Inventory & Procurement is an optional module. A school that does not run a stockroom can disable it under Modules in Settings. When it is disabled, every Inventory page disappears from the sidebar, the daily low-stock check is skipped, and inventory notifications stop. The Assigned Items list on a student, teacher, or staff profile shows a locked notice until the module is turned back on.
Records you’ll work with
| Record | What it is |
|---|---|
| Product | A catalogue item the school stocks, such as exam paper, cooking oil, or a textbook title. Carries a category, a unit of measure, a unit price, and a reorder level. |
| Stock | The current quantity on hand for a product, with its storeroom location and the date it was last restocked. There is one stock record per product. |
| Stock movement | A single line in the running history of a product’s stock: every receipt, issue, adjustment, return, or wastage, with the quantity before and after the change and who made it. |
| Supplier | A vendor the school buys from. Holds the supplier’s contact details and payment terms, and links to the products they supply and the purchases placed with them. |
| Purchase | A procurement order placed with a supplier, made up of one or more item lines. Carries an order status and a payment status. |
| Purchase item | One product line on a purchase, with the quantity ordered, the quantity received, the unit price, and the line subtotal. |
| Requisition | A staff member’s request for stock of a product, with a reason and a priority, routed through an approval lifecycle. |
| Low-stock alert | A flag the system raises on its own when a product drops to or below its reorder level. |
What you can do
Catalogue
Add and categorise the products you track.
Suppliers
Keep supplier contacts and review their purchase history.
Purchases
Place orders and receive delivered goods into stock.
Stock
Read stock levels, adjust counts, and follow movement history.
Requisitions
Raise, approve, or reject staff requests for stock.
Low-stock alerts
Review what is running low and act on it.
Catalogue
A product is one item the school stocks. Before you can track stock, place a purchase, or raise a requisition, the product must exist in the catalogue. Open Products in the sidebar, or go to/products.
Add a product
Fill in the basic info
In Basic Info, enter the Name, an optional SKU (a stock-keeping code of your own), and an optional Description.
Set the category and unit
In Category & Measurement, pick the Category (see the categories below) and enter the Unit of Measure, the label this item is counted in, such as
box, kg, ream, or each.Set the supplier and price
In Supplier & Pricing, optionally pick a default Supplier for the item, and enter the Unit Price in KES.
Set the reorder rules
In Stock Management, enter the Reorder Level (the quantity at or below which the item counts as low stock and triggers an alert) and the Reorder Quantity (the amount the system suggests reordering when it runs low).
Edit or categorise a product
Open a product from Products and click Edit to change any detail. The product list can be filtered by Category, and a Low Stock toggle narrows it to items at or below their reorder level. Changing a product’s Reorder Level changes which items the next low-stock check flags. A product can be deleted from the list; deleting it removes it from the catalogue without erasing the stock history already recorded against it. [Insert screenshot: Products list at /products with columns Name, Category badge, Supplier, Unit Price, Current Stock, Reorder Level, the Category filter, and the Low Stock toggle]Product categories
Every product is filed under one category. The category groups products on the dashboard charts and the report filters. The categories are:- Library Books
- Kitchen Food
- Kitchen Equipment
- Stationery
- Cleaning
- Medical
- Sports
- Other
Suppliers
A supplier is a vendor the school buys from. Recording a supplier lets you set them as a product’s default vendor, place purchases against them, and review everything you have ordered from them in one place. Open Suppliers in the sidebar, or go to/suppliers.
Add a supplier
Enter the supplier details
Enter the Name, the Contact Person, the Email, the Phone, the Address, the Payment Terms (for example, “30 days”), and any Notes. Only the name is required.
Review a supplier’s purchase history
Open a supplier from Suppliers to view their record. The Products tab lists the catalogue items for which this supplier is the default vendor, and the Purchases tab lists every order placed with them, with each purchase’s date, invoice number, total amount, amount paid, payment status, and order status. Use Edit to update the supplier’s contacts or terms. [Insert screenshot: Supplier view page at /suppliers/ showing the supplier details and the Purchases tab with columns Purchase Date, Invoice Number, Total Amount, Amount Paid, Payment Status, and Status]Purchases
A purchase is an order placed with one supplier, made up of one or more item lines. Receiving a purchase is what posts the delivered goods into stock. Open Purchases in the sidebar, or go to/purchases.
