How to create and review a product's formats

Product formats let you define the containers or presentations in which you buy, order, or manage a product, and how they convert to its Base unit.

For example, you may buy wine by the box but control stock in liters. In that case, haddock needs to know how many liters each bottle or box contains.

Open a product's formats

1. Go to Products.

2. Click the product you want to review.

3. Inside the product page, open Product formats.

From this section you can create formats, review equivalences, check purchase lines, and edit or delete formats when possible.

Create the first format

If the product does not have any formats yet, you will see Create first format.

1. Click Create first format.

2. Fill in Format name. Use a clear name, such as "75 cl bottle", "Box 6 units", or "5 kg bag".

3. Select the Packaging. For example: bottle, box, bag, can, or unit.

4. In Contains, enter the quantity included in that format.

5. In Base unit, select the unit you want to use to measure the product: kg, l, or unit.

The first format is created using the product's Base unit as reference. This allows haddock to convert that format to the unit used in purchases, inventory, and recipes.

Add another format

Once there is at least one format, you can create more from Add new format.

1. Click Add new format.

2. Fill in Format name and Packaging.

3. In Reference format, choose the format you want to use to calculate the equivalence.

4. In Contains, enter how many units of the reference format are included in the new format.

For example, if you already have the format "75 cl bottle", you can create "Box 6 bottles" and select "75 cl bottle" as the Reference format. In Contains, enter 6.

Practical example

Imagine a product called "Red wine" with Base unit in liters.

First, you create the format:

• Format name: 75 cl bottle
• Packaging: Bottle
• Contains: 0.75
• Base unit: l

Then you add another format:

• Format name: Box 6 bottles
• Packaging: Box
• Reference format: 75 cl bottle
• Contains: 6

With this setup, 1 box equals 6 bottles. Since each bottle contains 0.75 l, 1 box equals 4.5 l.

Review equivalences and purchase lines

In Product formats you can review each format's equivalence with the Base unit and its Reference format.

This review helps you check that the product is interpreted correctly in:

• Orders: to know which format you are ordering from the supplier.
• Inventory: to convert quantities when counting or checking stock.
• Purchases: to link invoice or delivery note lines to the correct format.

If you want to see where a format has been used, click View purchase lines. This lets you check the related purchases before changing or deleting the format.

Edit a format

You can edit a format from Product formats.

Depending on the case, you can modify:

• Format name.
• Packaging.
• Contains.
• Reference format.

Before changing a quantity or reference format, review the resulting equivalence. A change in Contains can affect how product quantities are calculated in purchases, Orders, and Inventory.

Delete a format

To delete a format, use Delete format.

It will not always be possible to delete it. A format cannot be deleted if it is in use or has dependencies, for example:

• It has associated purchase lines.
• It has been used in orders.
• It has been used in inventory.
• Other formats depend on it as their Reference format.

If you cannot delete it, first review View purchase lines and check whether other formats use it as a reference. In some cases, you will need to edit or remove those dependencies before deleting the format.

Updated on: 30/04/2026