TUTORIAL: Adding Materials to Track Your Inventory

Need to keep tabs on all the ingredients, findings, or packaging you use in your business? The Materials feature in Craftybase helps you log and track your raw supplies so you always know what you have on hand, what you paid, and where it came from.

We’ll Cover

• Materials and how it works in Craftybase
• Ways to add materials
• How to add a new material to your inventory
• How to enter stock quantity and cost details
• Tips for organizing materials by category and supplier

⏱️ This tutorial should take approximately 20 minutes to complete.

Why tracking materials matters

If you’re making handmade soap, earrings, or body butters, you use raw ingredients like coconut oil, jump rings, or glass jars. These items are called materials in Craftybase, and they form the backbone of your inventory system.

By tracking materials accurately, you can:

• See your current stock levels at a glance
• Avoid running out mid-production
• Get real-time cost of goods calculations
• Keep a clear paper trail of what you ordered and from whom

Let’s walk through how to add a new material, say, Coconut Oil, to your inventory. This is a common ingredient for body products like soaps and moisturizers.

Ways to add materials

There are a few different ways to add materials to Craftybase:

• Through the Material Purchase page, where you add materials alongside purchase details
• Via the Recipe builder, as you're adding your product recipes
• Or manually, using the Add Material page (which we focus on in this guide)

If you're moving from another system and aren’t backdating expenses or manufactures, using the Add Material form is ideal, it allows you to set a starting quantity and unit cost.

You can also bulk upload materials using our CSV importer, which is especially helpful if you have a large list to bring in.

Step-by-Step: Adding a New Material through the Add Material form

Step 1: Navigate to Materials

• Click Materials in the top menu. This brings you to your full list of raw materials.

• In the top-right corner of the Materials page, click the Add Material button.

  

• A form will appear where you can input the details of your new material.

Step 2: Enter the material's basic information

• Material Name: This is the name that will show up when you’re creating recipes, purchases, or manufacturing orders.
• SKU: If you use stock-keeping codes to identify your materials, you can key them here. These codes are fully searchable in the system, making it a quick way to find your materials without typing the full name.

• Image: This allows you to upload an image that represents the material. This is optional, but it can be a good way of quickly identifying your material in your list.

  

Step 3: Material inventory setup

This section controls how the material is tracked and how it's used in your inventory calculations.

• Inventoriable: Determines if your material is depleted when you make a batch of product. Inventoriable materials will be added to your inventory and will be included in COGS calculations. For any materials that are not directly used in your manufactures (i.e. packaging materials) you can choose to include these as a 'non inventoriable' material.
• Tracking Unit: This will be the quantity displayed as your in stock amount, and is also the unit used in recipes and manufactures.
• Purchase Unit: If you purchase this in a different measurement unit, you can set this here and we'll convert from this into your tracking unit automatically for you.
• Purchase to Tracking Conversion: This will determine how Craftybase converts any purchase amounts you log in your expenses.

• Low Stock Limit: Define the minimum quantity of this material available before it is flagged as "low stock".

  

Step 4: Starting Adjustment section

This lets you carry forward current stock levels and pricing from another system. These values will form the base of your inventory and cost tracking in the system.

• Starting Quantity: These are the units you had on hand on your inventory start date - this is the stock you are bringing forward into your inventory. Stock will be calculated automatically from this point forward.

• Average Actual Unit Cost: This is the average unit cost of the starting stock you are bringing into the system (from here, we'll automatically calculate this from your purchases). This cost includes tax, shipping, and any discounts

  

Step 5: Additional Details

You can include more specific organizational information here

• Bin Location: This can be used to record exactly where you store this material.
• Category: You can choose from your existing categories or create a new one here. Categories are useful for grouping together materials that are similar.
• Last Stocktake: This is the last time this material was included in a stocktake. If you are using Craftybase's stocktake feature, this will be set for you automatically in the future.
• Preferred Vendor: If you have a vendor you use often to purchase this material, you can note it here. This vendor will appear on your stock reorder reports.
• Vendor Code: The reference code used when reordering from your preferred vendor.

• Description: Add any notes or extra information not covered elsewhere

  

Once you're satisfied with the info you've entered, click Save, and you’ll be taken to the material’s detail page.

Wrap-Up 🎉

Now that your Coconut Oil is in Craftybase, it’s ready to be used in recipes, manufactures, and purchase records. You’ll be able to see:

• How much Coconut Oil you have on hand
• How much it costs over time
• Which vendor supplied which batch

This saves you from sticky notes and guesswork, and gives you a reliable system that grows with your business.

Want to Learn More?

• About materials
• About material costs
• Material stock management

Need help?

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. We're here to help you get the most out of Craftybase!