Welcome to DEAR Systems Inventory Management. We keep the moving parts of your business all in one location while
automating time-consuming tasks, whether you are in retail, wholesale, or manufacturing.
There is a lot of functionality available in DEAR to improve your inventory management – we recommend you start here and
follow the getting started steps in this order.
Table of Contents
- Signing up to DEAR
- Financial Basics (do these first)
- Configure your Company Details
- Invite Users to DEAR
- Loading Products
- Loading Suppliers and Customers
- Using DEAR Systems
- Connect Third-Party Integrations
- DEAR B2B Portal
- DEAR Point of Sale (POS) app
- DEAR Warehouse Management Solution (WMS) app
Signing up to DEAR
If you’re new to DEAR, you can check out its features by using a no-obligation 14-day free trial. You will not be
charged anything nor will you be asked to provide a credit card during the trial period. However, to continue using DEAR
after the trial period, you will need to subscribe to DEAR.
On the DEAR registration page, you can choose from among the three available options for your trial.
- I need help setting up my account – this option will sign you up to a free onboarding session with DEAR
customer support. - Set up a demo company with test data – this option will populate your DEAR account with test data from
our demo company. You are free to play around with this data any way you want. - I don’t need help – this option will set up a DEAR account with empty data, meaning that you will need
to set up your own data before you can start using DEAR.
If you enjoy using DEAR and want to subscribe, navigate to My Account -> My Subscription page and
click Subscribe to get started. After clicking Subscribe, you can choose the options
for your new account. Select as many users, APIs, DEAR Point-of-Sale connections (POS), DEAR B2B portal connections and
external integrations as your business needs. Billing can be monthly or annual.
Next, you will be taken through to a secure payment page to complete your subscription. After payment, you will receive
a confirmation email and, in the case of monthly billing, a recurring billing agreement to authorise DEAR to take
monthly payments from your account. If the recurring billing agreement is not signed, the account will return to trial
status after the paid month is completed. You can view or modify your subscription at any time from the My
Subscription page.
Useful Information:
Financial Basics (do these first)
DEAR systems is an Inventory Management Solution – it is essential to have your financial settings set up correctly so
your transactions can be properly classified. This should be the first thing you do when starting to use DEAR.
When signing up to DEAR Inventory, you are given the option to use DEAR Systems as a standalone Inventory Management
System or connect either Xero or Quickbooks Online (QBO) as an existing account system. This will affect how some of the
financial settings should be set up – instructions are given below.
You can change between DEAR standalone, DEAR with QBO and DEAR with Xero at any time using our Connect Wizard.
Chart of Accounts
The chart of accounts is the list of all accounts your organisation has available to record your transactions and is
important for classifying your transactions correctly and keeping your accounts accurate. DEAR provides a default Chart
of Accounts, but you can import a chart from your accounting system or your own custom chart. You can choose
the I need help setting up this account option when starting your free trial to be walked through this
process step by step.
DEAR Systems requires the following accounts (with the account settings listed below) to be available to function
correctly.
- If you are using DEAR standalone, you can create accounts in DEAR by going to Settings -> Reference
Books -> Financial -> Chart of Accounts. - If you are using Xero/QBO, you must create accounts in Xero/QBO. They will then be imported into DEAR when you
next Synchronise your accounts. You can view your Chart of Accounts by going to Settings -> Reference
Books -> Financial -> Chart of Accounts, but it will be read-only.
You can add more accounts to suit your business requirements – make sure to consult with your accountant or bookkeeper
before adding or editing any accounts.
Already created by DEAR/your accounting system:
- Accounts Receivable.
- Accounts Payable.
- Sales Tax (GST, VAT…).
- Sales/Revenue.
Required accounts:
Account |
Account Type |
System Account |
Accepts Payments |
| Inventory Control | Current Asset | None | Doesn’t accept payments |
| Inventory Discrepancy | Expense | None | Doesn’t accept payments |
| Cost of Goods Sold | Direct Cost (DEAR standalone/Xero)
Cost of Goods Sold (QBO) |
None | Doesn’t accept payments |
| Default Revenue | Revenue | None | Doesn’t accept payments |
| Tax Liability | Liability | None | Doesn’t accept payments |
| Supplier Deposits | Current Asset | None | Accepts payments |
| Customer Credits | Current Liability | None | Accepts payments |
Optional Accounts:
Inventory Accrual/Stock in Transit (requires Inventory Accrual to be enabled)
| Account |
Account Type |
System Account |
Accepts Payments |
| Inventory Accrual (Goods Received, Not Invoiced) | Current Asset OR
Current Liability |
None | Doesn’t accept payment |
| Stock in Transit (Goods Invoiced, Not Received) | Current Asset | None | Doesn’t accept payment |
Gift Card Liability (requires Gift Cards to be enabled)
Account |
Account Type |
System Account |
Accepts Payments |
| Gift Card Liability | Current Liability | None | Accepts payments |
See the Useful Information articles for detailed steps in DEAR standalone, Xero and QBO.
Useful Information:
Setting up a Chart of Accounts in DEAR Standalone
Setting up a Chart of Accounts with Quickbooks Online
NOTE: If you change accounting systems, the Connect Wizard will
take you through Account Mapping to make sure every account in DEAR Chart of Accounts is linked correctly to the new
accounting system Chart of Accounts.
