The Items module is the beating heart of Sevenledger. Whether you sell physical goods, offer professional services, or track raw materials for manufacturing, every single transaction starts with an Item profile.
Here’s how to create comprehensive item records, define how they’re measured, and control how their financial value is tracked.
Creating a New Item
A well-defined item profile means accurate reporting, smooth Point of Sale checkouts, and clean accounting ledgers.
Navigate to Items
Go to Inventory and click New Item.
Select the Item Type
Your first choice determines how the system treats this item:
- Goods: A physical product you manufacture or buy to resell. The system will track stock quantities and calculate Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) automatically.
- Service: Intangible offerings like “Consulting Hour” or “Installation Fee.” Services never trigger stock warnings — perfect for non-physical revenue.
Basic Details
Fill in the core identifiers:
- Name: The descriptive title (e.g., “Premium Cotton T-Shirt”).
- SKU: (Stock Keeping Unit) Your internal alphanumeric code for quick reference.
- Barcode/UPC: Essential for rapid scanning at a POS Terminal.
- Category: Group similar items together (e.g., “Apparel”) for cleaner reporting.
Units of Measure (UOM)
How do you count this item?
- Select a Base Unit (e.g., “Pieces”, “Kilograms”, “Hours”).
- (Advanced) If you buy an item in “Kilograms” but sell it in “Grams”, define a UOM conversion ratio in your system configurations first.
Accounting Ledgers: By default, revenue from this item routes to your generic “Sales” account and costs go to “Cost of Goods Sold.” Want hyper-specific tracking? Override these defaults in the Accounting tab (e.g., route revenue to a dedicated “Merchandise Sales” account).
Set Pricing
Define your standard Sales Price and Purchase Price (Cost). These act as defaults — depending on which customer or vendor is selected during a transaction, the system can auto-apply the relevant Price List instead.
Save
Review everything and click Save. Your item is now ready to be bought, sold, or manufactured.
Setting Opening Stock (Initial Inventory Balance)
If you’re migrating to SevenLedger from another system, starting inventory tracking for existing items, or beginning operations with initial stock, you can set an opening balance when creating the item. This represents your starting inventory quantity and value as of a specific date.
Why Opening Stock Matters
Setting opening stock is essential for:
- Data Migration: Match your new system to actual physical inventory when switching from legacy software
- Accurate Reporting: Ensure inventory valuation, COGS, and profit calculations are correct from day one
- Stock Tracking: Establish a baseline so “Stock on Hand” reports reflect reality
- Financial Accuracy: The opening stock value feeds directly into your general ledger inventory account
Opening stock should always match your actual physical counts. Mismatches between recorded and real inventory create reporting errors that compound over time.
Inventory Start Date
Before you can set opening stock, you must define the Inventory Start Date—the effective date when these opening balances take effect. This date anchors your inventory history and determines the valuation period.
- All opening stock is valued as of this date
- Subsequent stock movements are tracked from this date forward
- This is typically the date you began operations or migrated to SevenLedger
Opening Stock Fields
When inventory tracking is enabled, you’ll define three key values:
- Opening Stock: The quantity of items you have on hand as of the start date (e.g., 100 units)
- Opening Stock Rate: The cost per unit at the time of opening (e.g., $50 per unit). This is used to calculate: Opening Stock × Opening Stock Rate = Initial Inventory Value
- Reorder Point: The minimum quantity that triggers a stock alert (optional, useful for purchase planning)
Example: If you set opening stock to 100 units at a rate of $50/unit, your initial inventory value is $5,000. This amount flows into your inventory general ledger account.
Single Warehouse Mode
If your system is configured for a single warehouse, opening stock is set with simple form fields in the Inventory Tracking tab:
Check “Track Inventory for This Item”
Enable the inventory tracking checkbox to reveal stock fields.
Set Inventory Start Date
Select the date when opening balances become effective. This is typically today’s date if you’re setting up a new system, or a past date if you’re migrating historical data.
