Low Inventory Alert Level
Quick Summary
Inventory management in SIM tracks the quantity of physical goods a business holds at any point in time. Stock levels update automatically — increasing when purchases are recorded and decreasing when sales (invoices) are made. The feature also supports manual adjustments and low-stock alerts.
What Is This Feature
What It Is
Inventory management in SIM tracks the quantity of physical goods a business holds at any point in time. Stock levels update automatically — increasing when purchases are recorded and decreasing when sales (invoices) are made. The feature also supports manual adjustments and low-stock alerts.
When To Use This Feature
When & Who
Relevant only for businesses dealing in physical goods — shops, wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers. Not applicable to pure service businesses. Should be enabled as part of initial app setup.
Step-by-Step Flow
🔁 Flow — Low Inventory Alerts
- Go to Inventory → tap Alert.
- All products below their minimum alert level will appear here.
- Use this to prioritize reordering before you run out.
Fields Explanation
Key Fields
| Field | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Enable Product Inventory | Per-product toggle. When on, the app tracks quantity for this item. Should be off for services. |
| Opening Stock | Quantity on hand when the product is first added. Entered once during product setup only. |
| Minimum Alert Level | Reorder threshold. App notifies when stock falls below this number. |
| Stock-In | An increase in stock quantity — from purchases or manual addition. |
| Stock-Out | A decrease in stock quantity — from sales or manual removal. |
| Inventory Valuation Method | The accounting rule used to assign a cost value to stock when it is sold. |
Optional Settings
Optional Sub-Feature
- Physical Stock-Take:
At the end of the day, there may be differences between the inventory calculated by the app and the actual physical stock in your warehouse. This feature allows you to correct such differences by adding Reconciliation Edits to the product list along with their current stock.
Also add Reconciliation Edit in the Field References section of Inventory Management.
Underlying Concept (Accounting / Logic / Calculation)
Concepts
Why inventory valuation matters: The method chosen affects the reported cost of goods sold (COGS) and therefore the reported profit. It also affects the balance sheet value of unsold stock. This has implications for financial statements and, in some jurisdictions, tax calculations.
Reorder Point / Minimum Alert Level: The stock level at which a business should place a new order to avoid running out. It accounts for the time it takes to receive new stock and the expected demand during that lead time.
Interaction With Other Features
Interaction with Other Features (Dependencies & Side Effects)
- Reorder Management:
This feature allows you to generate purchase orders based on the minimum stock level set when enabling inventory for a product.
- Batch Upload (Inventory Data):
You can update the existing product list or add inventory-related data during product creation using batch upload.
- Sales Return:
If a sales return is generated from an invoice (i.e., goods are returned by the customer), the corresponding sales return document will update the inventory.
- Cost of Goods Sold (COGS):
COGS is directly related to the inventory valuation method used.
Alternate Terms
Alternate Terms
| App Term | Also Known As |
|---|---|
| Inventory | Stock, Goods, Merchandise, Stockroom, Store |
| Stock-In | Goods Received, Inward, Purchase Entry, Positive Adjustment |
| Stock-Out | Goods Issued, Outward, Sales Deduction, Negative Adjustment |
| Minimum Alert Level | Reorder Point, Safety Stock Level, Low Stock Threshold |
| FIFO | First In First Out, Queue Method |
| Weighted Average | Moving Average, Average Cost Method, WAC |
| Inventory Valuation | Stock Valuation, Cost Method |