Inventory & stock tracking
Optionally track stock levels for medicines, vaccines and supplies — receive stock, watch it deplete as you bill, and get low-stock and expiry alerts.
Inventory lets Wattle 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. It sits on the Inventory tab inside your catalogue.
It's entirely optional, and it's off by default. Plenty of clinics never turn it on and bill perfectly happily without it. Switch it on only if you want Wattle to count stock for you. Once it's on, charging a tracked product on a visit quietly draws its stock down for you — you don't do anything special.
Where to find it
Open Settings → Catalogue and click the Inventory tab across the top (alongside Catalogue Items, Packages and Categories).
Only physical products can be tracked. Inventory is for things you actually hold on a shelf — medications, vaccines and supplies. Consultations, procedures, diagnostics and other services have nothing to count, so they can't be tracked and won't appear here. That's by design, not a fault.
Can't see this? The catalogue and its Inventory tab may be limited to owner and admin accounts. If you don't see it, ask whoever set up your clinic.
Turning it on
You can switch tracking on for everything at once, or product by product — whichever suits.
Turn tracking on for all products
Usually: owner or admin, during setup.
Quick version — Catalogue → Inventory tab → Enable for all products.
Step by step
- Go to Settings → Catalogue and open the Inventory tab.
- Click Enable for all products.
- Every trackable product (medications, vaccines and supplies) switches on at once. Services are left alone.
This is the quickest way to start. You can still turn individual items off afterwards if you don't want to count them.
Want every new product tracked automatically? Turn on Track stock by default under Settings → Clinic → Inventory. New catalogue products then start with stock tracking pre-selected — you can still switch it off per item.
Turn tracking on for one product
Usually: owner or admin.
If you'd rather pick and choose, you can flip tracking on for a single product from its catalogue item.
Step by step
- On the Catalogue Items tab, open the product you want to track.
- Find the Track stock toggle and switch it on.
- Save.
The product now appears on the Inventory tab with a stock count.
If something looks wrong
- The Track stock toggle isn't there → the item is a service (a consult, procedure or the like), and services can't be tracked. Only medications, vaccines and supplies have stock to count.
Setting up a product for stock
Before a product counts properly, tell Wattle how you buy it and when to warn you it's running low. You do this on the product's catalogue item.
Usually: owner or admin.
Step by step
- Open the product on the Catalogue Items tab.
- In Pricing, units & stock, list every unit you handle this product in — one row each — and how they relate:
- Mark one unit as the base — the unit stock is counted in, usually the smallest (
mL,tablet). Its conversion is locked at 1. - Every other unit states how many base units one of these equals — a 50 mL bottle is
50when the base is mL; a box of 100 tablets is100. - Each row has its own Cost and Sale price, so you can price the single tablet and the box independently.
- Mark one unit as the base — the unit stock is counted in, usually the smallest (
- Set the Reorder point — the level at which Wattle should warn you it's getting low. When stock drops to or below this number, the product is flagged as low (see Alerts below).
- Save.
One list of units does everything. The same unit rows drive selling, receiving and counting — there's no separate "stock unit" or "pack size" to fill in. Stock is always counted in the base unit; bill or receive in any unit on the list and Wattle converts for you. Selling one box of 100 depletes 100 from the count; selling a single tablet depletes 1. See How stock goes down automatically below.
Receiving stock
When a delivery arrives, record it so your count goes up. You can enter it in whole packs or in individual units — whichever matches the delivery.
Usually: owner, admin or nurse.
Quick version — Inventory tab (or the item's stock drawer) → Receive stock → quantity + the unit it arrived in → batch number + expiry → Receive.
Step by step
- Open the product's stock drawer — click the product on the Inventory tab (or use the stock action on its catalogue item).
- Click Receive stock.
- Type the quantity and pick the unit it arrived in — the picker offers every unit on the item, so a delivery of 2 × 50 mL bottles is entered as
2bottleand books in as 100 mL. Wattle does the conversion; the count is always kept in the item's base unit. - Enter the batch number and expiry date for this delivery. Wattle keeps each batch (or "lot") separately so it can warn you about the right expiry and use the oldest stock first.
- Click Receive. The stock count goes up, and the new lot appears in the drawer with its batch and expiry.
Why batch and expiry matter. Recording them lets Wattle do two helpful things: warn you before a batch expires, and always run down your oldest stock first when you bill (see below). It's worth a few extra seconds at delivery time.
