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Inventory

How stock is tracked per item and warehouse through cost layers, how store orders reserve, ship and return stock, what the dashboard counts, and who can see what.

Inventory tracks what you hold, where, and what it cost. Its parts: Items, Warehouses, Suppliers, Purchase Orders, Reorder, Reports and Settings.

Stock is item × warehouse, built from layers

Every figure belongs to an item in a warehouse. Each receipt creates a cost layer (quantity and unit cost). When stock leaves, layers are consumed in the order set in Settings (FIFO, oldest first, or LIFO, newest first), and the cost of what left is recorded. Every change writes a movement that is never edited; a correction is a new movement.

Store orders

For a store product whose stock source is "Inventory plugin" and that is linked to an item:

  • Order confirmed (paid): stock is reserved in one warehouse, the one with the most available. An order line is never split across warehouses. If nothing can cover it, the line is skipped silently and the order still goes through.
  • Order shipped: the reserved stock is taken from its layers and the cost of goods sold is booked (Cost of sales against Inventory in accounting).
  • Order cancelled: remaining holds are released.
  • Refund with "Return the items to stock": shipped goods go back to the warehouse they left, at their original cost.

Items not linked, or linked but without any stock record yet, are skipped silently.

The dashboard

Customisable KPI cards: Low Stock Items (item and warehouse pairs at or below the reorder point on available stock, plus never-stocked items), Open Purchase Orders, Total Items, Warehouses, Active Suppliers and Stock Value (remaining layer quantity × layer cost). Panels list low stock, recent purchase orders and warehouses.

Warehouse access

A user with no warehouse grants sees every warehouse. Granting a user even one warehouse limits them to the granted ones in warehouse lists, movements, per-item stock, low stock, reorder and most reports. Two exceptions to know: the Items list "Qty On Hand" and an item's total value add up all warehouses, and three reports (PO Performance, Supplier Spend, Order Sourcing Trace) ignore warehouse access. Store orders also reserve and ship regardless of grants.

Who can open it

Permissions: inventory.dashboard.read, inventory.read, inventory.write, inventory.delete, inventory.purchase_orders, inventory.suppliers, inventory.warehouse_access.manage, inventory.settings.read and .write. Administrators have them all. Purchase orders, suppliers and warehouse access also need plans that include them.

WarehousesThe warehouse list and page, transfers between warehouses, who can see which warehouse, and why a warehouse that was ever used cannot be deleted.ItemsItem fields and SKUs, adjusting and transferring stock, how movements and cost are recorded, linking to store products, and why an item with history cannot be deleted.Purchase OrdersDraft, sent, partial, received and cancelled; what sending and receiving do (stock, cost layers, accounting), why lines lock after sending, and what tax and shipping do not do.SuppliersSupplier fields, deactivating instead of deleting, how default suppliers feed reorder drafts, and what total spend counts.ReorderWhat appears on the Reorder page, how draft purchase orders are generated or merged, the automatic mode, and the low-stock alerts.ReportsThe nine reports, what each figure counts, which ones ignore warehouse access, and what the CSV contains.Inventory SettingsCosting strategy, SKU and PO number patterns, default unit and reorder point, the units catalog, low-stock notifications and reorder automation.

How do I…

How do I add an item?Create an item with a SKU, unit, reorder point and default supplier; stock comes in later.How do I link an item to a store product so orders use its stock?Link the item, set the product's stock source to Inventory, and make sure the item has stock somewhere.How do I add a warehouse?Create a warehouse with a name and location, and make it visible to restricted users.How do I adjust stock after a count?Record the difference between the count and the system as an adjustment with a reason.How do I transfer stock between warehouses?Move a quantity from one warehouse to another, keeping its cost.How do I add a supplier?Create a supplier with the email purchase orders need.How do I create and send a purchase order?Draft an order to a supplier, then email it as a PDF.How do I receive a purchase order?Record the goods that arrived, in full or in part, so stock and cost layers are created.How do I generate purchase orders from the Reorder page?Tick the items to restock and create draft purchase orders per supplier and warehouse.How do I limit a user to certain warehouses?Grant a user access to specific warehouses so they see only those.