Item Master

For: People managing products, goods, and services bought or sold by the business

Purpose: Understand what the Item Master module does and how it is the central catalogue of every product and service used across purchases, sales, and inventory

Related: Item Group categorises items for reporting and pricing. Warehouse Master stores inventory per item. Recipe uses items as raw materials. Price List references items for custom pricing.

What This Module Does

The Item Master is the central catalogue of everything your business buys, sells, or manufactures. Every transaction in the system (invoices, purchase orders, delivery challans, goods receipts, production orders) references items from this master. You use it to:

• Invoices and sales orders: items you sell to customers
• Purchase orders and GRNs: items you buy from vendors
• Inventory tracking: stock levels per warehouse for non-service items
• Production (Recipes): raw materials consumed and finished goods produced
• Price lists: items whose selling price can be overridden by a price list

Each item is assigned a unique code (prefix ITM) and a name. Non-service items (Goods, Combos) automatically get an ItemInventory record created for each warehouse, enabling stock tracking from day one.

Main Features (What You Can Do)

1. Add a New Item

• You enter details such as item name, item type (Goods, Service, or Combo), HSN/SAC code, unit of measure, purchase price, and selling price.
• Assign an item group to categorise the item for reports and price lists.
• Set a reorder level: the system will alert you when stock falls to this quantity.
• The system auto-generates a unique code with the prefix ITM.
• Inventory auto-setup:
  • For Goods and Combo type items, the system automatically creates an ItemInventory record for every active warehouse in your company so stock can be tracked immediately.
  • Service type items do not track inventory and no ItemInventory records are created.

2. Add Many Items at Once (Bulk Add)

• You can add multiple items in one operation (e.g. from an import or batch entry screen).
• The system records who added them and when.
• Inventory records are automatically created for each non-service item added in bulk.

3. List and Search Items

• You can search by item name, code, type, or item group.
• Filter by active or inactive status.
• The list is paginated and shows each item's code, name, type, unit of measure, price, and status.
• You can also filter by whether an item is used for purchase, sales, or both.

4. View Full Item Details

• Open an item to see its complete profile: name, code, type, HSN/SAC, UOM, prices, tax rate, item group, reorder level, and description.
• For stock items, you can see the current inventory level across warehouses.
• See which recipes this item appears in as a raw material.

5. Update an Item

• You can change any field: name, prices, HSN/SAC, UOM, item group, reorder level, description, and more.
• Changing the item type between Goods, Service, and Combo adjusts inventory tracking accordingly.
• Price changes take effect on new transactions: existing documents retain the prices at the time they were created.

6. Activate or Deactivate an Item

• You can deactivate an item to prevent it from being selected on new transactions.
• Deactivation is blocked if the item is referenced in any open or active documents:
  • Open purchase orders, invoices, sales orders, or delivery challans that include this item
• You can reactivate a deactivated item at any time.

7. Delete an Item

• You can delete an item when it is no longer needed.
• Deletion is permanent: use with care if the item has transaction history.

8. Item List for Dropdowns and Selection

• Throughout the software (invoices, purchase orders, delivery challans, Recipes, Price Lists) you select items from a dropdown list.
• The dropdown can be filtered by item type (Goods, Service, Combo), by item group, or by whether the item is used for purchase or sales.
• Only active items appear in dropdowns for new transactions.

Summary Table (At a Glance)

Important Business Rules

1. Inventory auto-creation: When you add a Goods or Combo type item, the system automatically creates ItemInventory records for every active warehouse. You do not need to set up inventory manually.
2. Service items have no inventory: Service type items do not generate ItemInventory records and are not tracked in stock reports.
3. Deactivation blocked by open documents: You cannot deactivate an item that appears in open purchase orders, invoices, sales orders, or delivery challans. Close or cancel those documents first.
4. HSN/SAC codes: HSN codes are required for goods (for GST compliance). SAC codes are used for services. The correct code determines the GST tax rate applied on transactions.
5. Code is auto-generated: The ITM prefix code is assigned by the system and cannot be changed manually.
6. Reorder alerts: When closing stock falls to the reorder level, the system generates a low-stock alert so you can replenish in time.