Catalog
The Catalog is the master list of what you sell, buy and store. Every other module uses it: Inventory keeps stock of catalog items, Sales sells them and Purchasing buys them. Set it up carefully once, and everything else gets easier.
The Catalog has three levels:
| Level | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Category | A group used to organise products. Categories can sit inside other categories. | Clothing › T-shirts |
| Product | The thing you sell, with shared details: name, type, unit, category | Cotton T-shirt |
| Variant | One specific version of the product, with its own codes, colour, size and prices. Every product has at least one. Stock, prices and barcodes belong to variants. | Cotton T-shirt, Blue, Large (SKU TS-BLU-L) |
How to use this guide
Every task page follows the same pattern:
- Where (the menu) and Who can do it (the permission);
- numbered steps with the exact button and field names;
- a field table with an example for each field;
- the messages you may see, with what they mean and what to do.
All examples use the same invented company as the Inventory guide, Bright Home Supplies.
The example used in this guide
| Product | Category | Variants |
|---|---|---|
Cotton T-shirt (TSHIRT-COTTON) | Clothing › T-shirts | Blue / Large (TS-BLU-L), Red / Medium (TS-RED-M) |
Ceramic Mug (MUG-CERAMIC) | Kitchen › Mugs and cups | one standard variant (MUG-STD) |
The Catalog pages
Open Catalog from the Dashboard. These buttons appear under the top bar:
| Button | What it's for | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Categories | Create and organise categories | Manage categories |
| Products | Create products and their variants; search and review | Create a product, Variants, Find products |
The drop-down lists in the product form (colours, sizes, shapes, units) come from Settings → Master data (open Settings from the Dashboard). See Set up master data.
Where to start
Setting up for the first time? Work through these in order:
- Check you have the right access
- Set up master data: the colours, sizes and units you use
- Create your categories
- Create your products and variants
- Load opening stock in Inventory
Learning? Try the worked example. Stuck? See Messages and FAQ.