Receive materials, make batches, fulfil orders, and trace every lot. Written for the workshop, not the accountant. Every screenshot here is from the sample shop, so it matches what you will see.
Atlessa sits next to your Shopify store and gives it a real manufacturing ledger. Your products and orders still come from Shopify. Atlessa adds the parts Shopify does not have on its own: materials, bills of materials, production runs, lots, and true cost.
Think of it in two halves. Shopify is your storefront: it lists products, takes orders, and ships. Atlessa is your workshop: it tracks what you buy, what you make, what each item really costs, and where every batch ended up.
New terms. A lot is a traceable quantity of one item from one event, like a delivery or a production run. A bill of materials (BOM) is the list of materials that go into one finished product. WAC is the weighted average cost Atlessa keeps for each item, so your margins are honest.
Home gives you the day at a glance: what needs attention, what is low, and your stock value.
You do not need to learn all of it at once. The rest of this manual is one job per page: receive stock, make a batch, fulfil an order, trace a lot. Start with the sample shop so you can click through everything safely first.
Common questions
Do I have to move my products into Atlessa?
No. Products and orders sync from Shopify. You add the making side: materials, BOMs, and runs.
Is my Shopify data changed?
Atlessa reads your catalog and orders, and writes stock levels back to Shopify. It never edits your products or customers.
Get started
The sample shop
Before you touch your real data, load the sample shop. It fills Atlessa with a small cosmetics brand so you can try every screen risk free.
The sample is a self contained world: a handful of products, their materials and BOMs, some stock, and a few orders in different states. You can receive, make, fulfil, and trace against it exactly as you would for real.
It never touches your real store. Sample data is kept separate, and you can clear it any time from Settings. Nothing you do to the sample affects your live products, orders, or stock.
Every screenshot in this manual is taken from that sample shop, so what you see here matches what you will see when you load it.
Common questions
Can I mix sample and real data?
No, and that is on purpose. Atlessa keeps them strictly apart so a demo order can never land in your real books.
How do I remove it?
Settings has a one click clear for sample data. Your real data is untouched.
Run your operations
Receive stock
Receiving turns materials you bought into on hand stock, and records what they cost so your margins stay true.
New terms. A receipt is one delivery of one item. It creates a lot you can trace. Landed cost is the all in cost per unit (price plus shipping and duties), and it sets the average cost Atlessa uses to value your stock and your margins.
Before you start. The item needs to exist in your Catalog first.
Steps
Go to Buy, then Receive stock. Pick the item and enter how much arrived.
If you buy in a different unit than you store it in, a 5 kg sack you keep in grams, enter the buy amount and Atlessa does the conversion.
One delivery of one item. Buy unit in, stock unit stored, Atlessa converts.
Enter the landed cost per unit.
This is required. It values the receipt into your stock average, so under costing here quietly inflates every margin later.
Add the supplier if you want (optional), then click Receive stock.
You are done when. The item's on hand goes up, a new lot appears in Stock (like RCV-0031), and its cost feeds your average.
Common questions
Do I need to enter a supplier?
No, it is optional. Landed cost is the only required field.
What is landed cost versus the price I paid?
Landed cost includes shipping and duties, so your true cost per unit is captured, not just the sticker price.
I received in the wrong unit.
Each receipt is its own lot. Receive a small correcting amount, or adjust the item in Stock.
If it is not working
The item is not in the list.
It is not in your Catalog yet. Add it there first, then receive it.
It will not save without a cost.
Landed cost is required. Enter at least an estimate; you can correct it with a later receipt.
Run your operations
Make a batch
A production run turns your materials into finished stock. You pick what you are making, Atlessa reserves the exact material lots, and when you close the run it records what you actually used and adds the finished lot to stock.
New terms. A run can make several products at once, and each product becomes its own batch you release and close. A lot is a traceable quantity of one item from one event, a receipt or a production run like this one.
Before you start. The product needs a bill of materials (BOM) and enough materials in stock. Atlessa shows a Buildable count so you know how many you can make.
Steps
Go to Make, then Record a production run, and add each product and quantity.
Atlessa can pre fill this from your pending orders. A product with no BOM is greyed out; set one up in Catalog first.
Add the products you are making and how many. Each becomes its own batch.
Click Create draft run, then open the batch and Move to production.
Releasing reserves the materials. Atlessa draws them oldest first (marked First out) and shows the exact lots and quantities.
