Stock intake and cost price
Book deliveries in correctly: add received quantities, set the cost price behind each item and keep on-hand figures honest so margins and reorder alerts stay accurate.
Stock intake is how goods enter your shop. Every time a delivery arrives — a carton of drinks, a box of soap, a shipment of medicines — you record what came in so your on-hand quantities stay truthful and your margins can be calculated.
Intake does two jobs at once: it increases the quantity on the shelf, and it captures the cost price you paid. Cost price is what makes margin real — without it the app cannot tell you whether an item earns money or loses it.
How it works
When you receive stock you add units to an existing product and, optionally, update its cost price. On-hand quantity goes up by the amount received. Selling price (TTC) is unchanged unless you deliberately edit it — a new delivery does not silently reprice your shelf.
- Received quantity — how many units arrived in this delivery.
- Cost price — what you paid per unit, in whole CFA francs.
- Batch and expiry — for pharmacies and perishables, recorded per delivery.
- Supplier reference — optional, links the intake to a purchase for later reconciliation.
Because CEMAC POS is offline-first, you can receive a delivery in the stockroom with no signal. The intake is saved on the device and syncs to the server and your other tills when the connection returns.
Receive a delivery
- Open Inventory then Stock intake, and choose Receive stock.
- Search for the product that arrived, or add it first if it is brand new.
- Enter the quantity received in this delivery.
- Enter or update the cost price per unit in whole CFA francs.
- For medicines or perishables, record the batch number and expiry date.
- Save. The on-hand quantity rises immediately and the cost is stored for margin reporting.
Cost price should be the price you actually paid, VAT excluded where you can reclaim it. Deductible input VAT is handled separately in the purchases workflow against SYSCOHADA account 4452.
Common errors and how to fix them
| Message / symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| On-hand quantity is double what arrived | The delivery was received twice | Do a corrective intake with a negative quantity, or adjust to the true count in stocktake. |
| Margin shows as 100% or nonsensical | Cost price is zero or was never entered | Edit the product and set the real cost price you paid per unit. |
| Expiry date field is missing | Batch tracking is off for that product | Enable batch and expiry tracking on the product, then re-open the intake. |
| Selling price changed after a delivery | The TTC price was edited during intake by mistake | Reset the selling price on the product; intake only needs quantity and cost. |
| Intake not visible on the other till | The receiving device is still offline | Reconnect and wait for sync; intakes upload append-only and will not be lost. |
Frequently asked questions
Common questions
Does receiving stock change my selling price?
No. Intake changes quantity and cost only. You edit the TTC selling price yourself when you decide to.
How is margin calculated?
Margin uses the selling price (TTC), the derived net of VAT, and the cost price you recorded — so keep cost prices current.
Can I receive stock for a product I have not created yet?
Add the product first, then receive it. Creating and receiving in one flow keeps quantities clean.
Try it in your own shop
Start a free 30-day trial and follow along — no card required.
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