Inventory overview
What the Inventory module does, who uses it, the key terms in plain words and how it connects to Sales, Purchase, Finance and Manufacturing.
What Inventory is for
Inventory keeps track of what you own, where it is and what it is worth. Every movement of goods (a receipt from a supplier, a delivery to a customer, a move between shelves, a count correction) is recorded once, with its quantity and its value in AED. The same record feeds the general ledger, so the stock figure in Finance and the stock figure in the warehouse agree.
You use Inventory if you receive goods, store them, pick and ship them, count them, or answer for their value.
Who uses it
| Role | Typical work |
|---|---|
| Storekeeper | Receives goods, moves stock, validates deliveries, works tasks and the scanner. |
| Warehouse supervisor | Waves, allocation, cycle counts, holds, cross-docking. |
| Inventory planner or buyer | Available to promise, replenishment, soft reservations. |
| Stock controller or accountant | Landed costs, revaluations, stock periods, valuation and ledger checks. |
| Administrator | Warehouses, locations, putaway rules, stock policy, feature switches. |
Key ideas
- Warehouse and location. A warehouse is a building. Each one gets a Stock, Input and Output location. Under Stock you create bins and shelves. Stock is always held in a location.
- Transfer. The common name for a receipt, a delivery or an internal transfer. A transfer goes from Draft to Ready (stock reserved) to Done (stock moved). A done transfer cannot be edited or cancelled; you use a return or an adjustment instead.
- Reserved and available. Reserved stock is promised to a ready transfer. Available stock is on hand less reserved. Stock in a held status (quarantine, damaged, recalled) is never available.
- Lots and serial numbers. A lot is a batch with an optional expiry date. A serial number identifies one unit. Products that track them cannot be moved without naming the lot or serial.
- Valuation. Stock is valued from valuation layers, by default at a moving average cost. Receipts set the cost, deliveries leave at the running average, and the difference between what the books say and what the shelves say is reconciled in the ledger check.
- Two-person rules. Several actions need a second person: approving a stock adjustment above the company threshold, approving a cycle count, approving a revaluation, signing off a cutover check with differences. Nobody approves their own work.
- Stock period. Each month can be open, soft-closed or hard-closed for stock postings. A hard-closed month accepts nothing, even from an administrator.
How Inventory connects to other modules
- Sales. A confirmed sales order raises a draft delivery from the company default warehouse. Validating the delivery posts the cost of goods sold.
- Purchase. A confirmed purchase order raises a receipt. Validating it updates on-hand quantity, cost and the order's received quantity. A replenishment proposal can raise a draft purchase order.
- Finance. Receipts, deliveries, adjustments, landed costs and revaluations each create journal entries on the inventory account. The Inventory to ledger report shows where the two sides differ.
- Manufacturing. Replenishment can hand a demand to Manufacturing, and lots and serials show what a product was made from.
- Master data. Products, units and categories are shared with the catalogue. Inventory adds stock figures to them.
- Documents. Files attached to stock records appear in the Documents library.
Where to go next
Start with Set up Inventory before the first movement. For daily work, see Receive goods from a supplier and Deliver goods to a customer.