Products, Services & Inventory

Define the products and services your business sells, organise them into categories, and track stock across your locations.

Overview

The catalogue is the shared list of products and services used across Mployr - on invoices, credit notes and recurring invoices in Accounting (and products on purchase orders), and on quotes and orders in CRM. It lets you:

Maintain a single, consistent list of what you sell
Organise items into a category tree
Track stock levels for stock-tracked products
Manage the locations that hold stock

Everything sits under Catalogue in the sidebar: Products, Services, Add-Ons and Categories, plus an Inventory group holding Stock on Hand, Stock Locations, Receive Stock, Transfers and Stocktake. An admin can switch each part on or off under Admin > Modules - Products, Services, Add-ons and Categories, and Inventory with each of its screens below it. Turning Inventory off hides the whole stock side, including a product's Track stock switch and Inventory tab, and invoices stop moving stock.

Products and Services

Products vs Services

Products are items you sell by the unit. Each is Physical or Digital. Stock levels are kept only for stock-tracked products - see Inventory & Stock below.

Services are non-physical (labour, consulting, subscriptions) - they don't carry stock. Each service has a Billing Type: Hourly Rate, Retainer, Membership or Fixed Project.

A category can be set up for products, services, or both, so you can keep your catalogue organised the way your business actually works.

Adding a Product

Go to Catalogue > Products and click Add Product

Enter the details:

SKU and name - no two products in your business can share a SKU or a barcode

Barcode - scan it, type it, or click Generate

Description, Product Type (Physical or Digital) and unit of measure

Price (excl. GST) and cost price

Category, income account and GST code

Status - Active, Inactive or Discontinued. Only active items are offered when you add lines to invoices, credit notes, quotes and orders

For physical products, the Tracking mode - None (qty only), Batch + expiry or Serial number - so batch or serial details are captured when you receive or count stock

Optional Physical Attributes - weight, dimensions, pack and case quantities, country of origin, and whether it's dangerous goods

Buying and selling - Sold offers it on quotes, orders and invoices, and Purchased offers it on purchase orders, with its own Purchase account and Purchase GST. An item can be sold, purchased or both - one you only buy stays off quotes and invoices

Click Create Product

Changing a Product's Price

Open the product, go to its Pricing tab and click Add Price, then enter the new Price (excluding GST), its Effective Date and a note. A price dated today or earlier becomes the current price straight away. A price dated in the future is recorded but doesn't switch over on that date by itself, so add it on the day it starts. The Price History tab lists every price the product has had, including changes made with Edit Product.

Adding a Service

Go to Catalogue > Services and click Add Service

Choose the Billing Type, then the status, category, income account and GST code

Under Pricing & Variations, enter the code, name and rate - click Add Variation for other versions of the service, each with its own code, name, rate and billing frequency

Add any Terms & Conditions, and set Buying and selling as for a product - a service starts as sold only

Click Create Service

Once an item is in the catalogue, you can select it when building invoices, quotes and orders - its price and tax treatment carry across automatically. Catalogue prices exclude GST, so on an invoice leave GST Inclusive off - on a GST-inclusive invoice the price isn't adjusted and the GST would come out of it. The same catalogue feeds quotes raised against CRM leads.

Renewals and Price Increases

Recurring items can carry renewal and price-increase rules that flow into billing when they're sold on an order:

A Retainer or Membership service has a Renewal & Price Increases section - Renewal (No Renewal, Auto Renewal or Manual Renewal; an auto or manual renewal also needs a Renewal Limit - one-off, ongoing, a fixed number of renewals, or until an end date), and Automatic Price Increases as a percentage or a fixed amount, with its Increase Timing (for example each calendar year on 1 January, each financial year on 1 July, on the anniversary of the start date, or on renewal)

A product has a Reorder & Price Increases section with the same kind of defaults - a default contract term, a price increase and when it applies, and its renewal behaviour

When an order is activated, its billing schedule takes the price increase set on the order line, or the catalogue item's if the line doesn't set one. The order's Billing card then shows each schedule's increase and when it next rises - see the CRM guide.

Inventory & Stock

For stock-tracked products, Mployr keeps a running quantity at each location so you always know what's on hand. Every receipt, transfer, stocktake and adjustment is recorded as a stock movement - quantities are never edited directly.

