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Travel agencies

Inventory software for travel agencies: do you need it?

Most agencies sell trips, not goods, and can leave stock switched off. If you hand out travel kits on safari tours or resell bought-in items, SimpleERP tracks them the same way a shop does.

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In short

SimpleERP keeps inventory optional for travel agencies. Tour packages and bookings are services with no stock, while travel kits, printed brochures or resold items can be tracked by quantity at weighted average cost with a reorder level.

Illustration of stock on hand by warehouse at average cost, with a low-stock row highlighted and a movement ledger.

An inventory day at Table Bay Holidays

Table Bay Holidays keeps very little stock. What it does keep is real money: 400 safari travel kits with a shoulder bag, cap and water bottle bought ahead of the peak season, 2,000 printed tour brochures, and a carton of branded luggage tags given to every tour package customer.

Before SimpleERP, the office counted kits in the storeroom before each group left and still ran short twice. Now the kit is a product: the purchase bill from the supplier in Durban adds 400 to stock, each group's invoice or issue takes its share, and the count left is on screen.

First question

Should a travel agency track stock at all?

If everything you bill is a tour package, a hotel booking or a shuttle reservation, no. Those are services and never touch inventory. Turn stock on only for physical things you buy and then sell or give away, where losing count costs you.

  • Services have no stock: no quantity on hand, no cost of goods.
  • One warehouse by default; extra warehouses stay hidden until you add one.
  • Goods and services side by side on the same invoice when a kit is sold with the trip.

What to track

Which items are worth putting in stock?

Items that are bought in bulk before the season and run out mid-season are the ones to track. Set a reorder level on each so the stock list shows what is running low while there is still time to order before the next group departs.

ItemUnitReorder levelComes in on
Safari travel kit (bag, cap, bottle)Pcs80Purchase bill from the kit supplier
Printed tour brochurePcs300Purchase bill from the printer
Branded luggage tagPcs150Purchase bill
Prepaid hotel voucher booklet, if you buy and resell themPcs10Purchase bill from the hotel
Stock items a travel agency might keep

Illustration of stock on hand by warehouse at average cost, with a low-stock row highlighted and a movement ledger.

Stock on hand with value at weighted average cost.

Cost

What does each kit really cost the business?

Each purchase bill updates the weighted average cost of the item, so when kits bought at $11 and later at $13 are mixed in the storeroom, the cost on the next tour's invoice reflects both batches and the gross profit on that trip is honest.

  • Stock value as of today, at weighted average cost.
  • Stock adjustment with a reason when kits are damaged in transit.
  • Movement history per item: every bill, invoice and adjustment.

One system

Where stock connects

Purchase bills raise stock and the payable; invoices lower stock and post the cost of goods in the same step.

Honest limits

What inventory for travel agencies leaves out

  • 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 seat, room or ticket inventory: hotel rooms and bus seats are not stock items
  • No allotment tracking for blocked hotel rooms or group air seats

Getting started

Start with inventory

  1. Sign up with your email

    Name, email and a password. No card for the seven-day trial.

  2. 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.

  3. Add products and opening stock

    Add only the goods you keep, such as travel kits and brochures, with their opening count and cost. Packages and bookings stay as services.

  4. 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 track hotel rooms I have blocked for the season?

No. Rooms, seats and tickets are not stock in SimpleERP. Record the hotel's deposit as a payment to the supplier and bill the rooms as services when you sell them.

We give a travel kit free with every safari package. How is it recorded?

Add the kit as a zero-priced goods line on the package invoice, so stock falls with the sale, or reduce it with a stock adjustment that gives the reason. Either way the count stays right.

Can I import my brochure and kit list from a spreadsheet?

Yes. Products can be imported from a CSV file with their units and opening stock.

Will turning on stock make billing a package slower?

No. A package is a service, so its invoice never asks about stock. Only lines for goods check the quantity on hand.

Related

See how inventory works in SimpleERP for travel agencies

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