Stock limitations
The stock features Smartworks does not have today, and how to work around each one.
Smartworks tracks stock for one location, from purchase orders, jobs, credit notes and adjustments. This page lists what it does not do, so you can plan around it. Where the app offers a workaround, it is given with the limitation.
Locations and counting
One stock location
All stock is held in one place. Smartworks has no warehouses, vans or bins, and no transfers between them. The Transfer movement in the stock list is part of receiving a purchase order, not a move between locations.
No stocktake screen
There is no screen for counting stock and posting the differences. Load a full count with Import Stock, which sets each product’s quantity, or correct products one at a time with Adjust Stock. Only Adjust Stock is costed in cost of goods sold.
No reorder levels, serial numbers or batches
Smartworks has no minimum stock levels or low-stock alerts, and does not record serial numbers, batch numbers or expiry dates.
Xero
No inventory sync with Xero
Smartworks never sends quantities, adjustments or stock values to Xero, and does not use the quantities Xero holds. If you track inventory in Xero too, reconcile the two yourself. Xero and stock lists every difference.
Products deleted and recreated in Xero
Stock belongs to the Xero item. If you delete an item in Xero and create it again with the same code, its stock history stays with the old item. View Product Issues lists these products.
Credit notes voided in Xero
A credit note voided in Xero still counts in Smartworks stock, because Smartworks is not told. Correct the quantity with Adjust Stock.
Purchase orders
An order is received once
You cannot receive the same purchase order twice. If part of a line arrives, tick Create Back Order. Without it, the missing quantity stays in Incoming and can only be cleared with Import Stock, because Adjust Stock changes on hand only.
Supplier bills only at receipt
Create Supplier Invoice is offered only when you receive. A bill that arrives later is entered in Xero, and a receipt whose bill Xero refused is not retried.
Back order prices
A back order line takes the Cost entered on the receipt, and can come through at $0 when Cost was left blank. Check the back order’s prices before sending it.
Jobs and costs
Stock checks are light
Ensure Products are in stock only checks that a tracked product has some stock when it is picked. It does not stop a larger quantity being entered, and it does not apply to quotes turned into jobs.
Sales credit notes always return stock
Every product line on a sales credit note adds back to stock on hand, even when the credit is for an overcharge. Take the quantity off again with Adjust Stock.
No average or first-in, first-out costing
Each job line keeps the cost price it had when it was added, which for materials is the product’s purchase price in Xero at that moment. The price you paid on a receipt changes the job’s own order lines, but not the cost of shelf stock used later.
The Stock On Hand report
The Stock On Hand report values every month at each product’s current purchase price in Xero, not the price paid at the time. It covers the last 12 months, and no month before August 2025. Products with no stock or a negative quantity, and products deleted from Xero, are left out of the value.
No stock movement report or export
Stock movements are shown one product at a time in Product Details. There is no report across products and no export of stock levels.
Admin-only functions
Deleting, restoring or correcting a single stock entry, editing an opening balance, and correcting a cost on the Cost of Goods Sold page are kept in a restricted admin mode, not on the normal screens. Contact Smartworks support if you need one.
See also
- Xero and stock - every way the stock record and Xero differ.
- Adjust and import stock - the workarounds for counts and corrections.
- Receive stock from a purchase order - back orders and bills in detail.
- Xero known limitations - limits of the Xero connection as a whole.