Use Add Stock to record something arriving from outside the farm, or to make an opening record of stock already present when you begin. The result should describe what you have, how much arrived and where it is kept.
In this guide, a receipt is the entry describing an arrival or an opening count. Prepare that entry, then submit it through Post entries. After the result says Accepted, the amount appears in Current Stock and its Stock number can be used for notes, moves and later production.
Before you start
Decide what one row will represent before typing. It can describe one separately followed item or one lot: an amount you manage together under one Stock number, location, stage and history. Use separate stock records when those details need to be managed separately.
Have the arrival details or opening count ready. Check that the Set up your farm section offers suitable Product, Stock type, Unit and Location choices, and prepare an unused label on Stock numbers when needed. Choose details that describe the actual arrival. You can enter them directly, or use the optional starting-choices action described below to copy your usual choices into a new draft.
For something made or harvested from stock already recorded, use Produce or harvest. That entry records which stock it came from. Entering the same output there and again on Add Stock would record two arrivals instead of one.
Prepare the receipt
Each row is one horizontal line for the item or lot you are recording. Type or choose details in its white boxes, called cells. Leave Posted and Entry check alone because they display results.
From Current Stock or Stock numbers, click Add or receive stock → to open the next unused receipt row. If you are returning to an unfinished receipt, complete its original row instead.
Enter the Stock number and Date received, then choose the Entry reason.
Choose the Stock type and Product / variety that describe the arrival.
Enter the positive Quantity and choose its Unit as a pair.
Choose the actual Location. Add a Process : stage if it helps describe progress, and choose Use status according to what you know about readiness. A place, a stage and a status describe different facts, so one should not have to stand in for the others.
Add any useful supplier reference, recorder name or arrival detail. Enter Usable until only where you have a justified last-use date.
Read Entry check and follow its message if details are missing or need correction. Ready means you can submit the receipt; Ready · review asks you to check the named choice before proceeding.
To record another arrival, click Start next entry near the top of Add Stock. It takes you to the line after the last one you have used, leaving earlier entries and unfinished rows in place. The link only moves you; it does not save or reserve a row. Complete the receipt, then submit it on Post entries and check for Accepted. If the link says Entry page full — stop, keep the existing rows and do not replace them.
Google Sheets saves your typing, so you can stop and return to an entry still being prepared. That saved draft does not yet add to stock. If its number has already been used, find the existing record before creating another. Repair or clear only the white cells of a mistaken unsubmitted draft, leaving earlier accepted records intact.
Fill your usual starting choices, if useful
If you have saved usual choices on Stock types, you can use them when preparing new receipts. First choose the Stock type on each new row. Select one to ten rows you want to prepare, then choose Extensions → Farmer's Helper — Development → Stock → Fill empty starting choices. You can select the rows by dragging across any of their white cells; the action uses the rows you selected.
The action fills empty Product / variety, Unit, Location and Process : stage cells where you have saved a suitable usual choice. It keeps anything you have already entered. If you have not set a usual Product or first Stage, that field stays blank for you to decide. Read the completion message and check that the choices describe this arrival. Your Stock numbers, dates and quantities stay as you entered them, and nothing is submitted to stock.
This can save choosing the same details again, especially when one delivery includes several Stock types with different usual choices. You can continue using the dropdowns directly. For many identical arrivals, copying the common choices from another new draft may be quicker: copy Product / variety separately from Unit, Location and Process : stage, so you do not replace the different quantities between them. Never copy over an earlier posted receipt. The optional action takes a few seconds to run and does not make posting or calculations faster.
Submit the receipt on Post entries
Submitting the receipt on Post entries is what adds it to the stock views. Use the next empty line after all previous submissions. In Choose completed record, select the choice beginning with Receive and check its Stock number, quantity and description.
Wait for Result and read Entry summary on the same line. Accepted means the receipt was recorded. The Posted box on Add Stock then changes automatically; it is not a box for you to tick.
If Result says Rejected, that attempt added no stock. Read why, return to the same draft and correct it. On a new posting line, select the updated choice for that same draft, keeping its Stock number and the earlier rejected line. If the receipt already says Accepted, find that result instead of submitting again. Keep the posting list in its original order without sorting, replacing or deleting lines.
Check the result in Current Stock
After Result says Accepted, click View Current Stock → near the top of Post entries. Search for the Stock number, then read its description, on-hand quantity, unit, location and status together. Compare these details with the receipt you intended to enter.
The return link keeps your existing stock filters. If they hide the new record, choose All stock under Show stock, clear Find stock, and choose All in Use status and Location. Check the accepted receipt before entering anything again; a hidden row is not a missing arrival.
Stock that is Not assessed, Not ready or On hold can still be physically present while showing no amount available to use. That is expected when the status accurately describes your decision. On the original Add Stock row, Posted now ticks automatically and Entry check says Posted · use Corrections for changes.
The receipt is complete when Post entries says Accepted and the correct stock appears in Current Stock. You can now use that Stock number for later work. If the record is missing, first check whether it is still a Ready draft or was Rejected; entering another receipt before checking could count the same arrival twice.
Return after closing the spreadsheet
After reopening the workbook, find the same Stock number before beginning again. Google Sheets keeps the cells it saved, and Post entries shows whether the receipt was accepted. After a connection problem, look for confirmation that the sheet saved and read the posting result before repeating the work.
