Materials and Inventory Workflow

Overview

This workflow covers how a team business builds and maintains its materials catalogue, keeps stock levels accurate, and reviews what is on hand. MyApprentice is a web-based app that uses two connected pages for physical stock: Materials (your catalogue, where you add and edit materials and adjust stock) and Inventory (where you view stock levels, value, and transaction history). Reusable line items are managed separately on the Items page. The Business Owner, Admin, and Supervisor manage the catalogue and stock, the Business Owner can delete records, and Finance, Tradies, and Apprentices have view access. Accurate materials and stock data feed quotes, jobs, invoices, and supplier invoices.

Who This Workflow Is For

• Business Owners, Admins, and Supervisors create and edit materials, items, categories, and stock, and review low stock and stock transactions.
• Business Owners can also delete materials, items, and categories.
• Finance users have view-only access — they can review stock value and reorder needs but cannot create, edit, or adjust materials.
• Tradies have view-only access to materials.
• Apprentices can view materials but do not have inventory access.

Before You Start

Decide on the categories you want for organising materials (for example, Electrical, Plumbing, Fasteners). To use the Inventory page, the Inventory feature must be enabled in Business Settings. If the Inventory feature is disabled, the Inventory page is hidden and stock transaction history is unavailable; the Materials page may still be available depending on your feature settings.

End-to-End Workflow

Step 1: Add a material

A Business Owner, Admin, or Supervisor adds the material to the catalogue.

1. Select Materials from the left sidebar under INVENTORY to open the catalogue.
2. Select Add Material and enter the material name (required), a description if needed, the unit of measure (such as each, m, kg, sqm, L), the cost price, a markup percentage if you use one, and the selling price charged to clients.
3. Select or add a category.
4. Optionally add a storage location and the quantity held there — multiple locations per material are supported.
5. Select Create. The material is now available for quotes, jobs, supplier invoices, and inventory.

Step 2: Edit a material

When a price, unit, description, or category changes, a Business Owner, Admin, or Supervisor updates the material.

1. Open Materials, locate the material, and open its row or edit action.
2. Update the required fields and select Update or Save Changes.
3. Note that editing a material’s price affects only future records — it does not change the price on existing draft quotes or jobs already created.

Step 3: Create reusable line items (optional)

Line items are managed on the Items page. A line item defines what you sell to the client — a name, type, selling price, and description.

1. Open the Items page and select Add Line Item.
2. Enter the name, type, price, and description, and link any associated materials from your catalogue. Associated materials support internal costing and stock awareness; the line item price determines what the client is charged.
3. Select Save Line Item. Saved line items can be selected when creating a quote.

Step 4: Adjust stock

When actual stock differs from the system count, a Business Owner, Admin, or Supervisor can adjust stock.

1. Open the adjust-stock process from either route — both open the same process with the same options:
   • From the Materials page, find the material and select Adjust Stock.
   • From the Inventory page.
2. Choose the transaction type — Restock, Usage, Waste/Damage, Adjustment, or Return — enter the quantity, and add a reason for corrections or unrecorded movements.
3. Select Update Stock. The adjustment updates the quantity and is recorded in stock transaction history.

Step 5: Review low stock

During inventory review, a Business Owner, Admin, or Supervisor checks reorder needs.

1. Open Materials or Inventory and use the Stock Status column to sort materials by stock status.
2. Review items showing low stock (the low stock threshold is currently set at below 5 units) and record the materials that need reordering. This workflow identifies reorder needs; it does not create a purchase order.

Step 6: Review the Inventory page

1. From the sidebar under INVENTORY, select Inventory.
2. Use the Overview tab to see current stock levels, low-stock alerts, and total stock value (stock on hand value and potential sale value).
3. Use the Transactions tab to see the history of all stock movements — materials used on jobs, restocking events, and manual adjustments — with dates and quantities.

Step 7: Review stock transactions

1. On the Transactions tab, review incoming and outgoing movements. When a job is completed, the material usage confirmed during completion writes back automatically to stock transactions, linked to its job number — keeping the catalogue accurate without a separate handoff.
2. Filter or sort by type (restock, waste/damage, usage, adjustment, return), source (manual or supplier invoice), date range, or material to investigate discrepancies or reconcile supplier invoice movements.

Common Issues & Limitations

• Inventory feature disabled. If the Inventory feature is turned off in Business Settings, the Inventory page is hidden and stock management and transaction history are unavailable. The Materials page may still be available depending on feature settings — check with your Business Owner.
• Stock adjustments need a transaction type. An adjustment cannot be recorded without a selected transaction type and a quantity. A reason is optional but should be added for corrections or unrecorded movements.
• Manual adjustments only for genuine discrepancies. Use a manual adjustment only when actual stock differs from the system count.
• Low stock threshold. Low stock is currently flagged at below 5 units.
• Editing prices. Editing a material’s price applies only to future records — it does not update prices on existing draft quotes or jobs.
• Deletion is limited to the Business Owner. Only the Business Owner can delete materials, items, or categories. Admins and Supervisors can create and edit but not delete.

What Happens Next

Materials feed directly into quotes, jobs, and invoices, and into the supplier invoice matching process. Materials needing reorder can be purchased and then captured back into MyApprentice through the Supplier and Supplier Invoice Workflow, which updates stock levels and posts new transactions.

Related Guides

• Supplier and Supplier Invoice Workflow
• Creating a Job and Completing the Work
• Client Enquiry to Accepted Quote