Stock Carries a Unit Now — Just Not Two of Them
Every quantity the inventory module stores is now a decimal to three places, and every item carries its unit of measure — pieces and cartons stay whole, kilograms, litres and metres take fractions. What still has nowhere to live is the relationship between two units: the case bought and the single issued.
Ask the warehouse how much paint is left and the answer is eleven. Until October 2026, eleven what was a question the database had never been asked.
Updated 15 October 2026: quantities are decimal and items carry a unit
This post first described quantity as a whole number with no unit of measure anywhere. That changed on 14 October 2026. Every item now carries a unit from a fixed list — pieces, boxes, cartons, bottles and the other count units stay whole; kilograms, grams, litres, millilitres, metres, square and cubic metres and hours take up to three decimals — and stock quantities are decimal end to end: receipts, issues, transfers, counts, holds, reservations, till sales and returns, and purchase order lines. All nine stock records below moved together, as the boundary in this post asked. What has not changed is the second half of the argument: converting between a purchase unit and a stock unit on one item is still the open piece, and the rest of the post is about that.
The short version
Quantity in this product is the same kind of number everywhere it is stored — a decimal to three places — and consistency is the good news, because a decimal in one place and a whole number in another is a rounding bug rather than a design. The unit lives on the item and decides the precision: a count unit refuses 2.5, a measured unit accepts 2.5 kilograms. What the system still does not hold is a conversion between two units of the same thing. For a business that counts discrete objects or measures in one unit this costs nothing. For one that buys in one pack size and issues in another, that conversion is the thing to understand before deciding whether this module fits.
Where the quantity appears
This is not one column. It is the same decision applied consistently at every point a quantity is written down, and it changed at every point together.
| What is recorded | Where it lives | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Stock on hand for an item | The item record | Decimal, three places |
| Quantity at one location | The item-location record | Decimal, three places |
| Reorder point | The item record | Decimal, three places |
| Expected quantity during a count | The count line | Decimal, three places |
| Counted quantity | The count line | Decimal, three places |
| Variance between the two | The count line | Decimal, three places |
| Quantity in transit on a transfer | The transfer record | Decimal, three places |
| Quantity actually received | The transfer record | Decimal, three places |
| Shrinkage on the way | The transfer record | Decimal, three places |
Nine places, one answer. That consistency is worth pausing on, because the failure mode it avoids is genuinely nasty: a system that stores a decimal on hand and a whole number on a count line produces a variance every time a fractional quantity is counted, and the variance is an artefact of the schema rather than of the warehouse.
Precision is set by the unit, not by the column
Every column holds three decimal places, and the item's unit decides how many of them a person may use. An item stocked in pieces refuses 2.5 at every entry point; an item stocked in kilograms accepts 2.5 and 2.505. And an item already holding a fractional quantity cannot be switched to a whole unit until the stock is adjusted, so the unit and the figure never disagree.
The second fact, which is the bigger one
The unit of measure is a field on the item, chosen from a fixed list, and it is shown beside stock on the web and in the mobile app. It lives on the item only: an invoice line, a purchase order line and a printed document carry the quantity, not the unit.
An item now says what kind of thing it is. It still says only one.
That second sentence is where the remaining work sits. An item called "Paint, white emulsion, 5L tin" stocked in tins is unambiguous, and so is "Cable, 2.5mm" stocked in metres. What one item cannot do is be both: held in tins and also in litres, or bought in cartons and issued in pieces.
What it cannot do is arithmetic between units.
What a single unit handles, and what it does not
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Measuring rather than counting — handled
Anything sold by weight, volume or length. Three and a half metres of cable, 0.75 kilograms of a raw material, half a litre of a reagent. Stock the item in metres, kilograms or litres and the figure on the shelf is the figure in the record.
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Partial consumption — handled in a measured unit
A drum stocked in litres can be issued 40 litres at a time and the record shows what remains. A drum stocked as one drum is still present or gone; choose the measured unit for anything that is opened and drawn from.
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Buying in one pack and issuing in another — still open
A case of twenty-four bought, singles issued. Both are real quantities of the same physical thing, and with one unit per item and no conversion factor you must pick one to be the truth. Most organisations pick the issuing unit and then reconcile purchase orders by hand, every time.
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A yield or a conversion — still open
One sack of flour becoming a number of loaves, one roll becoming a number of cut lengths. Both sides are recordable; the relationship between them is the thing there is nowhere to record.
And the things it always handled well, which is the larger set for most businesses: anything discrete. Units, boxes treated as units, devices, tools, packaged goods, spare parts, consumables sold in a fixed pack. Lot tracking, serial tracking, expiry tracking and first-expiry-first-out all work on top of it.
What to do if you measure things
You count discrete objects
Nothing at all
Leave the unit on pieces. Whole numbers are enforced for you, and the rest of this article is background.
You handle measured items
Set the unit on the item
Choose kilograms, litres or metres and record 4.5 rather than 4500. The workaround this post used to recommend — stocking in grams or millilitres to keep the number whole — is no longer needed, though a small unit is still a fair choice where it is the one people think in.
You buy in cases and issue in singles
Pick the issuing unit and name it
Hold stock in the unit you consume, because that is the number people ask about daily. Put the pack size in the item name so a purchase order can be reconciled by hand without anybody having to remember the ratio.
Pack conversions are most of your business
Raise it before you commit
Reconciling every receipt by hand across an entire catalogue is a permanent tax on everybody who receives stock. This is the case where the answer should be a scoping conversation rather than a habit.
One trap left over from the old workaround
If you stocked liquids in millilitres or powders in grams to keep the number whole, those items are still correct and need not move. Switching one to litres or kilograms later means converting its on-hand figure by a factor at the moment of the switch, and every historical figure and printout keeps the old unit. Decide it once, deliberately, rather than item by item as people notice.
