A unit of measure (UoM) defines how a product is quantified — by weight, length, volume, count, or any other dimension. Units are used throughout Beelocity: inventory tracking, purchasing, sales, and shipping all rely on units to express quantities accurately.
Getting units right is important because the same product is often measured differently in different contexts. You might buy flour in 50 kg bags from a supplier, track it in kilograms in your warehouse, sell it in 1 kg packets to clients, and ship it on pallets — Beelocity handles all the conversions automatically, as long as you have defined the right units and conversion factors.
Unit Categories
Every unit belongs to a category that defines its dimension — the physical quantity it measures. Units within the same category can be converted between each other; units in different categories cannot (you cannot convert kilograms to meters).
| Category | What it measures | Example units |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Linear distance | Meter, Centimeter, Millimeter, Inch, Foot, Yard |
| Weight | Mass | Kilogram, Gram, Milligram, Pound, Ounce, Ton |
| Volume | Liquid or spatial capacity | Liter, Milliliter, Gallon, Cubic meter |
| Count | Discrete quantities | Piece, Dozen, Box, Pallet, Carton, Pack |
| Area | Surface area | Square Meter, Square Foot, Hectare |
| Time | Duration | Hour, Day, Week, Month |
| Temperature | Thermal measurement | Celsius, Fahrenheit |
| Custom | Anything specific to your industry | Bolt (textiles), Barrel (petroleum), Ream (paper) |
Global vs. Organization Units
Beelocity provides two levels of units:
Global Units
A standard set of metric and imperial units is available to all organizations out of the box. These cover the most common measurements (meters, kilograms, liters, pieces, etc.) and are read-only — you cannot modify or delete them, ensuring consistency across the platform. Their names are Beelocity’s own, so they are written in whatever language you read the app in; a unit you add yourself is your text and appears exactly as you typed it.
Organization-Specific Units
You can create custom units tailored to your industry. For example:
- A textile business might define “Bolt” as a custom Count unit (one bolt = a roll of fabric).
- A beverage company might define “Crate” as 24 bottles.
- A construction supplier might define “Truck Load” for bulk deliveries.
Custom units are scoped to your organization — they are not visible to other organizations.
Conversions
A conversion defines the mathematical relationship between two units in the same category. Conversions are what allow Beelocity to automatically translate quantities between different units.
Examples
| From | To | Factor | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Kilogram | Grams | 1,000 | 1 kg = 1,000 g |
| 1 Dozen | Pieces | 12 | 1 dozen = 12 pieces |
| 1 Foot | Centimeters | 30.48 | 1 ft = 30.48 cm |
| 1 Box (custom) | Pieces | 24 | 1 box = 24 pieces |
Chained Conversions
Beelocity can chain conversions through intermediate units. If you define:
- 1 kg = 1,000 g
- 1 g = 1,000 mg
The system can automatically convert kg to mg (1 kg = 1,000,000 mg) without you having to define that conversion directly. This reduces the number of conversions you need to maintain — just define each unit’s relationship to its nearest neighbor, and the system handles the rest.
Product Unit Assignments
A single product can use different units for different operational contexts. This is critical for real-world workflows where the way you buy, store, sell, and ship a product are all different:
| Context | What it controls | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Stock | How inventory is tracked internally | Pieces |
| Purchase | How you order from suppliers | Boxes of 24 |
| Sales | How you sell to customers | Individual pieces or packs of 6 |
| Shipping | How shipments are measured | Pallets |
Example Workflow
A soft drink distributor might set up a product like this:
- Purchase unit: Pallet (you buy full pallets from the manufacturer)
- Stock unit: Bottle (you track individual bottles in the warehouse)
- Sales unit: Crate of 24 (you sell by the crate to shops)
- Shipping unit: Pallet (you ship full pallets to clients)
With the right conversions in place (1 pallet = 50 crates, 1 crate = 24 bottles), Beelocity handles all the math automatically. When you receive a pallet, it knows to add 1,200 bottles to stock. When you sell 3 crates, it deducts 72 bottles.
The assignments live on the product’s Units tab. On a product with many of them, the tab’s filter button narrows the rows by Unit, by Usage (stock, purchase, sales…), or to the Default and Active ones (see Working with lists).
Precision and Rounding
Each unit has configurable settings for how numbers are handled:
Decimal Precision
How many decimal places to use when displaying quantities in this unit. Examples:
- Pieces: 0 decimal places (you cannot have 2.5 pieces)
- Kilograms: 2 decimal places (2.50 kg is common)
- Liters: 3 decimal places (for precision measurements)
Rounding Method
| Method | Behavior | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Round | Standard rounding — 0.5 rounds up | General-purpose use |
| Round up | Always rounds toward the higher number | Billing — ensures you never undercharge |
| Round down | Always rounds toward the lower number | Conservative stock estimates — avoids promising stock you might not have |
| No rounding | Keeps full precision as-is | Lab or scientific measurements where precision matters |
Managing Units
Navigate to Units of Measure in the sidebar under Inventory to manage everything:
- Unit categories — view existing categories and create custom ones for your industry. The list searches by code or name, sorts by any column, and its filter button narrows it by Dimension, to the Global (shipped) or your own categories, or to Active ones (see Working with lists).
- Units — create, edit, and manage units within each category. Global units are shown as read-only; your custom units are fully editable. The tab searches by code, name or symbol, and its filter button narrows by Rounding, a Decimals band, or the Base Unit, Global and Active flags.
- Conversions — define how units in the same category relate to each other. The tab searches by either unit’s code and narrows by From Unit, To Unit, a Factor band, or Active.
Tips
- Set up units before creating products — products reference units, so having your unit structure in place first makes product creation smoother.
- Define conversions from larger to smaller — it is more intuitive and less error-prone. “1 Box = 24 Pieces” is clearer than “1 Piece = 0.0417 Boxes”.
- Use custom units for industry-specific measures — do not try to fit everything into standard units. If your team talks about “bolts” or “crates”, create those units so the system speaks the same language as your warehouse floor.
- Be precise with decimal settings — too few decimal places can cause rounding errors in conversions. Too many create false precision. Match the precision to how your industry actually measures things.