Organize Inventory

Organizing inventory in BackOffice makes it easy to identify and report on which kinds of items sell best, to view entire groups of items at once, and to set up items for ticket printing. After assigning items to departments, categories, and suppliers, you can manage these groups and use them to search the Item List.

To learn how to organize item buttons on the register, visit our Register Layout article.

Watch our Organize Inventory video below:

Table of Contents

• Departments and Categories
• Suppliers
• Item Assignments
• Manage Departments and Categories
• Manage Suppliers
• Item List

Departments and Categories

To understand how departments and categories in ShopKeep impact inventory management, let’s define what they are, look at a few examples, and review how they are used.

Suppliers

To understand how suppliers in ShopKeep impact inventory management, let’s define what they are, look at a few examples, and review how they are used.

Item Assignments

Assign items to departments, categories, and suppliers to organize the business’s BackOffice inventory. For large inventories (50+ items), we recommend using Bulk Management to create or modify items.

1. In BackOffice, click ‘Items’, then ‘Item List’.

   

2. Click ‘Add New’ to create a new item or select an existing item to edit.

   

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   If adding a new item, visit one of the following articles for a complete item creation walkthrough:

   • Add Basic Items
   • Add an Item with Variants
3. Choose a 'Department' or select ‘Add a new department’ from the drop-down to create a new one.

   

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4. Choose a 'Category' or select ‘Add a new category' from the drop-down to create a new one.

   

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5. Choose a ‘Supplier’ or select ‘Add a new supplier’ from the drop-down to create a new one.

   

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6. (Optional) Enter the supplier’s item ID.

   This is any reorder code associated with the item.

   

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7. Click ‘Save’ or ‘OK’ to save changes.
8. In the ShopKeep app, tap 'Get Updates' to sync updates to the register.

   Receiving an error while getting updates? Visit our troubleshooting guide for help.

Manage Departments and Categories

View all existing departments and categories, see how many items are assigned to each, and delete those that are empty. Note that departments and categories cannot be renamed, only deleted.

1. In BackOffice, click ‘Items’, then ‘Departments & Categories’.

   

2. Scroll down to view information about each department and category.

   

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   Each section begins with the name of a department (e.g. ‘Bakery’) followed by:
   Category | Name of each category within the department.
   Item Count | Number of unique items assigned to each category. To view the specific items in each department or category, follow the steps here.

3. To delete an empty department or category, click ‘Delete’, then 'Yes' to confirm the deletion.
   • If a department or category contains items, first follow the steps here to reassign the items.
   • The default ‘General’ department and ‘General’ category within each department cannot be deleted.
   

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Manage Suppliers

View a list of existing suppliers, add new suppliers, edit supplier names, and delete suppliers all from one BackOffice screen.

1. In BackOffice, click ‘Items’, then ‘Supplier List’.

   

Add a New Supplier

1. Click 'Add New'.

   

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2. Enter the supplier’s name and click ‘Continue’.

   

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3. Assign the supplier to inventory items obtained from that vendor.

   

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Rename a Supplier

1. Click ‘Edit’ next to a supplier.

   

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2. Enter the updated supplier name and click ‘Continue’.

   

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Delete a Supplier

1. Click ‘Edit’ next to a supplier.

   

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2. Select ‘Delete supplier’.

   Note: If a supplier has items assigned to it, deleting it will automatically unassign the items. Follow the steps here to assign the items to a new supplier.

   

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3. Click 'Delete' to confirm.

   

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Item List

The Item List shows every stock item added to BackOffice with details such as cost, margin, markup, and quantity on hand. From here, you can browse inventory, search and sort the list to find specific items, view details of individual variants, add new items, and edit existing ones.

1. In BackOffice, click ‘Items’, then ‘Item List’.

   

Search & Sort the Item List

1. Use the ‘Search’ field to filter the Item List.
   • Enter a department, category, or supplier to look up the items assigned to it.
   • To search for a specific item, enter the item’s name, SKU, or UPC.

   

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2. Click any column with arrows to sort the Item List.

   

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View Variant Details

1. Click the icon next to an item to view its active variants and their details.

   Items with this icon are items with variants and those without it are basic items. Instead of an icon, some users may see an arrow that, when clicked, expands the row to show active variants.

   

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   An overlay with the ‘Name’, ‘Cost’, ‘Price’, ‘Margin’, ‘Markup’, ‘Quantity’ and ‘Total Value’ of each active variant appears. Click any header with arrows to sort the table.

   

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Add a New Item

1. Click ‘Add New’ to add a new item.

   For a full item creation walkthrough, visit:

   • Add a Basic Item
   • Add an Item with Variants

   

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Edit an Item

1. Click an existing item to edit it.

   

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