TexaCore is a general ERP for business owners and accountants, bringing accounting, inventory, and sales together in a free-forever desktop edition that works offline. Check the current subscription catalogue for cloud pricing, trial terms, and current limits.
· TexaCore
The short answer
Stock stays trustworthy only when every movement is recorded once, with the right unit and the right place. Three things usually break first: units (cartons bought, pieces sold, metres cut), identity (which roll, which serial number) and location (which warehouse, which shelf). TexaCore’s inventory module covers warehouses with shelf locations, item cards with packaging levels and their own barcodes, receipts, deliveries, transfers, counts, write-offs with approval, and tracing of serial numbers and individual fabric rolls. Lot and expiry-date tracking belongs to the pharmacy module, which is coming soon, and dye lot and grade are not yet recorded on a roll.
Where stock control slips
Raw materials and finished goods go wrong in the same few ways:
- The unit changes along the way. Goods are bought by the carton or pallet, issued by the piece and cut by the metre, and nobody converts consistently.
- Nobody knows where it is. Several warehouses, branches and vans, with transfers agreed by phone, and staff who spend the morning looking for a shelf.
- A roll or a serial number loses its identity. A fabric roll is cut until nobody knows how much is left, and a warranty claim cannot be traced to its sale.
- Shortages appear on the production floor. The minimum level lives in the storekeeper’s head, so a raw material runs out in the middle of an order.
- Counts are adjusted by editing numbers. The difference is overwritten instead of recorded, and nobody can tell a miscount from a loss.
- Damage disappears. A broken carton is quietly removed, with no reason, photo or approval.
What it costs the business
The effects are qualitative; how large they are depends on your range and volume, and a figure belongs to your own data.
- Stock-outs and overstock at the same time. Some items are missing when a customer or a production order needs them while others sit unsold and tie up money.
- Hours lost searching and recounting. Staff time goes into finding goods and repeating counts.
- Hidden shrinkage. Losses and damage are absorbed into adjustments, so nobody learns where they happen.
- A wrong cost of sales. If quantities are wrong, the cost that reaches the accounts is wrong too (see how stock movements affect cost of goods sold).
- Slow answers to customers. “Do you have it, and where?” takes a phone call.
- Disputes about warranty and returns, because a sold unit cannot be traced.
Four records that keep stock honest
Whatever software you use, four records keep stock honest:
- A base unit and its packaging levels, so a carton, a pallet and a piece are the same item expressed in different units.
- A place, from the warehouse down to the shelf.
- An identity where it matters, such as a roll number or a serial number, for goods that are sold or cut one at a time.
- A movement for every change, with a document behind it, so that the quantity on hand is the sum of movements and not a number somebody edited.
Costing follows from the last point. IAS 2 allows specific identification, first-in first-out or a weighted average to carry stock at cost, and it requires a write-down when net realisable value falls below cost. None of that works if the quantities cannot be traced to movements.
How TexaCore solves it
Each row below is a published capability of the inventory module, of roll management or, where marked, of the manufacturing and pharmacy modules.
