Managing Your School's Product Catalogue and Stock

Learn how to maintain your school’s product catalogue, track inventory movements, and respond to low-stock alerts before supplies run out.

Every item your school stocks — from library books to cleaning supplies — lives in the inventory as a Product. Elimu Bora tracks the current quantity for each product, records every stock change automatically, and alerts you when a product is running low. This page walks you through setting up products, understanding stock movements, and acting on low-stock alerts.

Product catalogue

A product is any trackable item in your school’s inventory. Each product has a unique identity and the settings the system needs to manage it intelligently.

Field	What it means
SKU	A unique stock-keeping unit code you assign to the product (e.g. STAT-001)
Name	Descriptive name shown throughout the system
Category	Groups similar items together (see below)
Unit of measure	How the item is counted — pieces, boxes, litres, reams, etc.
Unit price	Standard cost per unit in KES
Reorder level	The quantity at which the system raises a low-stock alert
Reorder quantity	The recommended amount to order when restocking

Product categories

Every product belongs to one of the following categories:

Category	Typical items
Library Books	Textbooks, reference books, fiction
Kitchen Food	Dry goods, perishables, cooking ingredients
Kitchen Equipment	Pots, utensils, serving equipment
Stationery	Pens, exercise books, chalk, printer paper
Cleaning	Detergents, mops, bin liners
Medical	First-aid supplies, medication, bandages
Sports	Balls, jerseys, sports equipment
Other	Items that do not fit the above categories

Adding a new product

1. Open the product catalogue

   In the left navigation, go to Inventory > Products, then click New product in the top right.

2. Enter the basic details

   Fill in the product Name and SKU. The SKU must be unique across your catalogue — use a consistent convention such as CLEAN-001 or MED-003 so products are easy to identify.

   Add an optional description if additional context would help procurement staff.

3. Set the category and unit of measure

   Choose the appropriate Category from the list and enter the Unit of measure (for example, pieces, litres, or reams).

4. Link a supplier and set the unit price

   Select the default Supplier from the dropdown if one exists, then enter the standard Unit Price in KES. You can create a supplier first at Inventory > Suppliers > New supplier if needed.

5. Configure stock management settings

   Enter the Reorder level — the minimum quantity before an alert fires — and the Reorder quantity, which is the amount you normally order to replenish stock.

6. Save the product

   Click Save. The product now appears in your catalogue and can be added to purchase orders and stock requisitions.

Set your reorder level carefully. If it is too low, alerts will only fire when stock is nearly exhausted. A good starting point is two to four weeks’ worth of typical consumption, giving you enough lead time to place and receive an order.

Stock levels

Each product has a single stock level — the current quantity on hand. You can see the current quantity on the Products list and on any individual product’s detail page.

Stock levels are never edited directly. They change automatically whenever a purchase is marked as received, a requisition is fulfilled, or a manual adjustment is recorded. This keeps the stock count accurate and the audit trail complete.

Inventory movements

Every change to a product’s stock quantity creates an inventory movement record automatically. You do not need to enter these manually — they are created by the system whenever stock changes.

Each movement captures:

• The movement type (see below)
• The number of units moved
• A before and after snapshot of the stock quantity
• Who performed or triggered the action
• The source record — for example, the purchase order or requisition that caused the change

Movement types

Purchase

Stock received from a supplier. Created automatically when a purchase order is marked Received. This is the most common way stock increases.

Issue

Stock given to a staff member, teacher, or other recipient. Created when a stock requisition is fulfilled.

Return

Items returned to the store, increasing the stock count. Useful when issued items come back unused.

Adjustment

A manual correction to the stock count — for example, after a physical stocktake reveals a discrepancy. Adjustments are logged with the user who made the change.

Wastage

Items written off due to damage, expiry, or loss. Reduces the stock count and records the reason for the reduction.

To view the full movement history for a product, open the product’s detail page and scroll to the Inventory Movements section. You can also download a full movement report from Inventory > Reports > Inventory Movements Report.

Low-stock alerts

When a product’s stock level falls below its reorder level, the system automatically creates a low-stock alert. You do not need to check stock levels manually — the system monitors this for you.

Procurement staff receive both an email notification and an in-app notification when an alert is triggered. The system also runs a daily sweep each morning to catch any alerts that may have been missed.

Alert lifecycle

Active → Acknowledged → Resolved

Status	What it means
Active	Alert has been raised; action is required
Acknowledged	A procurement staff member has seen the alert and is working on it
Resolved	Stock has been replenished and the alert is closed

Acknowledging an alert

When you receive a low-stock notification, acknowledge it to signal that the issue is being handled.

1. Open Low Stock Alerts

   Go to Inventory > Low Stock Alerts.

2. Select the alert

   Click on the relevant alert in the list to open its detail view.

3. Acknowledge the alert

   Click Acknowledge. The alert status changes to Acknowledged and other procurement staff can see that it is being handled.

Resolving an alert

Once you have restocked the product — by receiving a purchase order — mark the alert as resolved.

1. Open the alert

   Go to Inventory > Low Stock Alerts and click on the acknowledged alert.

2. Mark as Resolved

   Click Resolve. The alert status changes to Resolved and is removed from the active alerts list.

If you raise a purchase order to restock a product, you can resolve the low-stock alert after the purchase is marked Received — at that point the stock level has been updated and the alert is no longer valid.