Suppliers and reordering

Suppliers and reordering is the part of the app that looks upstream: what you order, from whom, on what terms, and what comes back. Inventory tells you what you have; this is where you decide what to buy.

You'll find it under Stock›Suppliers & Reordering and it needs Premium. The page is split into six tabs: Purchase orders, Suppliers, Import price list, Physical count, Returns & warranties, Supplier invoices.

Purchase orders#

If anything is below its reorder point, a banner at the top of the page shows the count and the first few items, plus a button to get started.

1. Generate the reorder

   Pick the supplier and you get the list of items below threshold, each with its stock level and threshold in front of you. Quantities are already suggested to bring you back above threshold; correct them where needed and untick anything you don't want to order now. The estimated cost is at the bottom.

2. Send it to the supplier

   The order starts as a Draft. Send to supplier emails a table of items, quantities, costs and total, and moves the order to Sent. It needs an email address on the supplier record; if there isn't one you can still mark the order as sent by hand — say, if you placed it over the phone.

3. Record the goods when they arrive

   When the delivery turns up, Goods received books every line of the order into stock and moves it to Received.

Clicking a row in the list expands the order's lines, with SKU, quantity and total.

Suppliers#

A supplier has four details: name (required), an email for orders, phone and VAT number. The list also shows how many purchase orders you have placed with them.

The email is the field that matters most: without it, orders can't go out on their own and you have to send them outside the app.

The list is add-only: you create a supplier here, you don't edit or delete one. A supplier you no longer use simply stops appearing on new orders.

Importing a supplier price list#

When a supplier sends you their price list, importing it saves hours: the products enter the catalogue with brand, code and description, and your buying terms are recorded.

1. Prepare a CSV

   The accepted format is CSV. If the supplier sends an Excel file, export it to CSV first. You can upload the file or paste the text.

2. Set the separators and the supplier

   Choose the column separator (comma, semicolon, tab) and the decimal separator (comma or point: 1.234,56 or 1,234.56). Then say which supplier the list belongs to.

3. Map the columns

   Required: GTIN / EAN and description. Optional: manufacturer code (MPN), brand, category, net cost, list price, discount %, supplier code, lead time, minimum order quantity. CrankPal guesses from the headers; you correct whatever it got wrong.

4. Check the preview and import

   You see total, valid and rejected rows, with the reason for each rejection: missing description, invalid GTIN, an in-store internal code, or no usable identifier. Under the counts, the What happens when you confirm box spells out the exact effect: how many rows become catalogue products (new and already there), how many supplier offers get updated, and that no stock item is created. Then you confirm.

5. Turn what you need into stock

   Once the import is done you get the list of rows from this supplier that have no stock item yet, with net cost and suggested selling price. Tick the ones you actually keep on the shelf and create them in one go (up to 200 at a time): they start at zero stock. The panel stays there even if you come back to the page tomorrow.

Items created this way start at zero stock, with cost and selling price already suggested from the price list: real quantities arrive when you book in a purchase order or close a stocktake. No quantity is ever born from the import.

Re-importing the same list with updated prices doesn't create duplicates: existing products are recognised, the offers are updated, and rows already linked to one of your items no longer show up among the ones to stock.

Physical count#

A stocktake brings your stock figures back in line with what is actually on the shelves. New count snapshots the whole warehouse and gives you a sheet with SKU, item and expected quantity.

You enter the counted pieces row by row: the value is saved when you leave the field, and the difference appears next to it. You don't have to finish in one go — you can leave the count open and come back, and the counter tells you how far along you are.

Returns and warranties#

This is where you track parts going back to the supplier. When you log a return you pick the item, the quantity, the reason — defective, warranty, wrong item, other — and a note.

A return takes the goods out of stock immediately, because that piece has physically left the building. If you don't have enough pieces, the return isn't logged.

When the supplier comes back to you, close it with one of three outcomes:

• Credited — they refunded you: the goods don't come back, stock stays as it is.
• Replaced — they sent a new part: stock is booked back in.
• Rejected — they didn't accept the return: the part is yours again and stock is booked back in.

Supplier invoices#

The electronic invoices your suppliers issue to you arrive here on their own, through the Italian exchange system. There is nothing to enter by hand and nothing to upload.

The list shows supplier, number, issue date, amount, when it arrived and its status: Received, Waiting for data (the notification arrived but not yet the document) or Error. Invoices you haven't opened carry a New badge and the tab shows the count.

Opening one shows the detail, including the supplier's VAT number and the raw data exactly as it arrived. Opening it marks it as read.

It is a read-only view: supplier invoices can't be edited or deleted — they are documents the supplier issued.

Common problems#