Managing Your Products

Products are at the heart of your business — they're the items you buy, stock, and sell. This guide shows you how to add, edit, organise, and manage every aspect of your products in Actuary POS Software.

What You'll Learn

• How to add a single product
• How to add products with variations (sizes, colours, etc.)
• How to import products from a file
• How to organise products with categories and brands
• How to set up units of measurement
• How to manage pricing and tax
• How to print barcode labels
• How to add product notes with priority status
• How to track stock and expiry dates

How to Add a New Product

1. Go to Products → Add Product from the left sidebar.
2. Fill in the details below.

Basic Information

• Product Name — Enter a clear, descriptive name (e.g., "Organic Honey 500g")
• SKU (Stock Code) — A unique code for this product. Leave blank to auto-generate.
• Barcode Type — Choose the barcode format (C128, EAN13, etc.) or leave as default.

📸 [Screenshot: The top section of the Add Product form with name and SKU fields]

Classification

• Brand — Select a brand or type a new one (e.g., "Nature's Best")
• Category — Choose a category (e.g., "Food & Beverages")
• Sub-Category — Choose a sub-category if applicable (e.g., "Honey")
• Unit — How the product is measured or sold (e.g., "Pieces", "Kg", "Bottle")

Pricing

• Purchase Price (Excluding Tax) — What you pay your supplier for this item
• Selling Price (Excluding Tax) — What you charge your customers
• Product Tax — Choose a tax rate to apply (e.g., "VAT 20%")
• Tax Type — Whether the tax is included in the price or added on top:
  • Inclusive — The price already includes tax
  • Exclusive — Tax is added on top of the price

📸 [Screenshot: The pricing section showing purchase price, selling price, and tax settings]

💡 Tip: The system automatically calculates your profit margin when you enter both prices.

Product Type

Choose how this product is structured:

3. Click Save at the bottom.

📸 [Screenshot: The Save button at the bottom of the Add Product form]

How to Add a Product with Variations

Variations let you sell the same product in different sizes, colours, or options — each with its own price and stock level.

1. When adding a product, set Product Type to Variable.
2. Choose a Variation Template (e.g., "Size" or "Colour").
   • If you don't have one yet, create one under Products → Variations.
3. Enter the values for each variation:
   • Variation Name — e.g., "Small", "Medium", "Large"
   • SKU — Unique code for each variation
   • Purchase Price and Selling Price — Can be different for each variation
4. Click Add More to add additional variations.
5. Click Save.

📸 [Screenshot: The variable product form showing size variations with different prices]

How to Import Products from a File

If you have many products to add, importing from a spreadsheet is much faster:

1. Go to Products → Import Products.
2. Click the Download Template link to get the correct file format.
3. Open the template and fill in your products — one row per product.
4. Save the file as .csv or .xlsx.
5. Back in Actuary POS Software, click Browse and select your file.
6. Click Submit to start the import.
7. The system will tell you how many products were imported successfully.

📸 [Screenshot: The Import Products page with file upload and template download link]

⚠️ Important: Make sure your column names exactly match the template. Products with errors will be skipped.

How to Edit a Product

1. Go to Products → List Products.
2. Find the product you want to change (use the search bar or filters).
3. Click the Actions button next to the product.
4. Select Edit.
5. Make your changes and click Update.

📸 [Screenshot: The product list with the Actions dropdown showing Edit option]

How to Add Product Notes

Product Notes help staff record product-specific reminders, warnings, or handling instructions without changing the product master data.

1. Go to Products → Products Note.
2. Use the filters at the top if you want to review notes for one product or one priority status.
3. Click Add.
4. Select the Product.
5. Choose the Priority Status:
   • Low — General information
   • Medium — Normal reminder
   • High — Important note
   • Urgent — Critical product note
6. Enter the Note text.
7. Click Save.

After saving, the note appears in the Product Notes table with product name, SKU, priority, note text, creator, and created date.

Managing Product Notes

• Use Product and Priority Status filters to review notes quickly.
• Use Edit to update a product note.
• Use Delete to remove an active note from the main list.
• Enable Show Deleted to review or restore deleted notes.

How to Print Barcode Labels

1. Go to Products → Print Labels.
2. Search for the product(s) you want to print labels for.
3. Add them to the print list.
4. Choose:
   • Barcode Setting — The label size and format
   • Number of Labels — How many copies to print
5. Click Preview to see how they'll look.
6. Click Print to send to your printer.

📸 [Screenshot: The Print Labels page with products selected and preview shown]

Organising Products

Categories

Categories help you group similar products together (e.g., "Electronics", "Clothing", "Food").

1. Go to Products → Categories.
2. Click Add to create a new category.
3. Enter:
   • Category Name — e.g., "Electronics"
   • Short Code — A short abbreviation (e.g., "ELEC")
   • Parent Category — Leave blank for a main category, or select one to create a sub-category
4. Click Save.

📸 [Screenshot: The Add Category popup with name and parent category fields]

Brands

Brands identify the manufacturer or maker of your products.

1. Go to Products → Brands.
2. Click Add to create a new brand.
3. Enter the Brand Name and save.
4. To create a sub-brand, enable Add as sub taxonomy and select a parent brand.

Notes:

• Parent brand appears as a main row.
• Sub-brand appears indented under the selected parent.
• Sub-brand cannot be assigned under another sub-brand.

