Consume raw materials into production

Hotel editions. On Reservation ERP (Gold) this module is called Precision Cooking and this screen is Issue Ingredients. Everything below works the same way.

Use this when you take raw materials out of store and hand them to production. The stock leaves the department straight away. You record the finished output separately, on Receive Finished Goods, once production is done, and that receipt can be linked back to this issue so the finished goods are costed from what you issued.

This two-step way of working suits you when the recipe is not fixed — the baker takes what the batch needs today, and you weigh the output at the end.

Before you start

• The raw materials must already be in stock in the department you are issuing from. If they sit in another store, do a Stock Transfer first.
• Each raw material must be marked Consumable Without Sales on its item (Products & Services → Stock Items → open the item). Only items with that tick can be issued without a sale. Items created on the item form start ticked; imported items start ticked only when the import's Used in repairs or production column says Yes.
• You need the work-in-progress account to move the value into. The list only offers current-asset accounts; pick Production Work In Progress (or the manufacturing account your accountant set up). The value sits there until the finished goods are received, which moves it into the finished-goods stock.
• If an item is batch-tracked (it has expiry dates), have the batch to hand — you will be asked which lot the material came out of.

Steps

1. Open Manufacturing → Consume Raw Materials.
2. Click New raw material issue.
3. Set the date. This is the date the stock actually left the store, not necessarily today.
4. Choose the department you are issuing from.
5. Choose the account the value moves into: the work-in-progress account.
6. In Purpose, write what the materials are for — "Friday white bread batch", for example. This is what you will recognise the entry by later.
7. Add one line per raw material: pick the item, then enter the quantity. If the item is sold in packs, choose the pack and the quantity in packs.
8. Check the running value at the bottom. It costs each line at the item's current average cost.
9. Click Save.

The stock comes out of the department immediately and its value is posted to the work-in-progress account you chose.

Tracking what comes back

Open a saved issue and you will see Finished goods received against this issue: how much of the batch has come back (as a percentage and a value), what is still in work-in-progress, and each receipt that was linked to it. Press Receive finished goods against this issue to record the output; the receipt opens already linked, suggests whatever share of the batch is still to be received, and costs the finished goods from this issue's value. See Receive finished goods from production.

An issue that has receipts linked to it cannot be deleted until those receipts are deleted or unlinked, because they take their cost from it.

Tips

• Issue once per production batch rather than once per day. It makes the finished goods much easier to match up afterwards, and lets each receipt be linked to exactly one issue.
• Put something recognisable in Purpose ("Tuesday lavender batch, 2 × 60"). It is what you will pick from when you receive the finished goods.
• If you always move material from a central store and consume it in the bakery in one go, switch the mode to Transfer & Consume — it does both in one entry instead of a transfer followed by a consumption.
• Coming back to a part-finished entry? Your typing is saved as a draft, so you can leave the screen and pick it up where you left off.

Common problems

• "You do not have up to … in store" → the item is not in that department in that quantity. Either transfer stock in first, reduce the quantity, or ask an administrator to switch on Allow stock consumption even if no stock in Settings. Only do the last one if you know your balances are behind.
• The item is not in the list → check you picked the right department, that the item is an Inventory item, and that Consumable Without Sales is ticked on it. Service and non-inventory items never appear here; an item without the tick is refused even if you could type it.
• You cannot find the account → for a raw-material issue the list only offers current-asset accounts, because the value is moving into work-in-progress, not being spent. If Production Work In Progress is missing, someone needs to create it in Chart of Accounts as a Current Asset.
• "Finished goods have been received against this issue" when deleting → receipts are costed from this issue. Delete or unlink those receipts first (open each one from the panel on the issue).
• The value looks wrong → lines are costed at average cost across the whole company, not at what you last paid. If the average looks stale, it usually means a purchase has not been entered yet.
• You need to undo it → open the entry and delete it. That reverses the stock and the expense together. Do not "correct" it with a second entry in the opposite direction, or the stock history stops making sense.