How to Use Square Inventory Management in 10 Steps

Square’s long-awaited move into the inventory management space has been designed to be simple, robust, and scalable. It is a suite of products that allow businesses to manage their sales pipeline by connecting with vendors through an easy-to-use interface. Let this blog introduce you to Square Inventory Management in 10 steps.

Square inventory management is a tool that allows you to track inventory and sales in real-time. The “square inventory counting tool” is how you can use it.

The inventory management software for Square is integrated into the bigger Square POS system. Square POS is a free software that can be downloaded for iOS or Android devices or viewed via a browser.

In ten simple steps, you’ll learn how to inventory using Square: 

Create a Square account first.

To utilize Square Inventory, you must first sign up for a free Square account. You may start managing your inventory with Square by utilizing our Square starter guide and then following the steps below.

You may log in from the homepage if you already have a Square account. To access the submenu, just click or hover over the “My Account” phrase at the top right of the page.

Step 2: On your main dashboard, go to the “Items” tab.

You’ll be transported to your primary dashboard with a vertical list of text tabs on the left after logging in. Select the “Items” tab from the drop-down menu.

Step 3: Select “Create an Item” from the drop-down menu.

When the website has fully loaded, click the “Create an Item” button. If you wish to add several inventory items to your POS system, you may use an XLS or CSV file to do so. That will be discussed at the conclusion of this essay.

Step 4: Edit Image, Name & Category

You may use the square “Edit” box and “Add Image” to change the image or color of your inventory item. You may also give your product a color to assist visually organize it on your dashboard (i.e., all cleaning services are purple). Click “Done” when you’re done.

(Image courtesy of Square)

When you’re done, type your item’s name into the “Name” section and then choose a category for it. If you own a bakery, for example, you may have separate categories for “cakes,” “cupcakes,” and “cookies.”

If you already have a category, just choose it from the drop-down list when you click on the “Category” column. If not, you may change the name of the category by clicking on the box and typing in a new name.

(Image courtesy of Square)

You’ll also provide a product description and choose which stores offer the items or services.

Step 5: Customize Your Options

At this step, you may also add custom options, which enables for product variants.

Click “Add options” if you need to utilize these options. You’ll use this section to identify internal and external option sets, which will help you classify and manage product variations.

Click “Next” to see your choices settings once you’ve adjusted them.

Click “Create # variants” if your settings appear acceptable. If this isn’t the case, use the back arrow to make any required changes.

Edit Variations (Step 6)

“Variations” is located under choices. SKU numbers, price, and low stock notifications are all specified here.

Enter the SKU, as well as the pricing structure (per unit, hour, pound, etc.) and the numerical price.

You may also break down your variation data into smaller chunks. On the Variations section’s top right, click “Edit variant details.” You may alter any of the basic parameters from there, as well as add price overrides, adjust low stock alerts and automatic stock actions, and create custom characteristics.

Step 7: Fill in the blanks with the current quantity on hand.

You may now enter the amount of items on hand for this version after giving the variation name, SKU, unit and price. Go to the “Manage stock” page and choose the “Stock Action” section, which will provide you with a drop-down choice of stock adjustment options.

• Merchandise received: This field allows you to record extra stock received from vendors.
• After a physical count, an inventory recount is used to alter the amount of goods.
• Damage/Theft/Loss: This term refers to the number of items that have been lost due to factors other than sales.
• Restock Return: Recounts the number of items that have been returned by consumers.

(Image courtesy of Square)

The amount you indicate will be added to the existing stock amount whether you choose “Stock Received” or “Restock Return.” Any amount indicated after choosing “Damage,” “Theft,” or “Loss” will, on the other hand, be subtracted from the existing stock amount of the variation.

When you choose “Inventory Recount,” you’ll see the current stock quantity, which you may manually adjust by entering the right stock count. For reports that indicate the efficiency of your inventory management strategy, selecting the suitable stock action is critical.

Step 8: Turn on Inventory Tracking and Low Stock Alerts in Square.

