Inventory & locations
BOMs Away tracks how much of each part you hold at each location — a stockroom, a shelf, the production floor. Stock goes up when you receive a purchase order or complete a work order, goes down when you kit a work order, and can be adjusted by hand with the tools on this page.
Permission
Everyone can view stock and locations. Adding, counting, moving or removing stock, and creating, renaming or deleting locations, needs the Edit parts, BOMs, inventory & imports permission.
Setting up locations
Open Inventory ▸ Locations in the top menu. The list shows each location with how many different parts it holds and the total quantity on hand.
To create a location, click New, enter a Location name (unique within your company) and an optional Location description, then click Save.
Click a location's name to see the stock it holds. From there:
- Rename changes its name or description.
- Edit Stock opens the stock editor for that location (see Adjusting stock).
- Delete removes the location.
Deleting a location
You can only delete a location that nothing refers to. The Delete button is greyed out while the location still has any inventory rows, is the finished-goods location of a work order, supplied parts to a work order, or received parts from a purchase order. Hover over the greyed-out button to see what is still using it, for example "In use by 3 inventory rows".
Stock is never deleted along with a location. To empty a location, move its stock elsewhere with a transfer, then remove the empty rows. A location that has ever received a shipment or supplied a work order stays in the records for good — rename it (for example "Stockroom B (closed)") instead.
Viewing stock
There are three ways to look at stock:
- Inventory ▸ Inventory lists every stock row in the company. Search, filter, sort and pick columns as on any list (see Lists & search).
- By part — on a part's details page, the Inventory section shows its stock at each location; click the Inventory heading for the part's own inventory page.
- By location — click a location on the Locations list.
Why a part can appear twice at the same location
Each receipt of a purchase order is kept as its own row, so the same part can show several rows at one location. Work orders use the oldest row first (first in, first out), and keeping receipts separate is what lets a mistaken receipt be cancelled cleanly. The rows add up to the part's total at that location.
Adjusting stock
Adjustments happen on a stock editor. Open it from either side:
- a part's inventory page — click Edit (you see that part at every location), or
- a location's page — click Edit Stock (you see every part at that location).
Hover over a row to reveal its buttons (or press Tab to move into the row from the keyboard). Click Done when you have finished.
Adding stock
Use the blank row at the bottom of the editor. On a part's editor, choose the location; on a location's editor, choose the part. Enter the quantity, in the part's unit, and click the save button (floppy-disk icon). Each addition creates a new row.
Use this for opening balances and stock that arrives without a purchase order. Stock that arrives on a PO should be received against the order instead (see Purchasing), so the order's status stays correct.
Cycle count
A cycle count corrects a row's quantity after a physical count.
- Hover over the row and click the up/down arrows button next to the quantity.
- In Cycle Quantity, enter the difference between the count and the system — not the new total. Counted 457 where the system says 460? Enter
-3. Found 5 extra? Enter5. - Click the save button at the end of the row.
A count can't take a row below zero. The cancel button (the outlined ×) abandons the change.
Moving stock to another location
- Hover over the row and click the move button (four arrows) next to the location name.
- Pick the destination under Transfer Location.
- In Transfer Quantity, enter how much to move — or leave it blank to move the whole row.
- Click the save button.
Moving only part of a row leaves the rest where it was and creates a new row at the destination. You can't move more than the row holds, or move stock to the location it is already in.
Removing empty rows
The outlined red trash button on a row removes it, but only once its quantity is zero — otherwise BOMs Away says "Cycle the quantity to zero before removing this row." This guarantees stock is never deleted by accident: to get rid of stock, count it down to zero first, so the adjustment is deliberate. Removing empty rows is usually done to free a location for deletion.
Low stock and reorder points
Give a part a Reorder point on its edit form (see Creating a part) and BOMs Away watches it for you. When the part's total on hand across all locations is at or below that number, it appears in the Low Stock panel at the bottom of the dashboard (click BOMs Away in the top-left corner).
Parts with a reorder point of 0 are not watched. The panel shows up to ten parts. Use it as a prompt to raise a purchase order or check the Buy page (see Purchasing).
Inventory valuation report
Reports ▸ Inventory Valuation in the top menu downloads a PDF valuing all the stock you hold. It lists each part with stock on hand, its total quantity across all locations, its unit cost and the extended value, with a grand total.
- The unit cost comes from the part's primary vendor source: the base price of one pack divided by the pack quantity, converted to your company's home currency. Price breaks are ignored, so the value doesn't drop just because you hold more stock.
- A part with no primary source or no price is valued at zero and marked, so you can spot missing costs.
- Assemblies you build yourself are valued at their own primary source price, if any — the report does not add up their components.
Related pages
- Importing data — load opening stock from a spreadsheet.
- Purchasing — receiving shipments into stock.
- Work orders — kitting stock to a build and putting finished assemblies away.