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What's the difference between a Master Product and an Inventory Lot?

This is the most important concept in Nstock.

• A Master Product is the definition or blueprint of an item. It holds the core, unchanging information like its Name, SKU, Category, and the Unit it's measured in. It does not have a quantity. Think of it as the entry in a catalog.
• An Inventory Lot is a physical batch of that item in your stock. It has a quantity, a specific lot number, an expiry date, and a location. You can have many different lots of the same Master Product.

How does Unit Conversion work?

Nstock allows you to track inventory in one unit while purchasing in another.

• Inventory Unit: The primary unit used for BOMs and internal stock tracking (e.g., 'g' or 'ml'). This is set in the Master Product.
• Purchase Unit: The unit you buy from your supplier (e.g., 'kg' or 'L'). This is set when you create a material order.
• Conversion Factor: Nstock auto-converts common units (for example kg to g, lb to g, L to ml, and gal to L). If your units are custom (for example case to each), provide a custom Conversion Factor. Example: if you buy a 25kg bag of flour but use grams, factor is 25000.

Which CSV upload should I use?

• Master Products CSV: To define many products at once. This creates the blueprints — it never sets stock quantities.
• BOMs CSV: To define many product recipes at once. The components must already exist as Master Products.
• Stock Inventory CSV: To add quantities of items you already have on hand — raw materials, intermediate/secondary items, and finished goods can all go in one file. The items must first be defined as Master Products.
• Suppliers CSV: To import your supplier list at once, instead of adding them one at a time.

What order should I upload my CSVs in for first-time setup?

Upload the Master Products CSV first — it's your catalog only, so it never creates any stock. Right after that upload, the Raw Materials page will intentionally show those items as zero-stock rows until stock is added; turn on the "With stock only" filter to hide them while you're mid-setup.

Next, upload the Stock Inventory CSV with everything you currently have on hand — raw materials, intermediate/secondary items, and finished goods can all live in one file. Each row's SKU links back to its Master Product, whose Product Stage tells Nstock what kind of item that row is.

• Purchased lots: set PurchaseDate (and optionally ReceivedDate — the gap between the two is what powers observed supplier lead times).
• Produced-in-house lots (intermediates or finished goods): set ProductionDate instead — never both on the same row, the importer will reject it — leave Supplier blank, and put the per-unit build cost, including any outsourced labor, in the OrderPrice column (also accepted as UnitCost, COGS, Cost Per Unit, or Build Cost).
• Match the sample spreadsheet's column headers where you can — the importer tolerates common variants in case, spacing, and naming as a safety net.

How do I record outsourced labor or toll manufacturing costs?

Don't add labor as a raw material line inside a BOM — a BOM should only contain physical components. Instead, start the production run with Production Type set to Vendor, choose the vendor, and use Manage Batch Costs on the pending batch to enter the toll/processing fee and any ship-out/ship-in freight. Those costs, plus the materials consumed, roll into the finished lot's unit cost automatically when you receive the batch — so COGS reflects labor without cluttering the BOM.

• Importing pre-existing finished-goods stock via CSV instead of running it through production? Bake the labor cost into the COGS/UnitCost column for that row — it's a snapshot of what the lot cost to build, not a recipe.
• Prepaid a vendor and they delivered fewer units than expected (e.g. paid for 500, received 450)? Enter the full prepaid amount as the batch's toll cost — the delivered units' COGS then absorbs the shortfall, reflecting the true cost of that run.

Raw Materials Stock

View and manage your current raw material stock levels. Materials are grouped by SKU. Click on a material to expand and see individual lot details, edit details, or adjust quantities.

Finished Goods Stock

Overview of all manufactured products ready for sale or shipment. This lists items that have completed the production process. Batch codes are displayed and link to their production batch tickets for traceability.

Cycle Count

Tools for performing physical inventory counts.

• Scan & Update: Use your device's camera to scan a barcode, find the item, and quickly update its quantity.
• Manual Quick Edit: A table-based view of all inventory lots. Allows for rapid, spreadsheet-like adjustments to quantities and locations. Your progress is saved as a draft automatically.

