Selling inventory to students

Schools often keep stock that is sold rather than issued: uniforms, exercise books, calculators or branded items. Inventory → Student Sales records that stock movement and the money received as one controlled transaction.

Before the first sale

1. Open Inventory → Items and edit each retail item.
2. Enter its Default selling price. The item list shows the expected markup and margin beside the current weighted unit cost.
3. Confirm that the item has a purchase/posting account and enough stock.
4. Confirm that the cash or bank account which will receive the payment exists in Finance.

You can leave the selling price blank or zero for supplies that are only issued to departments. Such an item can still be selected during a sale, but the actual price must be entered before the sale is completed.

Recording a sale

Go to Inventory → Student Sales and select New sale.

1. Search for the student by name or admission number.
2. Add every item being purchased and enter its quantity. ShuleOne shows available stock and prevents a sale above the quantity held.
3. Review the selling price. It starts from the item’s default, but you can change it for this receipt. A price below cost is highlighted because it creates a loss.
4. Select the sale date, payment method and the cash or bank account that received the money. Add the M-Pesa, bank or card reference where applicable.
5. Review revenue, cost and expected gross profit, then select Complete sale.

Completing the sale immediately reduces stock and posts the receipt to the selected cash or bank account. It is a paid sale, so do not use this screen when the student is being allowed to pay later.

Printing a receipt

Open Receipt beside any sale, then select Print. The receipt identifies the student, payment reference, items, quantities, prices and total paid. Reopening it from the sales list always shows the original recorded values.

Revenue, cost and profit

Use the date filters at the top of Student Sales to see:

• Sales revenue — selling price multiplied by quantity for completed receipts.
• Cost of goods sold — quantity multiplied by the item’s weighted average cost at the moment of sale.
• Gross profit — sales revenue less cost of goods sold.
• Gross margin — gross profit divided by sales revenue.

Each receipt stores its cost at the time of sale. Receiving the same item later at a different price therefore does not change an older receipt’s profit. The top-selling items panel uses the same selected dates and excludes voided receipts.

Markup versus margin

An item costing KES 800 and selling for KES 1,000 makes KES 200 profit. Its markup is 25% (200 ÷ 800), while its gross margin is 20% (200 ÷ 1,000).

Voiding a mistake

If a completed receipt is wrong, open it and select Void receipt. Enter a clear reason. Voiding:

• returns the quantities to stock;
• reverses the sale’s accounting entry;
• removes the receipt from revenue, cost and profit totals; and
• keeps the receipt visible as VOIDED for audit purposes.

Do not void a correct sale merely because goods are later returned. Follow the school’s authorised return and refund procedure so the physical return and money refund remain properly supported.

Access control

Only users with the inventory-sales role, inventory administration or finance administration access can complete a sale. Viewing the sales report follows the normal inventory-view permissions; voiding requires inventory administration or finance administration access.