Inventory in Pulse — Part 6: pieces, offcuts & the usage report
For materials you cut, Pulse can track individual pieces and offcuts: each piece carries a remaining quantity and status, issuing can split a child offcut, and a usage report shows received, issued, written-off and waste. Pulse records what is left — it never calculates what to cut.
Pulse · 14 Jun 2026
Trades that cut materials — board, fabric, steel, vinyl — need more than a single number; they need to know which offcuts are sitting on the rack. Pulse's piece tracking adds a physical sub-ledger on top of the stock ledger for exactly this, while holding a firm line: Pulse records how much you used and what's left, but never calculates what to cut (no nesting, kerf, or mitre maths). That keeps it honest and off-the-shelf.
Turn on piece tracking
Piece tracking is an opt-in on measure-mode items and is a premium feature (Operate Pro and up). Enable piece tracking on the item, and Pulse starts keeping a list of individual pieces alongside the normal balance.
How pieces work
- Each piece has a remaining quantity, an optional label and location, and a status: available, reserved, consumed, or scrapped.
- Receiving stock creates pieces. Issuing from a piece reduces its remaining amount and can split off a child offcut for the part you didn't use.
- Reserve a piece for a job so nobody else grabs it, then release or consume it.
- Dimensions are stored as a free-text label for your eyes only — Pulse never parses or compares them.
The golden rule: pieces reconcile to the ledger
The sum of all available and reserved pieces always equals the item's on-hand in the stock ledger. The ledger is the source of truth; if the two ever drift, Pulse shows a reconcile prompt so you can put them back in step. This is why you can trust both the headline number and the piece list.
Piece-tracked items sit outside the bulk workflows
Because pieces are their own physical sub-ledger, piece-tracked items are opted out of the batch Stocktake flow (Part 4) and branch Transfers (Part 5) — correct or move them individually from their own Pieces tab instead, where the reconcile prompt above keeps everything in step.
See usage and waste
Switch the inventory page from Items to Usage to see, per item, how much was received, issued, and written off over a period, plus a waste percentage and a category roll-up. Combined with attributing issues to projects (Part 3), it tells you what each job really consumed.
Frequently asked questions
Does Pulse tell me how to cut my material?
No — by design. Pulse tracks what you consumed and which offcuts remain, but it never calculates cut lists, nesting, or kerf. Dimensions are display-only labels.
Do I need a particular plan for piece tracking?
Yes. Piece and offcut tracking is a premium feature available from Operate Pro upward, and only on measure-mode items.
What if my pieces don’t add up to the stock balance?
The stock ledger always wins. Pulse flags the drift and offers a reconcile step so the piece list matches on-hand again.
Related guides
- Inventory in Pulse — Part 1: items & stock on handPulse inventory is items-first and perpetual: you create an item, set an opening balance, and your on-hand quantity is always the sum of every stock movement — never a stored number that can drift. This part covers adding items, units, count vs measure mode, and reorder levels.
- Inventory in Pulse — Part 2: suppliers, the catalog & purchase ordersThe buy side of Pulse inventory lives under Inventory: add Suppliers, keep their products in the Catalog, and raise Purchase Orders. When you mark a PO received, Pulse posts the stock straight into the ledger for you.
- Inventory in Pulse — Part 3: the stock ledger (receiving, issuing & movements)Every stock change in Pulse is an immutable ledger entry: opening, received, issued, adjustment, or write-off. On-hand is always their sum, movements can be attributed to a project or job, and sending an invoice can issue stock automatically.
- Inventory in Pulse — Part 4: stock counts, adjustments & write-offsWhen a physical count differs from the system, you post an adjustment: enter what you counted, Pulse calculates the variance, you pick a reason and confirm with your password. Write-offs work the same way. Every correction is permission-gated and permanently audited.
- Inventory in Pulse — Part 5: the catalog & cross-branch SKUsIf you run multiple branches, a head-office catalog of Shared SKUs lets each branch link its own items to a shared product. The Cross-Branch view groups stock by SKU, showing per-branch quantities and a total, and lets you transfer stock between branches — while every branch keeps its own names, costs, and ledger.