| The problem | What TexaCore does | Status |
|---|---|---|
| The unit changes along the way | Each item card carries its base unit and packaging levels such as carton or pallet, each with its own barcode, plus minimum and maximum stock levels. Sales and purchases can be made in boxes, cartons or pallets defined on the item, and a scan field adds lines by item, packaging or roll barcode. | Available today |
| Nobody knows where it is | Warehouses by type (main, branch, store, van and more), divided into row, column and shelf bins with an occupancy map. The inventory list shows stock per material and warehouse and flags items at or below their minimum level. | Available today |
| Movements without documents | Receive goods against a purchase invoice, container, transfer or return, and deliver sales documents; each operation runs as one server transaction. A delivery note can be made from an order, and an order can be delivered in several parts. | Available today |
| Transfers agreed by phone | A transfer document with stages (draft, confirmed, loading, shipped, received), numbered ST-year-sequence at first save, that records the driver, vehicle or carrier. The shipping stage currently handles fabric rolls. | Available today |
| Shipping other materials between warehouses | Extending the shipping stage of a transfer beyond fabric rolls. | Planned |
| A roll or a serial number loses its identity | Each fabric roll has its own number and QR label, its length entered at receipt and the remainder kept after every cut, plus colour, bin, cost and movement history; find a roll in the sales sheet by typing or scanning. Serial numbers are captured at receipt, and any serial, chassis, engine or plate number can be traced to its purchase, sale and warranty. | Available today |
| Counts adjusted by editing numbers | Plan a count by warehouse, review the variances and finalise it in one server step that posts the adjustments. A damage write-off needs a reason and at least one photo, goes through approval, posts to the ledger and can be reversed. | Available today |
| Raw materials in bags and pallets | In manufacturing, confirming an order plans batches and pallets and gives every bag a serial number and a unique code, with printable labels; damaged bags can be voided or replaced. | Available today · being field-proven |
| Lots and expiry dates for medicines | Lots with expiry dates and first-expiry-first-out are part of the pharmacy module. | Coming soon |
Know the limits. Minimum and maximum levels are stored and drive the low-stock flag, but they do not create purchase requests automatically yet. On a roll, grade, dye lot and weight are not recorded yet, and there is no sample-cutting flow. The core ERP does not record lots or expiry dates today.
How to start
- Define the warehouses first, by type, and split the main ones into row, column and shelf bins.
- Create item cards with the base unit, then add the packaging levels (carton, pallet) with their barcodes and set minimum levels for the raw materials that must never run out.
- Load the opening quantities by warehouse. If you already have a list, import materials with prices, opening quantities and warehouses from Excel or CSV.
- Count one warehouse and finalise the count, so that the first variances are recorded instead of overwritten.
- Move the movements onto documents: receive against purchase documents, deliver against sales documents and transfer with a transfer document.
You can try this on the free Desktop Edition, which works offline on your computer within the free plan’s usage limits, or on a 30-day cloud trial. Which modules each plan includes is on the pricing page. If you sell by the bag, pallet or ton, see also the building-materials solution.
About this article
Published by TexaCore. It explains general ideas in plain terms; accounting policy, tax and statutory rules are not covered, so confirm them with a qualified accountant. Statements about TexaCore describe the modules’ published pages on the date above, and each feature row carries its status. The outside standard used is listed under Sources.
Related reading
FAQ
- How do I keep an item in cartons and sell it by the piece?
- Define the item once with a base unit and packaging levels such as carton or pallet, each with its own barcode. Sales and purchases can then be made in any of those units, and a scan field adds lines by item, packaging or roll barcode.
- Can TexaCore track each fabric roll?
- Yes. Each roll has its own number and QR label, its length is entered at receipt and the remainder is kept after every cut. The roll sheet shows its length, status, bin, cost and movement history. Grade, dye lot and weight are not recorded on the roll yet.
- Does it track serial numbers and warranty?
- Serial numbers are captured at receipt, and any serial, chassis, engine or plate number can be traced to its purchase, sale and warranty.
- Does it track lots and expiry dates?
- Not in the core ERP today. Lots with expiry dates and first-expiry-first-out belong to the pharmacy module, which is coming soon. In manufacturing, bags and pallets get serial numbers and codes, and held production batches can be released or rejected behind a quality gate.
- What happens when stock reaches its minimum level?
- The inventory list flags items at or below their minimum level. The levels do not create purchase requests automatically yet.
- How are counts and damaged goods handled?
- A count is planned by warehouse, its variances are reviewed and it is finalised in one server step that posts the adjustments. A write-off needs a reason and at least one photo, goes through approval, posts to the ledger and can be reversed.
Sources
- IAS 2 Inventories — IFRS Foundation / IASBCost formulas for inventories (specific identification, first-in first-out, weighted average) and the write-down to net realisable value.