Serial Number Lookup answers the question a customer brings to the counter with a device in hand: which invoice did this unit go out on, who bought it, when, and is it still under warranty? Type or scan a serial number or IMEI and SeroBooks lists every sale that recorded it.
The lookup only finds what was recorded. This article therefore also explains how serial numbers are captured: an item is marked for serial tracking, each unit's serial is scanned when the goods arrive, and the serial is scanned again onto the invoice line when the unit is sold.
Open Serial Number Lookup
- Reports ▸ Inventory ▸ Serial Number Lookup, or
- the Serial Lookup tab of the Inventory module in the left navigation.
The search box has the cursor in it as soon as the screen opens, so you can scan straight away.
Look up a serial number
- Scan the serial or IMEI barcode, or type it, into Scan or type a serial / IMEI, then press Enter…
- Press Enter or select Search.
- Read the results. Each result is one invoice line that recorded the serial.
- Select a result to open the invoice it was sold on.
You need at least three characters; with fewer you see Enter at least 3 characters of the serial. Part of a serial is enough: the search finds any invoice line whose recorded serials contain what you typed, so the last six digits of an IMEI usually find the sale. Only saved (final) invoices are searched. Up to 50 results are shown, newest sale first.
What each result shows
| Item | What it means |
|---|---|
| Item name (top left) | The item sold, with its variation (colour, size and so on) when it has one. |
| Invoice number (top right) | The invoice the unit was sold on. Select the result to open it. |
| Sold to | The customer on the invoice, or Walk-In Customer when the sale had no named customer. |
| Contact | The customer's mobile number, when the customer record has one. |
| Sold on | The invoice date. |
| Serial(s) | Every serial recorded on that invoice line. |
| Warranty | For each warranty added to the line: its name and length, and either covered until date (green, still in force today) or expired date (red). Cover is counted from the invoice date. No warranty recorded on this line means none was added. |
If nothing matches you see No sale found with that serial: the unit may never have been sold, or its serial was not recorded on the invoice line.
How serial numbers are recorded
1. Mark the item for serial tracking
Open the item (see Add or edit an item) and tick Track a serial / IMEI per unit. Use it for phones, laptops, appliances and anything else where each unit has its own number. Items without the tick never ask for serials.
2. Scan serials when the goods arrive
Serial-tracked goods are identified when they come in, so that each unit you own is known by its number. On Receive Items, and on a bill entered with the goods received (Enter Bills), a serial-tracked line shows a SERIALS captured/expected chip. It is amber until every unit has a serial and green when the count matches.
Select the chip to open Scan serial numbers:
- Scan or type each serial into Scan or type a serial / IMEI, then press Enter. Each one is added to the numbered list; remove a wrong one with its remove button.
- To add many at once, use Paste a list from the clipboard. Serials separated by new lines, commas, semicolons or tabs are all accepted, and duplicates are skipped. Pasted serials are checked when the receipt is saved.
- The footer counts N of N captured. Done is available only when the number of serials equals the quantity on the line (on Receive Items, the quantity accepted).
SeroBooks checks each scan as it lands:
- …is already on this list. You scanned the same unit twice.
- …Already in stock at location — receive it as a return instead. The serial belongs to a unit you already hold. A unit a customer brings back is a return, not a new purchase.
If a serial cannot be checked at that moment (for example the connection drops), it is accepted and checked again when the receipt is saved.
Saving is blocked until every serial-tracked line is complete. On a bill the message is "Item" needs one serial per unit — N of N scanned.; on Receive Items it is Serialised goods need one serial per accepted unit.
Behind the scenes, each unit received is recorded as its own lot of quantity one, carrying its serial and its own purchase cost. That is what lets SeroBooks know whether a particular unit is still yours, where it is, and what it cost.
3. Scan the serial onto the invoice
On an invoice (see Create Invoices), a serial-tracked item gets a Scan serial… box in its row, and its quantity is fixed at 1: one unit per line. To sell three units, add the item three times and scan each unit's serial into its own line.
When you leave the box or press Enter, SeroBooks checks the serial against the units you hold at the location the line sells from, and colours the box:
| Colour and icon | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green, with a tick | Matched a unit held at the location named. The line is tied to that exact unit, so it cannot be sold twice. |
| Red, with a block icon | The unit cannot be sold from here. The tooltip says why, for example Already sold on invoice followed by the invoice number and customer, That unit is no longer in stock., That serial is not one of ours., or that the unit is held at another location that this line cannot sell from. |
| Amber, with a cloud icon | Could not verify now — it will be checked when the sale is saved. |
You cannot save the invoice while any serial-tracked line is red. SeroBooks shows Item: reason. Scan a unit you hold, or remove the line. and puts the cursor in that line's serial box. Clearing the box releases the unit.
The serials you record are saved with the invoice line, and they are what Serial Number Lookup searches.
Warranties on invoice lines
If your company has warranties set up, each invoice line shows a Warranty chip. Select it to choose one or more warranties for the line; cover starts on the day of the sale, and the end date is printed on the invoice. Serial Number Lookup shows these warranties, and whether each is still in force today.
Serial numbers and lot tracing
Because each serialised unit is a lot of one, the batch trace used for recalls also shows serials: in Lot numbers and expiry, the SOLD TO list in a batch trace shows the serials recorded on each sale.
Tips
- Scan, do not type. Serials are long and one wrong character makes a unit unfindable.
- Record serials on every sale of a serial-tracked item, even when the customer does not ask: the lookup and the warranty check depend on it.
Common problems
- "No sale found with that serial". Check for a typing error, try fewer characters (the end of the serial is enough), and remember only saved invoices are searched. If the unit was sold before its serial was recorded on the invoice line, it cannot be found.
- The invoice will not save because a serial is red. Read the tooltip on the box. A unit sold before, not received into stock, or held at another location cannot be sold from this line. Scan a unit you hold, or remove the line.
- Done is greyed out in Scan serial numbers. The number of serials must equal the quantity on the line. Scan the missing units, or change the line quantity.
- "Already in stock … receive it as a return instead." That unit is already recorded as in stock. If a customer brought it back, record the return against their sale (see Create Credit Memos and Refunds) rather than buying it in again.