Cross-Branch Inventory in Pulse

The cross-branch inventory view gives HQ a single place to see stock levels across all branches — and to actually move stock between them when needed. It's built around shared product identifiers called Shared SKUs.

What cross-branch inventory shows

From the Branches section in HQ (outside of any branch session), the Cross-Branch Inventory view lists inventory across your organisation, grouped by Shared SKU:

• Grouped by Shared SKU — items across different branches, and HQ's own stock where linked, that have been mapped to the same Shared SKU. For example, "Cement 50kg" at Branch A and "Portland Cement" at Branch B may be the same product with different local names. When both are linked to a single Shared SKU, the view groups them and shows a combined total alongside each location's individual count.
• Branch-only items — branch items that have not been mapped to a Shared SKU yet. These appear per branch in a flat list waiting to be categorised.

What a Shared SKU is

A Shared SKU is an HQ-level identifier that represents a product concept across the group, regardless of what each branch calls the item locally. SKUs are created at the HQ level and then linked to matching items in each branch's inventory, or in HQ's own. Once linked, Pulse knows several local items are the same thing and can show a combined group total. A Shared SKU is a grouping key only — it never touches an item's price, stock, or history.

Linking an item to a Shared SKU

From the Branch-only list, HQ admins can select an item and assign it to an existing Shared SKU or create a new one. Once linked, the item moves out of the Branch-only list into its grouped display. Items can also be linked from inside the item itself, in a branch session or from HQ.

Transferring stock between branches

Any Shared SKU group with stock at two or more branches shows a Transfer action. Dispatching a transfer:

1. Pick the source branch (Pulse shows on-hand per branch) and the destination branch, then enter a quantity.
2. Stock leaves the source immediately and posts as a transfer out — it sits in transit until the destination confirms receipt, so it's never counted at both ends at once.
3. The destination branch sees the incoming transfer as a banner on its own Inventory page and gets an in-app and email notification. Confirming receive lets them choose which of their items it lands in — or create a brand-new item on the spot — with the source's cost price carried over and editable.
4. A transfer still in transit can be cancelled; the stock is returned to the source with an audited reversal entry. Once received, a transfer is final.

The Cross-Branch page has a Transfers section listing every transfer by status — in transit, received, or cancelled — so HQ can track exactly what's moving and confirm or cancel from the same place. Piece-tracked items can't be transferred; move those individually via their own Pieces tab instead.

Low-stock flags

Items at or below their configured reorder level are flagged inline in both grouped and branch-only views. An item at zero stock always flags, even with no reorder level set. This lets HQ spot which branches are running low on critical stock without switching into each branch individually.

Who can see and do what

HQ admins can see all branches in this view and dispatch or cancel transfers. Non-admin HQ staff who have switcher access to specific branches see only those branches. Branch-session users are redirected to their own branch's regular inventory for everyday work, but see an incoming-transfer banner there when stock is on its way, and can confirm receipt themselves if they have inventory-management access.