Allow utility items (like water) in BOM without stock validation

ERPNext Manufacturing
1

We use tap water as a direct production ingredient
(e.g. Garlic + Water = Finished Product),
so water must be included in the BOM and Work Order.

Due to limitations in our current ERPNext version:

  • Non-Stock / Service Items are not supported in BOM and Work Orders

  • Water is therefore created as a dummy Stock Item only for recipe visibility

The issue we are facing:
During Stock Entry (Material Transfer / Manufacture),
the system shows an error:

Insufficient stock for item (Water)
As a workaround:

  • We manually remove water from the Stock Entry

  • This causes:

    • Mismatch between BOM and Stock Entry

    • Loss of actual water consumption tracking

    • Water cost not being included in product costing

Business requirement:
We need a solution that:

  • Keeps water in BOM and Work Order

  • Does not block production due to stock shortage

  • Allows allocating the monthly water utility bill to production

  • Without managing real inventory for water

  • And without manual deletion during Stock Entry

2

+1

Did you find any workaround?

3

You can add service/non stock items in the raw materials table. They will be treated as fixed additional cost.

4

Suggestion

    • Keep “Water” as a Stock Item

    • Enable “Allow Negative Stock” for Water item

    • Create a Water Expense Account (e.g., “Water Utility Expense”)

  • Each month, create a Stock Reconciliation for Water:

  • Add quantity consumed (based on production records)

  • Set valuation rate = (Monthly water bill ÷ Total consumption)

  • This adds water cost to inventory valuation