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Purchasing items in different units of measure

Navigate purchasing items in different units with Katana’s flexible conversion settings.

Dayvid Lorbiecke avatar
Written by Dayvid Lorbiecke
Updated this week

Easily manage purchases in different units while keeping your stock consistent.


Katana allows you to purchase materials and products in units that differ from your stock tracking units. This is useful when vendors supply items in bulk formats (e.g. rolls, crates), but you want to manage your stock in more granular units (e.g. square feet, pieces).


What’s the difference between purchase UoM and stock UoM?

  • Stock unit of measure (UoM):
    This is the default unit used in Katana to track inventory. It’s defined on the item card and used for stock levels, production, and recipes.

    Screenshot showing the Unit of measure field on a material card

  • Purchase unit of measure (UoM):
    If suppliers deliver in a different unit (e.g. rolls instead of meters), you can define a purchase UoM and set a conversion rate to the stock UoM.

Note: Katana will automatically convert quantities between the two using your defined conversion rate.

If you add items to product recipes, the quantity of each ingredient is also defined by the stock UoM.


Example

You buy fabric in rolls but track in square feet.


Set:

  • Stock UoM: Square feet

  • Purchase UoM: Rolls

  • Conversion rate: 1 roll = 100 square feet

On purchase orders, you’ll enter the number of rolls. In your stock, Katana will track the quantity in square feet.


How to set a purchase UoM and conversion rate

Step 1: Enable purchasing in a different unit

  1. Go to the Items screen and select the product or material.

  2. Make sure Buy is enabled (if it's a product).

    Screenshot showing the Buy checkbox on a product card

  3. Open the Supply details tab.

    Screenshot highlighting the Supply details tab on a product card

Step 2: Set the purchase unit and conversion

  1. Check Yes, I purchase in a different unit.

    Screenshot showing the 'Yes, I purchase in a different unit' checkbox in the Supply details tab

  2. In Default purchase unit of measure, enter the purchase UoM (e.g., rolls, boxes).

  3. In Unit conversion rate, define how many stock units equal one purchase unit.

    Example: If 1 roll = 100 square feet, enter “100”.

    Screenshot showing the default purchase unit of measure and unit conversion rate fields in the Supply details tab

Purchase prices and conversion

  • When purchasing in a different UoM:

    • You’ll enter the default purchase price per purchase unit.

    • Katana will automatically calculate and display the price per stock unit using the conversion rate.


How it works on purchase orders

When items are added to a PO/OPO in the purchase UoM, your stock levels (both In stock and Expected quantities) are displayed in the stock UoM based on this conversion rate.

Screenshot highlighting the In stock and Expected columns in the stock screen
  • Before receiving items:
    Quantities appear as Expected in stock UoM.

  • After receiving items:
    Inventory is updated in stock UoM, based on the conversion.


Notes

  • This feature works for both purchase orders (POs) and outsourced purchase orders (OPOs).

  • If an item has multiple variants, the purchase UoM and conversion can be defined per variant.

    Screenshot showing the default purchase unit of measure and unit conversion rate affect variants default purchase prices

  • Katana auto-fills common unit conversions (e.g., boxes to pieces) — but you can override them.


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