Multi-branch & locations
Running from more than one place — two shops, a shop and a warehouse, branches in three towns — means knowing which branch earned what, and which one is short.
Locations vs money locations
Easy to confuse, worth keeping straight:
| What it is | |
|---|---|
| Location / branch | A place where business happens — a shop, a warehouse |
| Money location | A place where money sits — a till, a wallet, a bank account |
One branch usually has several money locations: a till, a safe, a MoMo wallet.
Setting up branches
Add each under Locations. Then attach:
- Money locations at that branch
- Stock held there
- Staff assigned there — see Employees
Stock per branch
With multiple locations, stock is tracked per branch. "Twenty units" becomes "twelve here, eight at the other shop", which is the difference between confidently promising a customer and disappointing them.
Record transfers between branches as stock moves. Untracked transfers are the most common cause of branch stock counts drifting from reality.
Reporting by branch
Reports and the Explorer can group by location, so you can see:
- Revenue and profit per branch
- Which branch carries which costs
- Stock value by site
This is often uncomfortable and always useful. Businesses regularly discover one branch has been subsidising another for years — a question you cannot even ask without per-branch numbers.
Several tills in one shop
Multiple tills at the same branch is a different problem, handled by the desktop app: tills tell each other what they have sold over your local network, so stock counts stay in step and two counters do not sell the last item twice. It needs no setup and no internet.
Practical advice
Count each branch separately, on the same day. Counting on different days guarantees the totals never agree.
Give each branch its own money locations. Shared ones make it impossible to tell which site is short.
Assign staff to branches so payroll cost lands where the work happened.
Watch transfers. Most "missing" stock in a multi-branch business is sitting at another branch, moved without a record.