> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bizaxl.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Inventory Management
> How to manage stock movements, warehouses, and stock counts in your dry fruit business - including transfers, write-offs, reconciliation, and the tools to keep your inventory accurate.
Inventory management covers everything that happens to stock after it arrives in your warehouse and before it leaves as a sale or goes into processing. This includes moving stock between locations, recording wastage, correcting errors, and monitoring stock levels.
***
## Who Uses This Feature
| Role | What They Do |
| ----------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Warehouse Manager** | Creates stock entries for transfers, write-offs, and adjustments |
| **Store Keeper** | Issues raw materials to production, receives finished goods |
| **Procurement Officer** | Monitors reorder levels and raises Material Requests |
| **Finance Manager** | Reviews stock value and reconciliation results |
| **Quality Inspector** | Uses stock information during batch inspection |
***
## Before You Start
To work with inventory you need:
* Items set up in the catalogue with stock maintenance enabled
* Warehouses created for each physical storage location (raw material store, finished goods store, cold storage, etc.)
***
## How Warehouses Are Organised
Your business can have multiple warehouse locations in the system. Common warehouses for a dry fruit business:
| Warehouse | What Is Stored Here |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Raw Material Store** | Unprocessed bulk dry fruits received from suppliers |
| **Processing Area / WIP** | Materials currently in the cleaning, roasting, or packaging process |
| **Finished Goods Store** | Packaged products ready for sale |
| **Cold Storage** | Temperature-sensitive products like dates, figs, and dried apricots |
| **Rejected Goods** | Failed quality inspection batches awaiting return to supplier |
| **Dispatch Area** | Goods packed and ready for customer shipment |
You create and manage warehouses from **Stock workspace → Settings → Warehouse**.
***
## Stock Entries: Recording Physical Movements
A Stock Entry is the record of any physical movement of goods that does not involve a customer (sales) or supplier (purchasing). Use Stock Entries for:
| Purpose | When to Use |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Material Transfer** | Moving stock from one warehouse to another (e.g., from raw material store to processing area) |
| **Material Issue** | Consuming materials for internal use (e.g., samples, packaging materials for administration) |
| **Material Receipt** | Recording goods received without a purchase order (e.g., opening stock) |
| **Manufacture** | Recording the completion of a production run: raw materials consumed, finished goods produced |
| **Repack** | Breaking down a large unit into smaller units (e.g., repacking a 50kg sack into 500g pouches manually) |
| **Send to Subcontractor** | Sending materials to a third-party processor |
### Creating a Stock Entry
1. Go to **Stock workspace → Stock Transactions → Stock Entry**
2. Click **New**
3. Select the **Purpose** from the list above
4. In the **Items** table, add each item being moved:
* For transfers: set both **Source Warehouse** and **Target Warehouse**
* For issues: set only **Source Warehouse**
* For receipts: set only **Target Warehouse**
5. For batch-tracked items, specify the **Batch Number** being moved
6. Enter the quantity
7. Submit
***
## Stock Reconciliation
Even with a well-managed system, physical stock levels can drift from system records over time due to weighing tolerance, moisture loss, counting errors, or unrecorded movements. A Stock Reconciliation corrects the system to match the physical count.
### When to do a stock reconciliation
* Monthly physical count (recommended for all high-value items)
* Quarterly full warehouse count
* After any suspected theft or damage
* When a significant discrepancy is found
### How to run a reconciliation
1. Go to **Stock workspace → Tools → Stock Reconciliation**
2. Select the **Posting Date** (the date the physical count was done) and the **Warehouse**
3. Click **Get Items with Stock** to populate the list with all items in that warehouse
4. For each item, enter the **Quantity as per Physical Count**
5. The system shows the difference between the system quantity and your physical count
6. Review any large differences carefully before submitting
7. Submit - the system creates adjustment entries to correct the balances
***
## The Stock Ledger: Every Movement Explained
The **Stock Ledger** is the complete history of every stock movement for any item. It shows:
* Date and time of each movement
* Document type (Purchase Receipt, Delivery Note, Stock Entry, etc.)
* Quantity moved (positive for incoming, negative for outgoing)
* Batch number involved
* Running balance after each movement
Use the Stock Ledger when you need to investigate a discrepancy, trace a specific batch, or understand why a stock balance is what it is.
