Creating and Editing Inventory Items

The item form is where you define everything about a product — from its name and type to its physical dimensions, unit of measure, and category assignment. This guide walks through every field on the General tab, which is the starting point for every new item.

Opening the Item Form

You can open the item form in several ways:

• Inventory > Add New Item — Creates a blank form for a new item
• Double-click an item in the Inventory Browser (in Edit mode) — Opens the existing item for editing
• Right-click > Edit on any item in the Inventory Browser

Item Type

The Item Type dropdown at the top of the General tab determines the fundamental behavior of the item. You must select this first, as it affects which fields are available:

Most items will use the Physical type. Select Service for labor, consulting, warranties, or any non-tangible product you sell.

Required Fields

Only one field is truly required to save an inventory item:

• Name — The display name of the item. This is what appears in the POS, on invoices, in reports, and throughout the system. Choose a clear, descriptive name.

All other fields are optional and can be filled in at any time after the initial save.

Identification Fields

SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)

A text field for your internal stock keeping unit code. This is searchable in the inventory browser and can be used for barcode scanning at the POS.

Barcode

The barcode field stores the scannable barcode value for the item. Two convenience buttons appear next to this field:

• Copy ID — Generates a barcode in the format "IM" followed by a 9-digit zero-padded item ID (e.g., "IM000001234"). This is useful when you want to create internal barcodes based on the AccuArk item ID.
• Copy UPC — Copies the value from the SKU field into the Barcode field. Use this when your SKU is already a scannable UPC/EAN code.

Model

The manufacturer's model number or identifier. Searchable in the inventory browser.

Reference

A general-purpose reference field for your own internal coding system. Searchable in the inventory browser.

Description

A multi-line text area for a detailed description of the item. The description can be used in two ways:

• Internal reference — Staff can read it when browsing or editing items
• Print on Invoice — Check the Print Description on Invoice checkbox to include the description text on customer invoices and receipts

The Print on Invoice checkbox is located directly below the description field.

Manufacturer

Assign a manufacturer to the item using the manufacturer picker:

• Browse button — Opens the manufacturer list to select an existing manufacturer
• Clear button — Removes the current manufacturer assignment

Manufacturers are managed under Inventory > Manufacturers. Assigning a manufacturer is optional but helps with reporting and vendor management.

Physical Properties

These fields are only visible for Physical items (Type = 0) and Gas Pump items (Type = 2). They are hidden when the item type is Service.

Physical properties are optional. They are useful for shipping calculations and warehouse management but are not required for basic inventory tracking.

Unit of Measure

AccuArk supports a dual unit of measure system that handles the common scenario where you buy in one unit and sell in another:

Base UOM

The base unit of measure is the unit you sell in and track stock in. Examples: "Each", "Pound", "Liter", "Foot".

Purchase UOM

The purchase unit of measure is the unit your vendor sells to you in. Examples: "Case", "Box", "Pallet", "Dozen".

Conversion Factor

The conversion factor tells AccuArk how many base units are in one purchase unit. For example:

• If you sell individual cans (Base UOM = "Each") but buy in cases of 24 (Purchase UOM = "Case"), the conversion factor is 24
• If you sell by the foot (Base UOM = "Foot") but buy in rolls of 100 feet (Purchase UOM = "Roll"), the conversion factor is 100

The conversion factor is used during purchase order receiving. When you receive 5 cases of an item with a conversion factor of 24, AccuArk adds 120 base units (5 x 24) to your stock.

Category and Class Assignment

Category

Select a category from the dropdown to organize the item within your category hierarchy. Categories drive:

• Inventory browser filtering (the category tree view)
• Report grouping
• Receiving routing rules (category-level zone routing)

The inline New button next to the category dropdown lets you create a new category without leaving the item form. The Edit button opens the selected category for modification.

Class

Select a class to associate the item with an attribute template. Items in the same class share the same set of configurable attributes. For example, all items in the "Apparel" class might have Size and Color attributes.

The inline New and Edit buttons work the same as for categories.

Enabling and Disabling Items

The Disabled checkbox on the General tab controls whether an item is active or inactive:

• Unchecked (enabled) — The item appears in the POS, can be sold, purchased, and managed normally
• Checked (disabled) — The item is hidden from the POS item browser, cannot be added to new transactions, but all historical data is preserved

Disabling an item does NOT delete it or remove its stock. The item's stock quantities, transaction history, pricing, and all other data remain intact. Reports continue to include the item's historical data. You can re-enable a disabled item at any time by unchecking the Disabled checkbox.

In the Inventory Browser, disabled items appear with a red background and yellow text so they are visually distinct from active items.

Tips

• Name is king — Since the name is the most visible identifier across the entire system, invest time in consistent naming conventions (e.g., "Brand - Product - Size" or "Category - Name - Variant")
• Set the type first — Changing the item type after creation can have side effects on stock tracking and available fields, so choose correctly from the start
• Use the Copy ID button — If you do not have existing barcodes for your products, the auto-generated "IM" + ID format gives you a unique, scannable barcode for each item
• Fill in UOM early — If your vendor ships in cases but you sell individually, setting up the conversion factor before your first purchase order ensures receiving quantities are calculated correctly