Products

Create the products you buy, stock and cook with, set their stock levels, and keep them up to date.

You do this in the Web admin under Inventory > Products. You need permission to view products. Before you start, create at least one category and check the units of measure: see Getting Started.

The Products list

The list shows each product's Code, Name, Category, UOM (its base unit), Unit Cost, On Hand, Reorder Pt and Status. Type in Search products..., choose a sort order (Name, Code, Category, Created Date, Availability, Unit Cost or Status) and click Apply.

At the end of each row: the eye opens Product Details, the pencil opens Edit Product, and the bin deletes the product after you confirm.

Create a product

Click Add New. The Create Product form has a Simple / Advanced switch at the top right. Simple shows only Basic Information; Advanced adds Stock Information, a description, the Active box and an image. The form remembers which view you used last.

1. Enter the name and choose a category
   Name is required and must not be used by another product. Pick a Category; the + button next to it creates a category without leaving the form.
2. Leave Product Code empty, or type your own
   Empty means a code is generated when you save, with a prefix from the category, for example BEV-00001. Once a category is chosen, Generate fills the box in straight away so you can see the code before saving. A code you type must not be in use.
3. Choose the Product Type and Procurement
   See the table below. The defaults, Raw Material and Buy, suit anything you purchase and use as it is.
4. Choose the Base Unit of Measure
   Required. This is the unit the product's stock is counted in and the unit its cost is quoted in. Use the unit you measure usage in: Gram or Kilogram for ingredients you weigh, Milliliter or Liter for liquids, Piece for items you count. The + button creates a unit on the spot. Changing the base unit later is awkward, so decide it now.
5. Fill in Stock Information if you want (Advanced)
   Switch to Advanced for Unit Cost, reorder and stock levels, Description, Active and a Product Image. All of these can be set later on the edit page.
6. Save
   Save returns to the list. Save and Continue Editing opens the edit page, which is where you add purchase units, suppliers and variants. Save and Create New opens an empty form for the next product.

Product Type and Procurement

Stock Information fields (Advanced)

The Price and Taxable boxes on this form are not saved with the product. Selling prices belong to menu items in Point of Sale: see Menu Management. Enter the purchase cost in Unit Cost, not in Price. On the edit page, if Unit Cost is left empty, whatever is in Price is saved as the unit cost.

What saving creates

• The base unit is added to the product's Units of Measure as Base, Purchase default and Sales default, with a conversion factor of 1.
• A default variant with the same code and name as the product. You only need to think about variants if you add more.
• A stock record for the product in every warehouse of every branch that tracks inventory, starting at zero (or at the Opening Stock quantity in one of them).

Edit a product

Click the pencil on the list, or Edit Product on the details page. Edit Product has five tabs. The Save, Save & Continue Editing and Save & Create New buttons at the bottom save the Details and Stock Settings tabs. Changes on the Units of Measure, Suppliers and Variants tabs are saved as soon as you confirm each dialog.

On the Details tab, Product Code, Name and Category are required, and the code and name must not be used by another product. On Stock Settings, Minimum Stock must not be more than Maximum Stock.

Suppliers tab

The Supplier Configurations table is a record of who sells you the product: Supplier, Variant, Supplier Product Code, Purchase UOM, Agreed Price, Lead Time and Status. It is for reference: purchase orders do not fill in prices or units from it.

1. Click Add Supplier
   The Add Supplier Configuration dialog opens.
2. Choose the Supplier and the Product Variant
   Both are required. The supplier list shows active suppliers whose type is Goods - delivers stock. A product with no extra variants has one entry in the variant list. The same supplier can only be added once per variant.
3. Fill in what you know
   Supplier Product Code, Supplier Product Name, Purchase UOM, Agreed Price, Min Order Qty, Order Multiple, Lead Time (Days), Price Valid From and Price Valid To are all optional. Tick Preferred Supplier for your usual source; it is marked in the table.
4. Click Save Configuration
   Use the pencil on a row to change it (Update Configuration) and the bin to remove it.

Variants tab

A variant is a different version of the same product that you want to stock separately, for example the same cut of chicken from two brands. Stock is tracked per variant. Most products never need one: a product always has a default variant behind the scenes, and that is enough.

On a product with no extra variants the tab shows Enable Product Variants with one button, Enable Variants & Add First Variant. After the first variant, the tab shows the Product Variants table with an Add Variant button. The original default variant stays in the table with the type Default; the ones you add are Custom.

1. Click Add Variant
   The Add Variant dialog opens.
2. Enter the Variant Code and Variant Name
   Both are required. The code must not be used by another variant.
3. Check the Base Unit of Measure
   The unit this variant is stocked in. It starts as the product's unit; leave it unless this variant really is counted differently.
4. Add a Brand and Description if useful, then click Add Variant
   The page reloads with the new variant in the table and a stock record for it in every warehouse.

The pencil on a row opens Edit Variant (code, name, brand, description, Active) and Save Changes. The bin opens Delete Variant; it is only offered for Custom variants, and the deletion cannot be undone. The app does not check whether the variant still has stock before deleting it, so check its stock yourself first.

The Product Details page

Click the eye on the list to open Product Details. It is read-only.

The Actions menu at the top offers Adjust Stock, Create Purchase Order and View All Stock Movements. When the product is low or out of stock, a banner at the top offers to create a purchase order.

Deactivate a product

To take a product out of use without losing its history, open Edit Product, untick Active on the Details tab and click Save. The product stays in the list with an Inactive badge and its stock figures. Tick Active again to bring it back.

Delete a product

Click the bin on the list and then Delete Product in the confirmation. A product can only be deleted while none of its variants has had a stock movement. Once stock has been received, counted, adjusted or sold, you see "Cannot delete product because variant '...' has associated stock movements": deactivate the product instead.

Import and export

There is no file import or export on the Products screen. Products are created one at a time with the form; Save and Create New is the quickest way to enter many in a row.

Troubleshooting

"The specified product name already exists." or "The specified product code already exists."

Another product, possibly an inactive one, has that name or code. Search the list for it. Change the name, or leave the code empty to have one generated.

"Category is required" or "Base Unit of Measure is required"

Both must be chosen before the product can be saved. Use the + buttons next to the fields if the category or unit does not exist yet.

"Minimum stock must be less than or equal to maximum stock"

On the Stock Settings tab, make Maximum Stock at least as large as Minimum Stock, or clear one of them.

"Failed to upload image. Please try again."

The image file could not be saved. Try a smaller image, or paste an image address in Image URL instead.

The Status column shows Unknown

The product has no stock record in any warehouse. Open the product, change nothing, and click Save: a stock record is created for each warehouse.

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