Master Data · Setup & configuration · 8 min read

Set up units, categories and other masters

Maintain units of measure, product categories, brands, groups, manufacturers, variant attributes, geography and custom fields.

Before you begin

Product masters are under Catalogue > Configuration. Geography is under Contacts > Configuration. Everyone can read them; changes need reference.manage for product masters, and administrator access for geography and custom fields. Today the New record button on product masters shows to company administrators only.

Create a master record

1. Open the list, for example Catalogue > Configuration > Brands.
2. Press New record.
3. Enter the Code: 2 to 30 letters, digits, _ or -. It is stored in capitals and never changes.
4. Enter the Name (up to 160 characters; units 20; variant attributes 40) and the Arabic name.
5. Press Save.

There is no delete. Set Status to Archived. An archived master is no longer offered, but products already using it keep it and still save.

Units of measure

1. Open Units of measure and press New record.
2. Choose the Dimension: count, weight, length, volume, area or time.
3. Enter the Reference ratio: the amount of the dimension's reference unit it equals, up to six decimals and above zero. Kilogram = 1, gram = 0.001.
4. Save.

Name, dimension and ratio freeze once a product uses the unit: 'A unit used by products cannot be redefined. Create a new unit.' An unused unit can still be changed. A dimension should have exactly one reference unit with ratio 1; the UOM and barcode audit report flags two.

Product categories

Categories form a tree. Choose a Parent category (no loops: 'Category hierarchy cannot contain a cycle.'), the Costing method (Average cost, FIFO, Standard cost), Valuation (Automated or Periodic) and the stock valuation, input and output accounts. A change of costing method affects future movements only. The Products smart button opens the category's products.

Variant attributes

A new company starts with Color, Size, Material, Capacity, Pack size and Flavor. Add others, such as Voltage. A name must be unique ignoring case: 'There is already a variant attribute with this name.'

Countries, states and cities

1. Countries: two-letter ISO code (unique), name, Arabic name, three-letter code, dial code, currency, Division name (for example Emirate), GCC member. Wrong codes are refused with 'Use the two-letter ISO country code.' and 'Another country already uses this code.'
2. States & regions: choose the country, then the code (unique within the country) and name.
3. Cities & areas: choose the state, the Type (City or Area within a city) and, for an area, the Within city. An area needs a city of the same state, and a city cannot sit inside another city.

These rows are shared by every company. Any administrator of any single company can change them, so agree who maintains them.

Custom fields

1. Open Contacts > Configuration > Custom fields (also under Catalogue).
2. Press Add custom field.
3. Choose Applies to (Contacts or Products), a lowercase Key starting with a letter (emirates_branch), a Label and a Field type (Text, Decimal or Boolean on screen).
4. Save.

The key and type cannot change later. A key that shadows a protected field, such as tax_id, is refused. A required field must then be filled on every contact or product. There is no edit or archive for a definition on this screen.

What happens next

New masters appear in the pickers of products and contacts immediately. Custom fields appear on the record and as optional list columns.