User Guide
A tool for makers to track inventory on hand, landed costs, low stock, vendor spend, and make practical purchase decisions.
About
What it does
- Keeps a clean list of inventory items (ingredients + packaging).
- Tracks your on-hand amounts the way you actually work (including partial containers).
- Logs invoices and calculates landed cost (shipping/tax/fees allocated).
- Shows low stock, vendor spend, recent purchases, and price comparisons.
- Supports lot numbers + best-by/expiry tracking (when you need it).
What it does not do
- It's not accounting software (no bookkeeping, P&L, payroll, taxes, or bank reconciliation).
- It's not a warehouse scanning system (no barcode workflow).
- It doesn't replace saving your invoices/receipts.
First-time setup checklist (do this once)
- Go to Settings and enter your company name.
- Add optional contact info (address, phone, email, website).
- This will appear on all printable forms and reports automatically.
- FO: g or oz or ml
- EO: g or oz or ml
- Powders/botanicals: g or oz
- Cosmetic ingredients: g or oz
- Soap making ingredients: g or oz or lbs
- Packaging: ea
- Start with the items you buy repeatedly (FO/EO, jars, boxes, wax, oils, butters, preservatives).
- Add reorder points for the items you never want to run out of.
- Add shelf locations for where you keep your ingredients so you can find them easier.
- Open the Shelf Audit Worksheet and print/save a PDF.
- Walk shelves and mark what's actually left.
- Update Inventory quantities after the audit.
Page-by-page guides
Each page should help you in your day to day tasks.
Inventory
Purpose: This is your master library of items + your current on-hand amounts.
Use it when: You receive stock, do shelf audits, or update reorder points/locations.
- Search first to avoid duplicates.
- Create a new item or open the item.
- Set its category (oils, butters, FO etc.) + unit measure (oz/g/ml/ea).
- Enter Qty_on_hand as the usable amount (partial containers included).
- Add reorder point (if it's reorder-worthy).
- Add shelf location (so On-Hand prints like a map).
- Track lot/expiry/BBD if you need it, and keep it updated.
- Enter Item Cost (Total) — the total cost you paid for the item.
- Enter Qty On Hand — the quantity you received.
- The system automatically calculates Cost / Unit by dividing Item Cost by Qty On Hand.
- You can also manually enter Cost / Unit if needed (it works both ways).
- Use Category filter to narrow by ingredient type (oils, FO, packaging, etc.).
- Use Vendor filter to see items from a specific supplier.
- Toggle View Mode between "Grouped" (totals by ingredient name) and "Lots Only" (individual rows).
- Use Low stock only to quickly see items at or below reorder point.
- Use Show archived to view or hide archived items (archived items are hidden by default).
- M = Manual (added directly in Inventory)
- P = Purchase Log (posted from an invoice)
- I = Import (bulk CSV import)
This helps you understand where each item came from and track purchase history.
- Select an inventory item.
- Click Archive Item button.
- Archived items are hidden from reports and the main list (unless "Show archived" is set to "Yes").
- Use this when an item is discontinued or no longer relevant, but you want to keep the history.
- Each inventory row has a 🔍 Trace button in the rightmost column.
- Click it to open the Lot Trace page and see the complete journey of that ingredient through production.
- Essential for supplier recalls and FDA compliance.
- Download the CSV Import Inventory Template (see Printable Forms section below).
- Fill in your inventory items in the spreadsheet.
- Click "Import CSV" on the Inventory page and upload your file.
- All valid items will be added to your inventory at once with source = "Import".
Purchase Log
Purpose: Invoice history + landed cost + post purchases to inventory.
Use it when: You place an order and have an invoice (shipping/tax/fees matter).
- Create invoice header (vendor/date/notes).
- Enter shipping/tax/fees (so unit costs are real).
- Add lines: containers + size + unit → qty calculates.
- Enter lot + expiry date when you need tracking.
- Enter vendor SKU when it's on the invoice (helps reorder/support).
- Save invoice + post to inventory.
- Use Vendor filter to see invoices from a specific supplier.
- Use Status filter to see only Posted or Draft invoices.
- Posted invoices have already updated inventory; Draft invoices are still being worked on.
- These filters help you quickly find specific invoices or review pending work.
Reports & Dashboard
Purpose: To make quick decisions: see low stock, spend, recent purchases, price compare, data gaps.
Use it when: Planning orders, doing monthly close, or checking costs.
