Enabling Serial Tracking on Inventory Items
Prerequisites
To enable and manage serial tracking on inventory items, your user account must have the INV_MANAGE_SERIALS permission. If you do not see the Track Serials option described below, contact your administrator to have this permission assigned to your role.
Step-by-Step: Enabling Serial Tracking
- Open the inventory item you want to track by serial number
- Scroll down to the Item Settings section on the item form
- Check the Track Serials checkbox
- Click Save to apply the change
Once the item is saved with serial tracking enabled, the item form reloads and a new Serials tab appears.
What Enabling Does
When you enable serial tracking on an item, a Serials tab is added to the item form. This tab contains a grid showing every serial number record associated with that item. From this tab you can view, add, import, and manage all serial records.
The Serials Tab Grid
The Serials tab displays a grid with the following columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Serial Number | The unique identifier for the individual unit |
| Status | Current status with a color indicator (In Stock, Sold, Returned, etc.) |
| Location | The location where this serial is currently held |
| Customer | The customer who purchased this serial (blank if unsold) |
| Warranty Status | Whether the serial is under warranty, expired, or has no warranty |
| Date Received | The date the serial was first entered into the system |
Adding a Serial Manually
To add a single serial number to an item:
- Open the item and navigate to the Serials tab
- Click the Add Serial button above the grid
- Enter the serial number in the dialog that appears
- Optionally set the location and enter any condition notes
- Click Save
The new serial record appears in the grid with a status of In Stock.
Viewing Serial Details
To view the full details and history of a serial number, double-click any row in the Serials grid. This opens the Serial Detail form, which shows the complete record including all status changes, associated transactions, warranty information, and condition notes.
Important Notes
- Existing stock is not affected. Enabling serial tracking does not change your current stock quantities. Serials are tracked alongside quantity, not instead of it. If you have 10 units already in stock, you will need to add serial records for those existing units manually or via import.
- Disabling serial tracking is not recommended once serials have been recorded. If you uncheck Track Serials, the Serials tab is hidden but existing serial records are preserved in the database.
Location Considerations
Each serial number belongs to a specific location. When you add a serial manually, it defaults to the item's primary location. If you operate multiple locations, serials at different locations are tracked independently. You can transfer serials between locations using the serial transfer feature, and each transfer is recorded in the serial's audit history.