Before you begin
- A VoltMate account. Materials is included in every plan.
What Materials does
Materials keeps one record per item with its category, SKU, unit, quantity in stock, reorder level, unit cost, supplier and storage location.
Every change to the quantity is recorded as a stock movement with the balance before and after, so the history always explains the current figure. The cards at the top show your material records, items at or below their reorder level, inactive items and the estimated stock value.
Add a material
- 1
Open Materials and choose Add material.
- 2
Enter the Material name and choose a Category. Leave SKU blank to have one generated.
- 3
Set the Unit (for example item, metre or box), the Opening quantity and the Reorder level.
- 4
Add the Unit cost £, Supplier and Storage location if you use them.
- 5
Save. The opening quantity is stored as the first movement in the item's stock history.
Record stock in and out
- 1
On the material, choose Stock in to record stock received, or Stock out to record stock used or removed.
- 2
Enter the quantity and a reason, for example the supplier delivery or the job the stock was used on.
- 3
Check the Current balance and Projected balance, then save the movement.
- 4
Open Stock history on the material to see every movement with its date, reason and balances.
Review or retire a material
Review material changes the reorder level, supplier, storage and other details without changing the stock history. Mark an item Inactive when you no longer stock it: it stays in the list and history, but stock in and out are switched off.
Common mistakes
- Correcting a quantity by editing instead of recording a stock movement with a reason.
- Deleting a material you no longer stock instead of marking it Inactive, which also removes its history.
- Setting the reorder level in a different unit from the stock quantity.
Troubleshooting
If a movement is refused, check that the quantity is greater than zero and that a reason is entered. If the estimated stock value looks wrong, check the unit cost on each item.