Works today Front store · 2 of 4
Expiry date tracking for the front shelves
Lot numbers and expiry dates ride along with every unit you receive, so short-dated OTC stock shows up in a report weeks before it reaches the shelf date.
Illustration: lots expiring in the next two months (amber) and four months (highlight). Your report shows real dates.
1Lots & expiry
How lot numbers and expiry dates work
You enter the lot number and expiry date when stock is received. From then on, the stock-expiry report shows every lot by date and location, and sales can be picked from a specific lot.
- Definition · lot number
- The batch code a manufacturer prints on a pack. It ties units to one production run, which is what you need if a product is recalled or a batch expires early.
2Routine
A weekly expiry routine in four steps
Receive with lot and expiry, check the report weekly, act on short-dated items, then reorder from what sells. Each lid below opens one step.
Step 1 Receive stock with lot and expiry at delivery
Record the purchase against the supplier and enter the lot number and expiry date for each line. The stock now carries both.
Step 2 Run the stock-expiry report weekly 10 min
Filter by location and by how far ahead you want to look — for example, everything expiring in the next 90 days.
Step 3 Move, discount or pull short-dated items as needed
Transfer to a busier location, put a dated discount on the product, or remove expired units with a stock adjustment that records the reason.
Step 4 Reorder from what actually sells 15 min
Use stock and sales reports, and the alert quantity per product, to build the next purchase order without overbuying short-life lines.
3More than one store
Stock across more than one pharmacy
Each location keeps its own stock. Transfers move quantities and their lots between locations, and reports can be read per store or for all stores together.
Stock transfers
Send units from one store to another; both stock levels update and the transfer is logged.
Purchase orders
Order from wholesalers, receive in part or in full, and track what you owe each supplier.
Stock reports
Stock value, stock by location, low-stock alerts, expiry and stock-adjustment history.
4Limits
What expiry tracking here does not do
It tracks front-store retail stock only. It does not manage prescription inventory, controlled substances or returns to reverse distributors, and it cannot stop an expired item being sold if the shelf is not checked.
5Questions
Stock, lots and expiry questions
Can I record lot numbers and expiry dates on stock?
Works todayYes. Lot numbers and expiry dates are entered when stock is received and stay attached to that stock.
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Turn on lot numbers and expiry in the business settings, then enter them on purchases and opening stock. Products without expiry (cards, gifts) simply leave them blank.
Is there a report of what expires soon?
Works todayYes. The stock-expiry report lists stock by expiry date, location and lot.
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Use it weekly. Sorting by date shows what to act on first.
Does it sell the oldest lot first?
It can pick lots at the register. Whether the physical shelf is rotated first-expired-first-out is a store routine, not something software can guarantee.
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Train staff to face older stock forward. The report tells you which lots are oldest so the routine is easy to check.
Can I move stock between two pharmacies?
Works todayYes. Stock transfers move quantities, with their lots, from one location to another and record who did it.
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Useful for sending short-dated items to the store that sells them faster.
Can I write off expired stock?
Works todayYes. A stock adjustment removes the units and records the reason and the cost.
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Keep your own records for any returns or destruction rules that apply to medicines in your market.
Can it create purchase orders?
Works todayYes. Purchase orders go to suppliers, are received in full or in part, and update stock with lots and expiry on receipt.
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Supplier balances and payments are tracked as well, so you can see what you owe each wholesaler.
Does it track expiry for prescription stock?
Not plannedNo. Prescription inventory belongs in your pharmacy management system; this page is about front-store retail stock only.
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Any future Rx inventory feature would come with the PMS integration and is not promised today.
Can I get alerts when stock is low?
Works todayYes. Each product can have an alert quantity; products under it show up for reordering.
Read the routine in more depth: a practical OTC expiry routine.