Overview
Understanding Inventory Records
Inventory is the foundation of Buy Sell Tracker. An inventory record represents an item or group of identical items purchased together for resale.
The record keeps the purchase information, available quantity, acquisition source, optional photo, item-related expenses, and sales activity connected to the correct inventory.
If you purchase several identical items together at the same time, you can enter them as one inventory record and use the quantity fields to track how many remain.
Adding inventory
Add a New Inventory Item
Use the Inventory section to create a record when you purchase an item or group of identical items for resale.
Inventory records include:
- Item Name
- Description
- Purchase Date
- Purchase Price
- Quantity Purchased
- Acquisition Source
- Inventory Photo
The purchase date defaults to the current date, but it can be changed when entering a purchase made on another date.
The purchase price should represent the purchase cost entered for the inventory record. Quantity Purchased identifies how many items were included in that purchase.
Buy Sell Tracker checks important purchase information to help prevent the same inventory purchase from being entered more than once.
Inventory availability
Understanding Quantity and Status
Buy Sell Tracker keeps track of both the quantity originally purchased and the quantity that is still available.
Quantity Purchased
The number of items included when the inventory purchase was originally recorded.
Quantity Available
The number of items that remain available after recorded sales.
Inventory with remaining quantity is shown as Available. When the available quantity reaches zero, the inventory status becomes Sold Out.
A Sold Out inventory record has no quantity remaining. Likewise, when available quantity reaches zero, the item is treated as Sold Out.
Learn more: See how item-related expenses work with multi-quantity lots.
Purchase information
Using Acquisition Sources
Acquisition Source identifies where the inventory was purchased or obtained.
This can help you remember where an item came from and can make your inventory records more useful when reviewing past purchases.
Buy Sell Tracker provides acquisition source choices and can retain sources you add so they are available for future inventory entries.
Inventory photos
Add a Photo to an Inventory Item
An inventory record can include one photo. The photo can make items easier to identify while reviewing your inventory.
When a photo has been added, a thumbnail is displayed with the inventory record where supported by the inventory view.
An inventory item does not need a photo in order to be tracked, sold, or included in reports.
Troubleshooting: Camera reports low memory
When adding inventory photos from your phone, some users may receive a low-memory message from the browser after taking multiple photos directly from the camera.
If this occurs, save or take the photo with your phone's Camera app first. Then return to Buy Sell Tracker and select the saved photo from your device when adding the inventory image.
This issue may occur when repeatedly opening the phone's camera through the browser and does not necessarily indicate a problem with the image or your account.
Item costs
Track Expenses Related to an Inventory Item
Some expenses belong directly to a specific inventory item rather than to your business as a whole.
When an expense is directly related to an inventory item, record it as an item-related expense so the cost remains connected to that inventory record.
Item-Related Expense
A cost associated with a particular inventory item.
Business Expense
A general business cost that is not associated with one specific inventory item.
Keeping these costs separated helps the profitability calculations distinguish inventory-related costs from general business expenses.
Sales
Record a Sale
When inventory sells, locate the appropriate item in your Inventory list and select Record Sale.
Enter the sale information:
- Sold Date
- Sold Price
- Quantity Sold
The quantity sold cannot be greater than the quantity currently available for that inventory record.
The sold date also cannot be earlier than the purchase date of the inventory.
After the sale is recorded, Buy Sell Tracker updates the quantity available and uses the sale information in the applicable dashboard calculations and reports.
Multiple quantities
Record a Partial Sale
Inventory records containing multiple items do not need to be sold all at once.
When only part of the available quantity is sold, enter the number actually sold in the Quantity Sold field.
You purchase five identical items and later sell two. Record a Quantity Sold of 2. Buy Sell Tracker reduces the available quantity from 5 to 3, while the remaining three items continue to show as available inventory.
Additional sales can be recorded against the same inventory record until the available quantity reaches zero.
Once all available items have been sold, the inventory status becomes Sold Out.
Learn more: See how partial sales work with multi-quantity lots .
Making changes
Edit an Inventory Item
Use the inventory editing option when information about an existing inventory record needs to be corrected or updated.
When making changes, take care not to alter purchase or quantity information in a way that no longer reflects the actual transaction.
If inventory quantity has changed because of a sale, use the sales workflow for that transaction rather than treating the sale as a simple inventory edit.
Inventory age
Understanding Days in Inventory
Days in Inventory helps show how long an inventory item has been held.
Buy Sell Tracker derives this value from the inventory and sale dates rather than requiring you to enter it manually.
This information can be useful when reviewing how quickly inventory is moving and identifying items that have remained in inventory for longer periods.
Inventory list
Reviewing Your Inventory
The Inventory list provides a quick view of the information most useful for managing your current inventory.
The list includes information such as:
- Item Name
- Quantity
- Purchase Date
- Status
- Days in Inventory
Inventory photos are displayed as thumbnails when available, and the Record Sale action gives you direct access to the sales workflow.