- Inventory value, item count, low/out of stock items
- Total invoices (posted vs drafts)
- Quick snapshot of your business health
- Out of Stock (red) — Items with 0 quantity that need immediate reorder
- Low Inventory (orange) — Items below reorder point
- Expired Items (urgent) — Items past their expiry/BBD date
- Click the linked item name to jump directly to the Inventory page
- When all is good, you'll see "✓ All clear! No urgent issues."
- Shows all blend and recipe batches made in the last 30 days
- Displays: Date, Type (Blend/Recipe), Name, Qty Made, Cost/Unit, Total Cost
- Click the 🔍 Trace button to see full lot traceability for that batch
- Useful for tracking production activity and costs over time
- Quick search box for lot numbers or ingredient names
- Enter a lot number or ingredient name and click "Trace Lot"
- Opens the Lot Trace page with full upstream/downstream traceability
- Essential for supplier recalls and FDA compliance
- Check low stock and build reorder list.
- Review spend by vendor (what's driving costs).
- Use ingredient price compare when you buy the same thing from multiple vendors.
- Fix data gaps that affect decisions (missing unit/cost/category/expiry etc).
On-Hand Report
Purpose: This is a printable shelf list grouped by category (with shelf location).
Use it when: You complete shelf audits, reorder runs, and monthly close.
- Filter by category if needed.
- Print/save PDF.
- Walk shelves and mark actual amounts.
- Update Inventory page after the walk-through.
Lot Trace
Purpose: Track the complete journey of any ingredient or lot number through your entire production chain.
Use it when: Handling supplier recalls, FDA compliance audits, quality issues, or customer inquiries about specific batches.
- Enter a lot number or ingredient name in the search box.
- Click "Search" or press Enter.
- View Upstream traceability — where the ingredient came from (supplier, invoice, lot, dates).
- View Downstream traceability — what finished products contain this ingredient or lot.
- See all batch movements, dates, and quantities.
- Click the 🔍 Trace button in the Inventory page (rightmost column)
- Click the 🔍 Trace button in Batch Production History on the Dashboard
- Use the Lot Traceability search widget on the Dashboard
- Navigate directly to the Lot Trace page
- Raw Materials — Original inventory items with lot numbers, vendors, and dates received
- Blend Batches — Intermediate products made from raw materials
- Recipe Batches — Finished products made from raw materials and/or blends
- Inventory Movements — Complete audit trail of all transactions
Blend Builder
Purpose: To create and cost any master batches you reuse-FO/EO blends, base oils, active pre-blends or functional concentrates. You can even use it for packaging groups.
Use it when: You combine multiple ingredients at once then use that mixture in recipes.
- Create a blend name + unit (oz/g/ea).
- Add components + percentages.
- Save and verify unit cost looks reasonable.
Recipe Builder
Purpose: To build finished goods with ingredient + blend costs.
Use it when: You want COGS by batch or by unit.
- Create recipe name + batch size.
- Add ingredients/blends + percentages.
- Save and review cost per unit (and adjust if needed).
- Now you can also create a SKU. This creates a new Finished Product record.
- Links it to this new recipe. Does NOT touch inventory yet.
- This is a one-time setup per product
- This consumes ingredients from inventory (deducts raw materials).
- Produces finished goods (adds to finished product inventory).
- Posts inventory movements for traceability.
- You can make multiple batches at once (e.g., "3 batches" = 3x the yield qty).
Finished Products
Purpose: Manage your sellable products — pricing, stock levels, COGS, margins, and Shopify export. Finished products are tracked separately from raw materials.
Use it when: You want to see what you have ready to sell, check margins, or prepare products for Shopify.
- IN STOCK / OOS — Whether you have units on hand.
- NO INVENTORY LINK — Product isn't connected to inventory yet. Click the badge to fix it.
- SHOPIFY READY — All Shopify fields are filled in (SKU, Name, Retail Price, Shopify Handle).
- NOT SHOPIFY READY — Some Shopify fields are still missing.
- MISSING: ... — Lists exactly what info is still needed.
