Products, Variants & Batches

The item master, in three layers. A product is the thing you sell (name, group, brand, tax). A variant is a sellable form of it (size, colour, pack, model) with its own code, barcodes, rates and stock. A batch is one lot of a variant (batch number, expiry, serial, or a physical jewellery piece with its weights). Most shops use one variant per product and never see batches; the layers are there when the trade needs them.

Where it is in the app

POS page: Master > Products, plus Raw Materials, Services, Ingredient Items as separate lists by product type; Bulk Changes (Price Update, Tax Update, Name Update, Stock Update, Bulk Create); More for Product Group, Ingredient Group, Unit Types, Item Brand, Item Location, Warehouses. Dedicated shells call it Items, Menu Items, Parts & Items, Items & Services.

Adding an item

flowchart TD
    A[Products > Add] --> B[Product: name · native name · group · brand · tax code and rate · description · image]
    B --> C{One form or many?}
    C -->|one| D[Variant fields on the same form
code · barcode · MRP · rates · purchase rate · units · reorder]
    C -->|many| E[Add variants: size x colour · packs
or Bulk Create grid]
    D & E --> F[(Product and its variants)]
    F --> G{Batch item?}
    G -->|yes| H[Batches come from purchase / opening stock]
    G -->|no| I[Opening stock on the variant]
    H --> J[(The batch or piece)]
    F --> K[Print barcode / label]
    F --> L[Favourite · hide · hide online · KOT group]

Product, then variants, then batches only where the trade tracks them.

Fields that matter

Layer	Field	Used for
Product	productType	product, raw material, service, ingredient - decides which lists and vouchers see it.
Product	group · category · brand	Touch grid tabs, reports, price rules by category.
Product	taxCode · taxRate · cess	HSN/SAC and GST on every line; Tax Update changes many at once.
Product	composition	Pharmacy salt search.
Product	hasNoStock · isHide · hideOnline · isFavorite	Service-like items, retired items, online store visibility, quick grid.
Variant	code · barcodes	Scan and search; auto-generated code optional.
Variant	mrp · salesRate 1/2/3 · rate discounts	Retail / wholesale / special tiers picked by sales mode or party.
Variant	purchaseRate · purchaseCost · margin	Cost and profit reports.
Variant	units	Base unit and alternates with factors (box = 12 pcs).
Variant	size · color · model · weight · volume	Fashion and hardware attributes; weight for weighing barcodes.
Variant	reOrderQty · minSalesQty · locationId	Reorder report, minimum sale quantity, rack.
Variant	opStock · asOfDate	Opening stock when not batch-tracked.
Batch	batchNo · serialNo · mfgDate · expDate · costPrice	Pharmacy, electronics, any lot-tracked stock.
Batch	grossWeight · stoneWeight · netWeight · fineWeight · huid	A jewellery piece.

Bulk changes

Price Update (rates, MRP by group / brand / percentage), Tax Update (rate and HSN), Name Update (native-language names), Stock Update (opening / physical count), Bulk Create (paste or type many items, or generate a size x colour grid). Jewellery keeps only Tax and Name Update because a piece is priced and moved one at a time.

Product, variant or batch?

flowchart TD
    A[Something new to sell] --> B{Does it come in sizes, colours or packs?}
    B -->|no| C[One product, one variant
the common case]
    B -->|yes| D[One product, a variant for each
own code, rate and stock]
    C & D --> E{Do you track lots?}
    E -->|no| F[Done — stock sits on the variant]
    E -->|batch and expiry
medicine, food| G[Batches created by purchase]
    E -->|one serial per unit
phone, appliance| H[One batch row per unit]
    E -->|a physical piece
jewellery| I[Batch carries weight, purity, HUID]
    G & H & I --> J[The bill line points at the exact lot]

Most shops never leave the first branch; the lower layers exist only for trades that must answer "which one, exactly?".

Settings & permissions

Settings > Product - stock maintenance, barcode, auto-generate code, reference code, MRP, tax on items, multi-unit, native name, rate tiers. Settings > Product Batch - batch / expiry / serial. Settings > Master - which masters (raw materials, services, ingredients, add-ons) exist. Permissions: add / edit / delete product.