The released batch shows every material lot it is drawing, with control dates.
When you have made it, click Close run and record what you actually used and made.
Atlessa pre fills from the plan. Edit only what changed: used more, some went back to stock, or some was wasted. Finished pieces are whole numbers.
What you used and what you made, plus realised yield and cost, computed as you edit.
Close the run.
Atlessa creates the new finished lot, consumes the materials, and locks in the cost.
You are done when. The batch shows Closed, the new finished lot is in stock (like PRDC-0004), and the materials it used are gone from stock.
A closed run: finished lot created, materials consumed, cost recorded.
Common questions
Can one run make several products?
Yes. Each product becomes its own batch you release and close independently.
What is Available from?
Optional. Leave it blank to sell the lot right away, or set a date (a cure or set time) to hold it until then.
Do I pick which material lots are used?
No. Atlessa draws oldest first (shown as First out), so your oldest stock is used before it expires.
If it is not working
The product is greyed out, No BOM yet.
It has no bill of materials. Open Catalog, then BOMs, set one up, and it can run.
Buildable: 0, it will not let me plan the quantity.
You do not have enough of one or more materials. Receive more, or lower the quantity.
I cannot type a decimal for pieces.
Finished units counted in pcs are whole numbers; you cannot make half a candle. Weight and volume materials still take decimals.
Run your operations
Fulfil an order
Shopify owns fulfilment. Atlessa makes sure you have the stock, reserves the exact lots, and hands the shipment back to Shopify, so your lot trace stays intact.
New terms. An order that arrives short means you do not have enough finished stock for it yet. Reserved means the stock is held for that order and will not be drawn by anything else.
Steps
Open the order from Orders.
The path across the top shows where the order is: make a run if it is short, assign the lots, fulfil in Shopify, then it syncs back as fulfilled.
The order tells you what it needs, what it will cost, and every lot it is holding.
If it is short, click Make (or Start a run) to produce the missing units, then close that run.
Once you make them, they reserve to this order automatically.
When every line is covered, fulfil the order in Shopify using the deep link.
Atlessa records which lots shipped and syncs the fulfilment back within a minute, so you never double enter.
You are done when. The order shows Fulfilled, the lots it used are recorded (see the stock movements on the order), and the margin is locked in.
Common questions
Why does Atlessa not fulfil for me?
Shopify is the system of record for orders and shipping. Atlessa keeps your stock and lot trace correct around it, rather than competing with it.
What is Change lots?
You can override which lots ship if you need to. The default is oldest first.
Where does the margin come from?
Selling price comes from Shopify, cost comes from your stock average (WAC). Atlessa shows the margin per line and for the order.
If it is not working
The order shows short.
You do not have enough finished stock. Make a run for the missing units, then fulfil.
I fulfilled in Shopify but Atlessa still shows it open.
The sync runs within a minute. If it lingers, check Settings, then sync.
Run your operations
Trace a lot
Open any lot code to see its whole journey: where it came from, what it went into, and which orders it reached. This is what a recall or an audit asks for.
New terms. A lot is a traceable quantity of one item from one event. Genealogy is the chain that links a received material lot to the batch it was made into and the orders it shipped in.
Steps
Go to Stock, then Lot trace, and open a lot. You can also click any lot code anywhere in Atlessa.
The Lot journey walks the chain: Receiving, Production, Made lots, Orders. Every code is a link that opens its own board.
One lot, its full journey, and every order it reached. Export the trace as CSV for an audit.
Read it forward or backward.
Forward answers where did this lot go (which batches and orders). Backward answers what went into this (which material lots).
For a recall, click Recall impact, or export the trace as CSV.
You get the list of affected orders and lots in one step, ready to act on.
You are done when. You can name every order a given material or finished lot reached, and every lot that fed a finished product, in a couple of clicks.
Common questions
What does Estimate mean on a link?
Where the exact lot was not pinned at fulfilment, Atlessa shows the most likely link and marks it an estimate, so you know its confidence.
Can I hold a lot?
Yes. Hold in quarantine keeps the stock on your books but stops it being drawn or sold, which is what you want during an investigation.
If it is not working
A link in the chain is missing.
The journey only shows events Atlessa recorded. Stock imported without a receipt has no upstream link.
I cannot find a lot code.
Search on the Lot trace page, or open it from the Stock lots list.
Set up your catalog
Products and variants
Your products come from Shopify, so you never re enter them. Atlessa adds what Shopify does not track: what each one is made of, what it truly costs, and where every unit came from.