Account Mapping
Once you have populated your Chart of Accounts in DEAR or Xero/QBO, you must make sure the accounts are mapped
correctly. This ensures that income and outgoings are correctly categorised.
You can find Account Mapping in Settings -> Reference Books -> Financial -> Account Mapping.
NOTE: If you do not have Gift Cards or Goods Received Not
Invoiced/Goods Invoiced Not Received available, you will not be given these account options.
Choose the accounts to map from the dropdown list and Save your changes when you are finished.
NOTE: If you change accounting systems, the Connect Wizard will
take you through Account Mapping to make sure every account in DEAR Chart of Accounts is linked correctly to the new
accounting system Chart of Accounts.
Bank Accounts
Once your Chart of Accounts is mapped correctly to DEAR, you can connect your real-world bank accounts in order to
import and classify your bank transactions.
If you are using DEAR standalone, bank accounts are added by navigating to Settings -> Reference Books ->
Financials -> Chart of Accounts and using + Account. Learn more about adding and
managing Bank Accounts in DEAR.
If you are using Xero/QBO, bank accounts are added through Xero/QBO.
- NOTE: Make sure to include account codes when adding bank
accounts in Xero.
Managing Opening Balances
Whether you are using DEAR standalone or currently using Xero or QuickBooks Online, you will need to enter the account
balances from your previous accounting system and the date you started using DEAR Inventory. This is what we call
conversion balances or opening balances, this will make sure your transactions are correct going forward.
Enter Opening Balances by navigating to Settings -> Reference Books -> Financials and click
Opening Balances. You will be asked to be select a Conversion Date (the date you stop
using your previous system and start using DEAR), to identify which accounts are Inventory or Fixed Asset Accounts, and
to enter your trial balances.
Useful Information:
Guide to Managing Opening Balances
Tax Rules
Every buy and sell transaction uses tax rules for tax calculation. Depending on your store country, many standard tax
rules may be already created in DEAR or Xero/QBO. You can also create tax rules if your business requires additional
rules. You can specify tax rules at the supplier/customer level, purchase/sale level and individual product level, as
well as specify whether a transaction cost is tax inclusive or tax exclusive.
When using DEAR for the first time, navigate to Settings -> Reference Books -> Financials -> Tax
Rules. Check that all the tax rules required for your business are listed and create any that are missing.
If using DEAR standalone, Tax Rules are created in DEAR. If you are using DEAR/QBO, Tax Rules are created in your
accounting system and imported to DEAR during synchronisation.
Useful Information:
How to use Tax Rules? (With Xero/Quickbooks Online enabled)
Configure your Company Details
You can configure your company details at any point, but doing this first will make it easier to use DEAR going forward.
You can find your company settings in Settings -> Reference Books.
We recommend starting by adding Company Addresses, Company Contacts, Locations and Carriers. Addresses and contact
details will be used on all output documents, invoices, quotes, purchase orders, and other documents within DEAR
Inventory. Locations and Carrier information will be used to make inventory and shipping processes more efficient.
Once you have completed these essentials, feel free to move on to the next stage in the Getting Started Guide. You can
fill in the rest of the Reference Books now, or at a later date if you prefer.
Useful Information:
Company Addresses
These include shipping, billing and business addresses. You can select a default address for each of address types. Your
billing address will be included in your invoices.
Go to Settings -> Reference Books -> Your Company -> Company Addresses.
When you first create an account, the system will create some ‘dummy addresses’ to make it easier to evaluate DEAR. You
can override these addresses or delete them and add new ones.
Company Contacts
Contact types can be business, shipping, billing, sale and employee. You can select a default contact for each type.
- Billing contacts appear on quotes and invoices. At least one billing contact is required to send email invoices
to customers. - Sales contacts appear in the dropdown list of sales representatives when creating a sale.
Go to Settings -> Reference Books -> Your Company -> Company Contacts to add Company Contacts.
Locations and Bins
Locations can be found in Settings -> Reference Books -> Stock -> Locations & Bins.
Use Locations to organise your stock. Ensure inventory is picked or received from the right location (warehouse, shop,
office, etc.) and maintain a complete view of stock levels across all your organisation locations. You can also add bins
to organise items further, within a location and/or warehouse.
You must also add Fixed Asset Locations to register and manage your fixed assets. You cannot create fixed assets without assigning a fixed asset location
to them. Even if your stock and fixed assets are kept at the same physical location, you will need to create a separate
entry for Location and Fixed Asset Location. See Locations for more information.
Carriers
Carriers can be found in Settings -> Reference Books -> Other Items -> Carriers.
Invite Users to DEAR
Before anyone in your organisation can access DEAR, you need to invite them to become a DEAR user. Aside from the
account owner/master user, other DEAR users with full access to the Users & Roles page can perform this operation.
You can invite users and manage users and roles from Settings -> Users & Roles. Click
Invite User on this page to invite people to use DEAR via their email address. After sending the
invitation, you can choose to assign permissions and/or roles to the user or wait for the user to accept the invitation
prior to assigning permissions and/or roles.