Place Material Order

Initiate orders for new or existing raw materials.

• Define & Order New Material: For items not yet in your Master Products. Define its core details (SKU, units, etc.) while creating the order.
• Repurchase Existing Material: A quick form to reorder a single, existing raw material.
• Create Purchase Order (PO): Build a formal PO with multiple line items for a single supplier. Best for bulk ordering.

Pending Material Orders

Manage and receive materials that have been ordered but not yet added to stock. Click "Receive" to process incoming shipments, record quantities (passed/failed QC), and update inventory.

Box Inventory

Manage your stock of shipping boxes and other packaging materials.

Waste Log

Track all instances of raw material or finished good wastage, including associated costs.

Lot Documents

Attach documents to any material lot from the lot's detail view. Pick a typed slot — CoA, SDS, CoC, TDS, Allergen Statement, Kosher/Halal/Organic/Non-GMO/Fair Trade/Vegan Certificates, Country of Origin Certificate, Nutritional Panel, Test Report, REACH/RoHS Compliance, or Other with a custom label — then upload a file or paste a link. Documents stay attached to the lot as it moves through receiving and production, and carry through to waste or end-of-life records if that lot is ever logged as waste.

Master Products

The central definition for every item you use or sell, including raw materials and finished goods. This is where you set an item's SKU, name, inventory unit, and category.

Bills of Materials (BOMs)

Your product recipes. A BOM links a finished good Master Product to the specific raw material Master Products (and their quantities) required to make it. Secondary items (like an unbranded component made from its own BOM) get their own SKU and cost, which then rolls up into the cost of any finished good that uses them. Making a product in more than one stage — say a base syrup that gets bottled and then case-packed? Build it as a single multi-step BOM instead of a separate BOM per stage — see Multi-Step Products under Production below.

Sales Orders

View, create, and manage customer orders. Fulfilling an order will automatically deduct the correct finished goods and shipping boxes from your inventory.

Sales Quotes

Build a sales quote for a finished good or secondary product using real-time FIFO and BOM cost data, so you always know your margin at the price you're quoting. Buyers only ever see the sell price — internal cost and margin figures stay visible to your team only.

Suppliers

Manage your supplier list, view what you buy from each one, and create a purchase order directly from a supplier's page. POs can be emailed straight from Nstock with a reorder template or a custom message.

Start Production Run

Initiate a production batch from a BOM. You'll specify the quantity to produce and select which inventory lots of raw materials to consume. This deducts raw materials and creates a pending batch.

Pending Batches

Track batches that are in progress. Once production is complete, you can "Receive" the batch to add the finished goods into your inventory.

Outsourced (Vendor) Production

Having a batch made or processed by an outside vendor? Set the run's Production Type to Vendor and pick the vendor, then use Manage Batch Costs on the pending batch to enter the toll/processing fee and freight. Those costs roll into the finished lot's unit cost on receive — keep labor out of the BOM itself, which should only list physical components.

Multi-Step Products (Staged Production)

Some products need more than one production step before they're finished — mixing a base ingredient, then bottling it, then case-packing the bottles, for example. Instead of creating a separate BOM for each stage, build a single multi-step BOM from the Add BOM builder that defines every step in order.

• Produce up to any stocked step: When you start a run from a multi-step BOM, choose how far to take it — stop at an intermediate step (like the base ingredient) or carry it through to the finished product.
• One production order, in sequence: Nstock creates a single production order for the whole run instead of a separate order per step, and walks it through each step in order.
• Per-order component inventory: Completing a step that stocks its own output creates a lot of inventory specific to that production order, ready to consume in the next step or hold as on-hand stock.
• Partial completions: Log progress on a step across multiple batches over time — Nstock tracks the running produced count and flags the step complete once the target quantity is reached.

CSV import always creates standard, single-level BOMs — build multi-step products using the Add BOM builder.

Inventory Projection Analysis

Uses AI to project inventory depletion times based on historical usage data.

AI Reorder Advisor

Leverages AI to analyze inventory, usage, and lead times to provide smart reorder suggestions.