Open Catalog and pick a product to see its page. Across the top you get the numbers that matter: On hand, Committed, Available, and Unit cost (its weighted average, or WAC).
A product page: live stock, its true unit cost, and tabs for the recipe, lots, and ledger.
The tabs are the product's whole story. Details is the basics and its Shopify link. Recipe / BOM is what it is made of. Lots is every batch you have made of it. Ledger is every movement. Costs is how its cost was built up.
Synced, Linked to Shopify means the item is tied to a Shopify product, so its stock writes back to your store automatically as you make and sell.
Common questions
Do I add products in Atlessa or in Shopify?
In Shopify. They sync into Atlessa, where you add the making side.
What is Unit cost / WAC?
The weighted average cost of one unit, updated every time you receive stock. Your margins and stock value are built on it.
What about variants?
Each Shopify variant, a size or a shade, is its own item in Atlessa with its own stock and cost.
If it is not working
A product is missing from Catalog.
It has not synced yet, or it is not published to Atlessa. Check Settings, then Sync.
It shows Not linked.
The item is not matched to a Shopify product. That is normal for a materials only item.
Set up your catalog
Materials
Materials are everything that goes into what you make: ingredients, components, and packaging. They are not sold on Shopify, they are consumed by your production runs.
Materials live in the same Catalog as your products. Each one has a stock unit (grams, ml, or pcs), an optional supplier, and a running cost that comes from your receipts.
Products and materials in one Catalog, with stock, cost, and Shopify status at a glance.
Add one material with New item, or bring in many at once with Import materials. You buy in whatever unit the supplier sells, and Atlessa converts it to your stock unit when you receive it.
Common questions
What is a stock unit?
The unit you keep the material in. You can buy in a different unit (a 5 kg sack) and Atlessa converts on receipt.
Do materials sync to Shopify?
No. Materials are internal. Only finished products sync to your store.
If it is not working
I cannot use a material in a recipe.
Check its stock unit matches how you measure it in the recipe.
A material shows zero cost.
It has no receipt yet. Receive it once with a landed cost and its cost will fill in.
Set up your catalog
Bills of materials
A bill of materials (shown in Atlessa as Recipe / BOM) is the list of materials that go into one unit of a product. It is what lets Atlessa reserve the right materials for a run and work out what each product costs to make.
Open a product, then the Recipe / BOM tab. Each line is a component and how much of it goes into one unit made.
The recipe for one Berry Lip Tint: base, oils, pigments, tube, label, carton, and the cost to make.
Atlessa adds up the components at their current cost and shows Cost to make, so you can see your margin before you produce a single unit.
Before you start. The product and all of its materials need to exist in Catalog first.
Common questions
Why is it called Recipe / BOM?
Same thing, two names. Makers say recipe, manufacturers say bill of materials.
Can a component be another product?
Yes, a sub assembly. Atlessa builds it in the right order.
What if a material price changes?
Cost to make updates on its own from your latest weighted average cost.
If it is not working
A product will not run, No BOM yet.
It has no recipe. Add one on its Recipe / BOM tab.
The cost to make looks wrong.
Check the component quantities, and that each material has a real landed cost.
Understand your numbers
Cash in stock
Cash in stock answers one question: where is your money tied up in inventory, and which of it is at risk of being wasted?
The headline tells you how much stock you hold and whether any of it has gone stale.
Total stock value, how much has aged, and the at risk and write off buckets called out.
Four buckets sort the risk. Free it up is old and high value. Write off is old and low value. At risk is near a control or expiry date. All aged is everything past its prime. The matrix below shows where the cash sits by category and age; click any aged figure to open those exact items, or Export CSV.
Value = weighted average cost times what is on hand, so it matches what you actually paid, not a guess.
Common questions
What is At risk?
Stock approaching a control date, a best before or use by, so you can sell or use it before it lapses.
Can I change the windows?
Yes. The at risk window (30 to 90 days) is adjustable at the top right.
If it is not working
Everything shows zero aged.
Good news, nothing is stale. The report only fills as stock ages.
Understand your numbers
Margins
Margins shows what you actually keep after cost, for every product and for the shop, and tells you exactly which prices to fix.
The headline gives your margin for the period and how much a few price changes would recover per month.
53 percent margin over 90 days, the products dragging it, and the exact reprice that recovers the most.
