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File documents on a lot

Compliance paperwork belongs to the lot, not to the purchase order that happened to deliver it. One order can bring in several batches, one batch can arrive across several orders, and a recall is scoped by batch — so the lot is the only thing the document can be attached to that still makes sense a year later.

This guide covers filing a document on a lot directly. To attach one while the stock is arriving instead, see Capture batch paperwork at receipt.

Before you begin​

  • The lot must exist — it's created when you receive stock or record production with a batch number.
  • You need permission to manage quality data.

Steps​

  1. Open the lot and go to the Documents tab.

    You can reach a lot from the product's Lots & Expiry tab, from Inventory → FIFO Layers, or by searching its batch number in Compliance Documents.

  2. Click Upload document.

  3. Choose the file and pick a Document type:

    TypeUse it for
    Certificate of AnalysisThe lab results for this batch
    Batch RecordYour own production record for a batch you made
    Specification SheetThe standard the batch was made or bought to
    Lab ReportTest results that aren't a formal COA
    Batch PhotoA photo of the pallet, label or seal
    OtherAnything else worth keeping with the batch

  4. Fill in Issuer, Reference and Issued where you have them. The issuer is the lab or body that produced the document; the reference is its own report number, which is how you match it back to the issuer's records.

  5. Click Upload.

The document appears in the lot's list, and immediately becomes findable by this lot's batch number in the compliance archive.

note

A batch photo carries no issuer, reference or dates — those fields disappear when you pick it, because a photo has no issuing body. Certificates that expire (NSF, GMP, insurance) offer an Expires date; a Certificate of Analysis doesn't, because a COA certifies a batch at a point in time and doesn't lapse.

Applying one certificate to a whole batch​

The same batch often arrives as several lots — split across two receipts, or into two warehouses. The lab issued one certificate covering all of it.

When other lots share this lot's batch number, the Documents tab tells you so, and offers to link the existing document to this lot too. Click the Link button next to the document.

SKU.io never does this automatically. A receipt created after a batch's certificate was filed is a new fact, and silently attaching paperwork to stock on a write nobody asked for is the kind of surprise that erodes trust in the record.

You can also fan a document out at upload time: when you're uploading to a lot whose batch is shared, the dialog offers to apply it to every lot in the batch. It defaults to on for a Certificate of Analysis (which does cover the whole batch) and off for everything else (a photo usually documents one delivery).

A document covering several lots shows a covers N lots marker in the list.

Reading a document​

Click the file name to open it in SKU.io — PDFs, images and text render in place. This is the common case: an auditor asks for a batch, you open the certificate, you read it the answer. Use the Open in a new tab icon if you'd rather have it full-screen or want to download it.

Removing a document​

Click the delete icon. What happens next depends on whether the document is shared:

  • Filed against this lot only — it's permanently deleted.
  • Filed against several lots — it's unlinked from this lot and stays on the others.

The confirmation tells you which of the two you're about to do, and how many other records keep it, before you commit.

Archived lots​

An archived lot's documents can be viewed but not changed. The compliance record outlives the stock — you may need the certificate long after the batch is gone, so it isn't editable once the lot is out of use.

Next steps​

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