Finance Reports

A dedicated section with key financial reports:

• Inventory Valuation: A snapshot of the total value of your raw materials and finished goods.
• Monthly Report: A frozen, point-in-time ending inventory value for each closed month, generated automatically — ready to hand to finance without it changing underneath them.
• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): Calculates the cost of materials consumed for fulfilled orders in a given period.
• Purchase Spend: Analyzes total spending on raw materials, filterable by supplier and date.
• Waste: A detailed report on the value and quantity of all wasted items.
• Inventory Turnover: How many times your average inventory value was sold through in a given period.
• Inventory Aging: Groups on-hand raw materials and finished goods into 0-30/31-60/61-90/90+ day buckets so you can spot slow-moving stock.
• WIP Valuation: The value of materials currently consumed into active production batches.
• Open Purchase Commitments: Purchase orders placed but not yet fully received — useful for cash-flow planning.

What is Asset Inventory?

Asset Inventory tracks the fixed equipment your company owns — forklifts, shelving, computers, office furniture, vehicles, and tools — completely separate from your product/stock inventory. Assets never touch lots, BOMs, production, or COGS. Each asset gets a unique tag, an optional barcode, a category, a status (In Use, In Storage, Under Repair, Retired, or Liquidated), and fields for location, assigned owner, purchase cost, and current value.

How do I add a new asset?

The fastest way is scan-first: open Asset Scan (or Asset Audit) and scan a barcode that isn't recognized yet. Nstock prompts a quick-add form pre-filled with the scanned code — add a name, tag, and category, and the asset is created and ready to use immediately. You can also add assets one at a time or in bulk via CSV import from the Asset Register.

How do asset audits work?

Start an audit from Asset Audit, then scan assets as you walk the floor — each scan marks that asset found and stamps who found it and when. A live counter shows how many of your active assets (excluding Retired and Liquidated) have been found so far. Completing the audit shows a summary of everything found and a list of anything active that was never scanned, so nothing falls through the cracks.

Can I use NFC or RFID tags?

Yes. On Android, Nstock's mobile app reads NFC tags directly — tap NFC Tap on the Scan or Asset pages and hold a tag to your phone to pull up the matching product or asset instantly, no camera needed. For Asset Inventory, encode a blank NFC tag with an asset's own link right from its lookup screen; from then on, tapping that tag opens the asset on any phone, including iPhone, since Nstock writes a standard URL tag that iPhones open automatically on tap (in-app NFC reading itself is Android-only — iPhone doesn't support it). UHF RFID guns and USB barcode scanners both work as keyboard-wedge devices at every scan box in Nstock, desktop or mobile, typing the scanned code straight into the field with no special setup.

The settings area allows you to manage your profile, company details, users (as admin), production settings, notification preferences, billing, and system data modes.

Manage Units, Categories & Suppliers

Create, edit, and manage custom lists for units of measure, product categories, and suppliers to tailor the application to your specific business needs.

Integrations

Connect Nstock to the tools you already run your business on, from the Integrations page in your account. Every integration below is unlocked by the same Integrations add-on starting at the Starter plan, and included free at the Business plan.

• Shopify: Connect your store to automatically create orders in Nstock and deduct finished goods inventory as orders are fulfilled, plus restock automatically on refunds.
• WooCommerce: The same order-and-inventory sync as Shopify, for WordPress/WooCommerce stores. Paste the Consumer Key/Secret pair generated in your WordPress admin — no OAuth redirect required.
• QuickBooks Online: Connect via a standard "Sign in with Intuit" flow, no keys to copy. Once connected, map your Chart of Accounts (Inventory Asset, COGS, Inventory Adjustment, Sales Income), then optionally turn on a monthly inventory journal entry and/or order-to-invoice syncing — both are off by default, since they write real financial data to your books.

Custom Email Sending

Verify your own company domain so purchase order and sales quote emails send from your own address instead of Nstock's. Available on the Business plan or as an add-on.

Billing & Subscription

View your current plan, switch plans at any time, and add or remove extra features from the Billing page.