Keep track of products and stock, and know when to reorder

Inventory is where you keep the list of products your business uses or sells, and how much of each one you have at each location. Each product is called a SKU: one line in your catalog with a name, a unit (for example "each" or a bottle), a cost, a price and an optional barcode. Quantities can be fractions, so half a bottle is fine.

On the Stock tab you see, for the location you pick, how many of each SKU you have (On hand), how many weeks that should last (Weeks of cover), the Cost and Retail price, and the value of everything on the shelf (Location on-hand value). Inventory is part of every Zelun plan and is not an add-on.

Some products are for selling and some are only used behind the scenes, such as colour or disposable supplies. You decide per SKU with Sell this on the register. A product that is not marked that way never appears as a retail item at checkout and cannot be sold there, but it still counts in your stock, low-stock warnings and orders.

Three tabs live on the same screen: Stock, Receiving and Register. Receiving is explained in the article on suppliers and purchase orders. The Register tab holds the cash drawer, the location's sales tax and the loyalty settings, and it is covered in the article on checkout and the cash drawer, so this article does not repeat it.

1. Check that you can open Inventory. The Inventory item is in the Setup group of the left menu. If you are sent to a Forbidden page, ask the account owner to do these steps for you. Products you add there are available in the checkout of every location.
2. Know your products' cost and price, and decide a low-stock number for each, which is the quantity at which you want to be warned.
3. Pick the right location. Quantities on hand are kept per location. Use the Location selector at the top of the screen before you read or change anything.

Add a product

1. Open Inventory, stay on the Stock tab and press Add SKU.
2. Fill in Name and Unit. Type Cost and Price as plain amounts in your currency. The screen shows the margin as you type.
3. Optionally type the Barcode.
4. In Low-stock qty, type the quantity at or below which you want a warning.
5. Leave Sell this on the register checked if you sell this product to Clients. Clear it for supplies you only use.
6. Press Add SKU again to save. Use Close if you change your mind.

A new product starts with nothing on hand. Stock goes up when you receive an order from a supplier, or when you import quantities.

Load many products at once

1. On the Stock tab, find CSV import. The box already contains a header line with the columns: name, barcode, unit, quantity, cost, price and low-stock quantity. Cost and price are written in cents in this box.
2. Add one line per product under the header.
3. Choose the right Location at the top, because the quantities you import are placed on hand at that location.
4. Press Import CSV. Products are created or updated for the whole company.

Watch for low stock

1. A row turns highlighted when its On hand quantity is at or below its Low-stock qty.
2. When at least one product is that low, a banner at the top says how many are at or below their reorder point, and, when Zelun has enough history, the first date one of them is expected to run out.
3. Press Draft purchase order in the banner. It takes you to the Receiving tab with the low products already listed.
4. Under Weeks of cover, a product with too little history shows Not enough history instead of a number. Zelun works the estimate from how fast the product actually goes down on your trading days, so it needs some movement before it can guess.

What lowers and raises stock

• Checking out an appointment with a retail product lowers that product's stock by the quantity sold. See the checkout article.
• Receiving a purchase order is the action on this screen that raises stock.

Clients do not see your inventory. What they notice is indirect: you can offer the products you sell at checkout, and the receipt shows what they bought. Products you marked as not sellable never appear for them.

• Not seeing the Inventory menu item. It depends on the account. Ask whoever manages your Zelun account.
• Reading the wrong location. Quantities are per location, so check the Location selector.
• Typing the CSV cost and price as whole currency units. In the import box they are in cents.
• Expecting the low-stock warning without a low-stock number. Set Low-stock qty on each product. A product with no history shows Not enough history for weeks of cover until it has moved.
• Marking supplies as sellable. If you only use a product behind the scenes, clear Sell this on the register so it never shows at checkout.

Orders to suppliers, the cash drawer and the checkout are explained in their own articles.