Configuring and Setting Up Inventory and Product Settings

The inventory and product settings control how products and stock work in the system: advanced pricing, multiple units, the secondary language, bundle products, product tracking, negative stock, stocktaking, stock requisitions, the default warehouse, price list and taxes, the returns cost calculation method, and the barcode. This guide explains each setting, its options, its default value, and its effect on the system.

Before You Start

• You need the permission to edit general settings.
• Open Inventory & Products Settings. If the inventory app isn’t enabled, the title “Services & Products Settings” appears and the inventory settings are hidden.

Page Cards

Card	What It Opens
Product Settings	The product settings page, which holds the main settings explained below.
Categories	Product and service categories.
Brands	Product brands.
Unit Templates	Unit templates: the base unit, the selling and purchasing units, and the conversion factors.
Default Warehouses for Employees	Default warehouses for employees: a default warehouse for each employee.
Barcode Settings	Barcode settings (explained below).
Additional Fields	Custom fields for the product.
Print Templates	Print templates for products and labels.

 Product Settings

Open Product Settings. The page is divided into five sections. After editing, click Save.

1. Product Configuration

Setting	Options (Default)	What It Does
Next Product Serial Number	Display only	The number (code) that will be given to the next product. To change it, click Auto Number Settings.
Advanced Pricing Options	Enabled / Disabled (Enabled)	Adds the minimum selling price, discount, and profit margin fields to the product page, and they are applied in invoices. When the purchase price changes, the selling price is recalculated from the profit margin.
Use Multiple Units per Item	Enabled / Disabled (Disabled)	Allows buying and selling the same item in different units (such as buying by the carton and selling by the piece), and the system converts quantities and prices automatically in invoices, requisitions, and reports. Create the units from Manage Units.
Default Unit	The unit template’s base unit (default) / Selling unit / Purchasing unit	The unit in which the available stock is displayed in reports, stocktaking, and product lists. Appears when multiple units are enabled.
Secondary Language	Enabled / Disabled (Disabled)	Adds a name and description in a second language to the product, and shows them next to the original in documents and print templates. Only the account owner can change it. When turned off, the translations are hidden from new documents and remain saved.
Use the Bundles and Composite Units System	Allowed / Not allowed (Not allowed)	Allows creating a bundle product made up of quantities of other products, and its components are deducted at assembly or at sale.
Default Bundle Type	Pre-assembled (default) / Instant	The type suggested for a new bundle product, and it can be changed for each product. Pre-assembled: the product is assembled before the sale, so its components are deducted when its quantity is added. Instant: the components are deducted automatically at the moment of sale.

Example: multiple units

A unit template: the piece is the base unit, and the carton = 12 pieces. Buying 2 cartons adds 24 pieces to stock, and selling 5 pieces deducts 5. With “Purchasing unit” as the default unit, the balance shows as 1.58 cartons.

2. Product Tracking

Setting	Options (Default)	What It Does
Track Products by Serial Number, Lot Number, or Expiry Date	Enabled / Disabled (Disabled)	Allows choosing a tracking type for each product (serial number, lot number, expiry date, or lot and expiry date). Once any tracked product exists, the setting becomes enabled and locked.
Negative Stock	Stop operations when the quantity runs out for all products (default) / Allow only products trackable by quantity / Allow all products	Stop: prevents sales, purchase returns, issues, and manual adjustment if the quantity isn’t enough. Allow products trackable by quantity: allows negative stock for products with the “Quantity only” type, but not those tracked by number, lot, or date. Allow all: allows it for all products (appears when tracking is enabled).
Allow Negative Stock for Bundled Products	Yes / No (No)	Allows assembling a pre-assembled product even if its components’ quantities aren’t enough. Not available if the default bundle type is Instant.
Show Total and Available Quantity in Stock for Products	Enabled / Disabled (Disabled)	Shows on the product page, lists, reports, and invoices the total quantity in stock, and the available quantity after deducting reserved quantities (such as requisitions under delivery).
Verify Stock By	Total quantity (in stock) (default) / Available quantity (after deducting reserved quantities)	Determines the quantity the system checks before a sale when negative stock is prevented. The available quantity prevents the sale if it exceeds the quantity after deducting the reserved. Appears when the previous setting is enabled.

Example: total and available

There are 10 units in stock, 4 of them in an issue requisition under delivery. The total is 10 and the available is 6. With verification by the available quantity, an invoice for 8 units is rejected.

