---
title: "Quickstart: add an item and set its stock"
description: "Get one part under control in Inventory: create an item with a name and a SKU, set its unit and its type, receive an opening count at a named location, set the reorder point that flags it for ordering, and confirm it in the Low Stock tab. Creating and editing items takes an Owner or Administrator role. Everything created here is live on the web, iOS and Android."
category: "Start here"
source_url: "https://www.iotflows.com/docs/inventory/quickstart/"
---
# Quickstart: add an item and set its stock

One item, one location, one stock level, one reorder point.

This is the shortest path through Inventory: create one part, say which shelf it sits on, record how many you have, and set the level at which it needs ordering. The steps are written against the web at `/inventory`, and what you create is live in the iOS and Android apps too. Creating and editing items takes an [Owner or Administrator role](/docs/admin/roles-reference/), and the model behind the words is on [Overview: track parts and tools](/docs/inventory/overview/).

**Start with the ten parts your technicians ask for most, not the whole storeroom.** An inventory nobody trusts is worse than none, and trust comes from the counts being right on the parts people actually use. Work through this page for one of those ten, then repeat it nine times.

## Create an item
An *item* is one line in the catalog: a part you buy, a part you make, or a tool you own.

1. Open **Inventory** and stay on the **Items** tab.
2. Select **Add Item**.
3. Enter a **Name**, for example `Hydraulic filter, 10 micron`.
4. Enter a **SKU**. A *SKU* is your own code for the part, unique in your catalog, for example `FLT-2004`. Name and SKU are the only required fields: **Add Item** stays disabled until both carry text, and submitting without them raises **Name and SKU are required**.
5. Enter a **Description** and an **Item Image**. Both are optional, and the image is what makes a part recognizable to whoever is sent to fetch it.
6. Select **Add Item**. IoTFlows confirms with **Item added** and the item appears in the list.

If the save fails, the toast carries the reason the server gave and the modal keeps what you typed.

> **Info:**
> **Do you need either checkbox?** Probably not. Tick **This is a reusable tool** only for equipment a job takes and gives back, such as a fixture, which is reserved like anything else but is not used up. Tick **This item is stocked as pieces** only when each physical unit is tracked on its own, such as a bar or a roll; see [Track serialized pieces and tools](/docs/inventory/serialized-pieces/). A plain consumable needs neither.

![The Items tab of the Inventory page with the Add Item button highlighted in the toolbar](/images/inventory/inv-qs-01.webp)

*Creating an item.*

**On mobile.** The same catalog is a tab of its own in the iOS app and sits under **More** on Android, with the same segments, search, and create and adjust actions.

![The Inventory item list in the mobile app on the Items segment, showing bar stock, filters, bearings and inserts with their on-hand quantities, and a low-stock badge on one row](/images/inventory/inv-qs-05.webp)

*The item list in the mobile app, reached from the More tab. On iOS the same list has its own slot in the tab bar.*

## Set its type and unit
Two fields decide how the item is counted and where it is listed.

**Unit** is what one of it is measured in: `each`, `box`, `L`, `kg`. It is free text, it defaults to `each`, and you set it while creating the item. Every quantity on the item is read in this unit, so changing it later relabels the numbers rather than converting them.

**Type** is **Purchased** or **Manufactured**, and everything created on the web starts as **Purchased**: the **Add Item** modal has no type control. To change it, select the item to open its detail, then select the **Type** field, which is click-to-edit. An edit that fails reverts the field and raises **Could not update item**.

Get the type right, because only purchased parts are fetched for the **Low Stock** tab. A manufactured item never appears there however low it runs.

![The Type and Unit fields on an item's detail, with numbered callouts on each, Type reading Purchased](/images/inventory/inv-qs-02.webp)

*Type and unit. Type decides whether the item ever appears in Low Stock.*

## Receive stock
A *receipt* is the transaction that records stock coming in. Stock is held per location, so an opening count means naming the shelf it sits on.

1. Select the item in the list to open its detail.
2. Under **Stock by location**, select **Add a location**.
3. In the **Adjust stock** dialog, pick the location on the map. If your organization has none yet, select **Add your first location** and name what you would walk to, for example `Warehouse › Aisle 3 › Bin 12`.
4. Leave the direction on **Add**, which is **Stock coming in**.
5. Enter the quantity you counted on that shelf, by typing it or stepping it with the **+** and **−** tiles.
6. Enter an optional **Note**, for example `opening count`. It lands on the ledger row.
7. Read the **New on hand here** line, which shows the count before and after, with the change beside it.
8. Select **Apply**. IoTFlows confirms with **Stock updated**.

The three directions write three different transactions. **Add** writes a receipt, **Remove** writes an issue, and **Set count** takes the total you physically counted and writes an adjustment for the difference. The rest of the set is on [Transaction types](/docs/inventory/transaction-types/), and the longer procedure is on [Adjust stock and track locations](/docs/inventory/adjust-stock/).

![The Adjust stock dialog in Add mode, with the quantity stepper highlighted and the new on hand total below it](/images/inventory/inv-qs-03.webp)

*Receiving stock for the first time.*

![The adjust stock sheet on Android in Add mode, with the quantity field highlighted](/images/inventory/inv-qs-06.webp)

*Receiving stock on Android. Add, Remove and Set map to the receipt, issue and adjustment transactions the web records.*

## Set a reorder point
A *reorder point* is the available quantity at which an item needs ordering. Select the **Reorder point** field on the item's detail and enter a number in the item's unit.

Set it to cover the lead time at your normal rate of consumption. A filter you get through at four a week, from a supplier who takes two weeks, needs a reorder point of at least 8, plus whatever margin that supplier's reliability has earned.

An item whose reorder point is 0 is never flagged low. It is still flagged as a shortage if its available quantity goes negative, which happens when open work orders reserve more than is on the shelf.

![The Reorder point field on an item's detail, showing a value in the item's unit](/images/inventory/inv-qs-04.webp)

*The reorder point. Set it to cover lead time at your normal consumption rate.*

## Check it in Low Stock
Open the **Low Stock** tab. An item is listed when its available quantity is at or below its reorder point, or when available has gone negative.

Available is on hand minus what open work orders have reserved, so an item can be listed with parts still on the shelf: 10 in the bin against 6 reserved is 4 available, and a reorder point of 5 flags it.

The item you set up above should not be listed, because you received more than its reorder point. To watch the mechanism work, raise the reorder point above what you received, reload, confirm the item appears with an amber **Low stock** pill, then set the reorder point back. What else the view covers is on [Monitor low stock and reorder points](/docs/inventory/low-stock/).

## See also
- [Create and edit items](/docs/inventory/manage-items/)
- [Adjust stock and track locations](/docs/inventory/adjust-stock/)
- [Monitor low stock and reorder points](/docs/inventory/low-stock/)
- [How work orders move stock](/docs/inventory/how-work-orders-move-stock/)