Lot tracking: expiry, shortest-expiry-first, corrections, returns and recalls
Updated · ZA · BW
Food, cosmetics, medicines and chemicals need to know which batch went where. Lots in Ledgr track quantity, expiry and where stock came from and went. The cost of every unit is still the item's average — lots are about tracing, not pricing.
Turning lots on
- Open Inventory and press Lots on the item's row.
- Tick Track lots. Every delivery gets a lot; stock leaves oldest expiry first.
- Tick Track expiry if the item expires, and set Shelf life (days): a lot received without a date gets one from the shelf life.
- Press Save lot settings.
Stock already on hand goes into one opening lot, UNLOTTED-<today>. Split it into real lots with a count (Record a stock take, counting lot by lot).
Where lots come from
Receiving goods on a purchase order asks for a Lot and Expiry per line (Automatic numbers it for you). A production run takes a Batch / lot number (optional) and Best before / expiry (optional) for what it makes.
Shortest expiry first
When stock leaves — a sale, a run that uses it — Ledgr takes the lot that expires first, so older stock goes out before it spoils. You can choose lots yourself where a form offers it; an expired lot asks you to tick a confirmation first.
Watching expiry
Inventory shows items with a lot past or near its expiry. The expiry list shows lots with stock that have expired and lots expiring soon. Count or issue expired stock to write it off.
Correcting lots
- In the item's Lots panel, press Correct or move on the lot.
- Change the Lot number or expiry, or choose Into lot — a lot on file, or A new lot with its New lot number.
- Press Save correction. One lot has one expiry: the old date and the new one are kept on the record.
Returns to stock
When a customer returns goods, a credit note corrects the money and Return to stock puts the units back — two separate acts on purpose. On the sale, press Return to stock on the line, enter how many and the date, and press Put back. The units go back into the lots they left.
The recall report
- Open Inventory › Trace a lot.
- Choose the item and the Lot.
- Read Backward — where it came from (the receipt or run that made it) and Forward — where it went (runs that used it, the lots they made, and who bought them). Possibly affected lists the customers to contact.
- Press Print or Export CSV for the recall file.
Common mistakes
- Switching lots off and on. While lots are off, stock moves without them and a recall trace has a gap for that time — the reason you give is kept on the record.
- Leaving everything in the UNLOTTED opening lot. Count it into real lots, or a recall cannot tell batches apart.
Where these numbers come from
Current as at for South Africa (SARS) and Botswana (BURS). Rates and thresholds change; the sources below are the authority, not this page.
This guide explains how the rules work. It is not tax advice, and nothing here files anything for you — for your own position, speak to a registered tax practitioner.
Keep the books that answer this
Stock, production and purchasing in the same books as your VAT and tax.
Keep reading
- Purchasing
Ordering from shortages: purchase orders, receiving goods and billing
Turning production shortages into purchase orders, receiving goods (in parts), recording one or more supplier bills, and reading goods received not yet billed.
- Manufacturing
Manufacturing in [[brand]]: recipes, production runs and true cost
Recipes (bills of materials), planning and completing a production run, what a unit really cost, reversing a completion, breaking units down and seeing shortages.