📸 [Screenshot: The Brands list with the Add button]

Gender

Gender helps you classify products for reporting and filtering.

1. Go to Products → Gender.
2. Click Add to create a new gender.
3. Enter the Gender Name and save.
4. To create a sub-gender, enable Add as sub taxonomy and select a parent gender.

Notes:

• Parent gender appears as a main row.
• Sub-gender appears indented under the selected parent.
• Sub-gender cannot be assigned under another sub-gender.

Procurement Sources

Procurement Source helps track where products are procured from.

1. Go to Products → Procurement Sources.
2. Click Add to create a new source.
3. Enter the Procurement Source Name and save.
4. To create a sub-source, enable Add as sub taxonomy and select a parent source.

Notes:

• Parent source appears as a main row.
• Sub-source appears indented under the selected parent.
• Sub-source cannot be assigned under another sub-source.

Selling Price Groups

If you sell the same product at different prices for different customer types (e.g., retail vs. wholesale):

1. Go to Products → Selling Price Groups.
2. Create groups like "Retail", "Wholesale", "Export".
3. Set different prices per product for each group.

📸 [Screenshot: The Selling Price Groups page]

Units of Measurement

Units define how products are counted or measured.

1. Go to Products → Units.
2. Click Add to create a new unit.
3. Enter:
   • Name — e.g., "Kilogram"
   • Short Name — e.g., "Kg"
   • Allow Decimal — Turn on if this unit can have decimal quantities (e.g., 1.5 Kg)
4. Click Save.

Sub-Units

Sub-units let you buy in one unit and sell in another (e.g., buy by the carton, sell by the piece):

1. Edit a unit or create a new one.
2. Set the Base Unit (e.g., "Carton").
3. Define the sub-unit and the conversion factor (e.g., "Piece = 1/24 of a Carton").

📸 [Screenshot: The Units page showing a unit with sub-unit defined]

Stock & Inventory

Checking Stock Levels

1. Go to Reports → Stock Report.
2. You'll see every product with:
   • Current Stock — How many you have right now
   • Total Sold — How many have been sold
   • Total Purchased — How many you've bought
3. Use the filters to view stock by location, category, or brand.

📸 [Screenshot: The Stock Report showing product quantities]

Tracking Expiry Dates

If you sell perishable products (food, medicine, etc.):

1. Ask your administrator to enable Track Expiry Dates in Settings → Business Settings → Product tab.
2. When adding or purchasing products, you'll see an Expiry Date field.
3. The system will:
   • Alert you when products are nearing expiry
   • Optionally block sales of expired items

📸 [Screenshot: The expiry date field on a product/purchase form]

Lot Numbers

For batch tracking:

1. Enable Lot Numbers in Settings → Business Settings → Product tab.
2. When making a purchase, enter the Lot Number for each batch.
3. You can track which lot number was sold to which customer.

Product Settings & Options

Products Card Tab

1. Module Overview

The Products Card tab is an additional tab on the Products index page. It shows variable products in a storefront-style card layout with larger images, swatch-style variation cues, and quick actions.

2. Purpose of the Feature

This tab helps users review variable products faster by separating them from single/combo/package items and presenting image-first cards that make variation details easier to scan.

3. User Access / Permissions

• Users with Products view permission can open the tab and view variable products.
• Actions shown in each card (edit, delete, stock history, duplicate, etc.) still follow the same permission rules used in the main product list.

4. Step-by-Step Usage Instructions

1. Go to Products → List Products.
2. Click the Products Card tab (next to Product List).
3. Use the filter panel (location, category, brand, supplier, status, and others).
4. Review the variable-product metrics cards and search field at the top of the tab.
5. Check each product card for image, color swatches, size/options pills, stock, and selling price.
6. Use the action menu on a card to perform product operations.
7. Optionally click Download Variable Products to export variable product data.

5. Field Descriptions

6. Business Logic / Workflow

• The tab uses the same products data source as the main Product List.
• Product type is forced to variable for this tab, independent of the Product Type filter selection.
• Other active filters still apply (location, category, brand, supplier, stock visibility, deleted/deactivated, and related toggles).
• Variation text is parsed to separate color-like values into swatches and other values into option pills when possible.
• Search shortcuts from product search modal also target this tab's card showcase when available.

7. Notes or Important Considerations

• This tab does not replace Product List; it is a focused visual view for variable products.
• If no variable products match current filters, the card grid appears empty and summary cards show 0.
• Export/download behavior remains aligned with existing variable-product export functionality.

Common Questions

Q: Can I delete a product? A: You can only delete products that have no transactions (no sales or purchases). If a product has transactions, you can make it inactive instead.

Q: How do I change a product's price? A: Edit the product and update the selling price. The new price applies to future sales only — past sales are not affected.

Q: Can I have the same product at different prices for different customer groups? A: Yes! Use Selling Price Groups to set different prices for wholesale, retail, etc.

Q: How do I track stock across multiple locations? A: Stock is automatically tracked per location. When you make a sale or purchase at a specific location, the stock updates for that location.

Tips & Best Practices

• 📌 Use categories and brands to keep your product list organised
• 📌 Set a reorder level for each product to get alerts before you run out
• 📌 Use the import feature when adding many products at once
• 📌 Review the Stock Report weekly to spot slow-moving items
• 📌 Enable expiry tracking if you sell perishable goods