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Inventory & Stock Control
Put the stock onto the job that used it.
When material comes off the shelf onto a job, put it on the job — otherwise the job looks cheaper than it was.
Overview
The part came off the shelf. The job still paid for it.
Stock that’s already sitting in your store feels free. It was paid for months ago, the money has gone, and the job in front of you didn’t spend anything to get it. That intuition is what makes stock the most commonly missed cost on a job.
It isn’t free. It’s cash you converted into steel, and when the job consumes it that cost belongs to the job. Recording usage is what moves the cost from your shelf to the project that used it.
WorkGuru costs that movement using FIFO. Each receipt into stock carries its own landed cost, and when material is used it’s consumed oldest first at what that stock actually cost. So a job that drew on stock bought before the last price rise is costed at the older price, not at a blended average that flatters or penalises it.
Using stock on a project is the moment stock on hand decreases and cost of goods sold is recorded. That’s one action doing two jobs: your inventory stays accurate and your job cost becomes complete.
What’s inside
What you get
01
Project stock usage
Record inventory consumed by the job.
02
Quantity reduction
Keep stock on hand current when material is used.
03
Job material cost
Bring the stock value into the project result.
04
Product connection
Use the same products managed in inventory.
05
Job history
Keep the material trail with the work.
06
Reporting connection
Use real project material usage when reviewing jobs.
The reality
Why you need it
Stock feels free because it was paid for months ago.
The cash left months ago; the cost belongs to whatever consumes it. If the job doesn’t carry it, the job looks more profitable than it was and the stock value stays too high — two errors that conceal each other until a stocktake.
The job cost is only half the materials.
Direct purchases get captured because there’s an invoice to prompt it. Stock doesn’t prompt anything, so on a job that draws heavily on the store you may be seeing well under half the real material cost and comparing that to the quote.
Material walks and nobody can say where it went.
Not theft, usually — just consumption nobody recorded. The stock figure drifts, trust in it goes, and people start checking the shelf instead, which means you’re paying for the system without getting the benefit.
You quote the next one from the same wrong number.
The compounding cost. Every job whose material was under-recorded feeds an estimate that’s too low, and the error repeats until somebody notices the work isn’t making what it should.
How it works
How it works
01
Open the job
02
Choose the stock
03
Record the quantity
04
Reduce inventory
05
Carry the cost
06
Review the job
Capabilities
What it does
Capability
Project stock usage
Recording that material came off the shelf onto a job. It’s the step that moves cost from your inventory to the work that consumed it, and it’s the most commonly skipped step in the whole system because stock already paid for doesn’t feel like a cost.
Capability
Quantity reduction
Using stock on a project decreases stock on hand at the moment it happens. One action keeps the inventory honest and puts the material on the job — which is why it’s worth doing even when the job costing isn’t your main concern.
Capability
Job material cost
Consumption is costed FIFO, at what that stock actually cost you. So a job drawing on material bought before the last price rise carries the older cost, rather than a blended average that flatters some jobs and penalises others.
Product connection
The same product can be bought directly against a job or received into stock and drawn on later, and both routes cost the job correctly. You don’t have to standardise on one approach to get an accurate number.
Job history
What material a job actually consumed, kept with the job. That’s the record that makes the next quote for similar work better than the last one — you’re pricing from what it took rather than from what was assumed.
Reporting connection
Usage across jobs, over time. Useful for two different questions: which jobs consume more material than they should, and which items move fast enough to be worth holding.
What you get out of it
What changes
Keep material costs on the right job
Stocked products should not disappear into general overhead.
Keep inventory current
What leaves the shelf should reduce the available quantity.
Make job profitability more believable
Include the stock the job actually consumed.
Learn from completed work
Use real usage when the next similar job is quoted.
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Discovered their contract work wasn’t profitable.
We didn’t wanna pay 100 grand upfront for a program – but then we found WorkGuru.
Nick Mazzella, Administrator, Frontline Trays & Trailers
Fit
Will it work the way we do things?
“That stock was already paid for months ago.”
The cash left months ago, but the cost belongs to whatever consumes it. If the job doesn’t carry it, the job looks more profitable than it was and your stock value stays too high. Both numbers are wrong, and they’re wrong in the flattering direction, which is the dangerous one.
“We cannot record every consumable.”
Nor should you try. Track the things with real value or that stop work when they’re missing, and let genuinely trivial consumables sit in overhead. A stock system maintained on the items that matter is worth far more than one abandoned because it demanded too much.
“Our team will just grab what they need.”
They will, and they should — the workshop shouldn’t be slowed down by a store process. The aim is to make recording part of the taking rather than a separate task later. Where that isn’t practical for small items, that’s a good argument for treating them as NonStock rather than pretending you’ll track them.
“We only care about direct purchases.”
Then you’re seeing part of the material cost. On a job that draws heavily on stocked sections and fittings, direct purchases might be the smaller half. Comparing that to what you quoted will suggest you’re making more than you are.
By trade
Where this gets used
Works with
Connected features
Stock Control
Use the inventory the business already holds.
Project Management
Keep the stock usage with the job.
Job Costing
Include stocked material in the project result.
Product Management
Use consistent products across stock and projects.
Quoting & Estimating
Compare real material usage with what you allowed for.
FAQs
Stock on Projects questions
Why should stock usage be linked to projects?
Because otherwise the material cost sits on your shelf instead of on the job that consumed it. That makes the job look more profitable than it was and leaves stock value overstated — two errors that hide each other until a stocktake.
Does using stock on a job reduce inventory?
Yes. Using a stock-controlled product on a project or production job decreases stock on hand and records the cost of goods sold at that moment. The inventory is perpetual, so it moves as the work happens rather than at period end.
Can stock usage help with job profitability?
Directly. Material is usually a large share of the cost, and stock is the part most often missed. Including it is what makes the finished job cost comparable to what you quoted — and what makes the comparison worth acting on.
Do I need to track every consumable against a job?
No, and deciding not to is a legitimate choice. Set genuinely low-value consumables up as NonStock products so they’re not stock controlled, and put the tracking effort where the money or the delay actually is.
Can the same product be bought directly for some jobs and stocked for others?
Yes. A product can be purchased directly against a project or received into stock and drawn on later. Both routes cost the job correctly — direct purchases from the order, stock from its FIFO landed cost.
Can completed jobs improve future material allowances?
Yes, and it’s the compounding benefit. Once jobs carry their real material usage, you’re quoting the next similar job from what the last one actually consumed rather than from what someone allowed for. The estimates get better because the history got honest.
See what the job really took off the shelf.
Show us a job that uses stocked parts or material and we will show you how that usage can stay with the project.