**How to access it:**
Go to **Stock workspace → Stock Reports → Stock Ledger**. Filter by item, warehouse, date range, or batch number.
***
## Monitoring Expiry with FEFO
**FEFO (First Expiry First Out)** means the batch that expires first must be sold or used first. This is the standard for food products.
The system enforces FEFO automatically when you create:
* A Pick List from a Sales Order
* A Stock Entry for manufacturing
The system selects the batch with the nearest expiry date and puts it in the transaction first.
You can monitor your near-expiry stock using two reports:
**Batch Item Expiry Status**
Shows all batches for a selected item with their expiry dates and current quantities. Filter by expiry date range to see what expires in the next 30, 60, or 90 days.
Go to: **Stock workspace → Other Reports → Batch Item Expiry Status**
**Stock Ageing**
Shows how long each unit of stock has been sitting in the warehouse, grouped by age range (0-30 days, 30-60 days, 60-90 days, over 90 days).
Go to: **Stock workspace → Stock Reports → Stock Ageing**
***
## Managing Wastage and Shrinkage
Dry fruits naturally lose weight through moisture evaporation. During processing (cleaning, sorting), there is additional loss from rejected material. To record this:
1. Create a **Stock Entry** with Purpose "Material Issue" or "Manufacture" (for processing losses)
2. The wastage is recorded as stock going to a designated Scrap or Waste warehouse
3. The cost is posted to a Wastage expense account
This keeps your stock accurate and gives you visibility into normal vs abnormal wastage levels over time.
***
## Quick Stock Balance Check
For a fast check of how much stock you have without opening a full report, use the **Quick Stock Balance** shortcut in the Stock workspace.
Enter an item code (or scan the barcode) and a warehouse, and the system immediately shows you the current quantity and value for that item.
***
## Landed Cost Voucher
When importing dry fruits, the actual cost of goods is not just the purchase price - it also includes freight, insurance, customs duty, and port charges. The Landed Cost Voucher distributes these extra costs across the received items so your stock valuation reflects the true cost.
See the [Procurement guide](./procurement) for how to create a Landed Cost Voucher.
***
## Field Guide: Stock Entry
| Field | Description |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Purpose** | The type of movement (Transfer, Issue, Receipt, Manufacture, etc.) |
| **Posting Date** | The date the physical movement occurred |
| **Source Warehouse** | Where stock is coming from (for transfer and issue entries) |
| **Target Warehouse** | Where stock is going to (for transfer and receipt entries) |
| **Item Code** | The item being moved |
| **Batch No** | The batch number being moved (required for batch-tracked items) |
| **Qty** | Quantity being moved |
| **Basic Rate** | Cost per unit of the material being moved |
| **Valuation Rate** | The calculated cost per unit after all adjustments |
***
## Best Practices
* Create a warehouse for each physically distinct location. If you have a separate cold store room, set it up as a separate warehouse so stock reports show accurate location-wise balances
* Do a physical count and reconciliation for your top 20 items every month. This catches small errors before they compound
* Never move batch-tracked stock without specifying the batch number in the Stock Entry. Unspecified batches create traceability gaps
* Record wastage and moisture loss in the system regularly, not just when a count reveals a discrepancy. This keeps your stock value accurate throughout the month
* Check the Batch Item Expiry Status report every Monday to identify batches expiring within 30 days so the sales team can prioritise them
***
## Troubleshooting
**Stock balance shows negative.**
A stock entry or sales transaction recorded more outgoing quantity than was available. This happens if entries are posted out of chronological order. Check the Stock Ledger for the item to find the earliest negative entry and correct it.
**The batch number is not showing as an option when creating a Stock Entry.**
The batch may have zero remaining quantity (it was fully consumed) or it may not have been received into the selected source warehouse. Check the Stock Ledger to confirm the batch status.
**Stock Reconciliation shows a large difference for every item.**
The posting date on the reconciliation may be earlier than the last stock transaction. Always use today's date or the date of the physical count.
***
## Related Features
* [Items](./items) - Setting up item batch and expiry tracking
* [Procurement](./procurement) - How stock enters the system from suppliers
* [Manufacturing](./manufacturing) - How raw materials are converted to finished goods
* [Sales](./sales) - How stock leaves the system to customers
* [Reports Overview](./reports-overview) - Stock reports and ageing analysis