22.8. Scan, Receive, Count, and Service Assets in the Field

Record stock movements where the hardware changes hands. At Cascade Manufacturing, a technician can check the replacement device's serial number, receive it into the correct location, deliver it against the service ticket, and leave maintenance notes on the deployed asset.

Availability: Inventory requires Alga PSA and inventory access. The menu requires permission to read inventory; receiving, adjustments, counts, purchase orders, transfers, and asset actions also use their respective permissions and stock-location access.

These instructions cover mobile app 1.6.1. Sign in with an internal account, connect to the server, and allow camera access for scanning. Have the products and warehouse or vehicle locations set up before receiving stock. For the overall stock model, see 19.1. Inventory Overview: Stock, Purchasing, and Fulfillment for MSPs.

Start with Today

Open Inventory from the menu. Today summarizes work that needs attention:

Figure 1: Today brings the stock tasks together before the technician scans or opens a specific record.

Use Scan a barcode for the camera, or the Scan, Stock, Counts, POs, and Transfers segments for a specific task. In Stock, use Search products or SKU and review On hand, Available, By location, and serialized Units.

Scan a product, unit, or managed asset

1. Choose Scan a barcode or Scan and allow camera access.
2. Point the camera at the barcode. Use the flashlight control if needed.
3. If you cannot scan, choose Enter code manually and enter a barcode, SKU, serial number, or MAC address.
4. Review the result type and identity before acting.

A product is the model you buy and stock. A stock unit is one serialized item. An asset is the deployed device you support for a client. Keep these identities distinct when scanning a manufacturer's product barcode versus an individual device serial label.

Receive stock into a location

Start from a known product: scan it and choose Receive stock, or open it in Stock and choose Receive stock. This carries the product into the receipt form.

1. Confirm the product name.
2. Choose Location, such as the warehouse receiving shelf or the technician's vehicle.
3. Enter Quantity and review Unit cost.
4. For a serialized product, choose Scan serials. Scan each device's serial, or use Add manually, then tap Done. Duplicate serials are rejected in the capture list.
5. Review the captured serial count and quantity. Finishing serial capture updates the receipt quantity to the number captured, so a short delivery must be checked before saving.
6. Tap Receive and wait for Stock received.

Refresh the product's stock and serialized units to verify the result. If the app says you cannot write to that location, ask the inventory manager to check access rather than choosing a different location solely to bypass the error.

For a delivery against an existing purchase order, use the PO flow below so the receipt also updates the order.

Receive purchase-order lines and transfers

In POs, open the purchase order and review each line's received-versus-ordered quantity. Choose the receiving Location, then Receive on the line. For a non-serialized line, enter the received quantity and confirm Receive. For a serialized line, capture the delivered serials and tap Done to submit that batch against the line.

If the quantity exceeds the remaining amount, the app warns This exceeds the remaining quantity on the line. Recheck the delivery before confirming. After success, verify the line's received progress. Creating and editing purchase orders are web workflows.

In Transfers, review the in-transit transfer and its From location. When the stock has physically arrived, tap Receive transfer and check Transfer received. Verify the destination stock afterwards. Mobile receives existing transfers; arrange and dispatch new transfers in the web app.

Count a shelf or vehicle

1. Open Counts, choose Location, and tap Start count. If an open count already exists for that location, the app can resume it. You can also open a listed session directly.
2. Count what is physically present. For a non-serialized line, tap its quantity, enter Counted quantity, and choose Save count. The line's quantity controls also support incremental counting.
3. For serialized lines, open the serial capture, scan or enter the units present, and finish with Done.
4. Use the code-entry field and Add product to look up another product or stock unit. Adding a recognized code increments that product's counted quantity, so recheck the total after repeated entries.
5. Review the recorded quantities. The screen can show Expected quantities and variance; count the physical stock rather than copying the expected value.
6. If the stock-movement warning asks you to recount, reconcile the intervening movement and recount before submitting.
7. Tap Submit for review and confirm Submit count?.

The session moves to review. Approval happens in the web app; submitting a count is not approval of the stock adjustment. The Cancel count action discards the session without changing stock and asks you to confirm.

Correct a stock quantity with a reason

Open the product's stock detail and choose Adjust stock. Select Location, enter Adjustment (+/-), and supply Reason. The adjustment is a signed change to stock, not the final desired balance. Tap Adjust and check Stock adjusted.

For example, if a physical check finds one unusable patch cable in the vehicle, an adjustment of -1 removes one from stock. Record why it was removed. Use a count session for a full shelf reconciliation and the receiving workflow for new deliveries, so the transaction history explains the movement.

Handle an unknown barcode

On No match, first inspect Close matches and confirm the code was read correctly. Then choose the action that fits:

Create a product for stock you buy and carry. Register a client asset for equipment you already manage at the site. Avoid creating a second product just because its barcode had not yet been associated with the catalog.

Install a serialized unit against a ticket

For a scanned In stock unit without an existing asset link, Install for a client offers a delivery flow:

1. Select the ticket you are working on.
2. Confirm the ticket's client and the material Rate.
3. Tap Install & deliver.
4. Check the ticket material and the resulting unit or asset record.

The server consumes that unit as a ticket material. It creates a managed asset when the product is configured to create an asset on delivery. This preserves the connection between stocked hardware and the client device; not every product creates an asset.

Service the deployed asset

Open an asset from the scan result or a ticket's Linked devices. Review Tag, Serial, Type, Client, Location, Warranty ends, and Purchased where provided.

Figure 2: Verify the device identity before linking a ticket or recording maintenance against it.

At Cascade Manufacturing, finish by checking the serial against the label, the client and ticket relationship, the receipt or delivery result, and the maintenance note. Recording an inventory transaction, creating an asset, and resolving the service ticket are separate outcomes that each need to be verified.