Item types and the service catalogue
Choose whether each item is stocked, not stocked or a service, and see how that changes counts, picks, production, purchasing and your online store.
What it is
Every product has a Type that says whether it holds stock. You choose it on the product form with three buttons:
- Stocked — physical goods with an on-hand figure per location.
- Not stocked — something you buy or sell but never count, such as packaging you expense or a delivery fee.
- Service — work you deliver yourself: installation, repairs, consulting hours, a monthly support plan.
Not stocked items and services sit in the same catalogue as your goods, so they appear on quotations, orders, invoices, bills, jobs and subscriptions — but they never carry stock and never move it.
Who it is for
- Service, repair and contracting businesses that sell labour alongside parts
- Shops and distributors that charge fees (delivery, assembly, set-up)
- Online sellers whose store lists services or virtual products
- Bookkeepers who want fees and services on documents without fake stock
Step by step#
- Open Inventory › Products and choose New product (or open an existing one and choose Edit product).
- Enter the Product name and Category.
- Under Type, choose Service or Not stocked.
- Enter the Price, and the Cost if the service has one you want to see in margins.
- Set the Sales tax class if the service is taxed differently from goods.
- Choose Save product.
To see only services, filter the products list by Type › Service.
What changes for a service or not-stocked item#
| Area | Stocked item | Service / not stocked |
|---|---|---|
| Opening stock and locations | Required where it is stocked | None — "a service doesn't hold stock" |
| Stock counts and adjustments | Included | Left out of count sheets and adjustments |
| Picks and deliveries | Picked from the shelf | Nothing to pick; the line goes straight to the invoice |
| Purchase receipts | Received into stock | Received without any stock movement |
| Bills of materials and work orders | Can be made or used | Refused ("This isn't a stock item") |
| Dropship / make to order lines | Allowed | Refused — a service is delivered by you |
| Batches, serials, quality check | Optional | Not available |
| Reorder planning | Planned | Not planned |
A product can mix stocked and service variants; each variant follows its own type.
Services on other documents#
- Quotations, sales orders and invoices take services like any other line, with their own price, discount and tax.
- Jobs and service templates use services for the labour part of a job, next to the parts it uses (see Service and project templates).
- Subscriptions bill a service on a schedule.
- Payment reminders can add a late fee, and that fee must be a service or not-stocked item.
- A kit can include services, but not only services — at least one component must be stocked.
Online stores#
When a service or not-stocked item is sent to a connected store, the store is told it is not stocked (in WooCommerce it becomes a virtual product with stock management off), and no stock figure is ever pushed for it. When products are imported from a store, a virtual or service product comes in with the matching type, and its category is filled in.
How it posts to the books#
Selling a service posts the sale and the tax to the invoice's revenue and tax accounts, and what the customer owes. Because nothing leaves stock, there is no cost of goods sold and no Inventory movement, and receiving one from a supplier moves no stock either.
Limits and what is not there yet#
- A service has no time sheet of its own on the product; hours are recorded on jobs and the production work sheet.
- Changing a product with stock to Service does not remove that stock — clear it with an adjustment or count first.
Questions#
What is the difference between Not stocked and Service?
Both carry no stock and move no stock. Service marks work you deliver yourself, so it cannot be dropshipped or made to order; Not stocked suits goods or fees you buy and sell without counting them.
Will a service show up in my stock count?
No. Count sheets leave out services and not-stocked items, so they never appear as differences.
Can I use a service in a bill of materials?
No. Bills of materials and work orders take stock items only. Labour and machine time are costed through the operations and work centres instead (see Bills of materials).
Why does my service show as virtual in WooCommerce?
That is how the store is told it holds no stock, so customers can always buy it and no stock figure is synced for it.