DEAR allows fine-grained control of permissions – you can grant users full access or read-only access to whole modules
(Sales, Purchases, Financials, etc.) and sub-modules (Stock Reorder, Send Money, Products Overview, etc.).
Creating and Managing Roles
Roles (Sales, Finance, Manager, etc.) make setting permissions for your users more convenient. With roles, you can set
up permissions just once, then assign your users to a role. For example, you might set up roles for your various line
departments so that you can simply add designated users from within the department to the role. You can assign more than
one role to a user.
Add Roles by clicking +Role on the Settings -> Users & Roles page. Once
created, you can click the role to add users to this role.
Useful Information:
Loading Products
Your product and service information make up the core of your inventory. Add your products to start selling and
receiving stock. You can add products individually, clone products from other entries, or import an inventory list in
CSV format. The DEAR Inventory module supports batch numbers, serial numbers, products with multiple variants (product
families), multiple price tiers and printing price lists, among other features.
Product Categories
Add your Product Categories in Settings -> Reference Books -> Stock -> Product Categories.
Product Category is a mandatory field when creating a product in DEAR, so adding categories first makes it easier to add
products next. You can add as many categories as you want and change your categories at any time.
Adding Products
You can add products one by one by either navigating to Inventory -> New -> Product/Service or
going to Inventory -> Products -> +. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory for
creating a new product. Save your product when you are finished.
Make sure that products are added with the correct Costing Method and if batch numbers/serial numbers are required, to select a Costing
Method that supports them.
See Product and Service Management – Product/Service Detail Information for more
information on each of the product fields.
NOTE: Adding Suppliers to a product is a prerequisite for using the Dropship, Low Stock Reorder and Backorder functionalities, but is optional otherwise.
Import an Inventory List
When dealing with many inventory items, it can be difficult/time-consuming to create them individually. You can upload
the inventory list via a CSV file template.
Importing an Inventory List:
- Navigate to Inventory -> Products and click Import -> Inventory List.
- Download the DEAR Inventory List template and copy and paste your inventory data into the downloaded template
before uploading the new file. The column headings and heading positions must remain unchanged for the import to
work correctly. If you don’t have information for some columns, they can be left blank unless they are a
mandatory field.
Set Stock on Hand
Once your Inventory List is correct, you have the ability to also upload Stock-on-Hand figures for your current stock.
NOTE: This operation should only be performed when initially
setting up DEAR Inventory. You should not be using this function to update stock balances if you already have stock
figures in the system. DEAR Inventory uses actual accounting costing methods, and by uploading the stock-on-hand
template multiple times, we’ll create new instances of the products rather than updating existing quantities.
To change stock figures after the initial setup, you will have to use Stock Adjustment or Stocktake.
To upload Stock on Hand figures:
- Navigate to Inventory -> Products.
- Click Import -> Stock on Hand.
- Download the Stock on Hand CSV template.
- Enter the stock on hand figures into the template. The column headings and heading positions must remain
unchanged for the import to work correctly. If you don’t have information for some columns, they can be left
blank. - Upload the saved Stock on Hand template.
Product Families
DEAR also supports products with multiple variants (product families). You can add up to three variants per product
family (e.g. size, colour, material). See Product Families for more information about adding products with multiple variants.
Create new Product Families by navigating to Inventory -> New -> Product Family or
Inventory -> Product Families and clicking +.
Useful Information:
Product and Service Management
Loading Suppliers and Customers
DEAR transactions involve Suppliers and Customers. Suppliers and Customers can be added manually at the time of making a
sale or purchase order. However, it makes it easier to use DEAR if you load your Suppliers and Customers before you
start logging transactions.
Suppliers/Customers can be added manually one by one, loaded in bulk CSV format using a Supplier List/Customer List, or
if you are using Xero/QBO, loaded automatically from your accounting system. If you are using Xero/QBO, suppliers
created in DEAR will also be synced to your accounting system.
Add Suppliers by navigating to Purchase -> New -> Supplier or Purchases ->
Suppliers and clicking +. Add Customers by navigating to Sale -> New ->
Customer or Sale -> Customers and clicking +. Enter your
Supplier/Customer details and Save your changes. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.
Useful Information:
Suppliers: See full information on adding Suppliers, Supplier Addresses, Supplier
Contacts and Supplier Product Information.
Customers: See full information on adding Customers, Customer Addresses and Customer
Contacts.
Using DEAR Systems
You are ready to use DEAR systems! With all the above preparation taken care of, logging transactions in DEAR will be
efficient and straightforward. This section looks at using the DEAR web portal to perform transactions and other
inventory operations. We recommend you familiarise yourself with the basic operations through the web portal before
connecting the following:
- DEAR B2B Portal
- DEAR POS app
- DEAR WMS (Warehouse Management Solution) app
- third-party integrations (E-commerce channels, payment channels, fulfilment services).
Inventory Management
The DEAR Inventory module covers all processes involving your inventory of stock and services. Here are some of the
inventory features you are likely to use in your operations.
Product and Service Management
The primary function of the inventory module is to keep your products and services in order. From here you can add
products, import inventory lists, edit product details in bulk, and set numbers of Stock on Hand, among other features.
