Can Yellow Dog handle items that are purchased at one size and counted at another?

Can Yellow Dog handle items that are purchased at one size and counted at another?

This Video will discuss configuring items with multiple sizes 



Yes! Yellow Dog can accommodate items that are purchased at one size and counted at a second size. The system can also accommodate any additional sizes that may be required – for instance if a third size is used in recipes.

Items that require multiple sizes are sometimes referred to as Parent/Child items in Yellow Dog and are typically used by F&B customers as their inventory is more likely to come in multiple sizes whereas retail inventory is much more likely to be one to one i.e., a shirt is a shirt and would be purchased and counted as a single item. However, there are scenarios where retail users would also find configuring an item to have additional sizes useful. For example, a convenience store may purchase sodas or candy by the case and sell them by the individual unit or each.  Yellow Dog recommends configuring the ‘Parent’ item as the Purchasing size, which also tends to be the larger of the sizes needed. The ‘Child’ items, or additional sizes are most often used for Counting your inventory or are needed for Recipes. Additional sizes could be created if an item is purchased from multiple vendors and the secondary vendor has a unique purchasing size.  When configuring these items, it is important to keep in mind that the on-hand value is listed with the ‘Parent’ or Purchasing size – i.e., if the item is purchased by the case, and counted by the pound reporting will display how many cases are on hand, rather than how many pounds.


Example with the purchasing size of case configured as the parent item


If users would like to readily see how much of one their alternate sizes, they have on hand at a given time, they can configure their items to be ‘Reverse Parent/Child’. With this configuration option the Counting size is usually chosen to be the ‘Parent’ item and in reporting you will see how many of that item is on hand. Liquor, Beer and Wine items are the most common use cases for setting up ‘Reverse Parent/Child’ items as more often users want to know how many bottles, they have at given time, rather than how many cases


Example of ‘Reverse/Parent Child’ with counting size of Liter as Parent


Below is a Checklist for creating an item with multiple sizes:

  1. From the Inventory Items Screen select ‘Create New Item’ 


  1. Select the Level & Vendor appropriate for the items you are creating. You will note that the SKU auto generates based on the SKU configuration options you have selected


  1. For the item that will be that will have an on hand, or the ‘Parent’ size fill in the Description, Short Description, Size, and Vendor Price


  1. For F&B customers adding additional purchasing sizes, under ‘How is this item Ordered or Received?’ check the Purchasing Item 2(new size) box – Set the Quantity Per X. This is step is critical, as it will ensure on hands update appropriately when this item is purchased. Size & Vendor Price also need to be set


  1. For F&B customers adding additional sizes for Recipes, under ‘How is this item used in Recipes’ select Ingredient item 2 or 3, depending on how many sizes your item needs. For this example, we will use ingredient 3, to demonstrate configuring an item with more than 1 additional size. Like adding the additional purchasing size, the most critical step is setting the Quantity Per X as this will ensure the correct quantity depletes from your inventory when a recipe is sold.


  1. For items such as Proteins or Liquor/Wine Yellow Dog also recommends setting the Net Weight/Volume in addition to setting Quantity Per X as this will allow for the most accurate recipe creation. When the Net Weight/Volume is set for the ‘Parent’ Item, the Net Weight/Volume will automatically update for the associated sizes based on Quantity Per X that is set


  1. For Retail customers that need to create additional sizes this will occur on the Add Child Item tab. 


  1. The item configuration is very similar to that of F&B customers using multiple sizes. Check the Child Item 1(new size) box. Once a size has been selected, users will be able to set the Quantity Per X, which is a critical step. This will ensure that on hands update appropriately when this item is sold or received.  Users will also have the option to allow this size to be included in Purchase Orders, by checking the Use in Purchase Orders box, as well as whether they would like labels to print upon receipt/invoice


  1. All customer types using multiple sizes be able to view the additional sizes on the Child Items Tab


  1. Each additional size can be opened in its own item editor by selecting the Edit this item hyperlink


  1. Once your item(s) are complete, select save and close to see them listed with your other inventory items. As a note, if you have navigated from one tab to another in the item editor you may only have the option to save vs save and close, because the system automatically saves all changes when changing tabs


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