Wattle Clinic Docs

Optionally track stock levels for medicines, vaccines and supplies - receive stock, watch it deplete as you bill, and get low-stock and expiry alerts.

For (management)OwnersPractice Managers

Wattle can keep a running count of how much of each product you hold, so you know when to reorder and which batches are about to expire. Catalogue → Inventory tab in the sidebar.

It's optional and off by default. Plenty of clinics never turn it on. Once it is on, charging a tracked product on a visit draws its stock down for you - nothing extra to click.

Only physical products can be tracked - medications, vaccines and supplies. Consultations, procedures and other services have nothing to count, so they never appear here.

Common tasks

I want to...	Do this
Turn it on everywhere	Inventory tab → Enable for all products
Track one product	Its catalogue item → Track stock toggle → save
Track every new product automatically	Settings → Clinic → Inventory → Track stock by default
Set how I buy it	Catalogue item → Pricing, units & stock → unit rows + Reorder point
Record a delivery	Stock drawer → Receive stock → quantity + unit → batch + expiry
Nudge a count	Stock drawer → the lot → Adjust
Bin broken or expired stock	Stock drawer → the lot → Write off
Reconcile a physical count	Stock drawer → the lot → Stock count
See what's low or expiring	The Inventory tab banner, and the notification bell

Setting a product up

In Pricing, units & stock, list every unit you handle and how they relate:

One unit is the base - what stock is counted in, usually the smallest (mL, tablet). Its conversion is locked at 1.
Every other unit says how many base units one of these equals: a 50 mL bottle is 50; a box of 100 tablets is 100.
Each row has its own Cost and Sale, so a single tablet and a box can be priced independently.

Then set the Reorder point - the level at which Wattle warns you.

One list of units does everything. The same rows drive selling, receiving and counting - there's no separate "stock unit" or "pack size". Bill or receive in any unit and Wattle converts.

How stock goes down

Charging a tracked product on a visit depletes it at the moment you add the charge. Two things worth knowing:

Oldest expiry first (FEFO). Wattle takes from the batch with the earliest expiry date, so soon-to-expire stock gets used before fresher stock.
Unit conversion is automatic. Bill a box of 100 and 100 come off; bill a single tablet and 1 comes off.

Negative stock is allowed. If a count drops below zero, Wattle won't block the charge - billing always comes first, and the negative is the signal that something needs reconciling. You'll never be stopped from billing a client because the count looks off. Put it right at your next stocktake.

Receiving stock

Open the product's stock drawer → Receive stock. Enter the quantity and pick the unit it arrived in - a delivery of 2 × 50 mL bottles is 2 bottle and books in as 100 mL.

Then enter the batch number and expiry date. Wattle keeps each batch separately, which is what lets it warn you about the right expiry and run down the oldest stock first. Worth the few extra seconds at delivery time.

Alerts

Alert	Means	Do
Low stock	At or below the reorder point	Reorder, then Receive stock when it lands
Expiring soon	A batch is near its expiry	Use it first (FEFO already favours it), or write it off if it's past

Both appear as a banner on the Inventory tab and in the notification bell, so you catch them either way.

A product with no reorder point never triggers a low-stock warning - Wattle has nothing to compare against. Set one on anything you want to hear about.

Controlled drugs are different

Controlled drugs are counted in the Schedule 8 register - a separate, tamper-evident, vet-signed record, not ordinary inventory.

On the Inventory tab their row is badged Schedule 8 register and reads "In register" instead of a count. Clicking a stock action there doesn't write inventory; Wattle points you to the register instead, so a controlled drug can never end up with two competing counts.

All S8 stock movements - receipts, adjustments, stock checks, destruction - happen in the register. The Inventory tab only mirrors the balance.

Gotchas

No Track stock toggle means the item is a service. Only physical products can be counted.
Adjustments and counts are per lot, not per product, because each batch is tracked separately for expiry and FEFO. Open the drawer and pick the batch.
Can't see the Inventory tab at all? The catalogue may be limited to owner and admin accounts.

The catalogue · Dispensing labels · Schedule 8 register · Consultations · Notifications

Inventory & stock tracking