliers, warehouse, production by specifications, money and the payment calendar, HR records and management payroll. Income and expenses can be analyzed by business line, department and order. Service companies have a work order: one document replaces an order, an invoice for payment, a certificate of completed work and a dispatch note.

The main limitation: UNF does not keep accounting and tax records. Documents are transferred to 1C:Accounting through exchange. 1C Company also recommends calculating statutory payroll and payroll taxes in Accounting. UNF for Kazakhstan has exchange with the ESF information system, and release 3.0.6.6 of 11 February 2026 added issuing electronic certificates of completed work (EAVR): they require direct exchange with the ESF information system and a valid 1C:ITS contract. If UNF is synchronized with Accounting, exchange with the ESF information system is run in only one of the two databases. What the program includes and how to choose a version is described on the page 1C:UNF for Kazakhstan.

1C:Trade Management — wholesale and warehouse

UT automates the operational and management accounting of a trading company: customer relations, customer orders and orders to suppliers, inventory, prices and discounts, sales and purchase planning. Documents can be issued on behalf of several organizations in a group. The configuration has the built-in “1C:ESF for Kazakhstan” service for direct exchange of ESF, SNT and EAVR with the ESF information system, and it supports the virtual warehouse. UT selects the data for accounting itself and transfers it to 1C:Accounting. More about the program is on the page 1C:Trade Management for Kazakhstan.

1C:Retail — a store and a chain of stores

Retail is designed for stores, including those in a chain, and can work as a cash register program. It has a cashier workstation, support for fiscal registrars, barcode scanners, scales and card acquiring, discounts and discount cards, goods receipt, pricing and stocktaking. A chain uses distributed infobases: each store has its own database, and data comes together in the central node. Retail has two-way exchange with Accounting and UT, and UT can be its management system at the head office. How we connect cash registers and equipment is described on the page 1C:Retail for Kazakhstan.

Which 1C to choose for a sole proprietor on the simplified declaration

A sole proprietor under the special tax regime based on the simplified declaration files form 910.00 twice a year: for the first half of the year by 15 August, for the second half by 15 February of the following year. 1C:Accounting 8 for Kazakhstan (edition 3.0) fills in this form automatically from accounting data.

Sole proprietors under special tax regimes had the right not to keep accounting records before, but from 1 January 2026 this right is limited by income. Under paragraph 2 of Article 2 of the Law “On Accounting and Financial Reporting”, a sole proprietor may skip keeping accounting records and preparing financial statements if three conditions are met at the same time:

• they apply the simplified declaration regime, and annual income does not exceed 135 000 MCI;
• they are not registered for VAT;
• they are not a natural monopoly entity.

Primary documents must still be prepared and kept. If at least one condition is not met, for example annual income exceeds 135 000 MCI, the sole proprietor must keep accounting records and prepare financial statements.

What to choose:

• A sole proprietor alone or with an accountant, services or simple trade. 1C:Accounting Basic for 25 900 ₸: form 910.00, employee payroll, primary documents, bank and cash. Accounting Basic can send ESF directly with a 1C:ITS contract at the TECHNO or PROF level; without a contract, they are exported to XML and uploaded to the portal.
• Many ESF, or two or more people work in the database. Accounting PROF for 97 250 ₸ and a 1C:ITS contract: in PROF, direct exchange with the ESF information system works with a valid 1C:ITS contract or through the 1cfresh.kz cloud service. A 12-month 1C:ITS PROF contract costs 169 000 ₸ at 1C Company's recommended price. If documents still do not go out from the program, the causes are collected in the article “ESF is not sent from 1C”.
• The sole proprietor has a store. For the cash register and goods, 1C:Retail: Basic for 25 900 ₸ is enough if one person works in the program. Reporting is filed from Accounting, which Retail exchanges data with.
• The sole proprietor does not keep accounting records but wants to see orders, money and profit. UNF will do. Keep in mind that it does not keep tax records: form 910.00 and employee reporting will have to be prepared separately.

Which 1C to choose for an LLP in services

The law exempts only sole proprietors from accounting. An LLP keeps accounting records and prepares financial statements in any case, so Accounting is needed in every scenario.

• A small LLP: consulting, IT, service, rental. Accounting alone is enough. Basic will do if one accountant works in the program; ESF are sent from Accounting Basic directly with a 1C:ITS contract at the TECHNO or PROF level. PROF is needed when there are two or more users.
• Many orders and assignees. If you need to see deadlines, staff workload and the profitability of each order or project, add UNF. It has work orders, projects, job assignments and piecework orders. Managers and the director work in UNF, the accountant in Accounting.

For payroll in a small company, Accounting is enough. A separate 1C:Salary and HR Management for Kazakhstan (136 250 ₸) makes sense when HR records and payroll become a separate area of work.

Which 1C to choose for wholesale trade

A wholesale company with a warehouse usually needs a combination of UT and Accounting. In UT, managers take orders and reserve goods, the warehouse handles receipt, shipment and stocktaking, purchases are planned in the same program, and ESF and SNT are issued from documents. The accountant receives documents through exchange and files reporting from Accounting. How to issue SNT and work with the virtual warehouse is covered in the article “SNT and the virtual warehouse in 1C”.

