Creating a product

Introduction

ParagonERP has many features to help you sell the products that you buy or make. In order to track the goods you sell, you need a place to create those items, fill them with relevant information, and manage your inventory. The beauty of Paragon is the fact that the information being tracked is completely configurable, regardless of your business model or daily workflows.

In this article we will show you how to create and edit products, and the many options available to you.

Go to the product module

You can click the product button on the sidebar or select it from the more menu.

Create a new product

This is the list view of the product module. To create a new product click the create new product button.

A blank product screen will appear. The product screen is separated into three categories. When creating new products, only sections 1 and 2 will be filled out.

Business card

Now you can begin entering product information. The panel on the left is the business card. The first field, in this case code, is mandatory and must be unique. We suggest using a SKU or UPC (anything that is unique).

The other fields in this first panel were set up in product settings. These fields are only mandatory if they were set as mandatory in product settings.

Add more attributes and information

In the product attrributes panel, only the attributes that were set as always show in product settings will display on the new product screen. To add a field that you do not see, but is required for the specific product, press the blue plus icon. Select an attribute to add from the list that displays.

In order to access this list, please ensure your screen resolution is at 100%. This can be done by pressing "Ctrl" + "0".

If the information you'd like to enter is not in this list either, you will need to add it to Paragon through reference screen setup.

Product stock vs non-stock items

You can set an item as a non-stock item by setting its stock type attribute accordingly.

A non-stock item will not generate inventory adjustments, nor will it maintain any inventory history. Additionally, these items can have a purchase cost of zero and will not generate any journal entries.

Adding and removing images

Along with all the attributes and other information attached to your products, you may want images attached for visual confirmation and ease of browsing. In edit mode simply click the add button on the business card of your product.

This will open the upload image module where you can either select an image from your local files by clicking the add file button or simply copy and paste an image URL.

You are able to add multiple images in either format to each product. Don't forget to save!

If you have added multiple images, you can cycle through them by clicking the arrow.
To remove an image simply click the remove button

Clicking the remove button will delete the image you are currently viewing.

Adding notes

Notes can be added using the notepad on the bottom left side of the product screen when in edit mode. You can add multiple notes by clicking the add button and typing in the blank box. To remove or cancel notes simply click the cancel button on the left.

When you save your product the notes will also be saved along with the date of their creation.

Adding attachments

To add attachments to your products, you will need to be in edit mode and you will see the attachments button at the bottom of the screen.

Clicking the attachments button will open a modal that will allow you to either upload files or attach files using a URL.

Remember to click attach if using an URL before saving or your attachment will not be included.

Your files will appear and can be removed using the remove button on the left. You can click accept to save your choices or cancel to leave the modal at any time.

Activity panel

The product module also includes an activity panel to give brief summaries of your products and the transactions they are currently attached to. Orders are shown by default but you have drop down menus available to choose the transaction and transaction status. For more information on the activity panel you can check out our user guide on How to use the activity panel

Save your product

When you are done entering all the relevant information, click the save button.

Any fields that are left blank will no longer show on the screen when you save the product.

Activate the product

In order to add the product to a transaction, you will need to activate it. As long as the product is in inactive status, you will not be able to add it to a transaction.

To activate the product, click the green action button, then click the activate button.

Adjust inventory

Once the product is active you can adjust the inventory directly in the module by clicking the inventory tab. To adjust your inventory, follow these steps:

Click the location bar to open a drop down menu of your locations.
Select the warehouse location for which you wish to adjust the inventory.
Enter the adjustment quantity, select a reason if applicable, and click accept to validate your change.

Note that if you need to move stock from one location to another, or view the history of all inventory movements for that item, this will still need to be done in the inventory module

Last Purchase Price

Knowing the most accurate and up to date value of your goods is vital to any business. Paragon can give you that information automatically in real time with your purchase receipts - landed costs at your fingertips. The Last Landed Cost attribute can also be seen in our list views and all of our reporting tools. It is a standard Paragon attribute that is automatically updated whenever a receipt is completed for an item.

What's next?

Now that you know how to create, activate, and add stock to a product, there are plenty of other Paragon features that may interest you:

How to create a customer

How to create a material

Setting up reference screens