Setting Up the System for Mobile Phone Shops: Tracking Devices by Serial Number (IMEI)

This guide explains setting up the system for a mobile phone and accessories shop: tracking each device by serial number (IMEI) from the moment it is bought until it is sold or returned, with colors and capacities, printing the barcode, selling from the point of sale, and selling in installments.

What Will You Need to Enable?

Feature	Where to Enable It	Mandatory?
Inventory management	Apps Manager	Mandatory
Track Products by Serial Number, Lot Number, or Expiry Date	Inventory & Products Settings (not from the Apps Manager)	Mandatory
Point of sale	Apps Manager	Optional (for quick selling)
Installments management	Apps Manager	Optional (for selling in installments)
Work orders	Apps Manager	Optional (to follow repair devices)

Brief Workflow

1. Enable the apps and tracking → 2. Define the devices with the serial number type → 3. Buy the devices and enter the IMEI → 4. Print the barcode → 5. Sell by choosing the IMEI → 6. Returns and transfers → 7. Search for any device and its history

Step 1: Enable the Apps

From the “Apps Manager”, enable “Inventory Management”, then “Point of Sale” and “Installments Management” if you need them.

Step 2: Enable Serial Number Tracking

From Inventory & Products Settings:

Setting	Options (Default)	What It Does
Track Products by Serial Number, Lot Number, or Expiry Date	On / Off (Off)	Enable it. It cannot be turned off later once tracked products exist.
Negative Inventory	Stop operations when the quantity runs out for all products / Allow only products trackable by quantity / Allow all products	It is recommended to choose Stop operations when the quantity runs out for all products so that a device that doesn’t exist isn’t sold.
Requisitions for Sales Invoices / Requisitions for Purchase Invoices	On / Off	When enabled, the IMEI is entered in the stock requisition instead of the invoice, and it cannot be entered in the point of sale. For shops, it is preferable to leave them off.

Step 3: Define the Devices and Accessories

Devices (by Serial Number)

1. From “Add Product”, enter the device name, the brand, the category, the selling price and purchase price, and the model barcode if there is one.
2. In “Inventory Management”, enable Track Stock and choose the tracking type = Serial Number.
3. Save.

Colors and Capacities

If the model has more than one color or capacity (such as 128 and 256 GB), create it from Item Groups on the products page: add the attributes (color, capacity) and their options, and the system creates a product for each group of options.

Accessories

Cases, chargers, and headphones usually don’t need a serial number: choose the tracking type = Quantity only, and you can enter their opening balance directly.

Step 4: Buy the Devices and Enter the IMEI Numbers

1. Create a purchase invoice (or a manual addition requisition for the opening balance).
2. Add the device and enter the quantity.
3. In the tracking field, scan or type the IMEI number of each device, and press Enter after each number (the barcode reader presses Enter automatically).
4. The number of serial numbers must equal the quantity entered, then save.

Entering a Large Number of Numbers at Once

From the menu next to the Add button on the invoice or requisition page, choose Copy from Spreadsheet, and paste from Excel the columns: item name/code, quantity, unit price, and the tracking data (the numbers separated by commas such as: 356789012345671,356789012345672).

Example

Buying 3 devices of the same model: the quantity is 3, and the IMEI numbers: 356789012345671, 356789012345672, and 356789012345673. After saving, each number appears as an independent piece in stock.

Step 5: Print the Barcode

From the purchase invoice or stock requisition page after saving, click the Print Barcode PDF button; the system prints a label for each serial number. You can customize the label from the Product Label Print Templates using the variable {%tracking_details%} to display the tracking serial number of each piece.

Step 6: Sell from the Invoice

1. Create a sales invoice and choose the client and the device.
2. In the tracking field, the numbers available in the warehouse appear; choose the number or scan it with the barcode reader.
3. Save; the device with this specific number leaves stock.

Step 7: Sell from the Point of Sale

From the POS settings, enable in order: Journal Entry per Invoice, then Enter Product Tracking Data, while keeping stock requisitions for sales invoices turned off. These settings cannot be changed while a session is open.

On the cashier screen: scan the IMEI number directly and the device is added with the same number, or choose the product then specify the number from the window.

Step 8: Selling in Installments

1. Create the sales invoice with the device and its serial number and save it.
2. From the invoice page, click Add Installment Agreement.
3. Enter the installment amount or the number of installments, the payment rate (monthly, for example), and the installments start date.
4. Follow the installments from Installment Agreements, and they must be paid in order.

Example

A device priced at 12,000, the client paid a down payment of 3,000 on the invoice, and the remaining 9,000 is over 9 monthly installments: the installment amount = 1,000, the payment rate = monthly.

Step 9: Returns and Transfer Between Branches

• Return: create a refund invoice from the sales invoice and choose the same serial number, and the device returns to stock.
• Transfer between warehouses: use a manual transfer requisition and choose the numbers of the transferred devices (the direct Transfer Stock button from the product page doesn’t work with tracked products).
• Stocktaking: stocktaking sheets support serial numbers.

Step 10: Search for Any Device and Know Its History

• From the inventory menu, open Product Tracking and search by IMEI number, product, or warehouse, and specify available or unavailable.
• Open the number to see its stock movement: when it was bought and from which supplier, and when it was sold and to which client.
• The tracking list tab on the product page shows its numbers.
• The report Track Products by Serial Number to display the numbers currently in stock by product, warehouse, category, and brand.

Repair Devices (Optional)

The system has no dedicated maintenance system, but you can use work orders: create a work order for each repair device in the client’s name with a description of the fault, and use custom statuses (received, under repair, ready for delivery), then create the repair invoice from inside the work order.

What Is Available and Not Available

Feature	Status
Tracking each device by IMEI number	Available
Entering the numbers with a scanner or pasting from Excel	Available
Colors and capacities for the model	Available (item groups)
A barcode for each serial number	Available
Selling in installments	Available (Installments Management)
The device’s movement history	Available
The device’s warranty and its expiry date	Not available as a feature — it can be added as an additional field or in the invoice notes
Replacing an old device with a new one (Trade-in)	Not available as a feature — record the purchase of the old device with a purchase invoice then sell the new one
A dedicated maintenance system	Not available — use work orders

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why can’t I enter the initial quantity of the device? Products with a serial number are entered with a purchase invoice or a manual addition requisition with their numbers.
• A message appeared saying the serial number already exists. The number is currently in stock (perhaps on another product). Search for it in Product Tracking.
• Why does the cashier refuse to add a device? Because Enter Product Tracking Data isn’t enabled in the point of sale settings, or because stock requisitions for sales invoices are enabled.