Serial numbers & warranty

Phones, laptops, TVs and appliances each have their own number: an IMEI (phones) or a serial number. LiteShop can keep one record per unit: when it came in, what it cost, who bought it, and until when its warranty runs. Serial numbers & warranty is on the Plus plan and up.

#Track an item's serial numbers

1. Open Items and the item (or Add item).
2. In Serial numbers, switch on Track serial numbers.
3. Pick the type: - IMEI — for phones: 15 digits. LiteShop checks the last digit (the check digit), so a typo is caught. - Serial number — letters, digits and dashes, 3 to 40 characters.
4. Type the Warranty in months (0 = no warranty, up to 120).
5. Tap Save.

It applies to all options (variants) of the item. Items sold by weight and digital items can't track serial numbers.

#Stock in with serial numbers

When stock of a tracked item comes in, a Serial numbers panel asks for one serial per unit. It opens for:

• Record purchase and receiving a purchase order
• a stock adjustment with a + amount
• the review of a scanned purchase receipt
• CSV import — a serials column, several separated by ;
• Add serials on the Serials page, for stock you already have

In the panel:

1. Scan with a barcode scanner — each scan adds one. Or type a serial and press Enter.
2. To add many at once, paste a list.
3. Duplicates and invalid IMEIs show in red. Fix or remove them.
4. Tap Save.

Each serial becomes a record In stock at that shop, with its cost and where it came from (purchase, purchase order, adjustment or import).

If Require serials for stock in is on (see Settings), you must enter all of them before saving. If it is off (the default), you can skip and add them later in Inventory → Serials → Add serials.

A stock adjustment with a − amount asks which serials leave. They become Written off.

#Sell with a serial number

1. In Checkout, add the tracked item. Scan serial opens.
2. Scan or type the IMEI or serial, or tap one from the list of serials in stock at this shop.

One serial per unit: + on the line asks for another serial; − removes the last one.

The serial must be in stock at this shop. A serial that is already sold, in another shop, belongs to another item or was returned for inspection is always refused.

A serial that was never stocked here is refused too, unless Allow unknown serials at checkout is on: then it is sold with a warning and recorded.

#Warranty

The warranty ends on the sale date + the item's warranty months. For example, a sale on 17 Oct 2026 with 12 months ends on 17 Oct 2027. At the end of a month it moves to the last day: 31 Jan + 1 month = 28 Feb (29 Feb in a leap year).

Every receipt shows the serial and the warranty under the item — printed, PDF, on screen, the online receipt link, email receipts and designed receipts:

`` iPhone 15 128GB IMEI 356789012345678 Warranty until 17 Oct 2027 ``

In the lookup you see:

• Under warranty until … (green)
• Warranty ended on … (red)
• No warranty

#Look up a serial

1. Open Inventory and the Serials tab.
2. Type or scan the serial in the search box. Part of the number works from 3 characters.

The result tells you where the unit is:

• Sold — for example "IMEI 35…: Sold 12 Oct 2026, receipt #ABCD1234, customer Ko Aung, warranty until 12 Oct 2027".
• In stock at the shop.
• Not from this shop — it was never recorded here, for example a phone bought somewhere else.

Tap a serial to see its history (received, sold, returned, transferred, corrected — who and when) and to open its receipt.

#Returns and voids

A refund of a tracked item gives the serial back:

• With Put back in stock: it is In stock again.
• Without it: it becomes Returned (inspect). Check the unit, then a manager uses Correct status → In stock (or Written off).

Voiding a sale puts all its serials back in stock. A partial refund gives back the last serials of the line.

#Choose which serials a refund gives back

When a customer returns part of a line (for example 1 of 2 phones), tick which serial comes back in Issue refund.

1. Open the sale and tap Issue refund.
2. Set how many units come back. Under the line, the serials sold on it are listed.
3. Returning the whole line ticks every serial. For part of it, tick exactly as many serials as units: the refund can't be saved until they match.
4. Tap Refund.

The ticked serials go back to stock (or Returned (inspect) without Return items to stock); the others stay Sold with their warranty.

#Return serials to the supplier

A faulty unit goes back to the supplier with Return to supplier: tap Serials on the line and scan or tick the units. They become Returned to supplier and can't be sold. When the supplier sends a replacement (or repairs the same unit), Replacement received asks for the serials that came back; they are In stock again.

#Transfers between shops

Moving a tracked item to another shop asks which serials go: scan them or tick them in the list. They arrive In stock at the other shop. See Transfers between shops.

#Stock counts

With a stock count, check the serials too: Inventory → Serials → Count serials, pick the item and scan every unit on the shelf. It shows:

• which in-stock serials were found
• which are missing
• unknown scans

The count changes nothing by itself. For missing units, use Correct status or a stock adjustment with a − amount.

#Correct a serial's status

Owners and managers can change a serial's status — In stock, Sold, Returned, In transfer, Written off — and its shop.

1. In Inventory → Serials, open the serial.
2. Tap Correct status.
3. Pick the new status (and shop), type a reason and tap Save.

Every correction is kept with who, when and why.

#Reports and export

The Serials page shows counts per item: in stock, sold, returned and written off.

Download CSV exports every serial with: serial, type, item, option, shop, status, cost, received date, purchase ref, sale date, receipt, customer, price, warranty until and warranty status.

#Settings

Open Settings → Serial numbers (owners and managers):

Who can do what: cashiers sell (scan serials). Owners and managers do stock-in serials, transfers, corrections and settings. Everyone on the team can look serials up. Only LiteShop's server writes serial records, so they can't be changed by hand.

#Offline selling

Offline sales wait with their serials and are checked when the register is back online. If a serial was sold meanwhile (or it is unknown or in another shop), the sale is kept — the customer already paid — and an alert Sales kept with issues explains the serial problem. The first sale keeps the serial. Fix the record with Correct status.

#Plans

Serial numbers & warranty is on Plus, Pro, Ultra and Enterprise. Free doesn't have it. See Plans.

• With the tool off in Settings → Features, checkout stops asking for serials. Records and warranty dates are kept.
• After a downgrade nothing is deleted, and receipts keep showing serials and warranty.