A quiet hour: order what is low

Four o'clock on a weekday is the quiet hour in the sample gift shop in this tour. The candles have sold faster than planned since the spring offer started, a cushion colour is down to its last two, and the birthday cards are getting thin. Three suppliers need orders. Writing them by hand means going through the shelves, looking up who supplies what and typing three emails. This tour shows the same job done in four stops from the Purchase orders screen.

Each stop is expanded below into what you tap, what you see and why it matters. Then come a worked example of the drafts, tips, common mistakes and where to go next.

What does the Purchase orders screen show?

On one side is the list of orders you already have. In the sample: one sent to the linen supplier on 29 September with three lines, marked Sent and waiting for goods, and two further down marked Received, from the candle supplier on 22 September and the card supplier on 18 September.

Above the list is the button this tour is about: Order from low stock. It opens a panel headed "Products under their reorder level, grouped by their usual supplier".

Step by step

1. Tap Order from low stock. At 16:00 the owner taps the button. Every product under its reorder level is gathered in one place. There is no need to walk the shelves or check product by product.
2. Read the groups. The panel shows three suppliers and four lines. The candle supplier has two lines: fig candles with 3 left against a reorder level of 8, and cedar candles with 5 left against 8. The linen supplier has the sage cushion in 45 cm, 2 left against 4. The card supplier has the birthday mix cards, 14 left against 20. Each group shows its total at cost.
3. Check the quantities. Each line comes with a quantity to order. The owner wants two dozen fig candles rather than one, because the offer runs for four weeks and the first week sold faster than planned. She changes the fig quantity to 24.
4. Leave out anything you do not want. If a line should wait, perhaps because the supplier is out of stock or you want to see how the offer goes, leave it out. Every line is optional.
5. Look at the totals at cost. These are what you will pay, not what you will sell for. In the sample the four lines come to £251.40 across three suppliers.
6. Tap Review the drafts. EasyTaskr makes one draft purchase order per supplier. A note under the button says it plainly: drafts are not sent; open each one, check it, then send it to the supplier.
7. Open each draft and check it. Look at prices, quantities and the delivery details. If the candle supplier has a minimum order or a price change, this is where you fix it.
8. Send each one yourself. EasyTaskr does not email or message the supplier. Send the order your usual way, by email, phone or WhatsApp, then set it to Sent to supplier. It then shows as sent and waiting for goods, like the linen order already on the list. When the delivery arrives, you book it in and the stock goes up.

What do the drafts add up to?

Costs here are sample figures before VAT. The candle draft alone is £151.20, three fifths of the total, which is worth noticing: the offer that is moving the candles is also the reason for the biggest bill this week. If cash is tight, that is the draft to think about. Our guide on cash flow for a small business explains why buying stock ahead of sales needs a plan.

Why drafts, and not orders sent straight away?

Because an order is a promise to pay. Low stock tells you what is low; it does not know that the candle supplier changed its price last week, that the linen supplier is closed for a fortnight, or that you have decided to stop selling the cedar candle. A draft gives you the speed of an automatic list with a human check before money is committed.

It also protects you from your own reorder levels. If a level was set too high, the panel will suggest too much, and you will spot it in the draft. Over time, adjusting levels for products you keep correcting makes the suggestions better. Our guide on the reorder point shows how to set them from daily sales and supplier lead times.

Tips

• Run it at a regular time. Once or twice a week, in the same quiet hour, so ordering becomes routine rather than a reaction to empty shelves.
• Check before an offer or a busy season. The suggestion is based on current levels. If you expect sales to jump, raise the quantity.
• Watch the total at cost. It is the number your bank account will feel.
• Order the exact option. Sage 45 cm is not the same as oat 60 cm. Options are tracked separately, so the panel asks for the one that is actually low.
• Review levels that you always change. If you add a dozen to the same product every week, its reorder level is too low.

Common mistakes

• Assuming drafts have been sent. They have not. A draft sitting unopened means no stock is coming.
• Ordering everything on the list without thinking. Some low products are low because they do not sell. Leave them out and let them run down.
• Forgetting to book in deliveries. If goods arrive and are not booked in, the product still looks low and will appear again next time.
• Ignoring stock already on order. Before adding more, check the list for orders sent and waiting for goods. The linen order already on its way may cover the cushions.

What should you do next?

The same four products appeared as running low on the shop's Home screen this morning, and the candles are low partly because of the spring offer. At the end of the day, cash up before locking the door. For the wider picture, our guide to stock control covers how ordering, receiving and counting fit together.

How EasyTaskr helps

EasyTaskr gathers products under their reorder level, groups them by usual supplier with totals at cost, and turns them into draft purchase orders you check and send. The reorder levels you set on each product and AI reorder suggestions help you set the quantities, and goods received notes add the stock when it arrives. The shop and figures in this tour are sample data.