Add new products and services by navigating to Inventory -> New -> Product/Service or
Inventory -> Products and clicking +.
Learn more about Product and Service Management.
Product Families
Add products with multiple variants. DEAR Inventory supports up to three variants per product family (e.g. size, colour,
material). Add new Product Families by navigating to Inventory -> New -> Product Family or
Inventory -> Product Families and clicking +.
Learn more about Product Families.
View Product Availability
DEAR allows the user to view availability for all of their products, including what has been allocated to sale and work
orders. View numbers of Stock on Hand, On Order, Allocated and Available (the difference between Stock on Hand and stock
Allocated) by navigating to Inventory -> Availability.
Learn more about Viewing Product Availability.
Stock Adjustment and Valuation
Stock Adjustments can be used to update/correct the quantity and price of products in your Inventory.
Adjustments could be due to new stock needing to be entered, removing damaged or stolen stock, data entry error,
etc.
Stock quantities can be changed by either amending the quantity of existing stock (Non-Zero stock on hand)
or adding new stock (Zero stock on hand). You can edit existing stock quantities and add new stock in the same stock
adjustment. You can also perform this action by importing Stock quantities via CSV. Stock Adjustment will cause
transactions to be generated and synced to your accounting software. If the stock adjustment is not ‘real’ (i.e. in
the case of correcting a data entry error), this can be skipped. If for some products quantity available is correct
but cost is wrong, you can also revalue stock using the Stock Adjustment feature.
Start a new Stock Adjustment by navigating to Inventory -> New -> Stock Adjustment
or Inventory -> Stocktake/Inventory and clicking +.
Learn more about Stock Adjustment and Valuation.
Stocktake
The Stocktake feature allows the user to verify the quantities and the condition of the stock physically in a specific
location/warehouse. This process can be performed in a pre-defined schedule (e.g. annual, specific cycle count – weekly,
monthly, quarterly).
Stocktakes will cause transactions to be generated and synced to your accounting records. If the stocktake is not ‘real’
(i.e. in the case of correcting a data entry error), this sync can be skipped. Start a new Stocktake by navigating to
Inventory -> New -> Stocktake/Count or Inventory -> Stocktake/Inventory and
clicking +.
Learn more about Stocktake.
Stock Transfer
Stock transfers let you move stock between two of your locations. Start a new Stock Transfer by navigating to
Inventory -> New -> Transfer or Inventory -> Transfers and clicking
+.
Learn more about Stock Transfer.
Inventory Write-Off
Write off inventory which has been lost, stolen, damaged, given away or used internally. Start a new
Inventory Write-Off by navigating to Inventory -> New -> Inventory Write-Off.
Learn more about Inventory Write-Off.
Price Lists
You can print price lists for your entire Inventory or by category. Navigate to Inventory -> Print Price
List and select the categories that you wish to print price lists for.
Learn more about Price Lists.
Useful Information:
DEAR Support
– Inventory Module
Purchases
The DEAR purchase module covers all processes involving buying stock from your suppliers. Here are some of the purchase
features you are likely to use in your operations.
Processing a Purchase
Processing a purchase is the main purpose of the purchase module in DEAR. Through the purchase module, you can create
purchase orders and link supplier invoices and stock received to the relevant purchase order. There is also an option to
add a credit note (negative invoice) after a purchase order has been created, for example, if a shipment has been
short-shipped/damaged or if a discount has been applied after the invoice has been paid.
To create a new Purchase, navigate to Purchase -> New -> Simple Purchase (for purchases of stock
or stock and services) or Service Purchase (for purchases of only service items) or go to
Purchase -> Purchase Orders and click +.
Learn more about Processing a Purchase here.
Advanced Purchases (Partial Orders/Deliveries)
In addition to a standard purchase, DEAR Inventory offers a type of purchase with advanced features. Advanced purchases
can be received and invoiced separately while still being considered part of the same purchase. It also allows multiple
credit notes to be issued for a single purchase order. Any order which is made in multiple deliveries should be made as
an Advanced Purchase.
A normal purchase can be converted into an advanced purchase, but the conversion cannot be reversed. Create a new
advanced purchase by navigating to Purchase -> New -> Advanced Purchase.
Learn more about Advanced Purchases.
Low Stock Reorder
This function allows automatic reordering of stock that is running low from your suppliers, ensuring no sales are lost
due to an item being out of stock. Perform stock reorders by navigating to Purchase -> Reorder. For
stock to be presented for reorder automatically, the low stock reorder points must be set up for each inventory item you
wish to reorder. (this is done from the Inventory -> Products -> [selected product] screen.)
Learn more about Low Stock Reorder.
Backorders
Backorders involve processing sales that do not have enough stock on hand to be fulfilled. In this case, new stock is
ordered from your suppliers to complete the order. View and complete backordered purchases by navigating to
Purchase -> Reorder Backordered. To use the backorder function the products to be
backordered must have suppliers attached (this is done from the Inventory -> Products -> [selected
product] screen).
Learn more about Backorders.
Landed Cost Expense Distribution
A landed cost is the total price of a product once it has arrived at the buyer’s door. This includes the original price
of the product but also can include transportation fees, customs, duties, tax, insurance, currency conversion, and any
other costs outside of the direct inventory purchase cost.