3. Stocktaking Sheet

Setting	Options (Default)	What It Does
Next Stocktaking Serial Number	Display only	The next stocktaking sheet number.
Calculate the Stocktaking Quantity by Stocktaking Date	Enabled / Disabled (Disabled)	Enabled: the expected quantity in the stocktaking is calculated from the stock movements up to the stocktaking date. Disabled: all movements up to today are calculated regardless of the stocktaking date.

4. Stock Requisitions

Setting	Options (Default)	What It Does
Stock Requests	Yes / No (No)	Allows departments to raise stock requests that turn into requisitions reviewed by the storekeeper. When turned off, their permissions and numbering are hidden. Set the responsible employee’s permissions from the Permissions and Roles page. Turning it off stops the next two requisition settings.
Next Stock Transfer Requisition Serial Number	Display only	The next transfer requisition number.
Stock Requisitions for Sales Invoices	Yes / No (No)	Yes: every sales invoice or return creates a stock requisition under delivery, and the stock doesn’t change until it is approved. No: stock is issued or added directly.
Next Stock Issue Requisition Serial Number	Display only	Appears when requisitions for sales invoices are enabled.
Stock Requisitions for Purchase Invoices	Yes / No (same value as the requisitions for sales invoices)	The same behavior for purchase invoices and their returns.
Next Stock Addition Requisition Serial Number	Display only	Appears when requisitions for purchase invoices are enabled.

While stock requisitions are enabled, the “Stock Quantity” field disappears from the add product screen; add the opening quantity with a stock addition requisition.

5. System Defaults

Setting	Options (Default)	What It Does
Default Sub-Account	An account (the system default)	The offsetting account suggested in manual stock requisitions. By default “Other Credit Balances” when adding and “Other Debit Balances” when issuing.
Default Warehouse	An active warehouse	The warehouse suggested in documents for the branch’s employees. Priority order: the employee’s own warehouse (Default Warehouses for Employees), then this setting, then the main warehouse, then the first warehouse available to the employee. Manage warehouses from Manage Warehouses.
Default Price List	A price list (none)	Its prices are applied in sales invoices for clients who don’t have their own price list. Manage it from Manage Price Lists.
Default Tax 1	A tax (none)	Applied automatically to new products, and it can be edited for each product. Manage it from Manage Taxes.
Default Tax 2	A tax (none)	The second tax for new products. Don’t choose the same tax in both.
Returns Cost Calculation Method	By selling price / By latest average cost	By selling price: the returned quantity goes back at the cost recorded for it in the original sales invoice, and enters the average cost calculation. By latest average cost: it goes back at the current average cost and does not change it.
Nature of Business Sales	Products only / Services only / Products and services (default)	Determines what can be added, and the lists change to “Manage Products” or “Manage Services.” It can be changed later without affecting the existing records.

Barcode Settings

Open Barcode Settings.

Setting	Options (Default)	What It Does
Barcode Type	Code 128 (default) / EAN 13	Code 128: supports numbers, letters, and long codes. EAN 13: 13 digits for retail.
Weight-Embedded Barcode	Enabled / Disabled (Disabled)	The system reads the product’s weight (and the price if present) directly from the scale barcode.
Embedded Barcode Format	Text (XXXXXXXXWWWWWPPPPN)	X is the product code digits, W the weight digits, P the price digits, N additional digits.
Weight Unit Divisor	Number	The weight in the barcode is divided by it to convert it to the selling unit. Example: the barcode is in grams and the sale is in kilograms → 1000.
Currency Divisor	Number	The price in the barcode is divided by it. Example: the price is in piasters → 100.
Scale Barcode Reading Behavior	Merge into the existing line (default) / Add as a separate line	Merge: reading the same product a second time adds its weight to the same line. Separate: each reading is a new line.

Example: scale barcode

With the format XXXXXXXWWWWWN and the barcode 2000123012505: the product code is 2000123, and the weight is 01250 ÷ 1000 = 1.25 kg.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why can’t I turn off product tracking? Because there are products with a tracking type other than “Quantity only”; change their tracking type first.
• Why is an invoice rejected with the message that the quantity is insufficient? Because negative stock is prevented and the quantity isn’t enough (or the available quantity after the reserved isn’t enough).
• Why doesn’t the stock quantity field appear when adding a product? Because stock requisitions are enabled.
• Why doesn’t the bundle product option appear? Because the bundles system isn’t enabled.
• Why can’t an employee change the secondary language? Because only the account owner can do so.
• Why does a different warehouse appear in an employee’s invoices? Because they have their own default warehouse that takes precedence over the branch’s default warehouse.
• Why did the list change to Manage Services? Because the nature of business sales is set to services only.