Inventory Management

Track stock levels, manage inventory, and conduct stock counts to ensure you never run out of key ingredients. TypeMenu’s inventory system helps you maintain accurate stock counts and control costs.

Plan Requirement: Inventory management is available on Professional and Enterprise plans (requires the inventory feature).

Accessing Inventory

1. Click Inventory in the main navigation
2. View the inventory dashboard with stock overview

Inventory Dashboard

Quick Stats

The dashboard displays four stat cards:

• Low Stock: Items below their safety stock level
• Out of Stock: Items with zero available quantity
• Stock Value (Cost): Total inventory value at cost price
• Stock Value (Retail): Total inventory value at selling price

Inventory Table

The dashboard shows a summary table of your inventory items (up to 10) with these columns:

Column	Description
Product/Variant	Product name and variant name
SKU	Stock keeping unit code (from preferred supplier if linked)
Type	Variant type (Finished Good, Raw Material, Packaging, etc.)
Category	Product category
Supplier	Primary supplier name (preferred supplier shown first)
Location	Which location holds the stock
Available	Quantity on hand, colour-coded by stock level
Committed	Reserved for pending orders
Incoming	Expected from purchase orders

Available quantities are colour-coded: green for healthy levels, amber for low stock (5 or fewer), and red for out of stock (zero).

Dashboard Actions

Two action buttons appear in the page header:

• Manage Items — navigate to the full inventory items list
• Stock Counts — navigate to stock count management

Stock Quantities Explained

Quantity	What It Means
Available	Stock on hand, ready to sell
Committed	Reserved for pending orders
Incoming	Expected from supplier purchase orders

Stock valuation uses net stock: Available minus Committed minus Reserved.

Stock Counts

Stock counts (stocktakes) verify that actual physical inventory matches system records.

Stock Count Statuses

Status	Description
Draft	Created but not yet started
In Progress	Count is being conducted
Completed	All items counted, ready for review
Posted	Variances applied to inventory levels
Cancelled	Count was cancelled

Creating a Stock Count

1. Go to Inventory > Stock Counts
2. Click New Stock Count
3. Choose a scope type:
   • Full — count all inventory items
   • By Supplier — count items from a specific supplier
   • By Category — count items in a specific category
4. Optionally select a location (for multi-location businesses)
5. Save as Draft or start immediately

Conducting the Count

For each item in the count:

1. Physically count the item
2. Enter the counted quantity
3. The system calculates the variance automatically
4. Continue to the next item

Completing and Posting

1. Complete the count — marks all items as counted
2. Review variances — investigate significant discrepancies
3. Post the stock count — applies adjustments to inventory levels (requires post stock counts permission)

Posting is a separate step from completing. This allows review before changes take effect.

Inventory and Products

Enabling Inventory Tracking

When creating or editing a product:

1. Enable Track Inventory on the product
2. Stock levels are then tracked per variant per location

Stock and Orders

• Orders commit stock when placed
• Stock is deducted when orders are completed
• Stock is returned if orders are cancelled

Out of Stock Behaviour

When stock reaches zero, products can be automatically disabled on the storefront (configurable in Settings > Purchasing).

Location-Based Inventory

For multi-location businesses:

• Stock is tracked per location
• Each location has its own quantity levels
• Stock counts can be scoped to a specific location

Supplier Integration

Link inventory items to suppliers for:

• Tracking supplier pricing and cost
• Creating purchase orders
• Receiving stock via purchase receipts

See Suppliers and Purchasing for details.

Stock Valuation

The dashboard shows two valuation figures:

• Stock Value at Cost: What you paid for your current stock
• Stock Value at Retail: What your current stock would sell for

Both are calculated using net available stock (available minus committed minus reserved).

Permissions

Access to inventory requires granular permissions:

Permission	What It Allows
View Inventory Items	See inventory items and stock levels
View Inventory Levels	See quantity details per location
View Stock Ledger	See stock movement history
Create Stock Counts	Start new stock counts
Edit Stock Counts	Modify draft stock counts
Complete Stock Counts	Mark counts as completed
Post Stock Counts	Apply count variances to inventory
Cancel Stock Counts	Cancel in-progress counts

Troubleshooting

Stock Doesn’t Match Physical Count

• Conduct a stock count to identify and correct variances
• Review the stock ledger for unexpected movements

Product Shows Out of Stock Incorrectly

• Verify inventory tracking is enabled on the product
• Check stock quantity for the specific variant and location

Stock Not Deducting on Orders

• Confirm inventory tracking is enabled on the product variant
• Ensure the order was fully processed (not still pending)

Related Guides

• Products — Product setup including inventory tracking
• Suppliers — Supplier management
• Purchasing — Purchase orders and receipts
• Locations — Multi-location management