These costs are typically applied by handling or fulfilment services under their own invoice and then need to be
allocated to the correct purchase invoices.
Learn more about managing Landed Cost Expense Distribution.
Inventory Accrual/Stock in Transit Cost Calculating
DEAR allows you to track costs for Inventory Accrual (Goods Received, Not Invoiced) and Stock in Transit (Goods
Invoiced, Not Received). To use this function, you must enable Accrued Inventory Transactions in
Settings -> General Settings -> Purchase Process Customisation. You must also provide relevant
accounts and ensure they are mapped to the correct DEAR account.
If Inventory Accrual is disabled, or mapping for the relevant account is not provided, the functionality of Purchase
won’t change from no accrual implementation, and only real costs will be accounted for.
Learn more about Inventory Accrual/Stock in Transit Cost Calculating.
Useful Information:
DEAR Support
– Purchase Module
Sales
The DEAR purchase module covers all processes involving making sales to your customers. Here are some of the sales
features you are likely to use in your operations.
Processing a Sale
Processing sales is the main purpose of the sale module in DEAR. Through the sale module, you can create quotes, sales
orders, and sales invoices, and track sales orders. There is an option to add a credit note (negative invoice) after a
sale order has been created. Sales can be created for products and services, or service-only. For a Service-only sale,
the Sale Order and Fulfilment (Pick, Pack, Ship) sections are skipped as there is no change in Inventory.
Documents can be attached to a Sale in the Attachment tab, and any documents printed or emails sent will be saved there
automatically. All user activities from the creation of the new Sale onwards are logged in the Activity Logs tab.
To create a new Sale, navigate to Sale -> New -> Simple Sale (for sales of stock
or stock and services) or Service Sale (for sales of only service items) or go to Sale ->
Sales and click +.
Learn more about Processing a Sale.
Advanced Sales – Multiple Fulfilments
In addition to a standard sale, DEAR Inventory offers advanced sale, a type of sale with advanced features. An advanced
sale allows items to be shipped and/or invoiced separately while still being considered part of the same sale. It also
allows multiple credit notes to be issued for a single sale order. You can directly create a new advanced sale.
Any order which requires multiple fulfilments should be made as an advanced sale. If you are using a standard sale to
fulfil an order with fewer items than what is stated in the sale order or invoice, you will be given the option to
convert the normal sale to an advanced sale. Once converted, the advanced sale cannot revert to being a standard sale.
Create a new advanced sale by navigating to Sale -> New -> Sale.
Learn more about Advanced Sales – Multiple Fulfilments.
Price Tiers
DEAR Inventory lets you set up to 10 price points for each product. Customers are assigned a price tier which sets what
price they can buy products for (e.g. Retail, Wholesale). Price Tier names are set up in General
Settings while Price Tier values are managed from the Inventory module (Inventory -> Products
-> [selected product]).
Setting prices at the product level is optional since they can also be set and modified at the purchase or sales level.
Besides, Price Tier amounts can be set manually or automatically calculated using defined markup rules for each Price
Tier.
Learn more about Managing Price Tiers.
Recurring Orders/Invoices
You can create recurring Sales Orders/Invoices, at weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and annual
intervals. View and manage your recurring sales by navigating to Sale -> Recurring Sale.
Learn more about Recurring Orders/Invoices.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a supply chain management technique where the retailer does not keep inventory in stock. The retailer
transfers customer orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods
directly to the customer. As in retail businesses, the majority of retailers make their profit on the difference between
the wholesale and retail price, but some retailers earn an agreed percentage of the sales in commission, paid by the
wholesaler to the retailer.
To use the dropship function the products to be dropshipped must have suppliers attached. You can change a product’s
Dropship settings (Always Dropship, Optionally Dropship, Never Dropship) and attach suppliers from the Inventory module
(Inventory -> Products -> [selected product]).
Learn more about Dropshipping.
Split Orders/Backorders
Backorders and Split Orders involve processing sales that do not have enough stock on hand to be fulfilled. Sales Orders
can be authorised even if there is not enough inventory in stock to fulfil them. When attempting to authorise the sale
order, an error message will be displayed, and you will be prompted to choose either Split Order or
Backorder.
Split Order will cause a new Sale Order to be generated automatically. The original Sale Order will be amended, so the
item quantity reflects the amount in stock. This Sale Order can be fulfilled and invoiced immediately. A second Sale
Order with the remaining item quantity will be created. This can be saved for when the required inventory is in stock,
then fulfilled and invoiced in a separate order.
Backorder will wait until all the required quantity of items are in stock before fulfilling the sale order. In both
cases, the outstanding item quantity will be backordered (a purchase order for the remaining items will be created). To
use the backorder function the products to be backordered must have suppliers attached (this is done from the
Inventory -> Products -> [selected product] screen).
Learn more about Split Orders/Backorders.
Customer Credit Notes/Refunds
A credit note is considered a negative invoice. It is a way to amend the details of a sale order or invoice after it has
already been authorised, for example, if a unit price has been overcharged, if a shipment is partially or completely
incorrect or damage, or for a discount applied to an order once the sale order is completed. It is also possible to
create standalone customer credit note that is not linked to any particular sale.
