Inventory in Pulse — Part 1: items & stock on hand

Pulse inventory is built on two simple ideas: items come first, and everything is a movement. An item is the thing you track; its quantity on hand is always calculated as the sum of every transaction against it, so the number can never silently drift out of sync. This first part gets you from an empty list to a tracked item with a real balance.

The model in one minute

• Items first. An inventory item is a standalone record — name, unit, optional SKU and category. A supplier is optional.
• On hand = the sum of movements. Pulse never stores a running total on the item. Every receive, issue, adjustment, or write-off is a ledger row, and your balance is their sum.
• Count vs measure. Count items move in whole units (each, box). Measure items can move in fractions to three decimals (kg, litre, metre) for materials you cut or weigh.

Add your first item

1. Open Inventory from the sidebar and click Add Item.
2. Enter a Name and choose a Unit (each, kg, litre, box, m…). The unit decides whether the item is count or measure.
3. Optionally add a SKU, Category, and Cost price (used for valuation).
4. Set a Reorder level if you want low-stock alerts — leave it blank for no alert.
5. Save. The item appears with an on-hand of 0 until you post its first movement.

Set the starting balance

To tell Pulse how much you already have, post an Opening balance from the item (there is exactly one opening balance per item). From there, on-hand goes up and down automatically as you receive and issue stock. The on-hand figure is colour-coded: green when you are above the reorder level, amber at or below it, and red at zero.

Who can do what

Inventory has three permissions: View (see items and history), Manage (create items and post received / issued / opening movements), and Adjust (post counted adjustments and write-offs). Adjust is deliberately separate and must be granted explicitly — see Part 4.