Cost of the combination: UT PROF is 136 250 ₸, Accounting PROF is 97 250 ₸, 233 500 ₸ together. Each main delivery includes one workstation. Under 1C rules, a client license gives the right to work with any number of main deliveries, so additional workstations are bought once for both programs: a PROF license for one workstation is 44 712 ₸, for five workstations 155 002 ₸.

If there are few goods, one or two people keep records, and orders with reservations are not needed, trade can be handled in Accounting alone. UT Basic for 36 300 ₸ suits only one user: a manager and a storekeeper will not be able to work in it at the same time.

Which 1C to choose for a store

• One store, the program on one workstation. Retail Basic is 25 900 ₸. Limitations: one user, one organization per database, no client-server mode and no distributed databases.
• Several cash registers or a chain of stores. Retail PROF is 97 250 ₸ plus client licenses for additional workstations. A chain is built on distributed databases, and they are available only in PROF. If the stores are not connected to the office by a shared local network, under 1C licensing rules each node of the distributed database needs its own main delivery: client licenses alone will not be enough.
• A store plus wholesale or a central warehouse. Retail in the stores, UT as the management system at the office, reporting in Accounting.
• A store attached to production or a service: a bakery, a workshop. UNF at the office and Retail in the store. 1C Company describes exactly this scheme: UNF is the management system, Retail is the store program, and exchange between them is two-way.

Which 1C to choose for small-scale production

Accounting already calculates product cost. During the month, output is recorded at planned cost, and the actual cost is calculated at the end of the month. Semi-finished products, overhead allocation and processing of customer-supplied raw materials are supported. This is enough for a workshop with a simple product range.

UNF adds operational management: production orders, specifications, material requirements calculation, piecework orders for workers, a production cost report. The UNF and Accounting combination suits make-to-order production that wants to see deadlines and workload.

When processes are multi-stage, a production plan for months ahead is needed, and reconciling two databases takes time, the next step is 1C:Integrated Automation 8 for Kazakhstan for 630 000 ₸. It combines operational management and statutory accounting in one infobase.

Basic or PROF: how to decide

According to 1C Company descriptions, the Basic versions of Accounting, UT and Retail share a common set of limitations:

• at any one time, the database is used by one user;
• you cannot keep several organizations in one database, only in separate databases;
• the configuration cannot be changed, only updates can be installed;
• there is no client-server mode and no distributed databases;
• direct exchange with the ESF information system: in Accounting starting with release 3.0.53.2 with a 1C:ITS contract at the TECHNO or PROF level, in other programs check by release.

The advantages of Basic are the price and free updates of the program and reporting forms for registered users.

Situation	Version
One person works in the program, standard accounting	Basic
Two or more users at the same time	PROF
Customization needed: reports, print forms, data processors	PROF
ESF, SNT and EAVR directly from 1C	PROF and a 1C:ITS contract; Accounting Basic: starting with release 3.0.53.2 with a TECHNO or PROF level 1C:ITS contract
Several organizations in one database	PROF
A chain of stores with data exchange	PROF

Starting with Basic is not a dead end: 1C Company provides for moving to PROF when tasks appear that Basic cannot handle. When to move and what to consider is covered in the article “1C Basic or PROF”.

When you need a combination of programs

A combination is two or three programs, each in its own database, with data exchange set up between them. Typical combinations and the cost of the programs in the PROF version, if all workstations are on one local network:

Combination	Who it is for	PROF programs
UNF + Accounting	services, contract work, make-to-order production	233 500 ₸
UT + Accounting	wholesale trade with a warehouse	233 500 ₸
Retail + Accounting	one or several stores of one company	194 500 ₸
Retail + UT + Accounting	a chain of stores with a central warehouse or wholesale	330 750 ₸

What is important to know before buying:

1. Each program needs its own main delivery, while client licenses are shared. Their number is based on the people who work in the programs at the same time. The exception is offices and stores without a shared local network: each such site needs a separate main delivery.
2. Exchange is set up during implementation. After updating any of the programs, check that documents are still transferred.
3. A combination has a limit. If employees regularly reconcile data between two databases, and the number of organizations and processes grows, it is time to consider moving to Integrated Automation.

Summary: a checklist for choosing 1C

1. An LLP always needs Accounting. A sole proprietor needs it if they keep accounting records or want 1C to prepare form 910.00 and employee reporting.
2. Services and simple trade: Accounting alone is enough.
3. Orders, projects, make-to-order production: UNF and Accounting.
4. Wholesale with a warehouse, ESF and SNT: UT and Accounting.
5. A store: Retail and Accounting; a chain with a central warehouse: plus UT.
6. One user, no customization: Basic (in Accounting, direct ESF with a 1C:ITS contract at the TECHNO or PROF level). Otherwise: PROF and a 1C:ITS contract.
7. Count licenses by the number of people working at the same time: they are shared by all programs.

If your case does not fit these scenarios, tell us what the company does and how many people will work in 1C. The AC PRO team has worked in Almaty since 2018 and remotely across Kazakhstan: we will help choose the program and version and arrange electronic delivery.