Learn more about Customer Credit Notes/Refunds.
Customer Credits/Deposits
Customer credit is money that you owe to the customer, and which can be used against future payments.
Customer credits can arise from credit notes issued as store credit rather than cash payment, prepayments, overpayments
and laybys/store credit from POS. You can view and manage your Customer Credits/Deposits by navigating to Sale
-> Customer Credits.
Learn more about Customer Credits/Deposits.
Product Discounts and Product Deals
Dear Inventory provides the ability to add discounts and markups to products. These can be applied at the product level,
customer group level and individual customer level. Examples of product discounts are a 10% discount, a $10 discount,
discounts if multiple items are purchased, and free shipping.
More complicated combinations of discounts (deals) that are applied at the shopping-cart level can be set up in the
Product Deals section. Product Deals can be used to apply or combine discounts at the shopping cart level for your
customers, for example, if the customer’s shopping cart has met specific criteria, such as including certain products or
brands or meeting a certain order amount. You can also create store-wide Product Deals, or issue coupons which allow
certain customers or groups of customers to benefit from a deal.
You can view and manage your Product Discounts and Product Deals by navigating to Settings -> Reference Books
-> Stock -> Product Discounts/Product Deals.
Learn more about Product Discounts and Product Deals.
Gift Cards
You can offer Gift Cards to your customers that they can then use to pay for your products and services. Gift Cards can
be used for in-app sales as well as for the B2B and POS sale channels. Gift Cards must be enabled and set up in DEAR
before they can be used for in-app sales or in POS or B2B sales channels. You can view and manage your Gift Cards by
navigating to Sale -> Gift Cards.
Learn more about Gift Cards.
Useful Information:
Production/Manufacturing
The DEAR Production module covers all processes involving assembling and disassembling your inventory and manufacturing
operations. Here are some of the production features you are likely to use in your operations.
Bill of Materials
A Bill of Materials (BoM) specifies the component products that make up a larger product. You need to
specify a Bill of Materials for products before you can perform assembly/disassembly functions. You can add a Bill
of Materials to a product through the product screen (Inventory -> Products ->
[selected product]).
Learn more about the Bill of Materials.
Assembly
Assembly puts together finished goods from component parts. This function helps you keep track of the use
of raw materials as well as associated costs throughout the manufacturing process. The finished goods function can
only be used to assemble items that have a Bill of Materials showing their component parts. Create new finished
goods by navigating to Production -> New -> Assembly or Production ->
Assemblies and clicking +.
Learn more about Finished Goods Assembly.
Disassembly
Disassembly can be used to break down inventory items into components. It can also be used to perform unit conversions,
e.g. from tons to kilos. The disassembly function can only be used with items that have a Bill of Materials showing
their component parts. Create new disassembly actions by navigating to Production -> New ->
Disassembly or Production -> Disassemblies and clicking +.
Learn more about Disassembly.
Job Costing
The Job Costing module can be used to keep track of expenditure which has gone into performing a job for a
customer. Expenditure can be both inventory and service in nature and include your own services/inventory and those
of suppliers. The Job Costing module can be used to accumulate this expenditure and produce an invoice for the
customer adding a margin if required.
Learn more about Job Costing.
Useful Information:
DEAR Support
– Manufacturing Module
Financials
The DEAR Financials module covers processes involving expenses and money. Here are some of the financial features you
are likely to use in your operations.
Money Tasks (Spend Money, Receive Money, Transfer Money)
These functions allow you to quickly input into DEAR money entering and leaving your bank accounts. You will have to
reconcile your bank statements with each transaction in DEAR. See here for more information on bank reconciliation. Create a new money task by
navigating to Financials -> New -> Spend Money/Receive Money/Transfer Money or Financials
-> Money Tasks and click +.
Learn more about Money Tasks.
Fixed Assets and Depreciation
The term fixed assets generally refers to the long-term assets, tangible assets used in a business that are classified
as property, plant and equipment. DEAR Inventory allows you to add new fixed assets to your inventory,
register/un-register fixed assets and calculate depreciation for fixed assets.
Learn more about Fixed Assets and Depreciation.
Receipts and Expense Claims
Users can enter receipts for any spending that they have incurred on behalf of the business and submit these receipts on
an Expense Claim so they can be reimbursed. Authorised users can view expense claims and approve or deny them. Submit a
new Expense Claim Receipt by navigating to Financials -> New -> Receipt, view and authorise
expense claims by navigating to Financials -> Expense Claims.
Learn more about Receipts and Expense Claims.
Manual Journals
Users can add or edit a manual journal in DEAR, then save it as a draft or post it to the general ledger. Manual
journals can be used for any transaction the accountant wishes to post directly to the General Ledger. Create new
journals by navigating to Financials -> New -> Journal or Financials ->
Journals and clicking +.
An Activity Log is kept of changes to journal entries, including creation, edit, void, and identifies which user
performed each action. They can be viewed by going to the Activity Logs tab of each journal entry.
Learn more about Manual Journals.
Useful Information:
DEAR Support
– Financial Module
Connect Third-Party Integrations
DEAR Inventory supports integration with many other business programs, such as e-commerce platforms and marketplaces,
payment channels, fulfilment services, CRMs and more. See the Integrations support page for a full list of all supported
integrations. Our most popular integrations are listed below in this guide.
