Serial number tracking means following each physical unit you stock, such as a laptop, a pump or an air conditioner, from the day it arrives to the day it leaves. If you sell goods that carry a warranty, it is the simplest way to answer "which unit did we sell, and is it still covered?" without digging through invoices. This guide explains how serial tracking works in Aicountly Inventory and how to set it up so it stays accurate.
What a serial number is in Inventory
In Inventory, a serial number is one physical unit followed for its whole life. A serial belongs to exactly one item and is unique within that item, so the same number can be used for a different item without a clash. Only items marked as serial-tracked can hold serial numbers, and the item picker on the serial form lists only those items.
One point surprises many first-time users: registering a serial does not create stock. Stock comes from a posted receipt document. The serial register is the record of each unit; the documents move the quantity.
The status of a unit
Every serial carries a status, and the documents you post set it for you. The guide inside the app describes them like this:
- Expected: registered but not yet received. It is not stock and not counted as available.
- In stock: physically held and available. Only a posted receipt puts a serial here.
- Reserved: held for a specific commitment, still yours but not available to anybody else.
- Issued: delivered or consumed, so it has left the business.
- Returned: came back from a customer and is waiting to be put away or written off.
- Damaged: unusable, but kept on record so its cost and history do not vanish.
- Scrapped: written off, the end of the unit's life.
Editing a serial by hand changes the record of where it is. It never moves stock or writes to the ledger. A stock transfer moves the unit from one warehouse to the other in one step, so a unit is never shown as sitting between two warehouses.
Getting serial numbers in
Typing hundreds of numbers one by one is how errors creep in, so Inventory offers several ways to add serials in bulk. Open the add menu on the Serial numbers screen (under Masters) and choose one:
- Paste a list: one number per line, or separated by commas, semicolons or tabs.
- Import from a CSV file: map the columns of your supplier's list to the serial number and optional fields.
- Generate a numbered range: give a prefix, a start, an end, the number of digits and an optional suffix. Start 1, end 100, three digits and prefix SN- gives SN-001 to SN-100.
- Scan serials in: a scanner types each code straight into the list.
Each import lets you set the item, the warehouse where the serials are expected, a location, a batch and a warranty date that applies to rows carrying no date of their own. A single import accepts up to 5,000 numbers. Numbers already registered for that item are reported back and skipped, never duplicated and never silently dropped.
Warranty dates that tell you what to do
A raw date in a column is something nobody acts on. Inventory turns each warranty date into a state: covered, urgent, upcoming, expired, or not recorded. By default, a warranty within 30 days of ending is flagged as urgent, and one within 90 days (but more than 30 days) as upcoming. The thresholds come from the server together with the counters, so the number on a summary card and the phrase in a row always measure the same period.
Next to the date you see a plain phrase such as "Expires in 21 days" or "11 months left". A quick action on the screen shows the warranties expiring in the next 90 days, which makes a good monthly routine: open the list, contact those customers or suppliers, and decide what to renew.
Scanning and printing labels
A handheld scanner behaves like a keyboard. Press the slash key, scan, and the search runs when the scanner sends Enter. Where the browser can read from a camera, the scan dialog offers that as well, and typing the number always works as a fallback.
When your units arrive without usable labels, you can print your own. Select the serials and choose Print labels. You can pick from three Code 128 barcode sizes: 38 × 21 mm (65 per A4 sheet), 63 × 34 mm (24 per sheet) or 99 × 57 mm (10 per sheet). Every label carries the number in readable form under the barcode, so a smudged label can still be keyed in. You can choose whether to show the company name and the warranty date. Numbers that Code 128 cannot encode still print with the readable number and a note.
Keep serial records in step with your stock count
Serial tracking works best next to your other controls. A periodic count shows whether the units on the shelf match the serials marked in stock; our guide to physical stock verification explains a year-end routine. If your stock is also batch-tracked, read how batch and expiry tracking works, and how batch status handles quarantine and recalls.
Two practical habits help. First, register serials before the goods arrive, so that "expected" units can be checked against the delivery. Second, avoid hand-editing a serial to in stock; post the receipt instead, so the quantity and the serial agree.
Who can see unit cost
Unit cost on a serial is stock valuation, so Aicountly Inventory shows it only to a profile allowed to see what stock is worth. For others the figure is not sent at all, which means the column is absent rather than hidden, and it is left out of exports too. Plan your access rules with that in mind.
Key takeaways
- A serial is one physical unit, unique within its item; registering it does not create stock.
- Documents such as receipts set the status, not manual edits.
- Bulk add by paste, CSV, a generated range or a scanner, up to 5,000 numbers at a time.
- Warranty dates are resolved into states, so you can act on those expiring in 30 or 90 days.
- Print Code 128 labels in three sizes when units arrive unlabelled.
If you track serial-numbered goods, Aicountly Inventory keeps each unit's status, location and warranty in one register, next to the stock documents that move it. Confirm any tax treatment of warranty or write-offs with your chartered accountant.
