How to Create Stock | Latner Software Documentation

Stock is how Latner tracks the parts and consumables you buy, hold and sell, so every filter, hose and fitting has its own number, its own price and a warehouse to sit in.

Overview

A stock number is not one quantity in one place. Latner keeps a single header record for the part itself and a separate row for every warehouse that holds it, which is why the same number can show up more than once on the Stock screen.

Create Stock sets up the header record and the first warehouse row in one step.
Stock Numbers are unique across your whole system, so a number can only be used once.
Group and Sub Group are mandatory, and the Sub Group list is filtered to the Group you pick.
The Avg. Cost and Retail Price you enter are written to both the header and the first warehouse row.
New stock is created with a status of Active and no quantity on hand.
Extra warehouse rows are added for you the first time the part is received or transferred into another warehouse.

Before You Begin

You'll need a few permissions and some configuration in place before the option appears.

Requirement	Where to Find It
Stock permission (Screen)	Security › Configuration › Permission Groups, then Stock › Screen
Create Stock permission (Option)	Security › Configuration › Permission Groups, then Stock › Option
At least one warehouse	Financials › Configuration › Warehouse
A stock group and sub group	Stock › Configuration › Group and Stock › Configuration › Sub Group
A stock type (optional)	Stock › Configuration › Stock Types

The Create Stock permission on the Parts Manager group - it sits under Stock › Option, separately from the Stock screen permission

Group and Sub Group are both required on the form and neither can be created from it, so set them up first. A Sub Group always belongs to a Group, which is what lets Latner narrow the list for you while you type.

Creating the Stock Number

Step 1 - Open the Stock screen

Go to Stock › Stock, then choose Options › Create Stock. The same option is on the Options menu of any existing stock record, so you can add the next part without going back to the list.

The Stock screen lists one row per warehouse, so a part held in two branches appears twice

Step 2 - Enter the stock number and description

The Create Stock form is short on purpose - it captures just enough to open the record, and everything else is filled in afterwards on the stock record itself.

Stock Number - required, and unique across your system. This is what users search on and what prints on the barcode label, so use your parts numbering convention rather than a description.
Description - required. What the part actually is.

The Create Stock form - five of the eight fields are mandatory

Step 3 - Choose the warehouse, group and sub group

All three are required. The warehouse you pick here becomes the part's first warehouse row.

Warehouse - required. Where the part will be held first.
Group - required. The broad category, such as Filters or Hydraulics.
Sub Group - required. Only sub groups belonging to the chosen Group are offered. Change the Group and the Sub Group clears; pick the Sub Group first and Latner fills the Group in for you.

With Hydraulics chosen as the Group, the Sub Group list offers only Hoses - sub groups from other groups are hidden

Step 4 - Add the type and opening prices

These last three fields are optional and can be left blank if you don't know them yet.

Type - the stock type, such as OEM Parts. Useful for reporting and for supplier invoice account coding.
Avg. Cost - what the part costs you.
Retail Price - what you charge for it on work orders, sales orders and rental contracts.

The completed form - Avg. Cost and Retail Price are written to both the header and the first warehouse row

Step 5 - Save

Click Save. Latner creates the stock record and takes you straight to it.

The new stock record, opened on save - status Active, with the costs you entered showing under Financial Details

After Creation

The stock record opens with a status of Active and appears on the Stock screen straight away.
A single warehouse row is created for the warehouse you chose, with Qty Available, Allocated, Backordered, Used and Sold all at zero. Creating a stock number does not put any stock on hand - quantity arrives through a purchase order receipt, a stock transfer or a stock adjustment.
The Avg. Cost and Retail Price you entered are copied onto that warehouse row as well as the header.
Fields the form doesn't ask for - Barcode, Brand, Preferred Supplier, Do Not Stock and Internal Notes - are filled in by clicking straight into the General Details card on the record.
The record's Options menu is where the rest of the setup lives: Add Supplier Pricing, Assign Compatible Model, Assign Compatible Stock, Upload Stock Photo and Update Financial Details.

The Warehouses tab of the new record - one row, created automatically, carrying the cost and price from the form

The header Average Cost is a calculated figure. Once the part starts moving, Latner recalculates it across every warehouse row, so editing it by hand isn't the way to correct a cost. Use Options › Update Financial Details on the stock record, or a stock adjustment, and let the calculation follow the movements.

FAQs

The Create Stock option isn't on the Options menu. Why?

The option only appears for users whose permission group has Create Stock switched on under Stock › Option. Being able to see the Stock screen is a separate permission, so a user can search stock all day and still not be able to add a number.

The Sub Group I want isn't in the list.

The Sub Group list only shows sub groups that belong to the Group you selected. Either the sub group sits under a different group, or it hasn't been created yet - add it under Stock › Configuration › Sub Group. If you're not sure which group it belongs to, clear the Group and pick the Sub Group first; Latner fills the Group in to match.

Can the same part be held in more than one warehouse?

Yes, and you don't have to set it up. The form creates one warehouse row, and Latner adds a row for any other warehouse the first time the part is received or transferred in there. A new row inherits the header's average cost and retail price unless the transaction supplies its own.

Why does the same stock number appear twice on the Stock screen?

Because the screen lists warehouse rows, not header records. A part held in Sydney and Brisbane is two rows with the same Stock Number and different quantities. Open either one and you land on the same stock record.

I entered the wrong Retail Price. How do I fix it?

Use Options › Update Financial Details on the stock record. The Retail Price shown on the Financial Details card is not edited in place, and the Average Cost next to it is calculated from the warehouse rows rather than typed.

Can I delete a stock number I created by mistake?

No - stock numbers are referenced by purchase orders, work orders and invoices, so there's no delete. Retire it with Options › Deactivate Stock Number instead, which takes it out of circulation but keeps its history. Latner blocks the deactivation while any warehouse row still has quantity available, allocated or backordered, so clear or transfer the stock first.

Watch the Demo

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