Useful Information:
Sales Channels
DEAR allows you to connect a variety of marketplaces and e-commerce platforms to your inventory management system.
Payment Channels
DEAR generates electronic documents (PDF, e-mail content) to enable your customers to pay quotes and invoices
seamlessly. Payment documents can contain Pay Links, a link which takes customers through the DEAR Payment workflow.
DEAR supports Stripe and Paypal as payment processors, and one payment document can contain links to both payment
processors.
Stripe Integration, Stripe FAQ
Paypal Integration, Paypal FAQ
Square Point of Sale is a free Android point-of-sale app and an ideal payment processor to use with DEAR POS. Accept
debit and credit cards with Square Reader for magstripe, and accept EMV chip cards and Android Pay with Square Reader
for contactless and chip.
Shipping/Fulfilment Services
DEAR Inventory supports integration with a variety of shipping and fulfilment services.
Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) Integration
DEAR B2B Portal
DEAR Inventory B2B eCommerce portal has been designed to enable your customers to browse and order from your catalogue
24/7. Our online portal provides a scalable and flexible platform uniquely focused on companies doing business with each
other. For example, manufacturers selling to distributors and wholesalers selling to retailers.
Setting up your B2B Portal
To begin setting up your custom B2B portal, please navigate to Integration > DEAR B2B portals.
To add a new shop portal:
- Click + to Add a new shop.
- Enter a name your portal (for internal use).
- Specify a unique domain name which will be used by your customers to access the portal.
- This can be repeated for as many portals as you require. You may have several portals for different customers,
each with different lists of products to sell. You will need to specify how many B2B portals you want on your DEAR subscription.
Manage your Portal settings and preferences from the Settings tab. You can also add approved carriers
and payment methods for the portal. See more information about B2B Portal Settings.
Customising your Portal Appearance
In the Appearance tab, you can customise how your portal or portals look to your customers. You can
upload your company logo, change the portal colour scheme and change how your customers browse your products via the
navigation bars. Learn more about changing the Appearance of your Portal.
Adding Products to your Portal Catalogue
You can show or hide products from appearing in the customer’s B2B portal view. Each portal can display a specific
catalogue of products, for example, if you maintain multiple brands, you may consider publishing products from a
specific brand to a particular B2B portal associated with this brand.
To change which products are visible in the customer’s B2B portal
view:
- Make sure the correct portal is selected before making any changes to the catalogue listings.
- Go to the Catalogue tab.
- Use one of the available options (Category, Family, Product Tag or Brand) to filter products you would like to
list/delist. - Use List or Delist to publish or remove the product. If no selection is made
or a search for a product is performed, all products will be listed/delisted. - Click Save to complete.
Invite Customers to use the B2B Portal
You’re now ready to invite customers individually to order your products from your portal. Once invited, your customer
will receive an email inviting them to create an account on your B2B portal. The B2B portal functions very similarly to
any standard eCommerce platform, with a few additional features and functionalities tailored to B2B customers.
To invite your customers to use the B2B portal:
- Navigate to Sale -> Customers.
- Select a customer. You will need to ensure that the customer record contains a Contact with a valid email
address. - In the Invitations tab use the invite button (envelope) to send an email invitation to your
customer. You can remove access for a customer in the future by clicking the red trash icon.
- You can also invite customers directly from the B2B integration page. In the B2B Integration page, go to
Invitations. - Select any customers with a NOT ACTIVE status that you want to invite, and click Invite
Selected. - To remove a customer’s access, you can select customers with ACTIVE status and click
Revoke Selected.
Sales Rep Invitations
Some customers prefer to use a Sales Rep to order on their behalf. To invite a Sales Rep to your B2B portal, click
Sale Rep Invitation in the Invitations tab, enter the Sale Rep email and send. The
Sale Rep will be sent an invitation to sign up to the B2B portal, where they can make sales on behalf of any active
customer.
Useful Information:
DEAR Point-of-Sale (POS) App
The DEAR Point of Sale (POS) platform provides advanced, multi-directional integration with DEAR Inventory. In general,
the integration between DEAR POS and DEAR Inventory works in the following manner:
- Customers purchase goods in store via DEAR POS.
- DEAR POS sends the details of each sales order to DEAR Inventory.
- DEAR Inventory creates a pending order in the staging area for each sale. Stock is immediately allocated to
sales. - Depending on how DEAR Point of Sale is configured, pending sales can be converted to DEAR Inventory Sales Orders
with stock, then written off from the inventory account.
You will need to specify how many POS connections you require in your DEAR subscription.
In this Getting Started Guide, we will cover the basic features of DEAR POS; however, many more interesting features are
available to help you manage your POS transactions. Please take a look at the DEAR Support POS category to learn more.
Useful Information:
DEAR Point of Sale (POS) – Getting Started and Information
Handling exchanges on a sale in POS
DEAR POS – Quick Keys Set Up: Add buttons called Quick keys to
quickly put through sales of your most popular products.
Loyalty in DEAR POS: Loyalty is a system where your customers earn
dollars to spend in your store with every purchase they make.
