Keep track of stock

Inventory is marked Coming soon. Only Magpie administrators can access it.

Inventory is one stock list for Personal or the selected team. Each item is a kind of thing you keep, such as a 330 ml can of cola or a bag of flour, and its stock is recorded in pools.

Pools

A pool is a place or a purpose stock is kept for: the café, the back store room, the online store. The same item can have stock in several pools, so 30 cans of cola for the café and 30 for the online store are two balances of one item. Moving stock between pools is recorded as a move.

Inventory starts with one pool, Main stock, the first time someone who can record stock opens it. A team admin can rename it like any other pool.

Pools are listed in Settings under Pools, where team admins add them. A pool that still holds stock, has open orders or has Store products linked to it cannot be archived.

Add an item

On Items, choose Add item, then give its name and the unit it is counted in:

• each for things counted one by one, such as cans or boxes;
• a weight, such as g or kg, for things weighed;
• a volume, such as ml or L, for liquids.

Stock is shown in that unit. You can change the unit later to another of the same kind, such as from grams to kilograms. You cannot change an item from counted to weighed once stock or pack sizes are recorded; add a new item instead.

On the item's page, set its category, SKU, barcode and tags. A category groups items for browsing and counting; tags are free labels, and an item can have several. Type a tag and press Enter or a comma to add it; each change to the tags is saved at once. Add Pack sizes such as Case holding 24 each, so stock can be typed in cases.

Record stock

On an item's page:

• Record opening stock sets what is in a pool when you start using Inventory. Optionally enter what it cost, which sets the item's average cost.
• Add or remove stock changes a pool's stock with a reason: a correction, stock found, a sample or tasting, staff use, or another reason with a note.
• Waste records stock that was lost, with a reason such as expired, spoiled, damaged, dropped, or lost or stolen. History lists it as Wasted. Waste logged in Daily Operations is recorded the same way.
• Move to another pool takes stock from one pool and adds it to another.
• Hold back or release keeps stock in its pool but stops it counting as usable, for a suspect delivery or a recall. Held-back stock is listed on the item.

Deliveries from suppliers are recorded with Receive a delivery; see Order from suppliers and receive deliveries. A full count is recorded under Counts; see Count stock.

Unless a team admin turns on Allow stock below zero in Settings, a change that would take more than a pool holds is refused, and the message says how much is there.

Lots and expiry dates

Turn on Lots or batches for an item to record a lot code with each delivery, and Expiry dates to record when each delivery expires. The item's page lists each lot in each pool with its expiry date.

Running low

Set a Minimum and an Order-up-to level for an item in each pool on the item's page. Running low on Items lists every item below its minimum in a pool, counting what is already on order, with an order that brings it up to its order-up-to level from its usual supplier. Tick the items and choose Draft orders; see Order from suppliers and receive deliveries.

History and reversing a change

History lists every stock change, newest first, with who made it, a page at a time. Open a change to see each line. A team admin can Reverse a change once: the reversal records the opposite of every line, and both stay in the history. Changes are never edited.

Costs, value and export

An item's average cost comes from deliveries and opening stock entered with a cost. The item's page shows what its usable stock is worth at that cost. Download stock (CSV) on Items lists every item in every pool with its quantity and value.

Costs, prices, order totals and values are shown to people who can change Inventory. Members of a team whose members can only view do not see them, in Inventory or in the CSV.

Who can do what

Team admins can do everything, including settings, pools, categories and approvals. Other members can record stock and orders when the team's members can edit, and can only read Inventory, without costs, when they can view.

For questions about stock records, contact Contact support.