Building materials and hardware
Inventory software for hardware shops
Two thousand sizes of fittings, cement that cannot sit long, steel that is bought by the truck and sold by the kilo. Keep each in its own unit and place, and know what to buy before the dealer's next load.
In short
SimpleERP is inventory software for hardware and building material shops. Cement, steel, pipes and paint are kept by warehouse and shop in their own units at average cost, and a reorder level per size shows what to buy.
Illustration of stock on hand by warehouse at average cost, with a low-stock row highlighted and a movement ledger.
An inventory day at Lekki Cement and Hardware
Lekki's stock lives in two places. The Ojodu warehouse holds cement bags stacked on pallets, rebar bundles, PVC pipes in racks and a sand yard. The Allen Avenue shop holds the small things: taps, elbows, valves, sanitaryware on display and paint tins in every shade the dealer supplies.
Every morning a van carries a few bags of cement, some lengths of pipe and cartons of fittings from the warehouse to the shop. In SimpleERP each trip is a transfer, each dealer load is a bill into the warehouse, and each sale takes stock out of the place it left from.
How do I set up thousands of sizes and two places?
Each grade, size or shade is its own product with one unit. Import them all from a CSV file with tax rate, reorder level and opening stock per warehouse, then add the warehouse and shop as two warehouses.
- Units such as bag, length, litre and tonne are added once in settings.
- Weighted average cost per product moves with every dealer bill.
- Product detail shows stock in each place, average cost and the margin on recent sales.
| Product family | Unit | Where it sits | Reorder pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cement, general purpose and blended | Bags | Ojodu warehouse | Reorder at one week of sales; old stock sold first by hand |
| rebar bars, 8 to 25 mm | kg | Warehouse, in bundles | Truckload from the dealer when prices dip; level per diameter |
| PVC pipes | Lengths | Warehouse racks, a few in the shop | Reorder per size; 4 inch moves fastest in the dry season |
| Fittings, taps, valves | Pieces or boxes | Shop shelves | Monthly order to each brand's dealer |
| Paint, primer, wall putty | Litres, tins or bags | Shop for paint, warehouse for putty | Reorder per shade after the monthly count |
| Sanitaryware | Pieces | Shop display and warehouse boxes | Order against confirmed site orders; level kept low |
How do I track what the van takes to the shop?
Post a transfer from the warehouse to the shop for each trip. Stock moves at average cost, so the value of the business is unchanged, and the printed transfer note goes with the van driver.
- Available in the warehouse shows on each line as you add it.
- Movement ledger per product shows every bill, sale, transfer and count.
- Stock list by place, or one figure per product for the whole business.
Illustration: saving invoice INV-2026-0213 moves stock, posts the customer ledger, records tax and updates the dashboard in one step.
How do torn bags and broken fittings get written off?
A stock adjustment records the torn cement bags or the cracked basin with a reason. Posting it reduces stock at average cost and books the loss, so shrinkage is a number in the P&L, not a guess.
- Count mode for a full warehouse count at the quarter end.
- Adjust by a few pieces for breakage found during the day.
- Stock value on the stock list agrees with the inventory account.
When do I order from the cement and steel dealers?
Open the stock list and narrow it to the sizes that have reached their reorder level. You choose the quantities, turn the list into purchase orders by dealer, and receive the bill into the warehouse when the truck arrives.
- Part loads bill against the same order until it is closed.
- Debit notes for short-weight steel or broken tiles take the stock back out.
- The duplicate guard stops a dealer's bill number going in twice.
One system
What it connects to
Dealer bills add stock to the warehouse, transfers move it to the shop, and every sale issues it at average cost.
Building materials and hardware
Mixed-rate invoices, stock by warehouse and shop, and contractor credit with ageing.
See howInvoicing & tax
Tax invoices with VAT, GST or sales tax on every line, numbered by fiscal year and posted in one step.
See howAccounting for hardware shops
Contractor credit and ageing, dealer payables, cheque receipts and month-end checks, built from posted bills.
See howPayroll for hardware shop staff
Monthly pay for counter staff, the warehouse keeper and drivers, with advances recovered and a Christmas bonus.
See howInventory
Stock on hand by warehouse at weighted average cost, with a movement ledger and a low-stock list.
See how
Honest limits
What SimpleERP does not do yet
- No batch, lot, serial or expiry tracking, and no barcode scanning
- Weighted average cost only; there is no FIFO
- No automatic reorder suggestions: the reorder level shows what is low, you decide what to buy
- No shade or batch tracking for tiles and paint: each shade is its own product
- No bundle-to-kg conversion for steel; keep rebar in kg and convert bundles when you enter the bill
Getting started
Start with inventory
Sign up with your email
Name, email and a password. No card for the seven-day trial.
Tell us about the business
Pick your country and, if you are registered, type your tax number. Accounts, tax rates, units, roles and numbering are seeded for that country.
Add products and opening stock
Import every grade, size and shade from a CSV file with its unit, tax rate, reorder level and opening stock in the warehouse and the shop.
Post a bill and an invoice
Stock rises on the purchase bill and falls on the invoice, at weighted average cost, with nothing to count by hand.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Can I see cement stock in the warehouse and the shop separately?
Yes. Each place is a warehouse, so the stock list shows bags in Ojodu apart from the bags at the shop. Group by product to see one total across both.
How do I stop old cement sitting too long?
SimpleERP has no batch or date tracking, so it cannot pick the oldest bags. Most shops stack new loads behind old ones and use the movement ledger to see when the last load came in.
My steel price changes every week. How is stock valued?
At weighted average cost. Each dealer bill updates the average for that diameter, and sales issue at that average, so the stock value and the cost of each sale follow the prices you actually paid.
I have 3,000 items. Do I type them all in?
No. Prepare a CSV with name, unit, tax rate, reorder level and opening stock per place, and import it in one go. Contractors and dealers import the same way, with what each owes or is owed as an opening balance.
Related
Keep reading
Building materials and hardware
Mixed-rate invoices, stock by warehouse and shop, and contractor credit with ageing.
Read moreInvoicing & tax
Tax invoices with VAT, GST or sales tax on every line, numbered by fiscal year and posted in one step.
Read moreAccounting for hardware shops
Contractor credit and ageing, dealer payables, cheque receipts and month-end checks, built from posted bills.
Read more
See how inventory works in SimpleERP for building materials and hardware
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