Create a purchase
Fill in the order details
In Order Details, pick the Supplier, set the Purchase Date, enter an optional Invoice Number (the supplier’s own document number), and add any Notes.
Add the item lines
In Items, add one line per product. For each line pick the Product (the Unit Price fills in from the catalogue, and you can override it) and enter the Quantity. The line Subtotal is worked out for you, and the order Total Amount is the sum of the lines.
Record any payment up front (optional)
In Payment, set the Payment Status and the Amount Paid if you are paying with the order. These can also be updated later from the purchase list.
Place an order
When the order is sent to the supplier, open the purchase row on the Purchases list and use Mark as Ordered. The status moves from Draft to Ordered, recording that the order is now placed and awaiting delivery.Receive a purchase into stock
You will need: a purchase in the Ordered status. The Mark as Received action appears only on ordered purchases, so place the order first.
Stock is posted automatically
The purchase status moves to Received. Each item line’s received quantity is posted into stock as a receipt movement, the on-hand quantity for each product goes up, and each product’s last-restocked date is stamped. Any open requisitions for those products are marked fulfilled, and staff who handle inventory are notified that the delivery arrived.
Record a payment on a purchase
Use the Record Payment action on a purchase row to log money paid to the supplier. Enter the Amount Paid in KES. The amount is added to what has been paid so far, and the purchase’s payment status moves to Partial while a balance remains, or Paid once the total is covered. This payment tracks what the school owes the supplier; it is separate from the fee payments guardians make in Finance.Cancel a purchase
A purchase that will not be received can be set to Cancelled from its Edit page by changing the status. A cancelled order does not post anything into stock. Cancellation is final: a cancelled purchase stays cancelled.Stock
The Stock page is the live count of what the school holds. There is one stock row per product, started at zero when the product is created and changed only through the actions below, never typed in directly. Open Stock in the sidebar, or go to/stock.
View stock levels
The Stock list shows each product, its category, the Quantity In Stock (shown in red when at or below the reorder level), the reorder level, the storeroom location, and the date it was last restocked. Filter by Category, by Stock Level (Low, OK, or Out of Stock), or with the Low Stock toggle. [Insert screenshot: Stock list at /stock with columns Product, Category badge, Quantity In Stock, Reorder Level, Location, Last Restocked, the Category and Stock Level filters, and the Low Stock toggle]Adjust stock
You will need: the product already in the catalogue, with a stock row (created automatically when the product is added). Use an adjustment for corrections such as a stock-take difference, breakage, or expiry, when the count on hand does not match the count in the system.
Enter the corrected count
Enter the New Quantity (the true count you have physically confirmed) and a short Notes explaining the reason, so the history stays clear.
Issue stock to a person
Stock is issued to a student, teacher, or staff member from their own profile, not from the Stock page. Open the person’s profile in Users & Identity and use the Assigned Items tab. Click Issue Item, pick the item (the available stock shows beside it), enter the Quantity to Issue, and add a note. The on-hand quantity drops by the amount issued, an issue movement is recorded against that person, and the item appears in their Assigned Items list. See the Assigned Items report on the student profile.View movement history
Every change to a product’s stock is kept as a movement. Open a product from Products and use the Movements tab to read its full history, or use the Movements Report on the Stock list to export movements across products. Each movement is one of these types:- Purchase (incoming): stock received from a delivered purchase. Also stamps the last-restocked date.
- Return (incoming): stock returned into the store.
- Issue (outgoing): stock issued to a person or destination.
- Adjustment (outgoing correction): a stock-take or correction that lowers the recorded count.
- Wastage (outgoing): stock written off as damaged, expired, or lost.
Requisitions
A requisition is a staff member’s request for stock of a product. It records what is needed, why, and how urgently, and routes the request to leadership for a decision. Open Requisitions in the sidebar, or go to/stock-requisitions. The sidebar shows a badge with the number of requisitions still awaiting a decision.
Raise a requisition
You will need: the product already in the catalogue, so it can be picked on the request.
Fill in the request
Pick the Product, enter the Requested Quantity, pick the Reason and the Priority (see the values below), and add any Notes.
