How to Deduct and Count Inventory

Choose when FieldPulse deducts stock from your hubs, override it on a single record, and count items on web or mobile so on-hand numbers stay accurate.

Who uses this: Admins and Team Managers — the Deduct Inventory toggle on a record is available to those two roles. Availability: All regions. Inventory Settings and template configuration are web only; the record toggle and the inventory count tool work on web and mobile.

Inventory deduction is the moment FieldPulse subtracts stock from your hubs, and you decide when it happens — when a Material List is completed, or when an invoice is finalized. When the office and the field disagree about which record spends the parts, on-hand counts drift and nobody trusts the numbers. One deduction trigger, plus a per-record override for the jobs that do not fit it, keeps your hub quantities matching what is actually on the shelf and in the van.

Overview

FieldPulse deducts inventory from your hubs at one of two moments: when a Material List reaches a Completed-type status, or when an Invoice reaches the Invoiced / Finalized status. You set a company-wide default in Inventory Settings, carry that setting onto Material List and Invoice templates, and override it on any individual record.

The inventory count tool is separate from deduction. It compares the number of an item you actually have in a hub against the number FieldPulse expects, records who counted and when, and corrects the hub quantity when the two do not match.

Before you begin

• Set up inventory in your account first, including hubs and any serialized items. See Setting Up Item List & Inventory.

• Sign in as an Admin or Team Manager to use the Deduct Inventory toggle on a record.

• Use the web app for your initial setup. Inventory Settings and template configuration live in the web app only, even if your team counts stock and flips toggles from mobile.

• To control which users reach which hubs, see Setting Up Inventory Permissions.

On web

Set your default deduction method

The default deduction method decides which record type subtracts stock for every new record going forward.

1. Select Company Settings in the left-side menu, then open the Estimates & Invoices tab and the Inventory subtab.

2. Select Inventory Settings in the top-right corner.

3. Set Default Inventory Deduction Record to your preference:

   • Material List — inventory is deducted when the Material List reaches a Completed-type status.

   • Invoice — inventory is deducted when the Invoice reaches the Invoiced / Finalized status.

The default applies to every new record of that type going forward. The toggle on the other record type starts off by default, and existing records are not changed.

Set toggle defaults on templates

If you build Material Lists or Invoices from templates, set the toggle on the template so every record built from it inherits the right behavior.

1. Open a Material List or Invoice template.

2. Switch on Deduct Inventory from Material List or Deduct Inventory from Invoice.

3. Save the template.

You or a Team Manager can still change the toggle on individual records when a job calls for something different.

Override the deduction method on a record

When you create or edit a Material List or Invoice, the record carries a Deduct Inventory from Material List or Deduct Inventory from Invoice toggle. Use it to override your company default for that one record.

For example, you might deduct from Material Lists as your default, and then hit a fast, straightforward job where you skip the material list and go straight to the invoice. The toggle lets you deduct according to that job’s needs without changing your company setting.

How the toggles behave together

A few rules govern linked Material List and Invoice records:

• The toggle is editable only while inventory has not been deducted yet. Once a record reaches a Completed-type status (Material List) or Invoiced / Finalized status (Invoice), the toggle locks.

• If a record moves back to Draft, inventory is returned and the toggle re-enables.

• When a Material List and Invoice are linked, FieldPulse keeps them in sync so inventory is never deducted twice. Turning on Deduct Inventory from Invoice automatically turns off Deduct Inventory from Material List on the linked Material List.

• Items added to an already-completed record — a change order — are deducted when the record is re-completed.

Serialized inventory behavior

Serialized items follow the same trigger rules as regular inventory, with extra safeguards so the same serial number is never deducted twice:

• When a record is completed, the serial numbers on it lock and cannot be edited.

• If a serial number that has already been deducted on another record is added to a new record, an error icon appears next to that line item.

