"Inventory" is the stock of products you hold to sell. This trail shows how to install the Inventory package, set up your warehouses, load your opening stock, and keep every receipt, count and transfer on record, so a rep can tell a customer what's actually available before promising it.
⏱ ~10 min to complete80 pts available🏅 Badge: Stock Keeper
"Our stock lives in a spreadsheet that's out of date by lunchtime. Reps promise products we don't have, and nobody knows we're running low until a customer complains."
A "warehouse" is any place you keep stock: a store room, a distribution centre, even a delivery van. "On hand" is how many units are physically there. "Reserved" is how many are already promised to customers. "Available" is on hand minus reserved: what you can still sell.
The Inventory package keeps these numbers next to your Products. It also keeps a permanent history of every change, so you can always see who changed stock, when, and why.
What you'll achieve
One trusted stock figure per product and warehouse, a full audit trail of every movement, and an alert before you run out instead of after.
Orders move stock for you
When an order is set to Activated, its products are reserved: still on the shelf, but no longer available to sell. When it's set to Completed, they're taken out of stock. Setting it to Cancelled gives everything back. Orders created before you installed Inventory are left alone.
Buying and tracing stock
Purchase orders record what you've ordered from a supplier. Receiving against one adds the stock, and until then it shows as "on order" so nobody orders it twice. For products that need tracing (food, medicine, electronics), switch on lot or serial number tracking: every unit is then received under a lot (with an expiry date) or its own serial number, and orders ship the lot that expires first.
Inventory is a package, so an organisation that doesn't install it never sees it. Installing it adds an Inventory app with Stock, Purchase Orders, Lots & Serials, Stock Movements, Inventory Reports, Warehouses, Products and Orders tabs, a Stock panel on every Product page, and two permission sets.
Permission set
What it allows
Inventory Viewer
See stock levels, purchase orders, lots, the Stock panel and the movement history
Inventory Manager
Everything above, plus receive, adjust, transfer and import stock, raise and receive purchase orders, choose how products are tracked, and manage warehouses
Open the MarketplaceSetup → Deployment → Marketplace tab.
Install "Inventory & Warehouse"Click Install. The card then shows "Installed".
Give people accessSetup → Permission Sets → open "Inventory Manager" or "Inventory Viewer" → Assigned Users, and add the people who need it. Administrators already have full access.
Open WarehousesInventory app → Warehouses tab (or Setup → Warehouses & Inventory), then New Warehouse.
Give each one a name and a short codeFor example "Main Warehouse" / MAIN. The code is how CSV imports refer to the warehouse. Your first warehouse becomes the default.
Choose who gets low-stock alertsIn Inventory Settings on the same page, pick a user. Leave it empty to alert every administrator.
Share availability with customers and partners (optional)"Stock availability on portals" in the same settings: "Don't show" (default), "Show in stock / low / out of stock", or also the available quantity. Portal users then get an Availability page, as long as their portal profile can read Products. They never see warehouses, costs or other customers' orders.
Decide on backorders"Allow backorders" (on by default) lets an order be activated without enough stock: it's marked Backordered and its owner is told. Turn it off to refuse activation until the stock is there.
Prepare a CSVColumns: product (its SKU, product code or exact name), warehouse (code), quantity, and optionally reorder_point, reorder_qty and bin. Stock → Import → "Download a sample file" gives you the layout.
Import itStock → Import → choose the file → Import. Each row sets on hand to that quantity. If any row has a problem, nothing is imported and you get a list of what to fix.
Count again later the same wayStock → Export gives you a file in the same layout. Use it as a count sheet: type in what you counted and import it back. Each changed row is recorded as an adjustment.
Choose the products that need itOpen the Product. In its Stock panel, change "Not tracked" to "By lot" (batches with an expiry date, such as food or medicine) or "By serial number" (one number per unit, such as laptops or machines).
Put existing stock into lotsStock already on the shelf has no lot yet; the Stock panel shows it as "No lot". Stock → Adjust → "Counted quantity", type the lot or serial number and what you counted. The count moves that stock into the lot instead of adding it again.
Or import itAdd lot and expiry (YYYY-MM-DD) columns to the CSV: one row per lot. For a serial-tracked product, each row is one serial number with quantity 1.
Receive a deliveryStock → Receive Stock, pick the product and warehouse, enter the quantity and a reason such as the supplier's delivery note.
Correct a countStock → Adjust. Choose "Counted quantity" to set what you physically counted, or "Change (+/-)" for damage or loss. A reason is always required.
Move stock between locationsStock → Transfer: pick the From and To warehouses. Both sides are recorded in one step.
Set a reorder pointOn the Stock list, click Reorder on a row. When available stock falls to that number, you get one low-stock alert, and another only after stock has recovered and dropped again.
Receive lots and serialsFor a tracked product, Receive Stock asks for the lot number and expiry date, or for the serial numbers (one per line; the quantity is how many you enter). Adjust and Transfer ask which lot or serial they're for.
Watch expiry datesThe Lots & Serials tab lists every lot, soonest expiry first. Filter "Expiring in 30 days" to plan what to sell first, or "Expired" to find stock to write off. Expired lots are never shipped on an order.
See what to reorderPurchase Orders tab → open "Reorder suggestions". It lists products at or below their reorder point, counting what's already on order. Tick the ones to buy from one warehouse and click "Create draft purchase order".
Raise a purchase orderOr click New Purchase Order: name the supplier (optionally link their Account), choose the warehouse it's delivered to, add products with quantity and unit cost, and save the draft.
Send itClick "Mark as ordered" once the supplier has it. From then on the quantities show as "On order" on the Stock list, and the lines can't change (the expected date and notes still can).
Receive the deliveryOpen the purchase order → Receive stock. Each line starts at what's still to come; change it to what actually arrived, and give the lot or serial numbers for tracked products. Part deliveries are fine: receive the rest later. You can't receive more than was ordered.
Check the numbersInventory Reports tab: stock by warehouse, family or product (with value at list price), movements over a date range, and purchasing by supplier. Export any of them to CSV.
Finish itWhen everything arrives the purchase order becomes Received. If the rest will never come, More → Close. A purchase order with nothing received can be cancelled.
Check before you promiseOpen the Product. The Stock panel shows on hand, reserved and available in each warehouse.
See what happenedClick History on the Stock panel for every movement of that product, newest first. Movements are never edited or deleted, so the history can be trusted.
Quote with confidenceWhen you add a product to a quote, the line shows how many are available, and turns red if there aren't enough for the quantity.
Follow an order's stockOn an Order, the Inventory panel shows what's reserved or shipped for each product and which warehouse it ships from (change it there if another warehouse has the stock). A red "Backordered" banner means there isn't enough on hand yet. For lot- or serial-tracked products, a shipped line also shows which lots or serials it was taken from.
1. A warehouse has 50 on hand and 12 reserved. How many can you still sell?
62
38 — available is on hand minus reserved
2. You entered a receipt with the wrong quantity. How do you fix it?
Edit or delete the movement in Stock Movements
Record an adjustment with a reason; movements are never edited or deleted
3. A product has lot A (expires in June), lot B (expires in March) and lot C (expired last week). An order for it is completed. Which lot is shipped first?
Lot C, to clear old stock
Lot B — the soonest expiry that hasn't expired yet
Lot A, the newest
4. A purchase order for 10 units is marked as ordered, and 6 have arrived. What does the Stock list show?
6 more on hand and 4 on order
10 on hand, because the purchase order was sent
🏅
Badge Earned: Stock Keeper
You can set up warehouses, load opening stock, buy stock on purchase orders, trace lots and serials, and keep every stock change on record.