About
The Supply Chain page is where you manage the complete lifecycle of purchased inventory—from creating a purchase order to receiving inventory into your warehouse.
This applies whether you're purchasing finished goods that will later be sold to customers or raw materials that will later be used in manufacturing or assemblies.
As inventory moves through each stage, Finaloop automatically updates inventory values, landed costs, vendor balances, and your financial statements, ensuring your inventory costs remain accurate and up to date.
To learn more about landed costs, FIFO costing, and how inventory moves through your financial statements, see InventoryIQ: Everything You Need to Know.
Go to Inventory>Supply Chain.
Who is this for?
The Supply Chain page is available for businesses using InventoryIQ. If you don't see it, it may not be enabled on your account yet. Reach out to [email protected] for assistance.
1. Understanding the Supply Chain workflow
The Supply Chain page tracks purchased inventory through every stage of the procurement process.
For most businesses, inventory follows this workflow:
The first part of this journey — from purchase to arrival at the right warehouse — is what the Supply Chain page manages. Each stage answers a different operational question:
Stage | Purpose |
Purchase Order | What did I agree to buy from my vendor? |
Shipment | What inventory is currently on its way? |
Receipt | What actually arrived at my warehouse? |
Transfer | Where is my inventory now? |
Keeping these stages separate gives you a more accurate picture of both your operations and your financials.
For example:
A vendor may split one Purchase Order across multiple shipments.
A shipment may combine inventory from several Purchase Orders.
The quantities received may differ from what was shipped.
Freight, duties, and other landed costs are often known only after inventory has shipped.
By tracking each stage independently—and linking them together—Finaloop automatically calculates landed costs, detects discrepancies, tracks vendor balances, and keeps your inventory and financial statements up to date.
Shipments, receipts, and transfers can either be created manually or automatically synced from supported Amazon, 3PL, and WMS integrations.
Once inventory has been received and settled in the correct warehouse, inventory is now available to be:
Sold directly to customers
Used in manufacturing or assemblies
How the stages connect
The Supply Chain tabs aren't independent lists—they're connected documents that build on each other.
How you manage each part of your Supply Chain depends on whether you enable automatic inbound shipments for your Amazon, 3PL, or WMS integrations:
For warehouses with automatic inbound shipment syncing enabled: Shipments, Receipts, and Transfers are automatically imported into InventoryIQ. You'll review the synced records and link shipments to the matching Purchase Orders (or create a new Purchase Order if it hasn’t been created yet).
For warehouses without automatic inbound shipment syncing: You'll create and manage Shipments, Receipts, and Transfers manually as inventory moves through your Supply Chain.
Note: If you only have a connected integration for some of your warehouses, you will need to create the shipments and receipts manually for the remaining warehouses.
Purchase Orders
Purchase Orders record your agreement with the vendor, including quantities, unit costs, discounts, and vendor balances.
From each PO, you can create PO Shipment Groups, which tracks the shipped quantities. For each Shipment group, click +Add shipment to record the shipment details or Link to shipment to link it to an existing shipment.
A PO Shipment Group tracks each separate part of the PO that was shipped. A PO can include one shipment group or multiple shipment groups.
Shipments
Shipments track inventory while it's moving from your vendor to your warehouse.
A shipment can include inventory from multiple Purchase Orders, and a Purchase Order can be fulfilled across multiple shipments.
Freight, duties, and other transportation costs are recorded here and automatically allocated across the inventory in the shipment.
A shipment can be created manually or can be automatically synced from a connected Amazon, 3PL, or WMS integration when automatic inbound shipments is enabled.
Manually-added Shipments
To manually create a shipment, click +Add shipment to a PO shipment group or select +Shipment on the Shipment page.
When creating a new shipment, add all relevant PO shipment groups.
In certain cases, specific PO shipment groups may not be able to be selected since the PO group has already been linked. In this case, enter the PO and link the shipment to additional PO shipping groups directly in the PO itself.
Auto-synced Shipments
On the Shipments page, Finaloop automatically creates a shipment when your connected 3PL or WMS receives a shipment that wasn’t sent from one of your warehouses.
The shipment will initially appear as missing a PO (unreconciled). To ensure all units are tracked with the accurate costs, link the Shipment to the appropriate PO shipment group.
If the PO doesn't exist yet, you can create one directly from the auto-synced Shipment. Once a Shipment is linked to a PO shipment group, it follows the same workflow as any other shipment in InventoryIQ (both manually-added and auto-synced).
Receipts
Receipts record what actually arrived at your warehouse.
For warehouses without automatic inbound shipments enabled:
When a Shipment has been received, click Mark as received at the top of each Shipment page. When a Shipment is marked as Received, Finaloop automatically creates a Receipt where you can review quantities received and resolve any discrepancies.
