Product types and product categories are two labels you attach to a product to organise your catalogue. A product type describes what kind of thing the product is, for example Physical Product, Service, Raw Material, or Finished Goods. A product category describes what part of the catalogue it belongs to, for example Electronics, Food & Beverages, or Office Supplies. The bookkeeper or accountant sets both lists up once, and everyone picks from them when creating a product.

The two lists are independent of each other. A product has its own Product Type field and its own Product Category field, and you can set either, both, or neither. A category is not filed under a type, and a type is not filed under a category. Each list is instead self-hierarchical: any type can have a parent type, and any category can have a parent category, so you can nest them into as many levels as you need.

Both are reference labels only. Neither posts to the ledger and neither carries pricing, tax, or account settings, so classifying a product does not change how its transactions are recorded. Their job is to let you slice your catalogue: you can group and filter product, inventory, sales, and purchasing reports by type or by category, and scan the product list by segment.

Before you start

ZyncLedger seeds both lists for every new business, so you often only need these screens to add your own entries or retire ones you do not use.

  • Product types seeded: Physical Product, Digital Product, Service, Raw Material, Finished Goods, Consumables, Equipment, and Software.
  • Product categories seeded: Electronics, Clothing & Apparel, Food & Beverages, Home & Garden, Automotive, Health & Beauty, Sports & Recreation, Books & Media, Office Supplies, and Industrial & Construction.

Each list has its own permissions, set per user under Permissions. You need the create, edit, and approve grants for product types to manage the types list, and the matching grants for product categories to manage the categories list.

Product types

  1. Open the Product Types list

    Go to Lists → Product Types. The list shows every type with its Parent, its Status (Active or Inactive, and Approved or Pending), and who created it.

  2. Start a new type

    Select Add Product Type. The Create New Product Type panel opens from the right.

  3. Enter the type name

    Type the Type Name (required), for example Spare Parts. Each name must be unique, and it cannot contain a colon (:), which is reserved for hierarchy paths.

  4. Choose a parent type (optional)

    Use Parent Product Type to nest this type under a broader one, for example placing Perishable Goods under Raw Material. Leave it blank for a top-level type. A type cannot be its own parent, and the hierarchy can be at most five levels deep.

  5. Set the status flags

    Two checkboxes control whether the type can be used:

    FieldWhat it does
    ActiveOn by default. An inactive type stays for history but is not offered when classifying a product.
    ApprovedOff by default. A type is only offered for selection once it is both Active and Approved. Ticking this needs the approve permission.

  6. Save

    Select Create Product Type. The type appears in the list and, once approved, in the Product Type dropdown on the product form.

Edit, deactivate, or delete a type

Select the edit icon on any row to rename a type, change its parent, or change its flags. To stop a type being used without losing its history, clear its Active flag rather than deleting it.

Heads up

ZyncLedger blocks deleting a product type that is still assigned to any product, or that has child types beneath it. Reassign or remove those first, or deactivate the type instead. This keeps your existing product records intact.

Product categories

The categories list works exactly like the types list, with its own labels.

  1. Open the Product Categories list

    Go to Lists → Product Categories. The list shows every category with its Parent, its Status (Active or Inactive, and Approved or Pending), and who created it.

  2. Start a new category

    Select Add Product Category. The Create New Product Category panel opens from the right.

  3. Enter the category name

    Type the Category Name (required), for example Mobile Accessories. Each name must be unique, and it cannot contain a colon (:), which is reserved for hierarchy paths.

  4. Choose a parent category (optional)

    Use Parent Product Category to nest this category under a broader one, for example placing Smartphones under Electronics. Leave it blank for a top-level category. A category cannot be its own parent, and the hierarchy can be at most five levels deep.

  5. Set the status flags

    The Active and Approved checkboxes behave the same as on a product type: a category is only offered for selection once it is both Active and Approved, and ticking Approved needs the approve permission.

  6. Save

    Select Create Product Category. The category appears in the list and, once approved, in the Product Category dropdown on the product form.

Edit, deactivate, or delete a category

Select the edit icon on any row to rename a category, change its parent, or change its flags. As with types, clear the Active flag to retire a category without losing its history.

Heads up

ZyncLedger blocks deleting a product category that is still assigned to any product, or that has child categories beneath it. Reassign or remove those first, or deactivate the category instead.

Approval gates availability

A new type or category is created as Pending until someone with the approve permission approves it. Until then it will not appear when you classify a product. If an entry you created is not showing up on the product form, check that it is both Active and Approved on its list.

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