Approve or reject a requisition
You will need: a requisition in the Pending status, and the permission to approve requisitions (held by school leadership in the default role setup). The Approve and Reject actions appear only on pending requisitions.
Fulfil a requisition
A requisition is fulfilled by buying the stock. When you receive a purchase that includes the requested product, the system marks any matching pending or approved requisition for that product as Fulfilled automatically. There is no separate “issue against requisition” step; receiving the goods into stock closes the request.Requisition reasons and priorities
When raising a requisition you pick a reason and a priority. Neither is a status; they describe the request for its lifetime.- Reason: Low Stock, Out of Stock, New Requirement, or Damaged Items.
- Priority: Low, Medium, High, or Urgent.
Low-stock alerts
A low-stock alert flags a product that has dropped to or below its reorder level. The system raises alerts on its own, in two ways: a daily check runs each morning, and an alert is also raised the moment a stock movement leaves a product at or below its reorder level. Only one active alert exists per product per day, so you are not flooded with duplicates. Open Low Stock Alerts in the sidebar, or go to/low-stock-alerts. A red badge on the sidebar entry counts the active alerts.
Review and act on an alert
The list shows each alert’s product, category, current quantity, reorder level, the date it was raised, and its status. The actions available depend on the status:- Acknowledge (on an active alert) records that staff have seen it and are acting, moving it to Acknowledged.
- Dismiss (on an active alert) closes it straight away, moving it to Resolved, for cases where no action is needed.
- Create Requisition (on an acknowledged alert) opens a pre-filled requisition for the flagged product, so you can request a restock in one step. The quantity defaults to the product’s reorder quantity, and the priority defaults to High, or Urgent when the product is fully out of stock.
Statuses and lifecycle
Inventory carries three status lifecycles: one on purchases, one on requisitions, and one on low-stock alerts.Purchase statuses
| Status | What it means | Who can act | What they can do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Draft | The order is being assembled. Its lines are still editable. | Procurement, leadership | Edit the lines; mark the order placed; cancel it. |
| Ordered | The order has been placed with the supplier and is awaiting delivery. | Procurement, leadership | Mark the purchase received when the goods arrive; cancel it. |
| Received | The goods have been delivered. The items are posted into stock and any matching requisitions are fulfilled. | Procurement, leadership | Read the purchase; record payments against it. |
| Cancelled | The order was abandoned before receipt. Nothing was posted into stock. | (none) | Read the purchase. |
Requisition statuses
| Status | What it means | Who can act | What they can do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pending | A new request awaiting a decision. New requisitions start here. | Requester, leadership | The requester can edit or delete it; leadership can approve or reject it. |
| Approved | Leadership accepted the request. It now waits for the stock to be bought and received. | Leadership, procurement | Place a purchase for the product; the requisition is fulfilled when that purchase is received. |
| Ordered | A purchase has been raised to satisfy the request. | Procurement | The requisition is fulfilled when the matching purchase is received. |
| Fulfilled | The requested stock has arrived. Set automatically when a received purchase covers the product. | (none) | Read the requisition. |
| Rejected | The request was declined, with a reason recorded. | (none) | Read the requisition and its rejection reason. |
Low-stock alert statuses
| Status | What it means | Who can act | What they can do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active | The alert has just been raised; the product is still at or below its reorder level. | Inventory staff | Acknowledge it, dismiss it, or restock the product. |
| Acknowledged | Staff have seen the alert and are acting on it. | Inventory staff | Create a requisition for the product, or resolve the alert. |
| Resolved | The alert is closed, either because the stock was replenished or because it was dismissed. | (none) | Read the alert. |
How records relate
A few user-visible relationships are worth keeping in mind:- A product has exactly one stock record and a running history of stock movements. The stock count is never typed in directly; it moves only through receipts, issues, adjustments, returns, and wastage.
- A supplier supplies many products and fulfils many purchases. A product can name one supplier as its default vendor.
- A purchase belongs to one supplier and is made of one or more item lines, each tied to a product. Receiving the purchase posts each line’s received quantity into the matching product’s stock.
- A requisition is for one product. Receiving a purchase that includes that product fulfils the requisition.
