The report is to show you what's low on stock, and what you might want to re-order from suppliers. Using the numbers in the report, you can automatically place a Purchase Order with your selected supplier.
Setting Up
To use the Low Stock Report you will need to set up the following:
- Minimum stock levels for each product
- Re-order quantities for each product
- Connect products to suppliers
Minimum Stock Levels
Items are only shown on the report when the"on hand" level is less than your minimum stock level, so you'll need to ensure that all products you want to see in the report have a minimum stock level set, even if it's just "1". For Premium Stock/multi-warehouse users, a minimum stock level must be set for each warehouse.
Re-order Quantities
A re-order quantity is the smallest quantity you can purchase from your supplier in one go. Re-order quantities are not required unless you want the order quantity to be calculated for you when using the automatic Purchase Order feature. For multi-warehouse users a re-order quantity must be set for each warehouse.
Connecting Products to Suppliers
To use the automated Purchase Order feature, you'll need to ensure that each of your products is connected to at least one supplier. You can connect products to multiple suppliers if you want to (there's no concept of "preferred supplier" though).
Each of these settings can be updated in the following ways:
- One-by-one using the product edit screen
- Using Excel to import supplier data
- Using the product list screen to batch update multiple products at once
Using the Report
By default, the report will show items for all suppliers. It only shows items where "on hand" is less than the minimum stock level for the selected warehouse. You always need to give the report a scope of a warehouse; you can't see all stock across all warehouses.
| Column Name | What does this column mean? |
| In stock | The total number of items you have in stock in the selected warehouse. |
| Allocated | Total number of items allocated to sales and, for Premium stock control users, also the number of items on Goods-out notes "in progress". |
| On hand | Total in stock less total allocated for the selected warehouse. |
| Open sales | How many items on sales that have not yet been allocated or fulfilled. Not limited to the selected warehouse. This excludes items on the status you have chosen to be the cancelled status. |
| Overage | The open sales less on hand, ie how many do I need to buy to fulfil all sales? |
| On PO | Any items that are due in on Purchase Orders that have not yet been received. Not limited to the selected warehouse. |
| Minimum stock level | For the selected warehouse, what is the minimum quantity I would like to have in stock. |
| Reorder Qty | When I reorder this item, how many do I buy at once? |
Creating a Purchase Order
If you limit the report to show all items for just one supplier, you'll get the option to create a Purchase Order. Brightpearl will suggest the number of items you should purchase to reach your required minimum stock whilst also giving enough extra to fulfil all open sales. You can edit the numbers then create a Purchase Order.
