V8 - Serial inventory

Although all serial items are included on the Items list (Operations menu > Inventory > Items), this list is not designed to provide specific information on each serial unit you have in inventory or that of each serial unit sold. The Serial Inventory list (Operations menu > Inventory > Serial inventory), however, fills this important gap. It includes the item name, its serial number, the location where it is housed—or the customer to whom the unit was sold, and its status (in-stock, used, shipped, or adjusted out). If a warranty was defined for the item, the Serial inventory list also includes the type of warranty, along with its start and end dates. 

Under Inventory settings (Settings > Inventory settings), you can select Value serials by specific ID, which means that each serial item brought into the system will keep the exact value it was entered in, regardless of the valuation method. This value can be modified using a manufacturing transaction.

The Plus and Pro plans of SOS Inventory support serialized inventory.

Automating serial numbers

In the Purchasing settings (Settings > Purchasing settings), you can enable settings to automate the generation of serial numbers, add a prefix to the number, set the number length, and either generate the numbers randomly or keep them in sequence by providing a starting sequence number.

Creating a new serial-tracked item

If you need to enable serial tracking for existing items that are not currently serial tracked, the steps involved are different from those listed here. Refer to Converting a non-serial-tracked item to a serial-tracked item on this page for more information.

To turn on serial tracking for a new item, do the following:

1. Create a new item using either of the following methods:
   1. On the Task bar, go to the Quick Add menu and select Item (Quick add > Inventory > Item), or
   2. Go to the Items list (Operations menu > Inventory > Items), then select Add new.
       
2. On the item Edit page:
   1. Enable the Track serial numbers setting.
   2. Enter data in other fields as needed. (Do not enter any data in the Starting inventory fields.)
   3. Save.
       
3. Load stock into inventory. Loading quantities with an item receipt (Operations menu > Purchasing > Item receipts) is the recommended method. The alternate approach is to load one unit at a time via the Serial inventory list (Operations menu > Inventory > Serial inventory). Using this alternate approach also does not allow you to have control over the value of the item. It uses the purchase cost from the item definition.
    
   warningIMPORTANT: You MUST create the item first and set it as serial tracked before loading quantities. A bulk edit cannot be used to change the quantity or value of serial items.  

Converting a non-serial-tracked item to a serial-tracked item

The steps required to convert an existing non-serial-tracked item to a serial-tracked item depend upon whether its current stock level is at zero.

If the item has a stock level of zero  

1. On the Items list (Operations menu > Inventory > Items), choose Edit on the item's Actions menu. 

2. Enable Track serial numbers on the item's Edit page. 

3. Select Save and close. 

4. No further action is needed.  
    

If the item has a stock level other than zero 

1. Disable syncing between SOS Inventory and QuickBooks Online.

   1. Go to the QuickBooks sync settings page (Settings > QuickBooks setup). 

   2. Set the Directional sync field to Do not send data in either direction. 

   3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Update.
       

2. Run the Inventory stock status report (Operations menu > Reports > Inventory > Inventory stock status).

   1. Under the Filters section:

      1. Select All for the Location.

      2. Enter the name of the item in the Item name contains filter.

   2. Under the Actions section, select Display report. 

   3. In the report results, note the locations where the item is present and the quantities at each location. 
       

3. For each location with quantities of the item, create an inventory adjustment (Quick add > Inventory > Adjustment). Change the quantity to zero for each adjustment, noting the value of the adjustment for that location.
    

4. Go to the Sync queue (Sync > Preview Sync). Scroll to the bottom of the list and delete the adjustment transactions from the queue. (This does not affect QuickBooks since serial numbers are merely added to existing stock in SOS Inventory.)
    

5. Go to the item’s record in the Items list (Operations menu > Inventory > Items) and select Edit on the item's Actions menu.

   1. Enable Track serial numbers.

   2. Select Save and close. 
       

6. Create an item receipt (Quick add > Purchasing > Item receipt) for each location in which you adjusted the item.  
    

   warningIMPORTANT: You MUST edit the item and set it as serial-tracked before loading quantities. A bulk edit cannot be used to change the quantity or value of serial items.  

    

   1. Select the vendor from which the items were purchased.

   2. Select the location to which you are reloading the now serial-tracked item.

   3. Add the serial-tracked item to the line items table and include for that location the following information. (Refer to the Methods for serial number entry on transactions section of this page if needed.)

