> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.flowretail.com/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.flowretail.com/docs/advanced-features/inter-store-trade/set-up-inter-store-trade.md).

# Set up inter-store trade

Switch on inter-store trade and create the supplier and customer records that let your stores trade with each other.

Flow Retail works out that two stores are trading from the records involved, not from anything you tick per order. A store sells through a **supplier** that represents it, and buys as a **customer** that represents it. Getting those records right is the whole setup.

***

## Before you start

* The **Inter-store trade** extension switched on for your organization — ask us.
* Your central warehouse set up as a **store** in Flow Retail, holding its own stock.
* Permission to manage stores and suppliers in Flow Admin.
* All trading stores on the same local currency. Purchase orders in a foreign currency are refused.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Once any two of your stores have traded, the extension can no longer be removed — and that holds even after the orders are closed and long finished. Settle the shape of it before you start.
{% endhint %}

***

## What a chain actually needs

Work out the direction of trade first, because it decides how many records you create.

| If this store should  | It needs                              |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Sell to other stores  | A supplier that stands for it         |
| Buy from other stores | A company customer that stands for it |
| Do both               | One of each                           |

A warehouse that only supplies the shops needs one supplier and nothing else. Ten shops that only draw on the warehouse need ten customers. If you also want the shops to lend stock to each other, every shop needs both.

A store can be represented by at most one supplier and one customer, so there is never any doubt which record stands for it. A store cannot trade with itself.

***

## Set the two options

Both sit on the extension, under **Admin → Settings → Extensions**, on the card named **Inter Store Trade**.

| Option                       | What it does                                                                                                                   |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Markup percent**           | A whole number from 0 to 100, added to the purchase price the goods are priced from. Leave it at 0 to move goods at that price |
| **Allow cross-organization** | Lets stores in different organizations trade. Off by default                                                                   |

Markup is the fallback, not the only lever. Give a shop's customer record a price list at the warehouse and its line wins outright, with no markup on top — that is how you set a fixed internal price per shop.

***

## Create the supplier and the customer

Create them first, then link each to its store.

* **The supplier**: create a supplier for the store that will sell, a warehouse typically, under **Admin → Products → Suppliers**.
* **The customer**: create a **company** customer for each store that will buy. A store is a business, not a person.

{% hint style="danger" %}
These customer records are reserved for inter-store trade. Any parked or confirmed sale to one, from a store that has a supplier standing for it, creates a purchase order and a goods receipt at the store it represents. Never use them for anything else.
{% endhint %}

***

## Link them to the store

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

#### Open the store

Go to **Admin → Stores** and open the store. Open the **General** tab and find the **Inter-store** section. It only shows while the extension is on.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Select the supplier or the customer

Click **Select supplier** to let the store sell, or **Select customer** to let it buy. Search, pick one and it is saved straight away.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Repeat for each store

Do the same on every store that trades. To change a link later, remove it with the **×** next to its name and select another.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

A store can have one supplier and one customer, never more. Shops can now raise purchase orders against the supplier, and see that store's incoming goods when they look in other locations.

***

## To settle sales between the stores

Settling is optional (see [what it does to your figures](/docs/advanced-features/inter-store-trade/what-inter-store-trade-does-to-your-figures.md)). To settle in Flow Assistant, the sending store needs a way to take payment that is not money over the counter: an invoice, or a payment method of the **External** kind, under **Admin → Settings → Payment Methods**. Without one, Assistant says **No payment method for internal trade is set up. Ask an administrator.**

***

## What's next?

* [Buy from another store](/docs/advanced-features/inter-store-trade/buy-from-another-store.md)
* [Sell to another store](/docs/advanced-features/inter-store-trade/sell-to-another-store.md)
* [Inter-store trade in Assistant](/docs/getting-started/software-clients/assistant/inter-store-trade.md)

*Last updated 13.10.2026*


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