- A low-stock alert belongs to one product. From an acknowledged alert you can spin up a requisition for that product in one step.
- Stock issued to a student, teacher, or staff member is recorded against that person and shows on their Assigned Items list in Users & Identity.
Reports and analytics
Inventory reports are generated from the page that owns the data. The first three are prepared in the background and you are notified when each is ready; the low-stock report downloads straight away.| Report | Where | Filters | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock Levels Report | Stock Levels Report header action on the Stock list | Optional category, format, low-stock-only toggle | PDF or Excel of products and their on-hand quantities |
| Movements Report | Movements Report header action on the Stock list | Date range, optional product, optional movement type, format | PDF or Excel of stock movements over the period |
| Requisitions Report | Requisitions Report header action on the Requisitions list | Optional priority, approved-only toggle, format | PDF or Excel of requisitions and their statuses |
| Low Stock Report | Low Stock Report header action on the Low Stock Alerts list | Optional category, format | PDF or Excel of products at or below their reorder level |
What guardians see
Guardians sign in to the same tenant subdomain as staff under the locked, read-only Guardian role. They do not see the Inventory pages: the Products, Suppliers, Purchases, Stock, Requisitions, and Low Stock Alerts sidebar entries are all staff-only. The one place inventory reaches a guardian is the Assigned Items tab on their own child’s profile, which lists items the school has issued to that child (the item, category, quantity issued, who issued it, any note, and the date). This list is read-only for guardians: the Issue Item action is hidden from the Guardian role, so a guardian can see what their child has been given but cannot issue, return, or change anything.FAQs and troubleshooting
How do I correct a wrong stock count?
How do I correct a wrong stock count?
Use Adjust Stock on the Stock list. Enter the true count you have physically confirmed as the new quantity and add a note explaining why (a stock-take difference, breakage, or expiry). The system records an adjustment movement for the difference, with your name against it, so the history stays auditable. Stock counts are never typed directly into the stock row; they only change through receipts, issues, adjustments, returns, and wastage.
I marked a purchase received with the wrong quantity. How do I fix the stock?
I marked a purchase received with the wrong quantity. How do I fix the stock?
Receiving a purchase is final and cannot be reversed, so do not re-receive it. Correct the on-hand count with Adjust Stock on the Stock list instead, entering the true quantity and a note explaining the receipt error. The adjustment leaves a clear trail of the correction.
Can a requisition be edited after it is submitted?
Can a requisition be edited after it is submitted?
Only while it is still Pending, and only by the person who raised it (or a staff member with permission to update requisitions). Once leadership approves or rejects it, the requisition is locked. If an approved request is no longer needed, it simply will not be fulfilled, since fulfilment happens when a matching purchase is received.
Why was a requisition marked Fulfilled when I did not touch it?
Why was a requisition marked Fulfilled when I did not touch it?
Requisitions are fulfilled automatically. When you receive a purchase that includes the requested product, the system marks any pending, approved, or ordered requisition for that product as Fulfilled. That is the intended flow: you satisfy a request by buying and receiving the stock, not by a separate manual step.
Why didn't a low-stock alert appear for an item I know is low?
Why didn't a low-stock alert appear for an item I know is low?
An alert is raised only when a product’s on-hand quantity is at or below its Reorder Level, and only one active alert exists per product per day. Check the product’s reorder level on the Products list: if it is set to zero or lower than you expect, raise it so the item is flagged sooner. The daily check also runs each morning, so an item that just dropped low may be flagged at the next run if no movement triggered an immediate alert.
What is the difference between dismissing and resolving an alert?
What is the difference between dismissing and resolving an alert?
Both close the alert and move it to Resolved. Dismiss is the action on an active alert for cases where no action is needed; Resolve Selected is the bulk equivalent. Resolving after acknowledging is the path you take once the stock has actually been replenished. In every case the alert ends as Resolved, and a fresh alert is raised if the product drops low again later.
How do I write off damaged or expired stock?
How do I write off damaged or expired stock?
Issuing and adjustment cover most corrections. For a downward correction such as a stock-take difference, breakage, or expiry, use Adjust Stock and enter the lower count with a note. The change is recorded as an adjustment movement so the loss is visible in the product’s movement history.