Overview
Your Inventory catalogue is made of materials: the parts, consumables and supplies you stock. Materials are sorted into categories, which form a tree. Both are on the Inventory page: the Categories tree on the left and the materials list beside it.
This article covers creating, editing and deleting materials and categories, and how SKUs stay unique. For stock, see Warehouses and stock levels.
At a glance |
|
Who can do this | Super Users, or Roles with the relevant material permissions when permission controls are enabled. |
Where | Inventory (Categories tree and materials list) |
Works on | Backend (web) |
Availability | Early access — contact your CSM |
🚀 Early access: Inventory is an early-access feature. Mobaro turns it on for your organization. Until then, Inventory shows greyed out in the Backend menu.
ℹ️ Note: Older Inventory versions called materials Products and the SKU a Code. This has been updated to use material and SKU.
What a material holds
Field | Required | Notes |
SKU | Yes | Up to 50 characters. Unique per Manufacturer. |
Name | Yes | Up to 255 characters. |
Manufacturer | Yes | Part of what makes an SKU unique. |
Description | No | Up to 255 characters. |
Image | No | Shown in the list’s Image column. |
Minimum stock (all warehouses) | No | Overall threshold; zero or a positive number, up to 3 decimal places. Blank means no overall minimum. |
Price per unit | No | Non-negative, up to 4 decimal places. Blank is unpriced; zero is a known price of zero. |
Currency | With a price | Choose a configured currency. Set an accounting currency before pricing materials. |
A material sits in one category, or in none (Uncategorized). You can choose its category when you create it and change it later from the material’s details.
Create a material
1. Select the category
On the Inventory page, select a category in the Categories tree, or select Uncategorized. You can check and change the category in the material’s details before saving.
2. Click Create
The New material page opens.
3. Fill in the details
Enter SKU, Name and Manufacturer, plus optional details. If enabled, set Minimum stock (all warehouses), Price per unit and Currency. These settings are optional and do not change quantities.
4. Save
Click Save. Mobaro confirms Inventory material saved successfully. Then add its stock in the Warehouses panel on the same page – see Warehouses and stock levels. If you try to add stock first, you'll see Fill in SKU, name and manufacturer before adding stock.
ℹ️ Note: Use the Category field to move a material. You do not need to delete the material or remove its stock to change its category.
How SKUs stay unique
An SKU is unique per Manufacturer, not across the whole catalogue. Two materials from different Manufacturers can share an SKU; two from the same Manufacturer can’t. If the SKU is taken, you see A material with this SKU already exists for this manufacturer. Check the Manufacturer on both materials.
Materials imported without a Manufacturer count as having none, so two of them can’t share an SKU either.
Edit or delete a material
1. Open the category picker
Select the material and click Edit. Click the Category field or its pencil button.
2. Choose the category
In Choose Category, select the new category and click Select. Choose Uncategorized to remove the category.
3. Save the material
Click Save on the material to keep the change. You can also edit its SKU, Name, Manufacturer, Description, image, minimum stock and price here.
To delete a material, select it, click Delete and type its SKU to confirm. You can’t delete a material while any Warehouse still has a stock row for it: A material that is still in stock cannot be deleted. Write off its stock first. Remove each row from the material’s Warehouses panel first – see Setting up Inventory for how that write-off works.
🛑 Critical: Deleting a material can’t be undone, and removing its stock rows writes off any quantity left. Transfer stock you want to keep before you delete.
Manage categories
Create: click Create Category (+) above the tree and enter a name. The new category goes under the selected category, or at the top level when Uncategorized is selected.
Rename: select the category and click Edit Category. A category can’t be moved under a different parent.
Delete: select it and click Delete Category. A category with child categories can’t be deleted until they're gone. Its materials become uncategorized; if it has materials, you type the category’s name to confirm.
Selecting a category lists only the materials directly in it, not those in its sub-categories. Select Uncategorized to show materials with no category. Search looks across the whole catalogue.
Prices, minimum stock and access
The overall minimum is separate from each Warehouse’s minimum. It is not divided between Warehouses. See Set minimum stock and find shortages.
Prices use the currencies configured for your organization. Current prices contribute to Warehouse value; they do not record historical purchase costs. See Set material prices and understand Warehouse value. If pricing or minimum-stock fields are missing, ask your CSM about availability.
Where permission controls are enabled, the material permissions to create, modify and delete govern the corresponding material and category actions. Stock changes have separate permissions. Super Users have full access.
Best practices
Use clear category names and move materials when your catalogue structure changes.
Keep the tree shallow: a few clear levels are easier to browse, on the Backend and in the Mobile app’s material picker.
Use your suppliers' part numbers, or your existing system’s codes, as SKUs, and always fill in the Manufacturer.
Use a naming convention so similar materials sort together in the list.
Frequently asked questions
How do I create categories in Inventory?
On the Inventory page, click Create Category (+) above the Categories tree and enter a name. Select a category first to create a sub-category under it.
I added a new item to a category, but it won't save. Why?
Save only works once SKU, Name and Manufacturer are filled in. If the SKU is already used by a material from the same Manufacturer, change the SKU or the Manufacturer.
Can I move a material to a different category?
Yes. Open the material, change Category, click Select, then Save. Its stock does not need to be removed.
Can a material be in more than one category?
No. A material sits in one category, or none. Use parent categories for broader groupings.
We have our parts in a spreadsheet. Do we add them one by one?
No. Mobaro can import your materials, categories, Warehouses and opening stock from a spreadsheet. See Importing your Inventory data.