Inter-location transfers

When one branch runs out and another has plenty, a transfer moves the stock and keeps both sets of books straight.

Plans

Enterprise

Can it be switched off?

Yes — an owner or manager can turn it off under Setup → Features.

Needs first

Pantry inventory, Multiple locations. This stays off until all of them are in your plan and switched on.

Why this is Enterprise only

Transfers need Multiple locations, and multiple locations is Enterprise. A plan that lists transfers without multiple locations resolves to transfers switched off, because there is nowhere to transfer to. If you expected this on Signature, that is why — see Why a feature is locked.

Creating one

Catalog → Inventory → Transfers → New transfer, from the branch sending the stock.

Pick the Destination, then add a line per item. Each line has two halves: From this location and At destination. The form explains why: “Match each source pantry item to its equivalent item at the destination.”

Each branch keeps its own pantry items, so Plain flour at the Carlton kitchen and Plain flour at Campbellfield are two separate records with two separate balances. The transfer has to say which maps to which.

Caution

Both ends must use the same base unit. The server refuses a mismatch with “Plain flour must use the same base unit at both locations.” Sort your units out when you set up a new branch — see Pantry inventory — because the error arrives at the least convenient moment otherwise.

Then Send quantity per line, and Dispatch.

The statuses

Status	Meaning
draft	Being built. Nothing has moved.
in transit	Dispatched. Off the source’s books, not yet on the destination’s.
received	The destination confirmed arrival.
cancelled	Abandoned; dispatched stock went back to the source.

Three counters sit above: Transfers visible here, Outgoing in transit and Incoming to receive. A transfer is visible from both ends, which is the point — the destination can see what is coming.

The destination has to confirm

“A destination updates stock only after it confirms the physical arrival.”

That is the design, and it is the right one. Stock in transit belongs to neither kitchen: it has left one and has not arrived at the other. Nobody can build a prep list on a crate that is on a van.

To confirm, the destination opens the transfer and selects Confirm transfer arrival. Each line shows what was sent — “10 kg dispatched” — and takes Actually received.

Transit loss

Received less than was sent? Enter what arrived. From the form: “Any difference is recorded as transit loss and remains visible for audit.”

So you do not need to fudge the number to make it balance, and you should not. The difference is kept as a visible discrepancy with the transfer, which is exactly what you want when a pattern of short deliveries on the same route is worth looking into.

Cancelling

Confirming asks “Cancel TR-204?” and tells you what it will do: “Dispatched stock will be restored to the source.” So cancelling an in-transit transfer is safe — the stock goes back on the sending branch’s books rather than disappearing.

Cancel only if the stock genuinely did not go. If it is sitting in the destination’s cool room, receive it instead, or the balance will be wrong in both kitchens.