Module 4 · Core · 8 min read

Warehouses, racks and opening stock

You will be able to: Create warehouses and racks and set the negative stock switch; Post opening stock for a warehouse and name the entry it makes; Correct a posted opening stock the right way.

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A warehouse is any place that holds stock: a shop floor, a store room, a field sales vehicle stock. Every stock movement names a warehouse, and a warehouse can belong to a branch. Manage them under Inventory, Warehouses and Racks, where branches are kept too, because a warehouse points to one.

The Warehouses and Racks screen with tiles and a list of warehouses showing type, rack enabled, allow negative and default branch.

Inventory, Warehouses and Racks.

Inventory, Warehouses and Racks.

Warehouse settings

  • Code and Name. The code is fixed after you save.
  • Type: Main, Field sales, Transit, Damaged or Consignment. Only Transit changes behaviour: a transfer sent through transit offers Transit warehouses only. The other types are labels.
  • Branch and Branch Default: Yes makes this the warehouse the branch uses when a document or POS entry names none.
  • Rack Enabled: Yes if you keep stock on racks (shelves or bins). A rack code is unique within its warehouse.
  • Allow Negative: Yes lets stock in this warehouse go below zero even when the company rule is Block. With Warn or Ignore it changes nothing.

There is no delete: set Active to Inactive to retire a warehouse. It stays in history and reports.

The New Opening Stock form with the warehouse, date and an item grid for quantity and cost.

Inventory, Opening Stock: the quantity and cost you start with.

Inventory, Opening Stock: the quantity and cost you start with.

Opening stock

When you start using Zeyto, you already hold stock. Opening stock brings it in at cost without a purchase. Go to Inventory, Opening Stock and press + New Opening Stock. It has its own number, OST-00001 and so on, with one document per warehouse holding all the items of that warehouse. Each item appears once in it.

  1. Check the Fiscal Year and the Date, normally your go-live date. The date must fall in an open fiscal year.
  2. Pick the Warehouse.
  3. In each line pick the Item, type the Qty, check the Unit and type the Rate, the cost of one unit. It starts from the item's current cost.
  4. Check Opening Value, which Zeyto works out, and press Post Opening Stock.

Posting brings the stock in at that cost and posts its value: debit Inventory, credit the opening balance account (3900 in the standard chart). It is never an expense. You can also post opening stock from the item's own Opening stock tab; it is the same Opening Stock voucher.

Opening stock for the Main warehouseMain holds 200 PCS of item A at AED 4.50 and 40 KG of item B at AED 12.25. Values: 200 x 4.50 = 900 and 40 x 12.25 = 490. Opening Value is 1,390. The entry debits Inventory 1,390 and credits the opening balance account 1,390. The Stock report now shows 200 PCS and 40 KG in Main, worth 1,390.
Watch outEach warehouse has one opening stock voucher. Choosing a warehouse that already has one opens it for editing. To correct it, press Edit and then Save Changes: Zeyto cancels the old document (its stock and ledger entries are reversed, nothing is deleted) and posts the corrected one with the next OST number. An opening stock posted long ago as a stock adjustment must be cancelled first.
TipItems tracked by batch or serial need the batch, or one serial number per unit, on the opening line. Do opening stock before your first sales, so the average cost starts from a real figure.

Try it in the demo

  1. Open demo.zeyto.app/demo-app/ and sign in with the public demo user (admin, password demoAdmin123).
  2. Open Inventory, Warehouses and Racks and read the tiles: Warehouses, Racks, Field sales and Negative.
  3. Click a warehouse and find Type, Rack Enabled, Allow Negative and Branch Default.
  4. Open Inventory, Opening Stock and press + New Opening Stock to see the form (do not post in a shared demo).
  5. Open the Stock Movement report and filter Movement type to Opening stock.
Open the live demo

Public demo company, sign in as admin / demoAdmin123. Data refreshes nightly.

Key takeaways
  • A warehouse holds stock; only Transit type changes behaviour.
  • Opening stock is one OST document per warehouse, posted at cost.
  • It debits Inventory and credits the opening balance account.
  • Correct a posted opening stock with Edit and Save Changes.

Check yourself

4 questions on this lesson. Not timed, not the exam, and you can try again. Score 60% or more, and read the lesson, to complete it.

1. Opening stock debits Inventory. Which account does it credit?

2. Which warehouse type changes how Zeyto behaves?

3. Under Negative Stock = Block, a warehouse with Allow Negative set to Yes can still go below zero.

4. An opening stock for the Main warehouse has 200 PCS at AED 4.50 and 40 KG at AED 12.25. What is the Opening Value?

Previous: Units of measure and pack sizesNext: Costing: how stock is valued

Practice questions for this module · Printable study sheet