How stock goes down automatically
Once a product is tracked, you don't subtract stock by hand. Charging a tracked product on a visit draws its stock down for you — at the moment you add the charge.
Two things are worth understanding:
- Oldest expiry first (FEFO). When a charge depletes stock, Wattle takes it from the batch with the earliest expiry date first — "first expired, first out". This means your soon-to-expire stock gets used before fresher stock, exactly as you'd want.
- Selling-unit conversion. How much comes off your count depends on the stock units factor for the unit you billed. Bill a box of 100 and 100 stock units come off; bill a single tablet and 1 comes off. You bill as normal — Wattle handles the conversion.
There's nothing extra to click. Add the charge in the consult as you always would, and the count keeps itself up to date.
Negative stock is allowed. If a count drops below zero — because something wasn't received, or a count drifted — Wattle won't block the charge. Billing always comes first; the count simply goes negative as a signal that something needs reconciling. Put it right at your next stocktake (below). You'll never be stopped from billing a client because the count looks off.
Adjusting, writing off and counting stock
Counts drift — bottles break, a delivery wasn't recorded, or a physical count doesn't match. You fix all of this from the product's stock drawer, per lot.
Usually: owner, admin or nurse.
Step by step
- Open the product's stock drawer from the Inventory tab.
- Find the lot (batch) you need to change.
- Choose the action:
- Adjust — nudge a lot's count up or down (for example after finding extra stock).
- Write off — remove stock that's broken, expired or otherwise unusable.
- Stock count — type the physical count for a lot and let Wattle reconcile the figure to match what you actually hold.
- Confirm. The lot's count updates and the change is recorded.
Count per lot, not per product. Because each batch is tracked separately (for expiry and FEFO), adjustments and counts are done per lot. Open the drawer, pick the batch, and reconcile that one.
Low-stock and expiry alerts
Wattle watches your counts and expiry dates so you don't have to. It nudges you in two places.
- Page banners. When products are running low (at or below their reorder point) or have stock expiring soon, a banner appears on the Inventory tab summarising what needs attention.
- The notification bell. The same warnings surface in your notifications (the bell in the top bar), so you catch them even when you're not looking at the Inventory tab.
Two kinds of alert:
| Alert | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Low stock | A product has dropped to or below its reorder point | Reorder, then Receive stock when it arrives |
| Expiring soon | A batch is approaching its expiry date | Use it first (FEFO already favours it), or write it off if it's already past |
Reorder points drive low-stock alerts. A product with no reorder point set won't trigger a low-stock warning — Wattle has no level to compare against. Set a sensible reorder point on anything you want to be warned about.
Controlled drugs (Schedule 8)
Controlled drugs are a special case. They're counted in the Schedule 8 register, which is a separate, tamper-evident, vet-signed record — not ordinary inventory.
On the Inventory tab, a controlled drug's row is badged Schedule 8 register and shows "In register" in place of a count — its stock lives in the register, not here. Clicking a stock action on one of these rows doesn't write inventory; Wattle points you to the register instead — the drug can never end up with two competing counts.
Where to manage controlled drugs. All stock movements for S8 drugs — receipts, adjustments, stocktakes, destruction — happen in The Schedule 8 register. The Inventory tab just mirrors the balance for convenience.
Quick reference
| I want to… | Where | One-line |
|---|---|---|
| Turn tracking on everywhere | Inventory tab → Enable for all products | Switches on every medicine, vaccine and supply. |
| Track just one product | Catalogue item → Track stock toggle | Per-item; services can't be tracked. |
| Set how I buy it | Catalogue item → Pricing, units & stock | Unit rows (base + conversions), reorder point. |
| Record a delivery | Stock drawer → Receive stock | Quantity + the unit it arrived in; add batch + expiry. |
| Fix a count | Stock drawer → Adjust / Write off / Stock count | Done per lot. |
| See what's low or expiring | Inventory tab banner + the bell | Reorder, or use/write off old stock. |
| Check a controlled drug | Inventory tab ("In register") | Managed only in the S8 register. |
Related sections
- The catalogue & prices — where products and their stock settings live.
- Dispensing labels & medications — printing labels for medicines you dispense.
- The Schedule 8 register — controlled drugs, tracked separately.
- Consultations — where charging a product draws stock down.
- Notifications — where low-stock and expiry alerts surface.
- Glossary — plain definitions of reorder point, batch, FEFO and more.