Turning on the “Tracking” option enables you to keep track of continuing inventory counts for certain goods. You’ll be able to start with a certain quantity of inventory products, which will gradually reduce as sales are made (of course, you can always add inventory when you receive them from your suppliers). You may select to get notified when inventory reaches a certain level.

To enable low stock notifications, switch on the “Tracking” option under “Locations and stock.” Toggle on “Low stock notifications” and specify your threshold after that’s done.

Step 9: Review & Save Your Square Inventory Items

After you’ve finished filling out all of the forms, go through them one more time to make sure everything is set up the way you want it. If your inventory item is ready to go, just click the “Save” button in the upper right corner of your screen, and it will be saved.

After you’ve created your inventory goods, you can simply add them to sales or invoices by selecting them from the item library on your POS.

Download the Square app on your mobile device and log in to view your freshly produced goods. In the top left corner, you’ll find a hamburger menu (an symbol with three horizontal lines). Select “Items” after tapping on that icon.

You can see all of the goods, categories, modifications, discounts, choices, and units in this section.

You may also create Square inventory items from the app (touch “Create Item” to begin), but it’s better to do it on a desktop or laptop.

Step ten: Turn on all of your sales channels.

You’ll need to make your items accessible for purchase when you’re ready to start selling them. This might happen in person, online, or both.

The fastest method to do so is to go to the left-hand menu and choose “Online Checkout.”

After that, you can choose the item and generate a link to share with consumers so they may make a purchase. Square also allows you to take credit card payments in this manner.

If you’re ready to extend your multichannel company, consider upgrading to one of Square’s other solutions, which will let you to set up an online shop or increase your in-person sales.

• For $60 per month, you receive all of the capabilities of Square POS plus enhanced barcode, receiving, vendor management, purchase orders, and inventory reporting.
• Square Online: With the compatible Weebly site builder, you may create a free online shop, and Square will also handle online payments (for a fee).

Tip: Use a CSV file to import inventory items.

It’s faster and simpler to import several inventory items using an XLS or CSV file if you have a lot of them to add or change. Return to the items tab on the left-hand menu to do so. On the top right of your “Items” dashboard, look for the “Actions” button. Select “Import Library” after hovering over it.

You have two choices after choosing “Import”:

If you wish to add new things to your inventory or edit data for existing products (such as the price or picture), choose “Modify Item Library.” There will be no things removed from your item library as a result of this.

If you wish to get rid of your old things and replace them with new ones, choose “Replace Item Library.” Please keep in mind that this will remove all of your previous submissions.

Click “Next” after selecting the option that applies to you.

It’s now time to submit your XLS or CSV spreadsheet. Drag and drop is an option, as is clicking to pick and then clicking “Upload.”

(Image courtesy of Square)

Square will walk you through the procedures of reviewing, editing, and approving the data. If everything seems to be in order, click the “Confirm” button in the top right corner. If not, make the necessary changes before clicking “Confirm.”

Square Inventory Management Reporting

Every Square account comes with a few of inventory reports. You may go to your reports by going to the left-hand navigation bar and clicking “Reporting.”

Cost of Goods Sold (Cost of Goods Sold) (COGS)

The COGS report shows you how much it costs to create a product, which may assist you decide on a price strategy. Each product costs money to create and sell. So, while calculating COGS, you include direct costs like as goods and labor, but not indirect costs such as fulfillment or marketing.

Vendor Promotions

Available with Square for Retail, the Vendor Promotions report tells you which vendors supplied products sold during a specified period. This report helps you see which vendors have products that are most and least popular with your customers. You may want to reassess vendors with consistently low-performing products while exploring the product catalogs from vendors with high-performing items.

Profit Estimates

Also available for Square for Retail subscribers, the Profit Estimates report uses data from the past 70 days to estimate the potential profitability for your store in the future. You can break down projections based on store location, product, and inventory category, among other parameters.

Conclusion

It’s a simple procedure, whether you’re utilizing Square’s main dashboard to import a large list of items or just changing a few variables. As consumers place orders with you, your store’s stock automatically updates, ensuring that you always know what you have on hand. Create a free account with Square to keep track of your inventory.

Square should be visited.

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