Create and manage materials

Overview

The Materials library is the central record of every product, part, or consumable your business uses on jobs. A material record holds the name, description, unit of measure, cost, markup, selling price, category, storage location(s), and quantity on hand. Once a material is in the library you can use it on quotes, jobs, and supplier invoices, and MyApprentice tracks the stock movements.

Who This Workflow Is For

This workflow applies to the Business Owner, Admin, and Supervisor. Finance, Tradie, and Apprentice typically have view-only access to materials and cannot create or maintain them.

Before You Start

Have the material details — name, description, unit (kg, sqm, m, each, etc.), cost, markup percentage (or selling price), category, and any storage locations and on-hand quantities. Multiple locations per material are supported.

Step-by-Step Process

Create a material

1. In the left sidebar, select Materials. The Materials list opens.
2. Select Add Material. The material creation form opens.
3. Enter the material name.
4. (Optional) Add a description.
5. Choose the unit (kg, sqm, m, each, or another available unit).
6. Enter the cost.
7. (Optional) Enter a markup percentage — MyApprentice can calculate the selling price from cost plus markup.
8. Enter or review the selling price.
9. Select a category, or add a new category if the defaults do not apply.
10. (Optional) Add a location (van, warehouse, etc.) and the quantity held at that location. Repeat for additional locations.
11. Select Create. The material is saved to the library and is available for quotes, jobs, supplier invoices, and inventory workflows.

Edit a material

1. Open Materials and locate the material.
2. Select the material row to open it for editing.
3. Update any fields — name, description, unit, cost, markup, selling price, category, or locations.
4. Select Update (or Save Changes).
5. Confirm the material list shows the updated information. Note: editing a material’s price affects only future records — existing draft quotes and jobs keep the prices they had at creation.

Adjust stock manually

1. Open Materials and find the material.
2. Select Adjust Stock next to the material. The stock adjustment form opens.
3. Choose the transaction type — Restock, Usage, Damage, Adjustment, Waste/Damage, or Return.
4. Enter the quantity being added, removed, returned, or adjusted.
5. (Optional) Add a reason — recommended for corrections or unrecorded movements.
6. Select Update Stock. The quantity updates and the adjustment is logged in the stock transaction history.

Review low stock and stock transactions

1. Open Materials (or Inventory, depending on your build).
2. Sort or filter by stock status to bring low-stock items to the top.
3. Review the list and decide what to reorder.
4. Open the Stock Transactions view to see the audit trail of all stock movements — restocks, usage, damage, returns, and adjustments — with the date, quantity, and user who recorded each one.

What Happens Next

Materials are now available throughout the platform — attach them to quote line items for internal costing or sell them directly to clients, link them to jobs to track usage, and apply supplier invoices against them to update stock automatically.

Common Issues

• Cannot delete a material. Deleting a material is restricted to the Business Owner. Other roles cannot delete materials.
• Existing quote uses the old price. Editing a material’s price affects only future records. Existing draft quotes and jobs keep the prices they had at creation. Edit those records directly if you want them updated.
• Stock count is wrong. Use Adjust Stock with the right transaction type to bring the quantity in line. Always add a reason for corrections so the audit trail is meaningful.
• Cannot maintain materials. Confirm your role — Finance, Tradie, and Apprentice typically cannot create or maintain materials. Materials are managed by Business Owner, Supervisor, or Admin.
• Want to bulk import. Bulk import is not covered in this round. Use the manual create flow for each material.

Related Guides

• Manage suppliers
• Upload a supplier invoice
• Apply a supplier invoice to inventory
• Create and send a quote
• Create a job manually