Stock is kept only for products marked as stock-tracked. Switch Track stock on when you add or edit a physical product; items imported from Xero with inventory tracking turned on arrive with it on. The CSV import has no column for it, so edit an imported product to switch it on. A product that doesn't track stock has no Inventory tab, scanning it on Receive Stock or a stocktake says it "doesn't track stock", and invoices don't move its stock.

Catalogue > Inventory > Stock on Hand lists every stock-tracked product at one location - pick the Location at the top - with On Hand, Reserved, Available, Reorder Point, Reorder Qty and Status. Search, or use Any Stock to show only items in stock, low or out

The product's Inventory tab shows its Stock Levels at each location and its Recent Movements. Adjust Stock records a receipt, an adjustment, a write-off (damaged or lost) or a stocktake correction, and Transfer moves stock to another location

The Products list can show Stock, Available and Stock Value (on hand at cost price) columns - turn them on with the column picker - and the Any Stock filter narrows it to items that are in stock, low or out of stock

The product's Activity tab lists its stock movements and price changes together, newest first

Reorder Points

Set a reorder point to see when stock is running low:

On the product's Inventory tab, click Reorder levels on a location's row - or use Reorder levels on the product's row in Stock on Hand

Enter the Reorder point and, if you like, the Reorder quantity you'd normally order

Click Save

An item shows as Low stock once what's on hand drops to its reorder point or below, and Out of stock at zero. Reorder levels are set per location.

Receiving Stock

Go to Catalogue > Inventory > Receive Stock and click Receive Stock (or click Receive on the Products list)

Choose the Location (the picker appears when you have more than one), the Received on date, and add a Reference if you like - a delivery docket or supplier invoice

Scan or type each item's barcode into Scan or type a barcode and click Add - scanning the same item again adds one more, while a batch- or serial-tracked item gets a new row for each scan so you can record its batch or serial number. For an item without a barcode, click Find product

Check the quantities and unit costs (ex GST), and enter batch, expiry or serial numbers where the product needs them

Click Save Receipt

Each delivery is saved as a numbered receipt (GRN-...) on the Receive Stock list, where you can search and filter by location. A saved receipt can't be edited - correct a mistake with Adjust Stock on the product's Inventory tab.

If your business uses purchase orders in Accounting, choose From purchase order instead of Scan items, pick the order, and enter what arrived against each line - the form shows what's still outstanding and warns if you receive more than was ordered. The purchase order then shows as partly or fully received.

Receiving needs at least one active location - add one under Catalogue > Inventory > Stock Locations first.

Transferring Stock

To move stock from one location to another:

Go to Catalogue > Inventory > Transfers and click Transfer Stock (or click Transfer on a product's Inventory tab)

Choose From and To, the Transferred on date and an optional Reference

Click Add product for each item and enter the quantity, plus batch, expiry or serial details where the product needs them

Click Transfer Stock

A transfer needs two active locations, and is refused if the source doesn't hold enough. Like a receipt, it's saved as a numbered record (TRF-...) and can't be edited.

Stocktakes

A stocktake is a count sheet for one location, with a review step before stock changes:

Go to Catalogue > Inventory > Stocktake and click New Stocktake

Choose the Location and which Products to count - Everything that tracks stock, or one category

Turn on Blind count if counters shouldn't see what each product is expected to be - the reviewer sees the differences once it's submitted

Click Start Stocktake. What each product should be is taken at this moment, so sales can carry on while you count

Scan each item into Scan or type a barcode (each scan counts one), or type the counts into the sheet. Add product adds something found on the shelf that isn't on the sheet, and Print sheet prints it for counting on paper

Click Save counts as you go, then Submit for review

The reviewer checks the variances, then clicks Post to stock - or Send back for a recount

Only the differences are posted, added to what the location holds at that moment, so sales made since the count started are kept. A product left uncounted stays as it is. Each location can have only one open stocktake at a time, and Cancel closes one without changing stock.

Counting and submitting need the stocktake permission; sending a stocktake back and posting it need permission to adjust stock, so counting and approving can be given to different people.