Enter Opening Stock
Input the quantity of items in stock (e.g., 100). Use the Unit dropdown to select the measurement unit (pieces, kilograms, hours, etc.). The system will remember your unit choice and apply it to other fields automatically.
Set Opening Stock Rate
Enter the cost per unit (e.g., $50). The Opening Stock Rate should reflect the average acquisition cost at the time of the opening balance. The system calculates the total opening value as: Opening Stock × Opening Stock Rate.
(Optional) Set Reorder Point
If you want the system to alert you when stock drops below a threshold, enter the reorder point quantity (e.g., 20 units). This triggers notifications for purchase planning.
Save
Click Save to apply opening stock. Your item now has an initialized inventory balance.
Multiple Warehouse Mode
If your system is configured for multiple warehouses, opening stock is set in a table format where each warehouse location can have different opening balances. This is ideal for businesses with multiple locations, distribution centers, or branch warehouses.
Check “Track Inventory for This Item”
Enable the inventory tracking checkbox to reveal the warehouse table.
Set Inventory Start Date
Select the date when opening balances become effective across all warehouses.
Add Warehouse Rows
The table displays a row for each warehouse:
- If warehouses are pre-configured, they appear automatically
- If you need to add more, the system provides an option to insert additional rows
For Each Warehouse, Enter:
- Warehouse: Select the warehouse location from the dropdown
- Opening Stock: The quantity for that specific warehouse (e.g., Warehouse A has 100 units, Warehouse B has 150 units)
- Opening Stock Rate: The cost per unit for that warehouse’s opening stock
- Reorder Point: The minimum stock alert threshold for that warehouse
Example: A retail chain with three locations would set:
- Downtown Store: 100 units @ $50 = $5,000 value
- Mall Location: 150 units @ $50 = $7,500 value
- Warehouse: 200 units @ $48 = $9,600 value
Each location’s opening stock is tracked and reported separately.
Save
Click Save to apply opening stock across all warehouses.
Side-by-Side: Single vs. Multiple Warehouse
| Aspect | Single Warehouse | Multiple Warehouse |
|---|---|---|
| Form Layout | Simple input fields in the Inventory Tracking tab | Table with rows for each warehouse |
| Opening Stock Entry | One quantity field | One quantity field per warehouse |
| Opening Stock Rate | One cost per unit | One cost per unit per warehouse |
| Reorder Point | One threshold | One threshold per warehouse |
| Use Case | Single location or centralized inventory | Multiple branches, locations, or distribution centers |
How Opening Stock Affects Your Reports
Once opening stock is set, it flows through your entire system:
- Inventory Valuation: The opening stock value (quantity × rate) appears in your Balance Sheet under current assets (Inventory account)
- COGS Calculation: When you sell items, the system uses your opening stock as the starting value for COGS calculations (using FIFO or Moving Average method)
- Stock Reports: “Stock on Hand” starts at your opening quantity and changes as purchases and sales are recorded
- Profit & Loss: Revenue minus COGS gives you accurate gross profit that reflects true inventory movement
Important: Opening stock rates should be realistic and match your actual acquisition costs. If you overstate opening rates, your COGS and profit reports will be inaccurate.
Tracking Stock & Costs
If you selected “Goods,” the system actively monitors two things that matter most: Quantity and Value.
Quantity Tracking
The system tracks quantities across all active warehouse locations:
- Stock on Hand: Physical items currently sitting in your warehouse.
- Committed Stock: Items promised to customers via open Sales Orders but not yet shipped.
- Available Stock: (Hand − Committed). This is the number you can actually sell right now without risking a backorder.
- Incoming Stock: Items expected from suppliers via open Purchase Orders.
Costing Methods (COGS)
When you sell an inventory item, the system calculates profit by deducting the item’s cost (COGS) from your sales revenue. Sevenledger supports standard accounting costing methods (typically configured globally during initial setup):
- FIFO (First-In, First-Out): Assumes the oldest items in your warehouse are sold first. This is the most common approach and generally recommended.
- Moving Average: The cost is constantly recalculated as a weighted average of all batches currently in stock.