• If you try to complete a record that still contains an already-deducted serial number, the Serial Number No Longer Exists pop-up appears with two options:

  • Continue Editing — keeps the record in Draft so you can swap in a valid serial number.

  • Proceed Without Deducting This Item — completes the record and deducts everything else.

For more on serialized stock, see Serialized Inventory Overview.

Count inventory

The inventory count tool tracks and corrects on-hand quantities across your hubs, one item at a time.

1. Open the inventory item you want to count from your item list.

2. Select the clipboard icon next to the hub you are counting.

   

   The Count Item window opens on that hub and shows the historical counts for it, including who counted and when. The count history table has four columns:

   • Date & Time — when the count was submitted.

   • Count — the number of items counted.

   • Expected Quantity — the number of items you are expected to find, based on the hub’s current on-hand quantity.

   • Updated By — the team member who submitted the count.

   Any row where Count does not match Expected Quantity is highlighted, so variances are easy to spot.

   The entry field below the table starts blank every time you open the window, and the save buttons stay disabled until you type a value.

3. Enter the number of items you counted.

4. Select the button that matches what you want to record:

   • Update Count & Hub Quantity — logs the count and updates the hub’s on-hand quantity to match, closing the variance.

   • Update Count — logs the count only. The hub’s on-hand quantity is unchanged and the variance stays open.

Review counts in reporting

To review counts across items and hubs, select Reporting in the left-side menu, select Invoices, then select Inventory Count.

The report covers both regular and serialized inventory, and compares actual against expected levels item by item, including the dollar-value difference. See How to Create Inventory Count Reports.

On mobile

The Deduct Inventory toggle and the inventory count tool are both available in the mobile app. Inventory Settings and template configuration live in the web app only, so set those up on web first.

Toggle deduction on a record

1. Open the Material List or Invoice in Draft status.

2. Tap the Deduct Inventory from Material List or Deduct Inventory from Invoice toggle.

3. Tap Save.

Count an item with the barcode scanner

1. Scan the barcode of your inventory item.

2. Tap the clipboard icon next to the hub you are counting.

   

3. Enter the number of items you counted.

4. Tap Update Count to record the count on its own, or Update Count & Update Hub Quantity to record the count and correct the hub quantity at the same time.

Common issues

Issue	Likely cause	Fix
The Deduct Inventory toggle does not appear on a record	The user is not an Admin or Team Manager	Update the user’s role, or have an Admin or Team Manager edit the record.
Inventory did not deduct when the Material List was completed	The toggle was off, or the linked Invoice is set as the deduction record	Open the Material List in Draft, switch the toggle on, and re-complete it. Or confirm the linked Invoice will be the deduction record when it is finalized.
New records are not using the right default	Default Inventory Deduction Record is not set, or it was changed recently	Confirm the setting in Company Settings > Estimates & Invoices > Inventory > Inventory Settings.

FAQs

Can technicians or service agents flip the toggle?

No. The Deduct Inventory toggle on a record is available to Admins and Team Managers. Other roles can still build Material Lists and Invoices; the toggle does not appear for them.

Can I count inventory across multiple hubs at once?

Counts are tracked per item, per hub. Work through each hub for that item, or open How to Create Inventory Audit Reports for a higher-level view.

What happens if I add the same serialized inventory item to more than one record?

You can add the same serial number to multiple Material Lists or Invoices. Once it is deducted on one completed record, FieldPulse flags it with an error icon on any other record it is still sitting on. From there, you can swap in a different serial number, or complete that record anyway and skip deducting that one item.

Related articles

• Setting Up Item List & Inventory

• Serialized Inventory Overview

• Inventory Hubs Overview

• Setting Up Inventory Permissions

• How to Create Inventory Count Reports

• How to Create Inventory Audit Reports

Your inventory is deducting correctly when stock leaves your hubs at the moment you chose — Material List completion or Invoice finalization — a linked Material List and Invoice never double-deduct, and a count you run matches the quantity on the shelf.