Batch and expiry tracking: picking first-expiring stock first (FEFO)

Quick answer: Turn on Track lots & expiry (batch tracking) for a product, record a batch and expiry date each time you receive it, and your pickers are told which batch to grab — oldest expiry first. This is an Enterprise feature.

1. Turn on batch tracking for a product

1. Go to Inventory → Overview and click the product’s name.
2. Open the Stock & lots tab.
3. Tick Track lots & expiry (batch tracking).

Turning tracking on needs an Enterprise plan. On other plans the box is locked with an Enterprise chip. A product that already tracks batches keeps them, and you can still switch tracking off.

2. Record batches when stock comes in

• One product: on the Stock & lots tab, click Receive stock. Enter the quantity, an optional Batch / lot number and the Expiry date. The expiry date is required for tracked products.
• A purchase order: in Inventory → Purchase orders, open the order to receive it. Tracked lines need an expiry date on every batch row. Use + Add batch to split one line across several batches, then click Receive into stock.

A date in the past is allowed, but you’ll be warned the batch will show as expired.

3. Check batch status

The Stock & lots tab lists each batch with its expiry, received date, on-hand quantity, value and status:

• Good — more than 7 days to expiry.
• Expiring soon — expires within 7 days.
• Expired — past its expiry date.

On Inventory → Overview, tracked products show their soonest expiry under the name. Click the small arrow beside the name to show the batches.

4. Picking by batch

In Orders → Warehouse, when a picker opens a wave, each tracked product card has a batch strip. For example: Pick this batch — oldest first, followed by the batch number, quantity and expiry. The strip is green, amber if a batch is expiring soon, or red if there’s an expired-stock problem.

• If the oldest batch doesn’t cover the order, the card tells the picker how much to take from it and which batch to take the rest from.
• If the oldest batch has expired, the card warns don’t ship it and points to the next usable batch.
• Confirm the pick as usual. The strip changes to Picked from batch and shows “recorded against this pick”. The stock is taken from that batch.

Taking a different batch

Tap Different batch to see every batch with its status and on-hand quantity. The suggested batch is tagged FEFO. Tap the batch you’re actually taking, and the card notes that the suggestion was overridden. You can’t select expired batches for a customer order.

Flagging expired stock

If a product has expired stock on hand, the card shows Flag expired. Tapping it flags the batch for write-off as an issue on the wave, so the office can see it.

Good to know: batch guidance for pickers is also Enterprise only. See Picking a wave for the rest of the picking flow.