NAQIXMulti-branch stock control for Saudi retailers and wholesalers
A business with a warehouse in Riyadh and shops in Jeddah and Dammam rarely loses stock in one dramatic event. It loses it in small gaps: a transfer that left one branch and never arrived at the other, a return nobody recorded, a count corrected by hand. Here is how to set up branch stock so those gaps show up while they are still small.
Get the structure right first
Decide what is a company and what is a branch before you configure anything. In general, one legal entity holds one VAT registration that covers all of its branches, so the branches share one set of books and one VAT return. A separate legal entity, such as a sister company, is a separate company with its own books, and stock moving to it is a sale, not a transfer. Confirm your own registrations, including any branch commercial registrations, with your adviser.
E-invoicing adds a second layer. Under ZATCA Phase 2, each unit that issues invoices is onboarded separately, so plan which branches and tills will issue invoices and who will connect each one.
Transfers that leave a trail
Most branch stock problems start with transfers. A transfer should be a document with a sender, a receiver and a status at every step:
- Request. The branch that needs stock asks for it, so the warehouse is not guessing.
- Approve. Someone with authority approves transfers above an agreed value or for controlled items.
- Dispatch. Stock leaves the sending branch, by batch or serial number where those are tracked.
- In transit. The goods belong to neither shelf, and a report shows them.
- Receive. The receiving branch confirms what actually arrived. A short delivery is recorded as a partial receipt, not quietly accepted.
A movement between branches of the same legal entity is generally not a supply for VAT, so no tax invoice is needed. Movements between separate companies are different; confirm the treatment with your adviser.
Counts and adjustments
Count often and in small pieces. A cycle count of a few shelves each week finds problems faster than one annual count of everything. Count without showing the expected quantity, record a reason for every adjustment and have someone other than the counter approve large ones. Where products carry batches, count by batch, so that expiry dates and recalls stay reliable.
Batches, serial numbers and expiry across branches
Tracking batches or serial numbers only works if they travel with the goods. When a carton moves from the warehouse to a shop, the transfer should say which batch or which serial numbers moved, so that the receiving branch inherits the right expiry dates and warranty records. Without that, a recall or a warranty claim turns into a search across every branch. If you sell food, medicines or cosmetics, make batch and expiry part of the transfer screen, not an optional note.
Reorder and rebalance
Set reorder levels per branch, not one level for the whole business. A fast-moving item in a busy shop may need a higher minimum than the same item in a quiet one. Before raising a purchase, check whether another branch holds more than it can sell; moving existing stock is cheaper than buying more.
Reports an owner should see every week
- Stock on hand by branch and product, with value.
- Opening, in, out and closing quantities by branch for the week.
- Transfers dispatched but not yet received, oldest first.
- Adjustments by branch and reason.
- Sales and gross profit by branch.
- Slow-moving and ageing stock by branch.
Give each branch manager access to their own branch, and keep the company-wide view for head office. Branch-scoped access protects the numbers as much as it protects privacy.
A weekly routine for branch stock
- Clear transfers that have been in transit for more than a few days: receive them, or find out why not.
- Review adjustments above your approval limit, branch by branch.
- Run a cycle count on the fastest-moving lines in each branch.
- Rebalance overstock before approving new purchase orders.
- Compare branch gross margin with last month and ask about any large change.
How NAQIX handles branch stock
- Each branch is a location inside the company, with its own address and stock, sharing the company's ledger. Users can be limited to their own branch.
- Stock requisitions let a branch ask for stock, and inter-branch transfers carry approval rules, dispatch, in-transit and partial receipt, with batches and serial numbers moving with the goods. The transfers page suggests moves from overstocked branches to branches running low.
- Stock movement summaries show opening, in, out and closing by product and branch for any period, and inventory and valuation can be read as of any past date at weighted average cost.
- Stock counts can be done by batch through Excel, and the profit and loss can be filtered to one branch.
- For Saudi companies, each branch connects to ZATCA as its own invoicing unit. The Phase 2 integration has been tested against ZATCA's sandbox; the production connection is not open yet, so NAQIX does not clear or report live invoices with ZATCA today.
Inter-branch stock views and transfers are included from the Pro plan, and the HQ live view across branches on the Business plan. The Inventory and Branches & insights pages list the features, the multi-branch inventory overview shows the HQ view, and the NAQIX page for Saudi Arabia covers the local setup.