      1. Quantity of the serial item.

      2. Appropriate serial number(s).

      3. Total value of the serial item(s) in the Amount column. 

   4. Set the Payment option to None.

   5. Select Save and close. 
       

7. Once all locations have been restocked, check the Items list and the Serial inventory list to validate that the item is correctly serial-tracked. 
    

8. Restore syncing between SOS Inventory and QuickBooks Online.

   1. Go to the QuickBooks sync settings page (Settings > QuickBooks setup). 

   2. Set the Directional sync field to Send data in both directions. 

   3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Update.

Using serial items on transactions

Once serial tracking has been enabled, whenever you specify that item in transactions, the system will prompt you to do one of the following:

• Assign a serial number to every serial unit that is added to inventory via an item receipt or is an output of a build or process. A serial number for each serial unit that is received or manufactured must be specified before it can be added to inventory.
   
• On other types of transactions, identify which serial unit is being referenced by selecting its associated serial number. When shipping a serial item, for example, it is important to indicate on the transaction which serial unit is being sent to your customer. Pick from the serial number dropdown for that item the serial number that matches the unit you are shipping. This same principle applies to serial items on transfers, adjustments, pick tickets, returns to vendors, returns, and rentals, as well as the input items used on builds and processes.

Methods for serial number entry on transactions 

SOS Inventory offers several different methods of entering serial numbers for serial-tracked items on item receipts and manufacturing transactions.

The first method is via the S/N (serial number) fields in the Description column. The number of S/N fields displayed on the transaction will match the value in the Quantity column for that item. For example, if you create an item receipt to receive a quantity of 5 units of serial item Armenian Mantel Clock into inventory, the system will provide in the Description column 5 S/N fields, one field for each serial unit, as shown in the screenshot below.

Note that the screenshot also includes two other methods for entering serial numbers into SOS Inventory: an Upload button and a field option labeled Auto serial/lot numbers. 

Below are the situations in which each method is used:

• S/N fields. Scanning or manually typing the serial numbers is commonly done when receiving serial-tracked items from a vendor.
   
• Auto serial/lot numbers. System-generated numbers are the easiest option when using a build or process transaction in the manufacture of serial-tracked items. When you check the Auto serial/lot numbers box on the transaction, the S/N field boxes disappear. When the transaction is saved, the system assigns serial numbers according to the automated serial number specifications established by your company in the Purchasing settings (Settings > Purchasing settings). Open the saved transaction to see the serial numbers assigned.
   
• Upload. Use the Upload button to import a .csv file containing the serial numbers. SOS Inventory will use the numbers contained in the file to populate the S/N fields. Vendors from whom you purchase serial items may include a .csv file with their serial numbers in the shipment. You can also create a .csv file and upload it for your manufactured serial items.

   

  edit_noteNOTE: If you elect to upload the serial numbers via a .csv file, the number of serials included in the file must match the quantity specified for that serial item on the transaction. 

Selecting a serial unit on other transactions or an input on a build or process transaction

After serial units have been assigned their respective serial numbers, you must indicate on transactions which unit(s) you are shipping, adjusting, transferring, etc.  Select from the S/N dropdown in the Description column the serial number that corresponds to the unit being shipped, adjusted, transferred, etc. Below is a screenshot of the serials available in the dropdown for our Armenian Mantel Clock example:

Adding the historical records of serial items already shipped to a customer

If you want to add historical records of serial items that are at a customer site, select the customer name from the Customer dropdown list when entering a new serial item on the Serial inventory page. Either way, once you add a serial item to either a location or a customer, it cannot be changed by editing the serial item, but only via transactions like shipments or returns.

Viewing the history of a serial item

To access a serial item's history, go to either: (1) the Serial inventory list (Operations menu > Inventory > Serial inventory) and use the item’s Actions menu to select Transaction history; or (2) the Serial unit history report (Operations menu > Reports > Inventory > Serial unit history) to see transaction histories of multiple serial items at the same time.

Using warranties with serial items

To use a warranty for a serial item, the warranty must be defined in SOS as well as assigned to the item in the item definition.

Once your warranties are configured and assigned to items, warranty information for serial inventory items will be included on packing lists of shipments to customers if Show warranty on serial units is enabled under the Shipment section of the Sales settings (Settings > Sales settings > Shipments). The warranty goes into effect on the date the item is shipped and may be changed manually by editing the serial record on the Serial inventory list.

Warranty information will be added automatically to the serial unit’s Edit page after shipment. Warranty information is stored under the Serial inventory list and also can be viewed by enabling that list's warranty-related columns with the Column chooser.

See Warranties for more information about creating and using warranties.