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MultiPOSGuides

Configure products, variants, and units

Keep stock in one canonical unit while selling and purchasing the same product as eaches, packs, cartons, weights, volumes, or lengths.

InventoryFor Inventory manager · Buyer · Business administrator7 steps

Where this lives

Permissions needed

  • Inventory · View
  • Inventory · Manage

Any one of these grants access. Ask an administrator if the screen is not visible to you.

Before you start

  • The product's smallest practical stock unit
  • Known pack or carton conversion factors
  • Unique SKUs or barcodes for scannable units

How a product is put together

Product family — T-shirtRequired attributes: Colour, Sizeone value per required attributeProduct — T-shirt · Red · MBase unit EACH · countable · precision 0One signature per family, so never duplicatedconversion factor = base units per unitCommercial unitsEach1 base unit · default sellingPack6 base unitsCarton24 base units
The three layers are independent, which is what makes this easy to get wrong. The family and its attribute values decide which product this is; the base unit and precision decide how stock is counted; commercial units are conversions on top of that base, not separate products, so a carton sold reduces the same balance as twenty-four singles. Measured products differ only in the middle layer — they carry a precision above zero and a scale PLU for weighed labels, and are otherwise assembled the same way.

Complete the workflow

  1. 1

    Choose the stock basis

    Create the product as countable or measured, then choose its base unit and quantity precision. Inventory balances, movements, costing, and availability always use this canonical unit.

  2. 2

    Set up controlled variants

    Create reusable attributes such as Colour or Clothing size, add their allowed values, then select the attributes used by each product family. Text and colour-swatch values are supported.

  3. 3

    Assign a SKU combination

    Choose a family and one controlled value for each required attribute. MultiPOS generates the label, such as Black / Large, while the variant remains a separate SKU with its own stock and barcode. Duplicate combinations in one family are rejected.

  4. 4

    Add commercial units

    On the product edit screen, add packs, cartons, cases, or other units. Base units per unit defines the conversion: a carton of 24 eaches uses 24.

  5. 5

    Set selling and purchasing defaults

    Choose which units cashiers may sell and buyers may order. A unit may have its own price, minimum quantity, increment, SKU, and barcode.

  6. 6

    Configure weighed labels

    For measured products, assign a unique scale PLU and configure the scale barcode prefix and positions. Checkout resolves encoded weight or price into the correct quantity.

  7. 7

    Import in bulk

    Use the Excel template's Products sheet for base products and Product units sheet for packs and cartons. Dropdowns use the current tenant's units, families, categories, taxes, and locations.

Useful tips

  • Use controlled values instead of creating near-duplicates such as XL, X-Large and Extra Large.
  • Clothing size L is a variant value; litre L is a unit of measure. They remain separate.
  • Choose the base unit before opening stock is posted; it cannot be changed after stock history exists.
  • Leave a package sale price blank to derive it from the base price and conversion factor.

Troubleshooting

A carton scan is not found

Confirm the carton unit is active and sellable and has its own unique barcode or unit SKU.

A measured quantity is rejected

Check the product quantity precision and the selected unit's minimum quantity and increment.

A scale label is rejected

Check the configured prefix, PLU/value positions, decimal places, barcode length, and EAN check digit policy.

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Catalogue 2026.08.10