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How to Record Wastage in BackOffice

Updated over a week ago

Who is this for?

Store owners, managers, and employees who need to log product wastage across their stores.

Overview

BackOffice now includes a complete wastage management solution. You can log wasted products, track the financial impact, and view analytics that show where and why waste is happening, all from one place.

The feature has one main part:

  • Wastage Record: Log what was wasted, how much, and why. Inventory is automatically adjusted.


Before You Begin

  • Your store owner or manager must enable the 'Wastage Record' permissions for your employee account.

  • Products should have 'Track Stock Level' turned on in product settings if you want inventory to auto-deduct when wastage is recorded.

  • Serialized item types are not currently supported. You cannot record wastage for serialized products at this time.

  • You need access to at least one store.


Step-by-Step Guide

Setting Up Employee Access

1. Go to the 'Employees' page in BackOffice.

Employee list page in BackOffice

2. Click on the employee you want to give access to.

3. Under 'Access Control', find 'Limit Back-office Access'.

Access Control section with 'Limit Back-Office Access' highlighted.

4. Scroll down to the 'Stock Management' section. You will see one new checkbox:

  • Wastage Record

    Allows the employee to create and view wastage records.

Access Control settings with Wastage Record and Wastage Insights checkboxes under Stock Management

5. Click 'Save'.

Note:

  • If an employee already has 'Limit Back-office Access' turned on, they will NOT automatically get access to these features when released. You must manually tick the checkboxes.


Navigating to Wastage Features

1. In your BackOffice, look under the 'Stock Management' section.

2. You will see one new menu item:

  • Wastage Record
    Opens the listing of all logged wastage records.

BackOffice sidebar showing Wastage Record and Wastage Insights under Stock Management

Note:

  • The previous 'Wastage Report' (which shows stock take discrepancies) has been renamed to 'Stock Loss Report' to avoid confusion. It remains in the same location under 'Stock Management'.


Recording Wastage

Creating a New Wastage Record

1. On the 'Wastage Record' listing page, click the '+ Record Wastage' button in the top-right corner.

Top-right corner showing the + Record Wastage button

2. A modal will appear titled "New Wastage Record". Select the 'Target Store' from the dropdown. If you only have access to one store, it will be pre-selected.

New Wastage Record modal showing the Target Store dropdown

3. Click 'Create New Record'. You will be taken to the product selection page.

4. Add products to the record. You can find products in two ways:

a. Type a product name into the search bar.

b. Use a barcode scanner to scan the product's barcode directly.

5. For each product, enter:

  • 'Quantity' wasted

  • 'Reason' for the wastage (e.g. Expired, Spoiled, Damaged)

Wastage record form with products, quantities, and reasons filled in

6. Add optional notes if needed.

7. Click 'Submit Record' to save.

New Wastage Record page in 'Draft' mode with the 'Submit Record' button highlighted.

Notes:

  • Serialized item types are not supported yet. If you search for a serialized product, it will not appear in the results.

  • If there is a system error during submission that prevents inventory deduction, you will see a popup. When it happens, click 'Okay' and wait for a few minutes before trying again.


Viewing the Wastage Record Listing Page

1. Click 'Wastage Record' on the sidebar. You will see a table with the following columns:

Column

Description

Date & Time

When the record was created (format: DD MMM YYYY HH:MM).

Record ID

A clickable link (e.g. WR0006) that opens the record details.

Cost

Total cost of the wasted items (in your local currency).

Reason

The reason for wastage. If multiple reasons were selected, it shows "Multiple Reasons".

Store

Which store the wastage was logged for.

Created By

The employee who created the record.

Wastage Record listing page showing a table of all records


Filtering Wastage Records

1. Use the 'Date Picker' at the top to filter by time period:

  • 'Month to Date' (default)

  • 'Past Month'

  • 'Past 4 Months'

  • 'Past 6 Months'

  • 'Custom Dates'

Date picker filter on the Wastage Record page

2. Use the 'Store Name' filter to select one or more stores. By default, all stores are shown.

Store Name filter on the Wastage Record page


Viewing a Wastage Record's Details

1. From the listing page, click on any 'Record ID' link (e.g. WR0006).

2. You will see the full detail page with:

  • Record Details: Date & Time, Created By, Store.

  • Financial Impact: Total Cost, Estimated Revenue Loss, Quantity Wasted.

  • Items Wasted: Each wasted product, its category, supplier, quantity, reason, unit cost, and total cost.

Wastage Record detail page showing record details, financial impact, and item breakdown

How the Financial Impact numbers are calculated:

Metric

How It Is Calculated

Total Cost

The sum of (Unit Cost x Quantity) for each wasted item.

Estimated Revenue Loss

The sum of (Tax-exclusive Selling Price x Quantity Wasted) - Total Cost. This tells you how much profit you lost from wasted items.

Quantity Wasted

The total quantity across all items in the record.

Note:

  • For composite products (products made up of multiple ingredients), the system uses the parent product's cost and price. If the parent product has no cost value, it calculates cost from the individual component items instead.

3. To download the record, click the 'Download' button at the top right. A csv file will be downloaded to your device.

Wastage Record detail page with the 'download' button highlighted.

Note:

  • If you have filters applied (date range, store), the CSV will only include filtered records.


How Inventory Is Affected

  • When you submit a wastage record, the system automatically deducts the wasted quantity from your inventory for products that have 'Track Stock Level' enabled.

  • For composite products (products made up of ingredients), the system deducts the quantities of each simple ingredient, not the composite product itself.

  • Products without 'Track Stock Level' enabled will not have their stock adjusted.

  • You can verify inventory changes on the 'Audit Trail' page, where wastage entries appear with the action "Wastage". Clicking the timestamp takes you back to the wastage record detail page.


Troubleshooting

Issue

Solution

I don't see 'Wastage Record' in the sidebar

Ask your store owner or manager to enable the relevant permissions under your employee access control settings.

Submission failed with a system error

If submission fails, wait a few minutes and try once more. Contact support if the problem persists.

Inventory was not deducted after recording wastage

Check that 'Track Stock Level' is enabled for the product in product settings. Products without stock tracking will not have inventory adjusted.

CSV download is empty

Make sure you have records within the selected date range and store filter. Try resetting filters to see all records.

I can't find a serialized product when creating a wastage record

Serialized item types are not currently supported. You will not be able to search for or add serialized products to a wastage record.


FAQs

1. Can I record wastage for multiple products at once?

Yes. When creating a new wastage record, you can add as many products as you need before submitting.

2. Will recording wastage deduct my inventory?

Yes, for products with 'Track Stock Level' enabled. The wasted quantity is automatically deducted from your inventory. Items can even go to negative stock.

3. Can employees from one store record wastage for another store?

No. Employees can only record wastage for stores they have access to.

4. What happens if I select a composite product?

The inventory deduction applies to the individual simple ingredients of the composite product, not the composite product itself.

5. Where can I see inventory changes from wastage?

Go to the 'Audit Trail' page. Wastage entries are logged with the action "Wastage" and show the quantity deducted.

6. Can I record wastage for serialized products?

Not at this time. Serialized item types are not yet supported in Wastage Record. This may be added in a future update.


Need Help?

Contact StoreHub Support via live chat in your StoreHub app or email [email protected].


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