The Onboarding Guide

The Onboarding Guide gets you from a new workspace to your first finished, costed production run in six steps: Business, Product, Inventory, BOM, Production and Complete. Each step creates real records in your workspace.

Before you start, have a list of the materials one product uses, how much of each you have and what you paid per unit. Kerno works out your cost per unit from those prices.

Start the guide

A new workspace opens with the Welcome to Kerno window, which lists the six steps.

1. Click Let's get started to open step 1.
2. Or click Explore on my own to close the window and look around first.

Kerno saves your progress as you go, so you can stop at any point. To come back later, click Onboarding Guide in the header or the compass at the bottom right.

Step 1: Business

1. Choose the Business type that fits best: Artisans, Food & Beverage, Makeup & Skincare or Batch Manufacturing.
2. Say what you make, where you sell, where you are on your business journey and your main goals with Kerno.
3. Click Continue.
4. On the next page, click Continue to your first product.

Your business type sets the product types Kerno suggests. Choosing another type later adds its product types, and the ones you have stay. Kerno uses your goals to order the guide and the tips you see.

Not built yet: store connections (Shopify, WooCommerce, Etsy). Tell us if you need one.

Step 2: Product

1. Type the Product name.
2. Choose a Product type and the Unit the product is counted in, such as jar or bar.
3. Add a Selling price if you have one.
4. Click Create product.

Leave SKU blank and Kerno makes one for you. If you make the product in more than one scent, size or format, turn on This product has variants. When the product is saved, a bar at the top of the page shows your progress through the guide. Click Continue to Inventory.

Step 3: Inventory

Your BOM picks from these materials in the next step, and planning a run checks this stock.

1. Click Enter materials to type each ingredient and packaging item with how much you have, its unit and what you paid per unit. Then click Save materials.
2. Or click Import inventory to read a CSV or Excel file. Download the template first. Nothing is saved until you confirm the preview.
3. Or click Skip for now and add materials later from Materials.

You can import your suppliers on the same page; purchase orders use them later. When your materials are in, click Continue to BOM.

Step 4: BOM

A bill of materials (BOM) lists what goes into one batch of your product.

1. Choose the Product, then enter the Batch size and Batch unit, for example 12 and jar.
2. Click Create draft & open builder.
3. Click Start with Ingredients + Packaging, then add each material with the quantity one batch uses.
4. Click Publish BOM, then Publish.

The Summary on the right totals the batch as you go, and To publish shows what is still missing. Publishing locks the recipe so production runs can use it; later changes go into a new version.

Step 5: Production

1. Enter the Target output, for example 12 jars. Kerno works out the batches, checks that every material is in stock and shows the expected cost per unit.
2. Click Start Production. The run opens in Draft.
3. Click the button at the top right to move the run to its next status.
4. Before you move the run to QA, enter the Actual output under Finished Goods: how many good units you made.
5. In the final review, click Continue, then Complete production.

A run moves through Draft, Ready, In Progress, QA Batch and Completed. Mark Ready reserves the materials, Start Production takes them out of stock, Record & Move to QA applies what you actually used, and Record QA result opens the final review. A run can't be completed until every finished good has an actual quantity. Kerno numbers the finished lot, such as FG-1001, unless you type your own.

Step 6: Complete

The last page sums up your first run: finished goods in stock, the cost per unit, how many lots are traced and what is still to be received. Click Finish the guide.

Everything stays connected. Change the BOM and the next run's cost updates. Receive a delivery and the stock check updates. Your Home page now shows the run's stock movements and your product's margin.

Good to know

• The records the guide makes are real. To try it out first, do it in a separate workspace.
• Each step you finish gets a check mark in the guide.

Related articles

• Set up your workspace
• The Home page and search