Stock and Invoices

An admin can turn on Sync stock from invoices and credit notes under Accounting > Settings, in the Invoice Defaults section. Once it's on, an invoice line for a stock-tracked product reserves the stock while the invoice is a draft and takes it out of stock when the invoice is sent. Cancelling the invoice, or approving a credit note for the item, puts the stock back. Leave it off until your catalogue quantities match what's actually on the shelf.

When you add a stock-tracked product to an invoice, the line shows how many are on hand and warns when you're invoicing more than you hold. Lines take their stock from your default location.

Locations

Managing Locations

Go to Catalogue > Inventory > Stock Locations

Click Add Location

Enter the location's name, and optionally a short Code, its Type (Warehouse, Store, Van or Virtual), a description and a display order

Turn on Default location if new stock movements should land there - one per business - and leave Active on

Click Create

Locations represent the places that hold stock - a warehouse, a shop front, a service van, or a virtual location. Stock levels, receipts, transfers and stocktakes are all recorded per location. An inactive location drops out of the stock pickers but keeps its history, and the last active location can't be deleted.

These stock locations are separate from your business locations under Business > Locations, which the asset register uses.

Suppliers

Record who you buy a product or service from, and what they charge, on its Suppliers tab:

Open the product or service and go to Suppliers

Click Add rate and pick the supplier - a company set up as a Supplier under Contacts > Companies (a contractor with an ABN has one too). For a service with variations, choose the Variation they price

Enter the Rate and what it's Per, and optionally Their code, Lead time (days), Minimum order and Notes

Tick Preferred supplier for this for the one you use most - one supplier at a time

Click Add rate

Several suppliers can price the same item. Change rate saves a new rate and keeps the old one - Rate history on the row shows every rate they've charged and when it changed - and Remove rate stops using them for it. Adding a rate switches Purchased on for the item.

A supplier's own company page has a Products & services card listing everything they supply, with the same buttons. When you raise a purchase order in Accounting, picking the supplier and the item fills in that supplier's rate, unit and code. If they have no rate for it, the price is left blank for you to enter - another supplier's price is never used.

Labels and Barcodes

A product's barcode is what Receive Stock and Stocktake look up when you scan. To print shelf labels, click Print Label on a product (or select several on the Products list and choose Print Labels - each product's label opens in its own tab), set the number of Copies, and click Print. Each label shows the product name, SKU, price including GST, its barcode and a QR code.

Add-Ons

Use Catalogue > Add-Ons for optional extras that go with what you sell - an extended warranty, for example. Click New Add-On, give it a name, price and Price Type (Fixed Amount, Percentage, Hourly Rate or Per Unit), and tick the products and services it goes with under Link to Products and Link to Services.

Importing and Exporting

To bring in an existing list, click Import CSV on the Products, Services or Add-Ons list. Click Download Template for the columns, upload your file, map its columns, check the preview, then import. A row whose SKU (or service code) is already in the catalogue is skipped rather than duplicated. Export CSV on the Products list downloads the products matching your search and your status, type and category filters.

Archiving Items

When you stop selling something, Archive it from the row menu on the Products or Services list. It drops out of the lists and the line-item pickers, while every past quote, order and invoice that used it stays intact. Use the archive button in the filter bar to see archived items, and Unarchive one to bring it back.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use catalogue items on a quote?

Yes - quotes in CRM are built from the same catalogue as invoices, so the price and tax treatment carry across, and a quote that converts to an order keeps them.

Why can't I track stock on a service?

Stock only applies to products. If an item needs a quantity, it should be set up as a product rather than a service - and stock is only kept for stock-tracked products (see Inventory & Stock).

Where does a price increase on an order come from?

From the order line if one is set there, otherwise from the catalogue item - a service's Automatic Price Increases or a product's Reorder & Price Increases. The order's Billing card shows each schedule's increase and when it next applies.

Tips

Set up your category tree first, then add items into it - it's quicker than re-organising later

Mark items as product vs service correctly so inventory only applies where it should

Keep prices and tax treatment current so invoices and orders are accurate
Use locations to separate stock across multiple sites
Give stocked products a barcode so receiving and stocktakes are a scan away
Archive items you no longer sell rather than deleting them
Use clear, consistent naming so anyone raising an invoice can find the right item fast

In this guide