Skip to Content

AL Catch Weight Management

AL Catch Weight Management - User guide

How to set up and use the app in Business Central.

1. Concepts in one minute

  • Catch weight means an item moves by count (pieces, cases) but is priced and costed by its real weight - typical of meat, cheese, fish, fresh produce.
  • Each item carries two units of measure: a Handling unit you operate in and an Accounting unit (weight or volume) you price and post in. The accounting unit is set separately for sales and purchase.
  • On every line the app derives the Accounting Quantity and the Accounting Unit Price from the quantity in the handling unit plus the captured net weight, and keeps them in sync both ways (weight, accounting quantity and price follow each other, down to the quantities to ship, receive and invoice).
  • The accounting price comes from standard BC price lists - no separate pricing engine, the standard price events stay in place.
  • Posting writes the net and gross weight into the Item Ledger Entries and creates a Weight Ledger Entry for each application (inbound linked to outbound), so you can compare weight in versus weight out for shrinkage and yield.

2. Prerequisites

  • Business Central 25.0 or higher (Cloud/SaaS).
  • The dependencies installed: AL License and Trial Management, AL Foundation App, AL Tracking, AL Message Passing.
  • Permissions: assign the ALPGeneratedPerm permission set (the app's generated permission set) to the users.

You reach the app from Tell Me (search "Weigh", "Weight Ledger Entries", "AL Catch Weight Management Setup"), from the Weigh action that the app adds to the relevant document and journal pages, and from the AppLibra role center (Shift+F12 -> Explore other roles -> AppLibra). The setup page is listed under Administration.

3. Setup

3.1 Activate the license

Open AL Catch Weight Management Setup (the record is created on first open and a trial is registered automatically). Use Add License to enter a license when you have one.

3.2 Setup (WM)

On AL Catch Weight Management Setup, the single option is:

  • Update Net Weight On Assign Lots - when on, assigning lots refreshes the net weight from the tracking. Most of the configuration lives on the item, not here.

3.3 Configure the item

Open the Item Card for a variable-weight item:

  • On the Prices & Sales tab, set Sales Accounting Unit of Measure (usually a weight unit such as KG).
  • On the Purchase tab, set Purchase Accounting Unit of Measure.
  • These accounting units are what the app prices and posts in; the item keeps trading in its base/handling unit (pieces, cases).

3.4 Invoice by weight (per unit of measure)

On Item Units of Measure, tick Invoice by Weight on the unit that must be billed by weight. Because the same unit cannot be billed by weight for some customers and by count for others, the pattern is two item units of measure with a reciprocal conversion factor of 1, and Invoice by Weight ticked on one of them only.

3.5 Item tracking

Set up item tracking (lot, serial, package, pallet, external lot) as usual through AL Tracking. The weigh screens show exactly the tracking dimensions the item's tracking code enables.

4. Daily use

4.1 A sales line priced by weight

  1. On a sales order (or invoice), add the item and enter the quantity in the handling unit (for example cases).
  2. The line now shows Accounting Quantity and Accounting Unit Of Measure next to the unit of measure, and Accounting unit price next to the unit price.
  3. Capture the weight: on the line, run Weigh (Shift+Ctrl+W, under Functions). The Weigh page opens; enter the Net Weight (and Gross Weight), then confirm.
  4. The app computes the Accounting Quantity from the weight and reads the Accounting unit price from the standard price lists for the accounting unit; the line total reflects the real weight.
  5. Changed the quantity or the weight later? Run Update Net Weight on the line to recompute.

The net weight can be typed in manually, calculated from dimensions (length, width, height, diameter, area, cubage), or captured live from a scale or instrument through the platform measurement interfaces (see 6).

4.2 Weigh and assign lots in one step

When the item is lot/package/pallet tracked, the Weigh page lets you both capture weight and assign tracking:

  1. Open Weigh on the line. The lower Weigh list holds one row per tracking unit (lot, serial, package, pallet, external lot), each with its own quantity and net/gross weight.
  2. Use the actions:
    • Weigh (Ctrl+P) - capture the weight;
    • Assign Lots (Shift+Ctrl+A) - assign the tracking;
    • Weigh and Assign Lot (Ctrl+L) - do both at once.
  3. The captured weight flows back to the line and, on assign, the tracking is written through AL Tracking.

4.3 Purchase, transfer, production, inventory, warehouse

The same Weigh action is available wherever a variable-weight item moves:

  • Purchase order lines and Transfer order lines;
  • Released production order lines;
  • Warehouse receipt and Warehouse shipment lines;
  • Item Journal, Item Reclassification Journal and Physical Inventory Journal (which also carry an Assign Lot action).

In each case you enter the handling quantity, capture the weight, and let the app keep the accounting quantity and price aligned. The accounting unit and quantity are also carried over when a document is copied.

4.4 Post and analyse

  1. Post the document as usual. The net and gross weight land in the Item Ledger Entries, visible in the Applied Net Weight column (the entries page also carries its own Weigh action, Shift+Ctrl+W).
  2. For every Item Application Entry the app creates a Weight Ledger Entry that links the inbound and outbound entries and records the Applied Net Weight and Applied Gross Weight.
  3. Open Weight Ledger Entries to read the applied weights, compare inbound versus outbound weight for shrinkage and yield, and use Navigate to list every entry and document for a document number and posting date.

5. Where to find it

  • Tell Me: search "Weight Ledger Entries", "AL Catch Weight Management Setup", or "Weigh".
  • On documents and journals: the Weigh action (Functions group) on sales, purchase and transfer order lines, released production order lines, warehouse receipt and shipment lines, the item / reclassification / physical inventory journals, and on Item Ledger Entries.
  • Item Card: the Sales and Purchase Accounting Unit of Measure fields; Item Units of Measure carries Invoice by Weight.
  • AppLibra hub: Shift+F12 -> Explore other roles -> AppLibra.
  • Administration: the setup page is listed there.

6. Tips and troubleshooting

  • The accounting columns are hidden. The Accounting Quantity, Accounting Unit Of Measure and Accounting unit price show only when an accounting unit is set on the item and it differs from the handling unit. Set the Sales/Purchase Accounting Unit of Measure on the Item Card.
  • No price on the accounting line. The accounting unit price is read from the standard BC price lists for the accounting unit; make sure a price exists for that unit of measure. No custom pricing engine is involved.
  • One unit billed by weight only for some customers. A single item unit of measure cannot be "by weight" for some and "by count" for others; use two item units with a reciprocal factor of 1 and tick Invoice by Weight on one only.
  • Automatic weight from a scale. Live capture does not come from a built-in device driver: it arrives through the platform measurement interfaces on the AL Message Passing bus (barcodes via AL GS1). Catch Weight defines the weight model and the calculation (including from dimensions); the live reading comes from the interfaces. With no scale connected, type the weight or compute it from dimensions.
  • Net weight not refreshing when I assign lots. Turn on Update Net Weight On Assign Lots in the setup so the net weight is recomputed from the tracking.
  • Reading shrinkage/yield. Compare the inbound and outbound Applied Net Weight on the Weight Ledger Entries; the entry links the two item ledger entries.

7. Support and resources