Pricing Workflow
- COGS is calculated automatically when you make a batch in Recipe Builder
- Enter Retail price (changes save automatically when you click away)
- (Optional) Enter Wholesale price
- Check that your Retail margin is healthy
Connecting Products to Inventory
Each product needs an inventory connection to track stock and COGS. This usually happens automatically when you add a SKU. If a product shows "NO INVENTORY LINK":
- Click the "NO INVENTORY LINK" badge on the product row
- If a matching inventory row exists, select it and click "Connect Selected"
- If no row exists, click "Create + Connect" to make a new one (starts at 0 on hand)
Fix Inventory Links (Wizard)
Use the wizard when you have multiple products that need connecting:
- After importing products
- After creating SKUs from Recipe Builder
- When several items show "NO INVENTORY LINK"
The wizard shows all unconnected products and lets you connect them one by one or create missing inventory rows in bulk.
Adjusting Finished Product Stock
Purpose: Manually update how many finished units you have on hand — for shipments, damages, recounts, or returns.
Use it when: You ship orders, find damaged stock, do a physical count, or receive customer returns.
- Open a finished product detail page (click any row on the Finished Products list).
- Scroll to the Adjust Stock section.
- Enter a quantity: use a negative number to subtract (e.g. -5 for shipped units) or a positive number to add (e.g. 3 for returns).
- Select a reason from the dropdown:
- Manual adjustment — general correction
- Shipped / Fulfilled — orders sent out
- Damaged / Waste — broken or unusable units
- Physical recount — updating after a shelf count
- Customer return — units coming back
- Other — anything else
- Optionally add notes (e.g. "Shopify order #1042" or "Dropped box of 6").
- Click Apply Adjustment.
- The On Hand count updates immediately and a movement record is logged.
Below the adjustment form, you'll see a log of the last 20 stock movements for that product — including production batches and manual adjustments. This is your audit trail showing exactly when and why stock changed.
Settings
Purpose: Configure your company information and user profile.
Use it when: First-time setup, updating company details, or changing your profile information.
- Enter your Company Name (required) — appears on all printable forms and reports.
- Add optional contact details: Address, Phone, Email, Website.
- This information automatically populates headers on all printed documents.
- Click "Save Settings" to update.
- Update your email address
- Change your password
- Manage account preferences
Team Management
Purpose: Invite team members and manage access to your Studio For Makers account.
Use it when: You want to give employees, partners, or contractors access to your inventory and production data.
- Click "Invite Team Member" button.
- Enter the person's email address.
- Select their role/permissions (if applicable).
- They'll receive an invitation email with a link to join your company.
- Once they accept, they'll appear in your team list.
- View all active team members and their roles
- Remove team members who no longer need access
- Resend invitations if they expire
Soap Calculator
Purpose: Calculate lye, water, and oil quantities for cold process soap recipes.
Use it when: Formulating new soap recipes or scaling existing ones.
- Select your oils and enter their percentages (must total 100%).
- Enter your desired batch size (weight).
- Set your superfat percentage (typically 5-8%).
- Choose lye type (NaOH for bar soap, KOH for liquid soap).
- The calculator shows exact amounts of each oil, lye, and water needed.
- Includes SAP values and automatic calculations.
Candle Calculator
Purpose: Calculate wax, fragrance oil, and other additives for candle making.
Use it when: Formulating candle recipes or determining container fill amounts.
- Enter your container volume or desired wax weight.
- Select your wax type (affects density and shrinkage).
- Set fragrance oil percentage (typically 6-10%).
- Add any additives (dye, vybar, etc.) with their percentages.
- Calculator shows total amounts needed for your batch.
Printable Forms Pack
These are separate printable pages meant for real tasks: production runs, batch labeling, shelf audits, receiving shipments, and monthly close. Open the page and use the Print button on that sheet when you want a hard copy.
📖 Printable User Guide
Detailed, print-optimized version of the page-by-page instructions. Perfect for keeping a hard copy at your workstation.
Open Printable GuideCSV Inventory Import Template
Download this template to bulk import inventory items. Fill it out with your items and upload via the Inventory page.
Production Run Sheet
Track ingredient usage and batch quality during production. Checklist format with space for actual quantities used.
Open Production Run SheetBatch Labels
Generate printable labels (4×6 inches) for finished product batches with ingredients, dates, and batch numbers.
Open Batch LabelsBatch Log
Quality control checklist and lot traceability for finished product batches. Combines QC checks with ingredient lot tracking.
Open Batch LogShelf Audit Worksheet
Walk shelves → record remaining amounts + shelf location → input to Inventory.
Open WorksheetReceiving Checklist
A one-page checklist you can use for every shipment so nothing gets missed.
Open ChecklistMonthly Close Checklist
A simple checklist for your monthly routine (dashboard checks + audit + reorder).