For warehouses with automatic inbound shipments enabled:
Receipts are automatically synced from your connected Amazon, 3PL, or WMS integration, so there's no need to manually mark the Shipment as received.
Under both approaches, if the amount received is different than the amount shipped, it will automatically be flagged for your review.
Review and mark as Closed after you confirm the amounts.
Transfers
Transfers move inventory that has already been received between your own warehouses.
Unlike Shipments, Transfers don't bring new inventory into your books—they simply relocate inventory you already own while allowing you to capture any transfer-related costs.
For warehouses without automatic inbound shipments enabled:
Manually add Transfers when inventory is transferred between two of your warehouses (including Amazon AWD and FBA).
For warehouses with automatic inbound shipments enabled:
Transfers are automatically synced from supported integrations if the origin warehouse is recognized as one of your warehouses, reducing the need to manually record inventory movements between your warehouses. This includes transfers between your warehouses and Amazon AWD and FBA.
If a Transfer is initially created as a Shipment (because the system didn't receive the origin warehouse information, or because the origin address wasn't recognized as one of your warehouses), you can easily convert the Shipment into a Transfer. You can also map that address to one of your warehouses so future transfers from the same location are automatically recognized as Transfers.
2. How costs flow through the Supply Chain
Each stage contributes different costs to the final landed cost of your inventory.
Stage | Costs added |
Purchase Order | Unit costs, discounts, PO-level landed costs |
Shipment | Freight, duties, customs, logistics costs related to the shipment |
Receipt | If units received are different from units shipped, costs may get reallocated. |
Transfers | Freight, duties, customs, logistics costs related to the transfer between warehouses |
Because Shipments can contain inventory from multiple Purchase Orders, Finaloop automatically allocates shared freight and logistics costs across every unit in the shipment.
3. How the Supply Chain affects your financial statements
As inventory moves through the Supply Chain, Finaloop automatically updates your books.
Trigger date | Explanation | Accounting impact |
Draft/ No date | The purchase order has been created but not yet sent to the vendor. | No accounting impact |
PO Placed date | The purchase order has been sent to the vendor but has not yet been accepted. | No accounting impact |
PO Production started date | The vendor has accepted the order and production has begun. | Inventory in Process (Balance Sheet)* |
Shipment date | Some or all items have been shipped. | Inventory in Transit (Balance Sheet)* |
Received date | Some or all items have arrived at your warehouse. | Inventory (Balance Sheet) |
Revenue recognition date | The COGS have been recorded in your books. | Inventory decreases and COGS is recognized on the P&L |
*You can choose when inventory starts impacting your books (Production Started or Shipment Date) from the Preferences tab.
4. The Supply Chain page
Purchase Orders (POs)
Purchase Orders track what you've agreed to buy from your vendors. Each PO creates or increases the vendor payable balance.
From this tab you can:
Create and edit purchase orders
Track PO status
Record unit costs, discounts, and track landed costs
Track vendor balances and link vendor payments to the PO
Link shipments
Send purchase orders to vendors or download them as PDFs
Import or export purchase orders
Summary cards at the top of the page show the number and value of purchase orders in each status. You can also track your POs separately for general orders and dropshipping orders.
How it connects: Purchase Orders are the starting point of the Supply Chain. They create the inventory that later moves into Shipments and Receipts while providing the foundation for each unit's landed cost.
For step-by-step instructions, see Managing Purchase Orders.
Shipments
The Shipments tab lets you track inventory while it's moving from your vendor or manufacturer to your warehouse.
From this tab you can:
Create and manage shipments
Review automatically synced shipments
Link one or multiple purchase orders to a shipment
Record shipment details such as carrier, destination warehouse, shipment date, and expected arrival date
Add freight, duties, and other allocated costs
Track shipment payments
Mark manually created shipments as received
Shipment costs are automatically allocated across the linked purchase order items, becoming part of each unit's landed cost.
Reminder: auto-synced Shipments will initially appear with an Unreconciled label, meaning it is missing a linked PO. To reconcile a Shipment, link it to the corresponding PO shipment group by clicking + Link to PO so InventoryIQ can assign the appropriate inventory costs. If the PO doesn't exist yet, you can create it directly from the shipment by clicking, + Create a PO.
How it connects: Shipments connect inventory from one or more POs to what is actually moving to your warehouse.
For manually-added shipments:
Marking a shipment as received creates the corresponding receipt. It allows InventoryIQ to know this inventory has been received in your warehouse and is available for transfer, sale, or assembly.
For auto-added shipments:
Shipments and their corresponding receipts are synced automatically from your connected integration.
For step-by-step instructions, see Managing Shipments & Receipts.
Receipts
The Receipts tab records what actually arrives at your warehouse.
Receipts can be created in two ways:
For warehouses without automatic inbound shipments enabled: A Receipt is created when you mark a Shipment as received.
