Item Categories
The tree that keeps thousands of items organized, priced, and accountable.
What it does
Categories arrange the item catalog into a parent/child tree, used for browsing, bulk stock-take item selection, POS visibility, and online-store publishing. Every top-level category must be linked to a Cost Center before it can be saved.
How it works
Pick a parent
Choose the parent category (or leave it blank for a new top-level one); the level is calculated automatically as one deeper than its parent.
Assign a Cost Center at the top
Level-1 categories require a Cost Center - the form blocks saving without one, and the server enforces the same rule independently so it can't be bypassed.
Name it for staff and customers
Arabic and English names are both required for internal use; separate online-facing names and a POS/online-visibility flag control what shoppers and cashiers actually see.
The problem it solves
A flat, unorganized item list breaks down fast once a catalog grows past a few dozen products - staff can't find what they're counting or selling, and nobody can answer 'which part of the business is this stock tied to.' Requiring a Cost Center on every top-level category means stock value and movement can always be rolled up to a real area of accountability, not left as an orphaned number.
Part of the domain
📦 InventoryOne accurate number for what you actually have, everywhere you have it.