From the Business plan onwards, ABRA Flexi allows you to track batches and expiration dates for items.

Batches and expiration dates are independent of each other — an item can track only batches, only expiration dates, or both.

If you are looking for instructions for the desktop application rather than the web application, switch to the desktop application guide.

First, you need to identify which items should track batches or expiration dates. This is done in the price list, in the item detail on the Warehouse tab.

For our example, we will enable both options — batch tracking and expiration date tracking.

An additional expiration attribute is the ability to define shelf life as a number of days after the expiration date.

This field is informational only and is used solely in document line items (e.g., issued invoices or dispatch notes), where the shelf-life date is filled in automatically.

Once an item is configured this way, it can be received together with a batch and expiration date. Batch and expiration information can be entered from a goods receipt or from a received invoice. We will demonstrate the process using a goods receipt — the procedure for a received invoice is analogous.

The option to fill in these details is available as soon as you open the item detail editor.

Alternatively, you can add the batch and expiration date fields via the form settings, allowing you to fill in these details directly in the document line items view without opening the item detail.

Any number of items can be stocked in a single batch or with a single expiration date at once. However many units you receive, that many units will be received under the corresponding batch and expiration date.

If you need to receive a single item across multiple batches and expiration dates at the same time, you need to split the item into multiple lines (one for each batch and expiration date, or their combination).

Once the goods receipt contains everything you need, you can save the document.

To see which batches are currently in stock, go to the price list item detail and look in the bottom tab bar.

If you need a consolidated warehouse status report including batches and expiration dates, use one of our add-ons.

All that remains is to issue the item with its batch or expiration date. We will again demonstrate using a standard dispatch note, but the analogous process also applies to an issued invoice (which will automatically generate a dispatch note — depending on the invoice type settings).

Let's create a dispatch note with our item.

The option to specify batches and expiration dates is again found in the dispatch note item detail, or you can add the batch and expiration date fields via the form settings directly into the document line items view.

However, the behavior here differs from a goods receipt. In a dispatch note, you select from the batches and expiration dates currently available in the warehouse using a drop-down list.

When you save a dispatch note line item with the batch and expiration date set in this way, those items will be released from the warehouse.

If a price list item has active batch and expiration tracking, you must take this into account when issuing items and make sure to specify the batch and expiration date on the line item.

For issued invoices, the earliest available expiration date is filled in automatically.

The requirement to specify a batch or expiration date can be enforced using an advanced parameter.

If no batch or expiration date is specified in the dispatch note, Flexi will automatically determine which batch and expiration date to issue. This is handled via a FIFO link between the previous goods receipt for that batch and expiration date and the current dispatch note. However, always use only one approach consistently — either always select batches manually, or always leave them unselected.

On the warehouse card of the relevant items, you can enable issuing by expiration date. Dispatch notes will then be pre-filled with the oldest (i.e., earliest to expire) expiration dates currently in stock.

Batches and expiration dates can also be processed as part of a stock-take.

If an item loaded into a stock-take has batch or expiration tracking enabled, this is reflected in the stock-take. The item will appear on as many lines as there are combinations of batches and expiration dates for that item. The system quantity will always correspond to one such combination.

Detailed instructions for creating a stock-take can be found on our website.