Products: How to Add a UPC to a Product Variant
Many grocery and retail buyers check deliveries and pay invoices by UPC. You can add a UPC to each product variant, and RoasterTools prints it under the item name on your invoices, packing slips and Credit Memos, so your customers can match every line without asking.
Overview
Before you start
- A line keeps the UPC its variant had when the line was added. Adding or changing a UPC only affects order and Credit Memo lines added after the change. Invoices you've already sent don't change.
- Nothing changes until you add a UPC. Variants without a UPC print exactly as they do today.
- RoasterTools doesn't check the number. Copy the UPC from your label or your buyer's item list, and double-check it before you save.
How to add, change or remove a UPC on one variant
- Go to Inventory > Products and open the product.
- In the Variants section, find the variant and click the More menu (the three dots at the end of its row).
- Click Assign UPC.
- Type or paste the UPC, then click Assign UPC.
The UPC now shows as a grey badge with a barcode icon on the variant's row.
To change a UPC, follow the same steps and replace the number.
To remove a UPC, follow the same steps, clear the field and click Assign UPC.
Heads up: Assign UPC only appears on variants that are saved. For a new product or a newly added variant, click Create Product or Update Product at the bottom of the page first, then come back to add the UPC.
How to add UPCs to many variants at once
The Product CSV has a UPC column at the end. Use it to add or update UPCs in bulk, following the steps in Products: How to bulk update product information using the product CSV.
Caution: Spreadsheets drop leading zeros from numbers, so 0850050855705 becomes 850050855705. Before you type or paste any UPCs, select the whole UPC column and set it to plain text. In Google Sheets, go to Format > Number > Plain text.
Caution: A blank UPC cell removes that variant's UPC when you upload. Delete the rows you didn't change before uploading, as the Product CSV article recommends. If you don't want to touch UPCs at all, you can delete the whole UPC column; RoasterTools then leaves every UPC as it is.
Where UPCs appear
When a line has a UPC, it prints in small grey text with a barcode icon, right under the item name.
You'll see it on:
- Invoices: the invoice on the order page, the invoice PDF, the invoice in your customer's Wholesale Portal, and the invoice page that opens from the links in invoice and payment request emails.
- Packing slips: single and bulk packing slips.
- Credit Memos: the Credit Memo page, the Credit Memo PDF and the Credit Memo in the Wholesale Portal.
- Customer emails: invoice, order confirmation, order received, payment request and Credit Memo emails.
UPCs don't show on the screens where you or your customers create and edit orders, and they aren't sent to your accounting platform.
Learn More: To see which emails your customers get and when, see Customer Email Notifications and What Triggers Them.
FAQs
Q: I added a UPC, but it isn't on an existing order. Why?
A: Each line keeps the UPC its variant had when the line was added, so lines added before you saved the UPC don't show it. On an order that hasn't gone out yet, you can remove the item and add it again. Check the price afterward: a re-added item uses the customer's current price.
Q: My UPC lost its leading zero. How do I fix it?
A: Your spreadsheet treated the UPC as a number. Re-type the UPC on the variant with Assign UPC, or set the CSV's UPC column to plain text, re-enter the UPC and upload again.
Q: Does the UPC sync to QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop or Xero?
A: No. The UPC prints on RoasterTools documents and emails only.
Q: I copied a product. Does the copy keep the UPC?
A: No. Each UPC belongs to one item, so copies start without one. Add the right UPC to each new variant.
Q: Can my customers see UPCs when they place orders in the Wholesale Portal?
A: No. UPCs show on their invoices and Credit Memos, not on the ordering screens.