If it is still a draft, complete that row and submit it. If it says Accepted, continue with the stock already recorded. If it was Rejected, correct the same draft and select its updated choice on a new posting line. Keep the same Stock number: an interrupted or rejected attempt is not a second arrival.
For a mistake in a receipt already accepted, use Correct quantity for the original amount or Correct details for a detail that tool supports. These need the development add-on. Changing the old draft does not correct the accepted stock. If an amount was really used or lost later, enter that separately on Use or loss.
What each field means
The receipt needs Stock number, Date received, Entry reason, Stock type, Product / variety, Quantity, Unit and Location. The other fields help explain its starting condition or preserve useful context. The sections below explain how each part contributes to a record that another person can understand.
Stock number
The Stock number is the lasting label for this particular item or lot. Use the label prepared on Stock numbers. Separate arrivals can need separate numbers even when the Product is the same, because their quantities, dates and later histories may differ.
Keep the number after stock is used up or archived, and do not give it to something else. Put the supplier’s own reference in Supplier lot / reference. It helps identify that arrival without replacing the Stock number you use throughout the workbook.
Date received
Choose when the stock actually arrived. For Opening stock, use the date you counted what was already on the farm. A planned delivery is not physically present yet. Use the date cell’s calendar for a complete date; the spreadsheet does not automatically record this date when you type.
Entry reason
Choose Purchased for something bought, Received for another arrival, or Opening stock for stock already present when you begin keeping these records. Output from recorded stock belongs on Produce or harvest, where you can explain its actual sources.
Stock type
Choose the physical form you are receiving, using the choices prepared on the Stock types tab. Product tells you what it is, while Stock type tells you the form you have. Read them together before continuing. If a choice is missing, check its setup row and Show in dropdowns setting rather than using an unrelated type just to complete the entry.
Product / variety
Choose the crop, plant, animal or other Product, with its variety, strain or breed where relevant. The dropdown combines the names saved on Products. Several stock records can share that description; the permanent Stock number is what distinguishes this receipt from the others.
Quantity
Enter the positive amount that actually arrived or was present at your opening count. Always read it with Unit. If a separate-item record counts whole items, each item has its own Stock number and Quantity 1. A separately followed container may instead have a measured quantity of contents, so make that meaning clear.
For grouped stock, enter the amount you will manage together. Zero cannot stand for an unknown quantity: establish what the amount represents before posting. Use no more decimal places than the chosen unit allows.
Unit
Choose how the amount was counted or measured, using the Units tab. A count of containers, a count of plants and a weight of harvested material mean different things. The workbook does not turn a container count into the weight or volume of its contents, so clarify what was counted in Stock type or Receipt detail if needed.
Location
Choose the place where someone can actually find the stock, using Locations from setup. Keep that arrival location on the receipt. If it moves later, record the move on Move or change stage so both the arrival and later place remain understandable.
Process : stage
Use Process : stage when the stock’s starting progress is useful to record. The dropdown combines the process and stage names so that similar stage names stay distinguishable. You can leave it blank where no process is needed. Choosing a stage describes progress; it does not move stock or confirm a planned job was completed.
Use status
Choose Not assessed when a usability decision has not been made, Available when the stock is ready to use, Not ready when more time or work is needed, or On hold when you are deliberately withholding it. A blank is treated as Not assessed.
Stock can remain physically present while it is not available to use. Later decisions on Assessment & holds apply to the whole item or lot. This preview does not track part of a lot being reserved for a customer, so that kind of reservation is not automatically deducted from the displayed available amount.
Usable until
Enter a last-use date only when an established rule or reliable source gives this stock a fixed limit. Leave it blank when no such date applies; a planned review date serves a different purpose.
When this date is before today, Current Stock shows Past use-by and makes the available amount zero while still showing physical stock. That does not record disposal. The field holds a date you enter; it does not automatically calculate a lifetime from setup or represent a time-of-day cutoff.
Supplier / origin
Use Supplier / origin for the outside person or business supplying this arrival. Choose a saved supplier or type a clear name. If it was produced from stock already recorded here, use Produce or harvest and choose the actual source Stock number, rather than trying to describe that relationship with a supplier name.
Supplier lot / reference
Copy a supplier lot number, delivery reference or external tag exactly as it appears in the arrival information when it will help you trace the purchase. Several separately managed items can share that outside reference while keeping their own Stock numbers. Sharing the reference does not combine their quantities.
Recorded by
Choose or enter the person or team making the record. General settings and People or teams can offer names, but the actual label needs to be selected or typed. The spreadsheet does not automatically identify the author or stamp an entry time in this field.
Receipt detail
Use Receipt detail to explain useful arrival context, such as how the stock was packaged, what you counted or a discrepancy you noticed. A readable sentence is more useful later than a private abbreviation. For observations made after arrival, use Stock notes so that each observation can retain its own date instead of repeatedly replacing the receipt’s explanation.
Read Entry check
Read Entry check for help completing the receipt. It can point out a missing field, a number used twice or a date or quantity that needs correction. Scroll right to Entry check at the end of the receipt row, and leave its displayed message in place.
Ready means you can submit the receipt through Post entries. Ready · review asks you to check an unusual or older choice, keeping it if it correctly describes this arrival. Posted · use Corrections for changes means an earlier submission was accepted. Entry check and Posted show the results for you; they are not fields to fill or tick yourself.
When the draft is ready, click Post entries near the top of this sheet. The link takes you straight to the next unused posting line, so you do not need to scroll through earlier work. Choose this completed entry from the list and check that Result says Accepted before treating it as recorded.