For warehouses with automatic inbound shipments enabled: Receipts are automatically synced from your connected Amazon, 3PL, or WMS integration based on the inventory received.
From this tab you can:
Review received inventory
Record quantity differences between shipped and received items
Review discrepancies
Resolve outstanding receipt issues
If received quantities don't match the shipped quantities, InventoryIQ automatically flags those items for review.
How it connects: the receipt closes the loop the PO opened—it compares what arrived against what was shipped, and is the moment inventory lands on your Balance Sheet as available stock.
For step-by-step instructions, see Managing Shipments & Receipts.
Transfers
The Transfers tab lets you move inventory between your own warehouses.
Transfers can be created manually or automatically synced from supported Amazon, 3PL, or WMS integrations when automatic inbound shipments is enabled.
Unlike purchase orders, shipments, and receipts, transfers manage inventory that has already been received into stock. There is no new inventory entering your books; you're relocating goods you already own, while any transfer costs you record are added to the inventory's value.
From this tab you can:
Create and manage inventory transfers
Review automatically synced transfers
Move inventory between warehouses
Record transfer costs
Track inventory while it's moving
Confirm quantities received
Review transfer discrepancies
Link transfer-related payments
For warehouses with automatic inbound shipment enabled: Transfers are automatically created when InventoryIQ recognizes that inventory is moving between two of your warehouses. Review the auto-synced Transfer and add any applicable transfer costs as needed.
Preferences
The Preferences tab lets you customize how InventoryIQ manages your supply chain.
Available settings include:
Recognition date – Choose whether inventory is recognized as Inventory in process/ Inventory in transit on the Production Started date or the Shipment date.
Data import settings – Enable automatic syncing of inbound shipment data from connected Amazon, 3PL, and WMS integrations. You can also choose the shipment date from which InventoryIQ should begin syncing records.
Company logo – Upload a logo to include on purchase orders and shipment documents that you export or send to vendors.
5. FAQs
What's the difference between a Purchase Order, Shipment, and Receipt?
What's the difference between a Purchase Order, Shipment, and Receipt?
Each represents a different stage of the procurement process:
Purchase Order – Records what you've ordered from your vendor, including quantities, costs, and expected production.
Shipment – Tracks inventory while it's being transported to your warehouse and captures shipping-related costs, such as freight and duties.
Receipt – Confirms what actually arrived at your warehouse and adds those units into inventory.
They're kept separate because each covers a different aspect of the operation—the commercial agreement, the logistics, and the warehouse floor—each capturing its own costs and carrying its own accounting impact. Comparing them against each other is how discrepancies get caught.
When does inventory become available for sale or manufacturing?
When does inventory become available for sale or manufacturing?
Inventory becomes available once it has been received. Until then, it remains in Inventory in Process or Inventory in Transit, depending on its stage in the supply chain.
What's the difference between Shipments and Transfers?
What's the difference between Shipments and Transfers?
Shipments move inventory from your vendor or manufacturer to one of your warehouses.
Transfers move inventory that you already own between your own warehouses.
Can one shipment include multiple Purchase Orders?
Can one shipment include multiple Purchase Orders?
Yes. A single shipment can contain inventory from one or more Purchase Orders. This lets you consolidate freight costs and allocate shipment expenses across all of the inventory in the shipment.
What happens if the quantity I receive doesn't match what was shipped?
What happens if the quantity I receive doesn't match what was shipped?
When received quantities differ from the shipped quantities, InventoryIQ automatically flags the discrepancy for review so you can investigate and resolve it before closing the receipt.
When are landed costs calculated?
When are landed costs calculated?
Landed costs begin accumulating as you add costs to your Purchase Orders and Shipments. The final landed cost of each unit is determined once all relevant costs have been recorded, synced shipments and receipts have been reconciled, and the inventory has been received in the final warehouse from where it will be sold.
Can I change information after creating a Purchase Order or Shipment?
Can I change information after creating a Purchase Order or Shipment?
Yes. As long as the accounting period is still open, you can update Purchase Orders, Shipments, Receipts, and Transfers. Finaloop automatically recalculates inventory values and landed costs based on your changes.
How do Purchase Orders affect my financial statements?
How do Purchase Orders affect my financial statements?
As inventory moves through the supply chain, Finaloop automatically updates your financials:
Draft / Placed – No accounting impact
In Process – Inventory in Process on the Balance Sheet*
In Transit – Inventory in Transit on the Balance Sheet*
Received – Inventory on the Balance Sheet
Sold – COGS is recognized on the P&L. Inventory value is reduced on the Balance Sheet.
* You can choose when inventory starts impacting your books (Production Started or Shipment Date) from the Preferences tab.
To learn more, see InventoryIQ: Everything You Need to Know.