Setup DEAR POS
Add a new POS store:
- Navigate to the Integrations Tab and select DEAR Point of Sale.
- On the Integrations page, you may either click the + icon to add a new POS
point, or click an existing POS point. - Once a POS point is created or chosen, proceed to the Setup Tab and fill in all the required
fields. See Integration Settings for more details on the different fields.
POS Locations, Outlets and Registers
For businesses that are operating from multiple locations, setting up additional outlets will help you manage your
inventory and track your sales effectively from every location. You can add outlets and registers by navigating to the
Outlets Tab.
To add a new location outlet:
- Navigate to Settings > Reference Books > Stock > Locations and Bins.
- Click Add Location, name the location, and click Save.
- Navigate to Integrations and select Point of Sale (DEAR).
- Navigate to the Outlets setup tab.
- In the POS column, select the store.
- In the Outlets column, select the location to create a new outlet for and click +
Outlet. - Fill in the details of your outlet.
- For Tax-Exclusive Retailers, select which Tax Rate you would like to use for the
outlet. - Once you complete entering your Outlet Information, press Save.
To run DEAR POS on multiple devices in the same store, you need to add as many registers to the outlet as there are
devices you wish to use for POS.
To add a new register to an outlet:
- Navigate to Integrations and then select Point of Sale (DEAR).
- On the Point of Sale page, select a store from the row of stores on top.
- Under the Outlets column, select the store outlet to add the register to from the list.
- Click the + icon under the Outlet Details column.
- Fill in all the required information under the Register Details column.
- Click Save.
Add Users to DEAR POS
To add users to DEAR POS:
- Navigate to the Users tab.
- Click + User and select the new user to give access to the POS.
- Choose the appropriate role, Administrator, Cashier or
Manager, for the user. - Choose the outlet you want this user to access, then click Add.
- Repeat as many times as required. Changes are saved automatically.
To access your POS store, go to https://pos.dearsystems.com.
Users accessing POS for the first time will need to use a generic password that should have been set in the
Setup Tab.
Upon logging in, users will be prompted to reset and create their own password.
Listing Products on DEAR POS
Items listed in your DEAR Inventory can be listed on your POS store. There are two ways to add your products into DEAR
POS, one-by-one or using the Bulk Listing function.
To add products one-by-one:
- Navigate to Integrations -> DEAR POS.
- Go to the Catalogue tab.
- Click on the product that you would like to list and click Liston DEAR
POS button. Once a product is listed, you will see a Status change from Not Listed
to Listed. The Listed products will now be visible to your POS customers.
To add products In bulk:
- Navigate to Integrations -> DEAR POS.
- Navigate to the Bulk Listing tab.
- Here you can choose to upload in bulk by filtering a Product Category, Product Family or Product Tag.
- Once you have chosen which products you want to Bulk Upload click Start.
- A message will appear for you to confirm that you wish to List the chosen products.
Click Yes to proceed. - Once Bulk Listing is completed you will receive a confirmation message. The Listed products
will now be visible to your POS customers.
DEAR Warehouse Management Solution (WMS) App
DEAR Warehouse Management System (WMS) integrates seamlessly with DEAR Inventory backend, streamlining your order
fulfilment processes while increasing your productivity and cutting costs in the warehouse. DEAR WMS uses wireless
barcode scanning (with either ScanSKU or mPOP barcode) to make order picking easy and efficient. DEAR WMS also supports
manual entry.
To use DEAR WMS, Pick and Pack MUST be set to manual, not automatic. To change this setting go
to Settings -> General Settings -> Sales Process Customisation.
IMPORTANT: If you wish to include serial/batch numbers in any warehouse operations (Picking, Packing,
Receiving Inventory, Stocktake, Write-off), the Product type must have a Costing Method which supports serial/batch
numbers. See Costing Methods and WMS – Serial Numbers and Batch Numbers for more information. If the Product costing
method does not support serial or batch numbers, this field will not be displayed during WMS operations.
Setting up DEAR WMS App
The DEAR WMS app is available to download for free on Google Play Store. DEAR WMS is only supported by
Android devices for now.
- Navigate to Play Store on your mobile.
- Search for DEAR WMS and tap Install.
- Once the app is installed, tap Open.
- Log into the app using the login credentials of your account.
You will now be able to use the DEAR WMS mobile app.
Using DEAR WMS App
DEAR WMS supports the following operations:
- Pick: Pick items easily either manually or using a barcode scanner from the warehouse to be
included in the customer order. - Pack: Gather and pack the picked items to prepare them for shipment to the customer.
- Receive: Receive inventory with or without purchase orders. You can also change the location of
the inventory within a location (Bin Transfer). - Stocktake: Allows the user to verify the quantities and the condition of the stock physically
in a specific location/warehouse. - Write-off: Write off inventory which has been lost, stolen, damaged, given away or used
internally. - Working Area: Set a specific DEAR store and location as your Working Area to pick from.
- Print Labels: Prints product labels (if connected to a suitable printer) or saves product labels as
a PDF. - Log Out: Log out of the DEAR store and app.
- About: View the mobile application version details.
See detailed information about carrying out WMS operations in DEAR Warehouse Management Solution.
