Pulse

The Complete Pulse Inventory Guide

Everything you need to master inventory management in Pulse — from setting up items and stock levels through purchase orders, multi-branch SKUs, piece tracking, and yield reporting.

Pulse · 16 Jun 2026

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6 parts
  1. 1Inventory 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.→
  2. 2Inventory 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.→
  3. 3Inventory 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.→
  4. 4Inventory 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.→
  5. 5Inventory in Pulse — Part 5: the catalog & cross-branch SKUsIf you run multiple branches, a head-office catalog of canonical SKUs lets each branch link its own items to a shared product. The Cross-Branch view then groups stock by SKU, showing per-branch quantities and a total — while every branch keeps its own names, costs, and ledger.→
  6. 6Inventory in Pulse — Part 6: pieces, offcuts & the usage reportFor 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 Inventory is a full stock-management ledger for service businesses. It covers everything from initial item setup through receiving goods on purchase orders, issuing stock to jobs, running cycle counts, tracking physical pieces and offcuts, and reporting across multiple branches.

What is covered in this series

This six-part guide walks through the complete system in a logical sequence. Each part builds on the previous one, but you can also read individual parts if you're looking for a specific topic.

  • Part 1 — Items and stock basics: Creating items, quantity modes, units of measure, opening balances, and reorder levels.
  • Part 2 — Suppliers, catalogue, and purchase orders: Adding suppliers, building a cost catalogue, creating purchase orders, and receiving goods.
  • Part 3 — The stock ledger — receiving and issuing: How the append-only ledger works, receiving stock, issuing to jobs, and reading the usage report.
  • Part 4 — Stock counts, adjustments, and write-offs: Running a cycle count, reconciling variances, applying adjustments, and writing off damaged or lost stock.
  • Part 5 — Catalogue and cross-branch SKUs: Sharing item catalogues across branches, cross-branch stock visibility, and branch-local stock levels.
  • Part 6 — Pieces, offcuts, and physical sub-units: Opt-in piece tracking for linear, sheet, and bulk materials — the feature that turns Pulse into genuine trade software.

Who inventory is for

Inventory is designed for businesses that buy materials for jobs — framers, glaziers, joiners, metal fabricators, electrical contractors, plumbers, and any service business that sources stock and tracks consumption. It works alongside Projects and Quick Jobs to give you cost visibility from supplier invoice to job delivery.

The core ledger (Parts 1–4) is available on all paid plans. Cross-branch features (Part 5) require a plan with branch support. Piece tracking (Part 6) is a premium feature available from the Operate Pro plan upward.