About purchases

Learn about how purchases work in Craftybase.

Purchases (or Purchase Orders - POs) are the records of purchasing your materials. They are the mechanism you'll want to use whenever you buy new materials and want to add them to your inventory.

By adding purchases, you can automatically increase your material stock levels and track your exact unit costs.

We'll cover:

• Material Purchases
• Non-material (Overhead) Purchases
• Categorizing expenses
• Configuring a purchase status
• Configuring a delivery status
• Expected delivery dates (ETAs)
• Purchase FAQs

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.

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

Adding material purchases manually

To add a material purchase:

1. Click Purchases in the main menu
2. Click Add Purchase on the top-right side and then click the Add Purchase Item button
3. In the Add Purchase Line Item window that appears, select the Material category
4. Select or create a material in the search box that appears.
5. Enter the cost and quantity of your material purchase, then click the Add button.
6. Click the Save button.

Non-material (Overhead) 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)

Adding non-material purchases manually

To add an overhead purchase:

1. Click Purchases in the main menu
2. Click Add Purchase on the top-right side and then click the Add Purchase Item button
3. In the Add Purchase Line Item window that appears, select a non-material Purchase category (i.e., Other)
4. Enter the cost and quantity of your overhead purchase, then click the Add button.
5. 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 purchase statuses

This feature is coming soon.

Configuring delivery statuses

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 FAQs

Below are some common questions we have received about purchases.

In this section:

• How should I handle free or found materials?
• What should I do when I return a purchase?
• How can I set up a recurring purchase?
• How do I factor in tariffs I have paid on purchases?
• Can I add custom fields to purchase orders and include that info on product labels?

How should I 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.

How do I factor in tariffs I have paid on purchases?

Tariffs should be included in your costs of purchase, as they are a necessary expense to bring your material to you. While we don't yet have a dedicated field for tariffs, entering any tariff amounts paid in your Shipping field will ensure that it is factored into your unit costs and, thus, COGS. See our blog post for further details: How Tariffs Affect Etsy Sellers & What You Can Do →

Can I add custom fields to purchase orders and include that info on product labels?

At the moment, Craftybase doesn’t support custom fields for purchase orders or automatically adding that information to product labels. However, you can use the Notes field in the purchase order to manually record any extra details you’d like to track.