Open ChecklistReorder List (Vendor Grouped)
Use after Low Stock + shelf audit. Keep it practical: what you'll actually buy next.
Open Reorder ListFrequently asked questions
Track the usable amount you have left, not the original container size.
You can weigh/measure, or eyeball it and use a reasonable estimate:
- ~25% full → enter ¼ of the original size
- ~50% full → enter ½ of the original size
- ~75% full → enter ¾ of the original size
Example: 16 oz Lavender FO looks half full → enter 8 oz. Another tip! We weigh the whole container when it arrives into inventory. Knowing what the contents are supposted to weigh, subtract that from the total weight and track from that point. Mark it on the container for helpful guidance and you can rewigh the whole container at any time!
Not necessarily. You don't need to enter every minor one-off item if it doesn't affect production, reordering, or quality.
Always enter: ingredients used in formulas and packaging you consume and replace- especially items that can run out, expire, or vary in price.
Lower priority (optional): one-time tools, office supplies, and equipment that isn't consumed.
The goal is to track what you use, replace, and depend on- not every object you own.
Yes - if those matter for your products.
Lot + expiry tracking is especially important for FO, EO, preservatives, actives, and botanicals/powders.
- Lots support consistency and traceability.
- Expiry and BBD help you rotate stock, avoid waste, and prevent degraded materials.
No. This is an ops tracker. It helps you know what you have and what it cost, but it doesn't do bookkeeping, taxes, payroll, or financial statements.
- Missing cost per unit
- Wrong unit (oz vs g vs ea)
- Duplicate items with slightly different names
- Large partial containers not updated recently
Blends are pre-mixed ingredient combinations (like fragrance blends or oil blends). In the Blend Builder, create your blend and add the component ingredients with their percentages (must total 100%).
Once saved, you can add that blend to any recipe in the Recipe Builder. The system automatically calculates the true cost by expanding the blend into its individual components.
You can also create bubles for packaiging and labels that you use all the time. Just for an added quick convenience if you choose.
A product is blocked when you don't have enough of one or more ingredients. Check the "Missing Ingredients" column to see what you need.
Remember: if a recipe uses a blend, all components of that blend must be in stock.
In the Finished Products page, click on a product row to edit it. Look for the "Recipe" dropdown field and select the recipe you want to link.
Once linked, the Dashboard can show you production capacity (what you can make with current inventory) and calculate true COGS including materials, waste, overhead, and labor.
- Labor cost = time spent making the product (your hourly rate × time)
- Overhead = indirect costs like utilities, rent, packaging, labels allocated per unit
Both are added to material costs to get your true cost per unit for margin calculations.
Items with different categories appear in separate sections. For example, "Castor Oil" with category "Oil" and "Castor Oil" with no category (Uncategorized) will be listed separately.
Update them to have the same category to group them together. The subtotal will calculate correctly across all lots/vendors as long as they have the same category.
Check the Recipe Costs dashboard section:
- Green (✓) = 30%+ margin (healthy)
- Orange (⚡) = under 30% (low margin, barely profitable)
- Red (⚠️) = negative margin (losing money)
Factor in ALL costs: materials, waste, overhead, and labor.
Yes! Raw materials (ingredients) are tracked on the Inventory page. Finished goods are tracked separately on the Finished Products page.
When you make a batch in Recipe Builder, raw materials are deducted and finished product stock is added automatically. The two pages give you a complete picture: (1) how much raw material you have to make things, and (2) how many finished units you have ready to sell.
Waste accounts for material loss during production (spillage, evaporation, stuck in containers).
If you set 5% waste, the system automatically increases material costs by 5% when calculating recipe costs. This gives you more accurate margins.
Legal and Support
Studio For Makers provides tools for inventory, costing, and production planning. Outputs are only estimates based on user inputs and should be reviewed before use.
User Responsibility for Data Accuracy
Studio For Makers is a user-generated system. All data, calculations, and reports are based entirely on the information you enter. You are responsible for entering accurate quantities, costs, measurements, dates, and verifying all calculations before making business decisions.
Studio For Makers is not liable for errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in user-entered data or any decisions made based on system outputs. The accuracy of all reports, costs, margins, and batch calculations depends entirely on the accuracy of your inputs. Always review and verify system-generated outputs before making purchasing, pricing, or production decisions.
Email any questions to Support@studioformakers.com. We will try to respond within 24 hours.