SKUs (item variants)

A SKU is one variant of an item — a colour, a pack or any other version you want to sell, buy and stock separately — with its own code. The item stays the product; its SKUs are the versions of it that document lines, stock balances and pricing rules can tell apart.

You create SKUs on the item record once the item exists. From then on, every document line that names the item can also name one of its SKUs: orders, quotes, invoices, delivery orders and shipments on the sales side; requisitions, purchase orders, goods receipts and bills on the purchase side; transfers, adjustments and cycle counts in inventory. Stock is kept per SKU, and price list, discount and tax rules can target a single SKU.

Overview

A SKU record is small. It has an identity — SKU Code, Name and the parent Item — and a few descriptive attributes: Product Color, Primary UOM, Maximum Lot Quantity and the Default flag. What makes SKUs matter is everything that refers to them:

• Document lines carry an SKU field next to Item. On most lines the SKU picker only offers the SKUs of the item already on the line.
• Stock is kept per partner account, branch, item, SKU and storage location. Stock received against one SKU is not available to a line that names a different SKU, or no SKU.
• Pricing — price list rules, discount group rules, tax group rules and trade scheme conditions and benefits — can name a SKU, so variants of one item can be priced and promoted differently.
• Order taking shows an item's SKUs as variants to pick from.

Whether an item's lines must name a SKU is decided on the item, by its SKU Required flag.

When to use it

Create SKUs when one product exists in versions that you need to count, price or order separately — for example a paint in several colours, or a product sold in more than one finish. Keep a single item without SKUs when every unit is interchangeable: lines then move stock at item level and nobody has to pick a variant.

SKUs are not the place for:

• Units of measure (a bottle versus a case of twelve). Units and their conversion ratios are maintained on the item; they apply to every SKU of the item.
• Batches and serial numbers. These are item lots — see Item lots and lot types. A lot belongs to an item and, where you use them, a SKU.
• Commercial grades such as new versus refurbished. Use item lot types.

How xMatix handles it

• A SKU belongs to one item. When a document line is added, xMatix checks that the line's SKU is one of the item's own SKUs and rejects the line with Invalid SKU selected for this item. if not.
• SKU Required is enforced on lines. When the item has SKU Required switched on, a line for it without a SKU is rejected with SKU is required for this item. Without the flag, the SKU is optional and a line can move stock at item level.
• SKU codes are unique across your organization, not just within the item. Saving a second SKU with a code that already exists fails with SKU Code '…' already exists. The External reference used by integrations is unique in the same way.
• The Default flag is a preference, not a rule. xMatix does not create a default SKU when an item is created, does not stop an item having several defaults, and does not fill the SKU of a line you add by hand from the default. The default SKU is shown first among an item's variants in the published catalogue, and it is the SKU the purchase frequently ordered suggestion proposes.
• Stock follows the SKU exactly. Each movement posts to the stock row for its item and SKU, and fulfilment allocates only stock and lots with the line's SKU. Stock posted with no SKU is a separate balance from stock posted against a SKU.
• Maximum Lot Quantity splits lines. When a goods receipt or shipment line is added with a quantity above the cap, it is split into several lines, each within the cap. On transfer lines the split happens only when the cap is exactly 1, into lines of one unit. A SKU's value, when above zero, is used in place of the item's.
• Lines are not re-split. The split happens when the line is added; editing the quantity of an existing line, or changing the cap later, does not split lines again.

Prerequisites

• The item exists. You add SKUs from the item record.
• Your security profile grants access to SKU records (see Permissions).
• Decide the codes in advance. Because SKU codes must be unique organization-wide, a convention that includes the item code — for example PNT-500-RED — avoids collisions between items.

Procedure

Step 1 — Open the item

Open the item record from an Items list — for example in the Warehouse app — or find it with search. SKUs do not have their own menu entry; you reach them through their item, or through search.

Step 2 — Add a SKU

On the item, open the Related tab. The first list on it is SKUs. Select New on that list. The SKU dialog asks for:

1. SKU Code — the variant's unique code.
2. Name — the variant's name as people should read it.
3. Item — the parent item.
4. Under Additional Details: Product Color, Primary UOM and Default.

