Inventory Management in CRM: Stock, Reserves and Stocktakes
A sales rep promises a client goods that are already gone: a colleague sold the last five units yesterday, and the stock spreadsheet won't be updated until Friday. As long as the warehouse lives separately from sales, mistakes like this are inevitable. In emyCRM, you connect the warehouse in the marketplace, and it's linked to deals: a product in a deal is reserved automatically, and a won deal writes it off the stock on its own.
Contents
- Receipt No. 14: +20 pcs
- Reserved for a deal: 5 pcs · Nordholz Möbel · Supply
- Deal won — 5 pcs written off · Nordholz Möbel · Supply
- Stock count: actual 26, difference −1
How to connect the warehouse
“Warehouse” is a marketplace app: it's free and is turned on for the whole workspace at once. The first time you open it, a “Main warehouse” appears automatically; you add more warehouses with the “Configure” button on the app's page, which is also where you choose the default warehouse and the order in the list. A warehouse that holds a reserve can't be deleted.
Products and stock
Products come from the CRM's shared catalog: type, SKU, section, price, purchase price, VAT, unit of measure and photo. The product list gets an “In stock” column, and the product card gets a “Warehouse” tab with the current stock, the quantity reserved for deals and the available quantity.
The “Stock” tab in the “Warehouse” section shows a summary: how many items there are, how many are in stock, how many are running low (five or fewer left), what's out of stock entirely and what the stock is worth. You can view the table for one warehouse or for all of them at once, and search it by name or SKU.
Documents: receipts, write-offs, transfers
- Receipt: goods coming in from a supplier. The supplier is picked from the companies in the CRM, and the lines carry purchase prices.
- Write-off: defects, spoilage, internal use; the CRM won't let you write off more than is available.
- Transfer: between warehouses, also within what's available.
- Return: goods a client has sent back.
- Stocktake: “On books,” “Counted” and “Difference” columns; a surplus is added to stock, and a shortage is written off.
Each document type has its own numbering. A document is first saved as a draft and then posted; posting can be reversed, a document can be duplicated, and several drafts can be posted at once. The printable form has signature lines for “Person in charge” and “Released by / Received by,” and the stocktake form also has “Committee chair.”
Reserving stock for a deal and writing it off on sale
This is where the warehouse meets sales. As soon as a product goes into an open deal, it's reserved at the warehouse, and a colleague can no longer sell the same unit a second time. The deal card has a “Warehouse reserve” panel where you can pick a different warehouse. Win the deal, and the CRM creates a write-off on its own; lose it, and the reserve is released. Services and discounts aren't reserved.
Stock in the CRM isn't a number in a cell but the sum of all posted movements. That's why it can't be quietly “adjusted”: every change is a document, and you can see who posted it and when.
Unit cost
Unit cost is calculated as the weighted average purchase price across posted receipts and returns; until there are any, the purchase price from the product card is used. It makes up the “Stock value” in the summary and the “Unit cost” column in the table.
| What happened | What the CRM does |
|---|---|
| A shipment arrived from a supplier | A “Receipt” with purchase prices — stock and unit cost are recalculated |
| A rep added a product to a deal | The product is reserved, and “Available” goes down |
| The deal was won | A write-off is created automatically |
| The deal was lost | The reserve is released |
| The warehouse was counted | A “Stocktake” adds the surplus and writes off the shortage |
Who can do what
Warehouse permissions are a separate “Stock tracking” group in roles: posting operations (receipt, write-off, transfer, stocktake) and managing the list of warehouses. In a new workspace, the Manager role sees stock but doesn't post documents — the administrator decides who gets that permission. Read more in our article on CRM roles and permissions.
Website and clinic integrations
If you sell products through a WordPress site with WooCommerce, the CRM sends the price and available stock there by SKU — already net of the reserve.
In the “Clinic” and “Dentistry” apps, materials are written off from stock according to material cards when a visit is completed — more on that in our article on CRM for clinics and dental practices.
How to get started
- Connect “Warehouse” in the marketplace and add your warehouses if you have more than one.
- Check your catalog: SKUs, units of measure and purchase prices.
- Post a “Stocktake” — that's how your opening stock gets into the CRM.
- Give the storekeeper permission to post operations, and leave reps with view access to stock.
- Run your sales through deals — reserving and writing off will happen on their own.
How much does inventory management in emyCRM cost?
How is a product reserved for a deal?
Can I manage several warehouses?
How do I load my opening stock?
Are there barcodes?
Connect the warehouse and link it to your deals
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