Deciding how to set up a Bundle can be tough, and many factors must be considered. Which product should you make the Bundle? And which product should the Bundle ultimately pull from?
Most of the time, companies order cases (or units of purchase) from their vendors. Then, using Bundles, they’ll break the case into single items to sell to customers.
But the reverse could also work, where you’re ordering the single units from your vendor and using Bundles to sell cases.
Each setup is possible but depends on your business’s needs.
Before we get too far, let’s define some terms to make sure we’re on the same page:
Bundle - the sellable product made up of a single or multiple components.
Component(s) - the products that make up a Bundle. Components can be Active or Inactive and can be made partial or whole units.
Features for Bundles vs. Components
There are certain limitations with Bundles and components, so before you get them all set up, refer to this table:
Features | Bundles | Components |
Stocktakes | ❌ | ✅ |
Purchase Orders/Internal Transfers |  | ✅ |
Editable cost and quantity | ❌ | ✅ |
Editable PAR and re-order qty | ❌ | ✅ |
Editable Price | ✅ | ✅ |
Shows on all Sales Reports | ✅ | ❌ |
Shows on Inventory Report | ❌ | ✅ |
Shows on Inventory Change Report | ✅ | ✅ |
* If a Bundle is received via a PO, its cost has to be manually entered, and the default cost is recorded exclusively on the PO. The component’s cost is still used for the Bundle lot cost. The default cost will be used instead of lot cost for Internal Transfers as well.
Example
Let’s say you regularly receive cases of soda, each containing 24 individual sodas. You want to sell both the cases and the singles, so let’s go over the pros and cons of the different ways you Bundle these products.
Individual sodas as the Bundle & case as the component
Pros:
The case can be added to Purchase Orders without having to fill in the cost. The lot costs will automatically populate.
The case gets default and lot costs for accurate cost tracking/order history.
This process follows the typical business flow of ordering cases and individual sodas.
Cons:
Component quantity used in a Bundle can support up to 3 decimal places.
Case as the Bundle & individual sodas as the component
Pros:
Single quantity is always accurate.
An exact case count can be calculated from the individual soda quantity.
Cons:
Potential for error in the calculated case cost since we have to round to the cent, then multiply by the number of components in the Bundle to get the case cost.
Bundle cases can still be received via Purchase Orders with a manually entered lot cost, but that value doesn’t translate to single-item lot costs.
Rounding Partial Quantities & Cases
If you’re breaking or building a case out of singles, and the quantities don’t divide evenly (to three decimal places), this can create quantity discrepancies.
Read more about rounding recommendations and other Bundle-related math in this article.
Reporting on Bundles
The Product Sales Report will show the sale of the Bundle, not the Bundle's components.
The Vendor Sales Report will show the sale of the Bundle in regards to which vendor is assigned to the Bundle, and it will not show the sale of the components under the individual component's vendor(s).
The Inventory Change Report will show the change in quantities of the components. Choose only to show Bundles or filter them out using the "Filters" button.
The Inventory Report, will not show Bundles. Only a Bundle's components will show, to ensure we aren't double-counting products in your inventory.
The Bundle Report can be used to see Bundle and Component information.