Save. The SKU appears in the item's SKUs list, which shows the name, code, item, unit, colour and default flag. Add one SKU per variant.

Step 3 — Set a maximum lot quantity, if you need one

Maximum Lot Quantity is not on the New dialog. Open the saved SKU (or use Edit on its row in the item's SKUs list); the field is under Additional Information on the SKU record. Enter the largest quantity one line may carry for this variant, or leave it at 0 to use the item's value.

Step 4 — Decide whether lines must name a SKU

On the item's Details tab, the Behaviour section has SKU Required. Switch it on when stock and sales must always be recorded per variant; from then on every new line for the item needs a SKU. Leave it off when the SKU is optional detail.

Step 5 — Use the SKU on a document line

On a line, choose the Item first, then the SKU. On most lines the SKU picker lists only that item's SKUs. Where the item tracks lots, choose the SKU before the lot: on order, invoice and delivery order lines the lot picker lists only lots of the line's item and SKU.

Step 6 — Change or remove a SKU

Edit a SKU from its record (Edit) or from the row action in the item's SKUs list. Changes apply to future lines; lines and stock already recorded keep pointing to the same SKU record. Delete removes the SKU after a confirmation that it cannot be undone — before you delete one, check that no document, stock balance or pricing rule still refers to it.

Step 7 — Work with SKUs on mobile

In the field app, an item's record opens on a SKUs tab where you can view and edit its variants, and SKU records are part of the master data the app keeps for offline use. A SKU's own record shows Name, SKU Code and Item in the header, with the details and an Activities tab below; Edit and Delete are its actions.

Fields

The SKU entity reference lists every stored field, including the system columns. Its UOM Conversion field is not used: it stores no data, and unit conversions belong to the item.

Business rules

• SKU belongs to the line's item — checked when lines are added to inventory adjustments, transfers, cycle counts, requisitions, purchase orders, automatic purchase orders, goods receipts, inspections, bills, orders, invoices, delivery orders, shipments, credit notes, fulfilment orders and their allocation and picking lines, service orders and opportunity lines. Item group membership and item aliases apply the same check with their own messages.
• SKU Required — the same lines reject a missing SKU when the item has SKU Required switched on. On item group members the message is SKU is required for the selected Item.
• When the check runs — on order, purchase order, goods receipt, shipment and credit note lines the check runs when the line is added. Changing the SKU of an existing line is not re-checked there, so correct a wrong SKU by replacing the line.
• Unique codes — SKU Code and External are unique organization-wide.
• Price list rules — a rule with a SKU applies only to that SKU; a rule with no SKU applies to all of the item's SKUs. Between matching rules, the latest Date Effective From wins first; a SKU-specific rule beats a general one only when their start dates are equal. Details: Pricing, discounts and taxes.
• Discount group rules — a rule naming the item beats one that does not, and then a rule naming the SKU beats one that does not, regardless of dates.
• Tax group rules — a rule with a SKU applies only to that SKU, a blank SKU matches all. There is no SKU precedence: the order of the tax groups decides which matching rule is used.
• Trade schemes — a condition or benefit with a blank SKU matches any SKU of the item.
• Lot splitting — see Maximum Lot Quantity above; goods receipt and shipment lines split above the cap, transfer lines only for a cap of 1.

Example

A paint distributor sells Weathercoat 1 L in red, white and grey, and needs stock and prices per colour.

1. The product manager opens the item Weathercoat 1 L, switches on SKU Required under Behaviour, and saves.
2. On the Related tab, in the SKUs list, they add three SKUs: WC1-RED (Weathercoat 1 L Red, colour Red, Default on), WC1-WHT (Weathercoat 1 L White, colour White) and WC1-GRY (Weathercoat 1 L Grey, colour Grey).
3. Pricing adds a price list rule for the item with no SKU at 450, and a second rule for WC1-GRY at 480 with the same Date Effective From. Red and white price at 450; grey prices at 480.
4. A purchase order line for Weathercoat 1 L saved without a SKU is rejected with SKU is required for this item. The buyer picks WC1-WHT and the line saves.
5. When the goods receipt is posted, stock appears under Weathercoat 1 L / WC1-WHT only. A sales order line for WC1-RED cannot be allocated from it.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox, pick an item that has no SKUs.

