Product categories makes it easy to assign and update GL Codes to your product groupings.
A product category is a way to organize different types of products for easier sorting. You can optimize your product catalog by using categories that best serve your business. For example, products can be organized by type (beer, wine, ciders, spirits), product segment (such as Scotch, rye, bourbon, American, etc.), beverage and non-beverage (soda, snacks) or food and non-food - choose the method that works best for your needs.
You can create, edit, or delete product categories and associated GL Codes in Product Category > Catalog Settings. This can be done in the Product Catalog, but only when editing products individually - click here for more information.
⚠️ A user must have an Advanced or Admin role to access the Catalog Settings page.
⚠️ If you are not sure of your role, click on the profile icon in the upper right corner of the screen. For more information on users, see How Do I Invite and Manage Users on the Platform?
The default categories provided include Unclassified, Beer, Wine, Spirits, Soft Drinks, Food, Water, Non-Alcohol, Miscellaneous, Energy Drinks, Delivery Charges, Deposits (material charges - can vs. bottle), Freight, Taxes, Other COGs, and Other Unclassified Expenses, which can be edited or deleted. How these are defined will be determined by the way your company organizes its products and purchasing costs. Not all categories need to be used.
💡 Products without a category are automatically assigned to Unclassified.
Adding Product Categories
Category Guidelines
- Category names can be up to 30 alphanumeric characters.
- GL Codes can be up to 15 alphanumeric characters.
- Duplicate category names and GL Codes are allowed if the new combination is unique.
For example, there are two Beer categories that have differing GL Codes: Unclassified and Beer. There is also an Unclassified category with a Beer GL Code:
- These fields are not case-sensitive; duplicates will be recognized regardless of letter case.
For example, if you have an existing Category: Beer and GL Code: 2, you will not be able to add Category: beer and GL Code: 2. - You can have a category name without a GL Code, or a GL Code without a category name.
If these guidelines are not followed, an error message will be triggered:
Steps to Add a Category
To add product categories:
- Go to Product Catalog > Catalog Settings.
- Click the Add New button.
- In the pop-up window, type a category name in the text box.
- Click the Create button.
- Refresh the page to see the new category in the table.
Edit or Delete Categories
In Catalog Settings, hover over a table row to either:
- Click the pencil icon to edit a name or GL Code. Any changes to a category will be applied to all products associated with that category.
- Click the trash can icon to delete a category. The products of the deleted category will move into the Unclassified category:
⚠️ Editing or deleting a category will not affect invoices (either draft or submitted). The product information remains unchanged from the previous saved version of the invoice.
Consolidating Categories
You may have multiples of the same category but with differing GL Codes that you'd like to consolidate for better catalog organization. If one of these entries is updated, you'll be prompted to update all instances to the same GL Code.
If you do consolidate the instances, the products in the removed categories will migrate to the consolidated category:
If Your Company Migrated from FMS
If your company was using Fintech's legacy platform -- called Fintech Management System or FMS -- your categories will migrate to the Fintech Portal automatically. Please note that migrating your data may take up to 10 minutes to complete.
Again, this only applies to retailers who were previously on the legacy FMS platform.
Catalog Settings for Parent Companies
If your account has multiple companies, you will only be able to select one when going to Product Catalog > Catalog Settings. You can only view or edit one child company's categories at a time. If you want to see a different company's catalog settings, click on Change Company above the search bar: