About purchases

Learn about how purchases work in Craftybase.

Purchases can be added for material purchases and also for non-material purchases.

When you add a purchase to account for an increase in your materials, Craftybase will automatically increase the stock levels of the material purchased by the amount in the purchase. It will then recalculate your real-time unit costs to factor in the newly purchased stock.

Purchases can be:

• Added manually or
• Imported via an integration or
• Imported in bulk via CSV

We'll cover:

• Adding material purchases
• Adding non-material purchases
• Categorizing expenses
• Configuring a purchase status
• Configuring a delivery status
• Expected delivery dates (ETAs)
• Purchase FAQ

Adding material purchases

Any purchases relating to material stock should always be entered in as a Material purchase to ensure that they are added to your inventory and included in your COGS.

To add a material purchase:

1. Navigate to your Add Purchase page and click the Add Purchase Item button.
2. In the Add Purchase Line Item window that appears, select the Material category
3. Select or create a material in the search box that appears.
4. Enter the cost and quantity of your material purchase, then click the Add button.
5. Click the Save button.

Adding non-material purchases

Purchases for your business that are not directly related to a product or order (e.g., rent, utilities, fees, and subscriptions) can also be tracked in Craftybase if desired.

These are referred to as "overhead" purchases (however, they are also commonly referred to as indirect or general expenses)

To add an overhead purchase:

1. Navigate to your Add Purchase page and click the Add Purchase Item button.
2. In the Add Purchase Line Item window that appears, select a non-material Purchase category (i.e., Other)
3. Enter the cost and quantity of your overhead purchase, then click the Add button.
4. Click the Save button.

Categorizing purchases

Each purchase you add to Craftybase can be classified into a specific category. This allows you to group your costs to make tallying and reporting simple.

It also lets Craftybase know when a purchase should be added to your inventory and COGS totals.

Configuring a purchase status

This feature is coming soon.

Configuring a delivery status

This feature is coming soon.

Configuring expected delivery dates (ETAs)

Track your incoming material shipments by listing the dates they are expected to arrive. ETAs can be switched on via your admin settings and set for individual purchases.

More details on purchase ETAs →

Purchase FAQ

How should handle free or found materials?

Items you have found or received for free should generally be entered into Craftybase as a $0 purchase since you have not paid anything for these items. We advise confirming with your accountant or financial advisor, as all business situations differ.

What should I do when I return a purchase?

To note a return on a purchase:

1. First, follow the steps here to edit your purchase entry:  Add, edit or remove a purchase

2. Remove the old line item from the purchase.

3. Add the new purchase item (if any).

How can I set up a recurring purchase?

We do not currently provide the ability to schedule recurring expenses. However, you may wish to use our Copy Purchase feature to clone existing purchases quickly.