1. Add two SKUs with codes TRAIN-A and TRAIN-B, give them different colours, and mark TRAIN-A as Default.
2. Try to add a third SKU on a different item with the code TRAIN-A. Expected: the save fails because the code already exists.
3. Switch on SKU Required on the first item, then add a line for it on a draft purchase order without a SKU. Expected: SKU is required for this item.
4. Open the line's SKU picker. Expected: only TRAIN-A and TRAIN-B are offered.
5. Clean up: delete the draft order, the two SKUs, and switch SKU Required back off.

Quick reference

• SKUs are added from the item: Related tab → SKUs → New.
• SKU Code is required and unique across all items.
• SKU Required on the item makes every new line name a SKU.
• Default is a preference only — lines you add by hand do not take it automatically.
• Stock is kept per SKU; stock without a SKU is a separate balance.
• Maximum Lot Quantity on a SKU overrides the item's when above zero; set it on the SKU record.
• Units of measure live on the item; lots and lot types are separate from SKUs.

Permissions

SKU records are governed by the entity permission for SKU in the user's security profile. The seeded Sales, Sales Executive, Sales Manager, Service, Standard User and System Admin profiles grant full access — view, create, edit and delete. Other seeded profiles, including Procurement, carry no SKU permission; add one if those users maintain or need to open SKU records. If someone cannot see or edit SKUs, start with why a user can't see something.

Configuration

Common problems

"SKU is required for this item."

The item has SKU Required switched on and the line has no SKU. Pick one of the item's SKUs. If the item has no SKUs yet, add them on the item's Related tab first. On the order-taking screen, an item with SKU Required and no SKUs produces a line the server rejects — add the SKUs before taking orders for it.

"Invalid SKU selected for this item."

The line's SKU belongs to a different item — typically the item was changed after the SKU was chosen, or the line came from an import or integration. Clear the SKU, choose the item, then pick the SKU again from the filtered list.

"SKU Code '…' already exists"

Another SKU — possibly on a different item — already has that code. Codes are unique across the organization; choose a code that includes the item code.

I received stock but the order can't allocate it

Stock is kept per SKU. If the receipt was posted against one SKU (or none) and the order line names another, the stock is in a different balance. Compare the SKU on the goods receipt line with the order line in the inventory ledger.

My SKU-specific price isn't used

A newer price list rule without a SKU outranks an older SKU-specific rule. Give the SKU rule the same or a later Date Effective From.

The order screen shows no variant chooser for my item

The order-taking screen shows variants when the item has more than one SKU, or one SKU and SKU Required switched on. An item with a single optional SKU is ordered at item level.

Common questions

Should every item have a default SKU?

Not necessarily. Nothing in xMatix requires one, and lines you add by hand do not take it automatically. Mark a default where it helps people: the published catalogue lists the default variant first, and the purchase frequently-ordered suggestion proposes it when you accept an item. Because several SKUs of one item can be marked default without an error, check the flag when you add or copy variants and keep one default per item.

Can I change an item's SKU Required flag after go-live?

Yes. It affects only lines added after the change. Switching it on does not touch existing lines or stock recorded without a SKU — those stay in their item-level balance, so plan an adjustment or transfer if you want existing stock assigned to variants. Switching it off makes the SKU optional again.

Are SKU codes the same as barcodes?

Not necessarily. The SKU Code is your variant code, and a SKU has no separate barcode field. Barcode scanning on the order screens and order capture can match a scanned or typed value against SKU codes, so if your variants carry their own printed codes, using those as SKU codes lets people scan them directly.

Can two items share a SKU?

No. A SKU has exactly one item, and every line checks that its SKU belongs to its item. If two products genuinely share variants, create a SKU on each item with distinct codes.

Related topics

• SKU entity reference
• Item lots and lot types
• Inventory configuration reference
• The inventory ledger
• Pricing, discounts and taxes
• Trade schemes
• Frequently ordered items
• Product configurator
• Item — entity reference