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Set up a product's inventory settings

A product carries a few inventory-relevant settings that shape how SKU.io reorders it, sources it, and counts its stock. This guide covers the three you set on the product itself: its reorder point (min stock level), its default supplier for sourcing, and its opening inventory balance — the stock you already own on the day you go live.

Creating, editing, archiving, and deleting the product record (SKU, name, type, pricing) is covered in the Products area. This page is only about the inventory-facing settings.

Before you begin​

RequirementWhy it's needed
Permission to edit productsThe min-stock and supplier settings save through the product update endpoint, which is gated by the products edit permission.
An inventory-bearing productMin stock and opening inventory apply to standard, kit, blemished, and manufactured products — the types that hold stock. Bundle and matrix products don't carry their own inventory, so the min-stock card is hidden for them.
A supplier record (for the default-supplier step)The supplier must already exist under Contacts → Suppliers before you can attach it to the product.
An inventory start date (for opening inventory)Opening balances are recorded as of your inventory start date. If it isn't set, SKU.io blocks the entry with "Set the inventory start date before creating initial inventory." Set it under Settings → Inventory first.
tip

Open a product from Products, then use the tabs on the product detail page. The Inventory tab holds the min-stock card and the per-warehouse stock table; the Suppliers tab holds the sourcing list.

Set the reorder point (min stock level)​

The min stock level is the reorder threshold for a product. It's a single number per product — not per warehouse — and it's the only stock-related field you edit directly on the product record.

When a product's available stock drops below this level, it counts as low stock: it surfaces in the Low Stock Items report so you know to reorder. See Stock states for exactly what available means.

To set it from the product detail page:

  1. Open the product and go to the Inventory tab.
  2. In the Min Stock Level card, type the threshold into the field. Whole numbers only — the value must be 0 or greater.
  3. Click Save.

The Save button stays disabled until you change the value, so you can't save a no-op.

Units follow the product's stock UoM

If the product's stock unit of measure isn't EACH, the field shows that unit code as a suffix (for example, CASE) so the threshold reads in the same unit as the stock table below it.

Edit min stock in bulk from the list​

You don't have to open each product. On the Products list, the Min Stock column is inline-editable in the editable grid — double-click a cell, type a new value (or clear it to blank it), and it saves in place. This is the fastest way to set reorder points across a range of products at once.

Low-stock alerts aren't emailed yet

The min stock level drives the Low Stock Items report today, but SKU.io does not yet push a notification or email when a product crosses the threshold — the event hook exists in the code but is intentionally left inactive. Treat the report as the place to watch, not your inbox. This is a known limitation, not a misconfiguration.

Set the default supplier (sourcing)​

A product can have several suppliers, but exactly one is the default — the supplier SKU.io reaches for first when you raise a purchase order or run demand planning for that product. The default also anchors the lead time, minimum order quantity (MOQ), and target stock days used when planning replenishment.

To choose the default from the product detail page:

  1. Open the product and go to the Suppliers tab.
  2. Click Edit to enter edit mode. Each supplier appears as a card; the current default is marked with a green Default chip.
  3. On the supplier you want to promote, click Make Default. The Default chip moves to that supplier — only one supplier can hold it at a time.
  4. Click Save.

If the product has no suppliers yet, click Add Supplier, pick one, and it becomes the default automatically (the first supplier you attach is always the default).

One default, enforced on save

Setting a new default clears the flag from whichever supplier held it — SKU.io guarantees a product never has two default suppliers. If you later remove the default supplier from the product, the next remaining supplier is promoted to default automatically so the product is never left without one.

How the default drives planning values​

For lead time, MOQ, and target stock days, SKU.io resolves each value through a three-level hierarchy, most specific first:

LevelWhere it's setWins when
Product-level overrideThe Lead Time, MOQ, and Target Stock Days fields on the supplier cardA value is entered here
Supplier defaultThe supplier record under Contacts → SuppliersThe product-level field is left blank
Global defaultSettings → SuppliersNeither of the above is set

Leave a product-level field blank to inherit the supplier's default; the read-only view shows a dash (-) when a value is inherited rather than overridden.

A direct endpoint exists too

Promoting a default through the Suppliers tab saves it with the rest of the product's supplier edits. There's also a dedicated API action for setting a product's default supplier in one call — useful for integrations — but the app UI uses the tab described above.

Set the opening (initial) inventory balance​

When you first start using SKU.io, you tell it how much of each product you already own. This opening balance is recorded as of your inventory start date and becomes the earliest layer in the product's cost history, so every later movement builds on an accurate starting point. See FIFO layers and how COGS is realized for why the opening cost matters.

Opening inventory is recorded as an initial stock take — a special count dated to your inventory start date. You enter it one of two ways:

  • Import it in bulk. Under Inventory, use the Initial Inventory import. Export the template for a warehouse to get every product pre-listed, fill in the quantity and unit cost per row, and upload it. SKU.io creates (or updates) the initial stock take for that warehouse from the file. This is the right tool for onboarding a whole catalog at once.
  • Enter an initial stock take by hand. Create a stock take dated to your inventory start date and add the products and quantities. See Create a stock take & add items and Count stock.

Both paths feed the same initial stock take, so re-importing a warehouse updates the existing opening counts rather than stacking a second set.

Set the inventory start date first

Opening inventory can't be recorded until the inventory start date exists. If it's missing, the entry is rejected with "Set the inventory start date before creating initial inventory." Set the date under Settings → Inventory, then record the balances.

There's no opening-balance field on the product form

Unlike min stock, opening inventory is not a field on the product edit screen — you record it through the import or an initial stock take, per warehouse. To review a product's recorded opening balance per warehouse after the fact, open the product's COGS view (the SKU COGS Health surface), which breaks the initial inventory down by warehouse. The per-warehouse On Hand and Total Inventory figures on the product's Inventory tab then reflect that opening stock alongside everything that's moved since.

Verify your settings​

After you've set these, confirm they took:

  • Min stock — the Min Stock Level card shows your value, and the product appears in the Low Stock Items report if its available stock is below it.
  • Default supplier — the Suppliers tab shows the green Default chip on the right supplier.
  • Opening inventory — the product's Inventory tab shows the opening quantity in each warehouse's On Hand and Total Inventory columns. See View a product's stock across warehouses to read that table, and Stock states for what each column means.

Next steps​

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