Inventory

Overview

This topic describes how to set up Inventory Locations and link Items to Inventory.

Locations

The first step in managing your inventory is to define the Locations in which inventory will be kept. These might include Warehouses, Production Areas, Retail Outlets as well as consignment stock kept on Customer or Supplier premises.

The Settings tab displays all the Roles, Transactions and Items that can access the Location. If these settings are blank, the Location can be used by any User, Transaction and Item. 

The Customer and Supplier fields are hidden by default.

The Linked Items are displayed to the right of the Settings - double-click to open the Item.

Location Status

A Status description is appended to the Location lookups in Transactions. The Status list includes: (Note: when an inactive Location is selected, it is set back to Active on the linked Item)

• New - the Location has not yet been added to the Item

• Active - the location has been linked to the Item and is in an Active status

• Inactive - the location has been linked to the Item and is in an Inactive status

Settings 

Navigation - Use the Menu Manager to create a Menu item - Type = Fixed; Module = Inventory Locations

User Setting - Setups > Items & Inventory - Access Allowed - Administrator access is required. This is the same setting used to allow access to the Items module .

Roles - Default - Inventory Location (Set by Transaction) - Select from a Location Group or from a Location that is not linked to a Group.

Settings are used to control which Roles, Transactions and Items can access the Locations. Click the Edit button above each list to Edit the List.

Groups

Groups can optionally be created when a large number of Locations have the same Settings - eg. Customer locations.  When a Location is linked to a Group, its settings are derived from the linked Group. Select Menu > Edit Groups to add and edit the Groups.

Customer and Supplier Locations

Inventory is sometimes held in a Customer or a Supplier location. You can create a Customer/Supplier Location from the Customer/Supplier module - Menu > Add Inventory Location. You will be prompted to select a Group (If any exist) and create the Location. 

If the Customer/Supplier is already linked to a Location, this menu item will be disabled.

If you don't have access rights to the Inventory module, the menu item will be hidden.

Items

Items can be linked to Inventory by checking the Inventory checkbox on the Item edit form. Locations can be explicitly added to an Item, or they can automatically be added when the Item is linked to a valid Location on an Inventory Transaction. 

When a Location is created, the following happens:

• An Inventory Location record is inserted and linked to the selected Item.

• A Stock Check record is created and linked to the new Location. The Stock Check is dated for the previous day - the date can be updated on the Stock Check module, in case transactions need to be backdated.

Transactions

The following rules are applied  when selecting a Location on a Transaction Item:

The Location has to be allowed for the User (Role), Transaction Type and Item (Category) which are linked to the Location. 

In a Customer Transaction, the Location must be linked to the Transaction Customer or not linked to a Customer. The same applies to Supplier Transactions.

If the Location exists, but it is inactive, it will be activated again. If the Location is not linked to the Item, it will automatically be added.

Note: When a new Location is automatically added, the Stock Unit Price is set according to the following rules:

• Select the first price from another location linked to the item

• Select the first Cost price linked to the Item with a matching Unit  - If foreign currency, the price is converted to local currency.

• Select the first Supplier Price linked to the Item

Settings

Role Settings > Inventory > Default: View Inventory from all Locations (Default = Yes) - This setting can be used to restrict users to only view Inventory from their own location (Linked to their Entity) in the Transactions > View  (Button above Items Grid) > Inventory section as well as in Inventory (module) > Default View and the Items Panel