Items (Commodities) — User Guide
Module: Warehouse
Audience: Warehouse staff, inventory controllers, procurement
Version: 1.0.0
Last updated: 2026-07-22
Overview
Items (also called commodities) are your organization's product and material master records. Every stock movement — receiving, shipping, transferring, or adjusting — references an item defined here. Set up items before using stock import, stock export, or other warehouse transactions.
Prerequisites
- Permission: Items → View (to open the list). Create, Edit, or Delete as needed for your role.
- Setup (recommended before adding items):
- At least one warehouse (Warehouse → Warehouses)
- Units, commodity groups, and other lookups under Warehouse → Settings (commodity type, groups, sub-groups, colors, etc.)
- Optional: Purchase module for vendor-linked item images; serial-number tracking when enabled in Warehouse → Settings.
Step-by-step: Add a new item
- Go to Warehouse → Items.
- Click Add.
- Complete the form:
- Commodity code (required, must be unique)
- Name / description, unit, group, taxes
- Selling price (
rate) and purchase price as applicable - SKU (auto-generated if left blank, using your SKU prefix from settings)
- Barcode (auto-generated on new items)
- Flags: Can be sold, Can be purchased, Can be inventory, Can be manufacturing
- Optional: images (drag-and-drop), tags, custom fields, variant attributes
- Click Save.
Expected result: The item appears in the list and opens on its detail page. A minimum-stock record is created automatically. If you defined variant attributes (e.g., Size: S, M, L), child variant items may be generated.
Step-by-step: Edit an item
- Open Warehouse → Items.
- Click the item row or use the edit action.
- Update fields in the modal and Save.
Note: Some fields (e.g., variant structure) may be limited after variants are created.
Step-by-step: View item detail
- From the Items list, open an item by name or code.
- Review general information, images, tags, stock by warehouse, and variant sub-items (if any).
Step-by-step: Import items from Excel
- Go to Warehouse → Items.
- Click Import items.
- Download the template (if shown), fill in rows, and upload the file.
- Review the import summary; download the error file if any rows failed.
Expected result: Valid rows create or update items in bulk.
Step-by-step: Import opening stock
Use this when items already exist but you need to set initial on-hand quantities per warehouse.
- Go to Warehouse → Items.
- Click Import opening stock.
- Upload the spreadsheet with commodity code, warehouse code, and quantity columns.
- Confirm the import report.
Expected result: Inventory balances are initialized for the listed item/warehouse combinations.
Step-by-step: Bulk actions
- On the Items list, select one or more rows.
- Open Bulk actions.
- Choose an action:
- Mass delete — removes selected items (blocked if variants depend on them)
- Clone items — duplicates selected items with new codes/barcodes
- Change item selling price or purchase price — apply a percentage adjustment
- Confirm.
Field reference
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Commodity code | Yes | Unique identifier; used across warehouse documents |
| Description / name | Yes | Display name on lists and documents |
| Unit | Yes | Unit of measure (from Settings → Units) |
| Group / sub-group | Recommended | Classification for reporting and SKU rules |
| SKU code / name | No | Stock-keeping unit; auto-generated if blank |
| Barcode | No | Auto-generated on create; used for scanning filters |
| Rate (selling price) | No | Default sale price |
| Purchase price | No | Default cost |
| Tax 1 / Tax 2 | No | Linked tax rates |
| Warehouse | No | Default or primary warehouse association |
| Minimum / maximum stock | No | Alert thresholds (shown in list filters) |
| Without checking warehouse | No | When checked, stock movements do not update on-hand qty for this item |
| Can be sold / purchased / inventory / manufacturing | No | Controls where the item appears in other modules |
| Variants (attributes) | No | Defines auto-generated child SKUs (e.g., color × size) |
| Tags | No | Free-form labels for filtering |
| Images | No | Product photos attached to the item record |
Common issues
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Cannot open Items | Missing View permission | Request Warehouse → Items → View |
| Cannot save new item | Missing Create permission or duplicate commodity code | Request Create; choose a unique code |
| Item missing from stock receipt/delivery picker | Can be inventory unchecked or item inactive |
Edit item; enable inventory flag |
| Stock not updating after receipt/delivery | "Without checking warehouse" enabled | Uncheck if item should track inventory |
| Cannot delete item | Item is a parent of variants | Delete or reassign variant items first |
| Import row failed | Invalid code, missing unit, or unknown warehouse | Fix row per error file; ensure lookups exist in Settings |
| No serial number menu | Serial tracking disabled | Enable in Warehouse → Settings → Inventory setting |
| SKU looks wrong | SKU prefix or group rules in settings | Review Warehouse → Settings → Inventory / rule sale price |
Related features
- Stock import (goods receipt) — inbound stock against items
- Stock export (goods delivery) — outbound stock against items
- Warehouse → Warehouses — warehouse master data
- Warehouse → Settings — units, groups, SKU prefix, serial tracking, custom fields