Under it is a ranked Do this list: the products below your target, sorted by how much fixing each earns per month, with a Reprice in Shopify button that takes you straight there. The chart tracks revenue and margin over time so you can see the trend.
Common questions
Where do the numbers come from?
Selling price from Shopify, cost from your weighted average. Nothing is estimated.
What is Target?
The margin you are aiming for. Products below it appear in Do this.
Does the button change Shopify?
It opens the product in Shopify. You make the price change there.
If it is not working
The margin bridge is empty.
It needs a prior period to compare against. Once you have two periods of sales it fills in.
Sync with Shopify
How inventory sync works
Atlessa keeps your Shopify stock levels correct without you touching them. You control what it publishes, and it does the rest.
New terms.Write back means Atlessa updates Shopify. Buildable is how many more units you could make right now from the materials you already hold.
Sync lives in Settings, then Sync. Write back to Shopify is on or off; when it is on, Atlessa writes your available stock back to Shopify as it changes.
The Sync section: write back on or off, and whether you expose finished stock only or finished plus buildable.
Exposure controls what number Shopify sees. Finished only publishes what you have made. Buildable exposed also counts what you could make from your materials, so you can sell ahead of production. On each product, the Details tab shows its sync state.
Common questions
Is sync all or nothing?
Yes. You give consent once and Atlessa keeps every linked product in step, rather than you picking products one at a time.
What does Buildable exposed do to my Shopify stock?
It raises the available number to include what you can build, so customers can order ahead. Switch to Finished only to sell just what is on the shelf.
How often does it sync?
Continuously, within about a minute of a change.
If it is not working
My Shopify stock is not updating.
Check that write back is On in Settings, then Sync.
A product is not syncing.
Make sure it is linked to a Shopify product on its Details tab.
Account
Subscription and spend cap
Your plan is a flat monthly fee plus a small charge per order line over the included amount, with a spend cap so you are never surprised.
New terms. An order line is one product line on one order. The included amount covers most small shops; you only pay more if you go over.
Settings, then Plan & billing shows it all: the monthly price, how many order lines are included, the per line rate after that, and your spend cap.
Plan and billing: the monthly fee, included order lines, the overage rate, and your spend cap.
The spend cap is the most Atlessa can bill in a month. You set it, and it never charges past it. Change it with Request change, which goes through Shopify's approval. Your usage this cycle shows as a bar, and you can download it as a CSV.
Common questions
How am I billed?
Through Shopify, on your normal Shopify invoice.
What happens if I hit the spend cap?
Billing stops at the cap for that cycle. Nothing breaks.
Is there a trial?
Yes, 14 days free.
Where do I see past charges?
View billing history in Shopify, linked from this page.
If it is not working
I want a higher cap.
Use Request change. Shopify will ask you to approve the new cap.
Billing looks wrong.
Download the billing usage CSV, which lists every counted order line.
Account
Settings
Settings is one page with four areas: Plan and billing, Sync, Inventory and costing, and Support.
Plan & billing is your plan, usage, and spend cap. Sync is write back consent and what you expose to Shopify. Inventory & costing is how Atlessa values stock and handles things like receiving expired stock. Support is how to reach us, and where to clear your sample data.
Common questions
Where do I clear the sample shop?
In Support, inside Settings. Your real data is untouched.
Can I change how stock is valued?
Inventory & costing holds the costing settings.
If it is not working
Save is greyed out.
There is nothing to save. It enables once you change a setting.
FAQ
Common questions
Quick answers that cut across the whole app. For step by step help, use the section for that job.
Common questions
Do I manage products in Atlessa or in Shopify?
In Shopify. Products and orders sync into Atlessa, where you add the making side: materials, recipes, and runs.
What is a lot?
A traceable quantity of one item from one event, a delivery or a production run. Every lot has a code and a full history.
What is WAC?
Weighted average cost. Atlessa keeps a running average of what each item cost you, and uses it for stock value and margins.
Why whole numbers for finished pieces?
You cannot make half a candle. Pieces are whole; weight and volume materials take decimals.
Is my sample data separate from real data?
Completely. You can clear the sample any time, and your real data is untouched.
How does billing work?
A flat monthly fee plus a small per order line charge over the included amount, capped by a spend cap you set, billed through Shopify.
Does Atlessa ship my orders?
No. Shopify owns fulfilment. Atlessa keeps your stock and lot trace correct around it.
Where do I get help?
The Support link in the top bar, or Settings, then Support.