What a unit conversion would need to be
The unit on the item and the decimal quantity it measures are built. Conversion between two units is the piece still to scope, and it is well-understood work with a known shape on top of what exists.
A purchase unit and a stock unit
A conversion factor between the pack bought and the unit held, so a case of twenty-four received becomes twenty-four issued without anybody doing the multiplication.
A yield between two items
The sack that becomes loaves, the roll that becomes cut lengths, recorded as a relationship rather than as two adjustments somebody remembers to make together.
The unit on documents
The item's unit carried onto invoice and purchase order lines and printed beside the quantity, so a figure on paper is never read as the wrong kind of thing.
We publish scope, not dates.
Scope unit conversionWhat AWRA OpsHub does today
- Decimal quantities, to three places, stored consistently at all nine points a quantity is recorded, so a count line and a stock figure can never disagree because of their column types.
- A unit of measure on every item, from a fixed list, shown beside stock on the web and in the mobile app.
- Precision set by the unit: pieces, boxes, cartons and bottles stay whole and refuse a fraction; kilograms, litres, metres and hours take up to three decimals across receipts, issues, transfers, counts, holds, reservations, till sales and purchase order lines.
- Partial consumption of an opened container held in a measured unit, so a drum stocked in litres records what remains.
- Stock held per location as well as per item, with one row per item, warehouse and location combination enforced by the database rather than by convention.
- Quantity in transit, quantity received and shrinkage recorded separately on a transfer, so a discrepancy in movement is a figure rather than an inference.
- Lot, serial and expiry tracking with a first-expiry-first-out policy on top of the same quantities.
- Decimal pricing, widened to three places where precision matters.
More we can add to your workspace
- Buying in one unit and selling in another — a purchase unit, a stock unit and a conversion factor on one item, so a case bought and singles issued are the same stock without a manual multiplication.
- A yield relationship between two items, for the sack that becomes loaves or the roll that becomes cut lengths.
- Unit conversion inside reports, so a figure can be read in cases or in singles without the underlying record changing.
- The item's unit on invoice and purchase order lines and printouts, beside the quantity it describes.
Where we point you to a specialist
- We would decline to add fractional quantities to one record at a time, and did: when quantities became decimal, all nine records moved together. A decimal on hand against a whole number on a count line manufactures a variance every time a fraction is counted.
- Where a product is regulated by weight or volume for sale, labelling or duty, the measurement of record belongs in the system your regulator recognises, and we point you to your own advisers on which that is. Our part is to hold a figure that reconciles to it.
- We hold that the unit belongs on the item rather than being inferred from a category or a name pattern. An inferred unit is right until an item is named unusually, and a stock figure silently interpreted in the wrong unit is worse than one carrying no unit at all, because the first is trusted.
Conversion between a purchase unit and a stock unit is the piece still to scope — the unit and the decimal quantity it would convert between already exist. If your catalogue is bought in cases and issued in singles, it is the one to scope first.
Four questions to ask any inventory system before you commit
Can stock be held to a fraction?
A good answer sounds like
Yes, to this many places — or a clear no.
What ours actually is
Yes, to three places, for items in a measured unit; count units stay whole. Ask it as a schema question rather than a screen question: a field that accepts a decimal and stores a rounded whole is the worst of both.
Where does the unit of measure live?
A good answer sounds like
A field on the item, shown beside every quantity.
What ours actually is
A field on the item, shown beside stock. Not yet on invoice or purchase order lines.
If I buy a case of twenty-four and issue singles, what is stored?
A good answer sounds like
Both, with a conversion between them.
What ours actually is
One number in one unit, and the reconciliation is done by a person. This question finds the pack-size problem faster than any other.
Do counted quantities and stock quantities have the same precision?
A good answer sounds like
Yes, obviously.
What ours actually is
Yes. Worth asking anywhere, because a mismatch produces variances that are artefacts of the database rather than facts about the warehouse, and they get investigated as though they were real.
Work out which kind of business you are, first
Count the lines in your catalogue that are bought in one unit and issued in another. If the answer is none, set each item's unit and nothing else here changes for you. If it is most of them, that is the conversation to have before anything else about inventory is decided.
Talk through your catalogueFrequently asked questions
Can I record half a unit of something?
Yes, for an item stocked in a measured unit. Set the item's unit to kilograms, litres, metres or another measured unit and every stock record takes up to three decimals, so half a litre is 0.5. An item stocked in pieces, boxes, cartons or another count unit stays whole and refuses a fraction.
Where is the unit of measure stored?
On the item, chosen from a fixed list, and shown beside stock on the web and in the mobile app. It is held on the item only; invoice lines, purchase order lines and printouts carry the quantity without the unit.
Does this mean lot and expiry tracking are unavailable?
No. Lot tracking, serial tracking, expiry tracking and a first-expiry-first-out policy all exist and work on top of the same quantities.
Can one item be bought in cases and issued in singles?
Not as two units on one item yet. An item has one unit, so hold stock in the unit you consume and put the pack size in the item name, which leaves the multiplication as a human step at receipt. A purchase unit, a stock unit and a conversion factor on one item is the piece we would scope with you.
I stocked liquids in millilitres to keep the number whole. Should I change?
Only if litres is how people think about it. The millilitre items are still correct. Switching an item to litres means converting its on-hand figure at the moment of the switch, and historical figures keep the old unit, so decide it once for the whole catalogue rather than item by item.
Can an item with fractional stock be switched to a whole unit?
Not until the fraction is adjusted away. The system refuses to change an item holding 2.5 into pieces, so the unit and the figure never disagree.
