Batches

Batch management once enabled lets you create and manage multiple batches for an item. And you can track its expiry date and restrict the sale of items in that batch if the expiry dates are less than the limit set up. You can also receive warnings by setting up the warning limit and when the expiry date of the batch items are less than or equal to the warning limit, you will be getting a warning that the items in the batch are near their expiry dates. You can make batches for an item based on the current retail price of an item as well without tracking its expiry date. Because there may be items which will be the same and have the same barcode but its prices may keep changing. So you can use the batch management options to create batches for one item with different prices. You can enable expiry dates for these items as well if you wish to do so. But that depends on your needs.

You can set up the batch settings in the goods and services defaults settings. There you have the option to either manage simplified batches or advanced batches. The difference between these two will be that you will have the option for adding more price details. In the simplified batch option, you have the option to generate batch numbers manually, based on their prices or automatically. Then you can also enable the option to use expiry date for batches.

Then when you create or edit items you will have the option to enable “Batch managed” there.

For new items when you enable the batch managed option, when you purchase or sell that item later on another window will open up for batch details as shown below.

Here you need to create a new batch for the item as there is no pre- existing batch. Click the new batch button and enter the batch name, it can be a number or the sales price of that batch of the item. Note that if you don’t specify the expiry dates of these batches it will not show up in the list later on when this window opens up again even if you created a batch before. For the batch to appear you need to click the expired batches and negative stock options to see the batch you made before. It’s because you didn’t specify its expiry date, it automatically counted as an expired batch. So you need to click those buttons to see the batches if you didn’t specify the expiry dates when making the batches.

If you chose advanced batches option in goods and services defaults there would be a few more options than those shown above.

If you set and maintain batches with expiry dates you can get warnings as you get close to a batch’s expiry date. And when it is less than the set amount, you can make it so that you can’t even sell that batch’s item as shown below. Also if you don’t want to select show expired batches option when trying to select a batch during purchase or sale. You can simply enable the Show expired batches option for the necessary subdocuments by editing that subdocument and going to filters and checks.

When you enable the batch managed option when creating a new item, you won’t be able to set the price of that item in the new item creation window. But you will be able to set the prices only when you create the batches later on. You can provide different prices for different batches as well.