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Managing Inventory

This is the hands-on guide to changing stock in TimberCloud: setting quantities, low-stock thresholds, moving stock between locations, and loading many items at once. The one thing to know up front — you do all of this from the Product Attribute builder (Products → Attributes), not from the Shop → Inventory dashboard.

Availability: Inventory editing is part of advanced product features — Build plan and up. Transferring stock requires two or more locations, which is a Production feature. See Subscriptions & Plans.

Important: The Shop → Inventory dashboard is read-only. Its detail popup only shows stock and offers a View Details link back to the product attribute. If you came here to "edit stock in the inventory dashboard," you're on the wrong screen — the real editing surface is the Location Inventory modal in the Product Attribute builder, described below.

The inventory structure

Inventory is organized around Product Attributes and Product Options:

ConceptDescriptionExample
Product AttributeA template that defines what fields each item has"Hardwood Lumber" with fields: Species, Grade, Size, Stock BF
Inventory field (part)A part on the attribute set to type Inventory — this is what gets a stock count"Stock BF"
Product OptionAn individual item under the attribute"Red Oak 1x6 Select"
Location inventory recordOne option's stock for one inventory field at one location"Red Oak 1x6 Select" has 500 BF at "Main Warehouse"

So a single product option can hold several inventory fields, and each field is tracked separately at each active location.

Setting up inventory items

Step 1: Add an inventory field to an attribute

  1. Go to Products → Attributes.
  2. Create a new attribute or open an existing one.
  3. In the Parts section, add a part, give it a name (e.g. "Stock BF"), and set its Type to Inventory.
  4. Save.

The moment you save, TimberCloud creates a stock record for that field at every active location. See Attributes and Parts & Cut Lists for more on building attributes and parts.

Step 2: Create the product options

Product options are the individual items:

  1. On the attribute page, add an option and fill in its field values (name, species, grade, and so on).
  2. Save — inventory records are created automatically for all active locations.

You can also Import CSV on the attribute page to load many options at once — upload a spreadsheet with columns matching your parts, then review and confirm.

Step 3: Sync Inventory (if records are missing)

If you added a location after creating some options, those older options won't have a record at the new location yet. Fix this with Sync Inventory:

  1. Open the attribute in Products → Attributes.
  2. Click Sync Inventory.

This creates any missing records so every active location has one for every inventory field. Sync also runs automatically when you save the attribute.

Editing stock: the Location Inventory modal

This is the core "adjust stock" workflow.

  1. Go to Products → Attributes and open the attribute.
  2. In the parts table, click the Manage button in an inventory item's cell. The Location Inventory modal opens for that product option.
  3. Under Existing Inventory Fields, you'll see a table per inventory field, with a row for each location showing:
    • Current Stock — an editable number
    • Low Stock Threshold — an editable number
    • Status — In Stock or Low Stock (updates after you save)
  4. Type new values into the Current Stock and/or Low Stock Threshold boxes for whichever locations you need.
  5. Click Save Changes.

That's how you make a manual adjustment — whether you found extra stock, wrote off damaged material, or are just entering an opening balance. Set the threshold here too; it's what drives the low-stock alert.

Tip: For corrections, it's good practice to note why the count changed (in your own records or an audit) — especially for large variances. TimberCloud doesn't require a reason, but your future self will thank you.

Transferring stock between locations

The same Location Inventory modal has a Transfer Inventory section — but it only appears when you have two or more locations (a Production feature). To move stock:

  1. Open the Location Inventory modal (click the Manage button in an inventory item's cell).
  2. Scroll to Transfer Inventory.
  3. Choose the Field to move, the From Location, the To Location, and the Amount.
  4. Click Transfer.

Stock is immediately deducted from the source location and added to the destination — there's no in-transit state. See Multi-Location Inventory for the bigger picture on warehouses and transfers.

Batch Inventory Update (many items at once)

When you need to set stock for several items across several locations — loading opening balances or reconciling after a physical count — use Batch Inventory Update instead of opening each item individually.

  1. Go to Products → Attributes, open the attribute, and click Edit to enter edit mode.
  2. In the parts table, select the rows (product options) you want to update.
  3. Click Update Inventory (or Update All Inventory if you didn't select any rows) to open the Batch Inventory Update grid.
  4. The grid shows your active locations and each inventory field. Type the new stock value wherever you want to change it.
  5. Click Update Inventory to save.

Empty boxes are left unchanged — only the fields you actually type into are updated. This makes it safe to touch just a few numbers across many items.

How orders draw stock down

You don't deduct stock by hand when you sell something — TimberCloud does it automatically when an order is placed. Each inventory field deducts one of two ways:

  • Simple quantity (default) — a 1:1 relationship. Order 5 boards, deduct 5.
  • Formula-based — a step formula converts the customer's configuration into stock units (board feet, square feet, waste factors, and so on).

You set the deduction formula on the inventory field, using the same Formula Builder as pricing. For the full walkthrough see Inventory Calculations.

Stock is deducted from the order's fulfillment location. If a deduction pushes an item below its threshold, the low-stock alert fires.

How receipts add stock back

The main way to add stock is through purchasing:

  1. Add a Vendor (see Vendors).
  2. Raise a Purchase Order and approve it — approval auto-emails the vendor a PDF. See Purchase Orders.
  3. When goods arrive, create a Receipt against that PO, enter the received quantities, and Post it. See Receiving.

Posting a receipt adds stock at the receiving location and advances the PO to Partially or Fully Received. Voiding a posted receipt reverses both the stock and the PO quantities.

Availability: Vendors, purchase orders, and receiving are Build plan and up. Physical-count audits are Production.

Troubleshooting

An item isn't showing up

  • Confirm the attribute actually has a part set to type Inventory.
  • Confirm the location is Active.
  • Click Sync Inventory on the attribute to create any missing records.
  • On the dashboard, check you're viewing the right location (or All Locations).

Stock is wrong after a receipt

  • Confirm the receipt was actually Posted, not left as a draft.
  • Check the receipt's location matches where you're looking.
  • Review the receipt's line quantities.
  • See if another receipt or a manual edit also touched the same item.

I can't find where to edit stock

You're likely on the Shop → Inventory dashboard, which is read-only. Go to Products → Attributes, open the attribute, and click the Manage button in the inventory item's cell to open the editable Location Inventory modal.

Next Steps

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