Tracking expiry dates and medicine batches

English

Every medicine received into your pharmacy must be tracked by batch number and expiry date. This ensures you dispense safe, non-expired medicines to patients and helps you identify and remove expired stock promptly.

Before you start

• You must have permission to receive and manage inventory in your pharmacy.
• You should understand what a batch number (lot number) is — typically printed on the medicine box by the manufacturer.
• You need to know the expiry date (format: DD/MM/YYYY or as printed on the medicine packaging).
• When you receive medicines, the purchase order or delivery note should clearly show batch and expiry information.

Steps

Step 1: Navigate to inventory receipt

When you receive stock from a purchase order (as described in "Purchasing medicine and receiving stock"), you will be recording batch and expiry details at that point.

Go to Inventory → Stock Movements or follow the receipt process in your purchase order. Open Inventory

Step 2: View or edit received batches

During the receipt step in a purchase order, or when viewing your inventory:

1. For each medicine line item, you will see a Batch field and an Expiry Date field.
2. Enter the Batch Number exactly as printed on the medicine packaging.
3. Enter the Expiry Date in the format required by your system (typically DD/MM/YYYY, e.g., 15/06/2027).

Step 3: Save batch and expiry information

Once you have entered batch and expiry details for all medicines in the receipt:

1. Click Save to record the batch numbers and expiry dates.
2. Usystems will link each batch to the medicine product and track its location in your inventory.

Step 4: Monitor expiring stock

Regularly review your inventory to identify medicines approaching expiry:

Option A — Manual review:

1. Go to Inventory and view the medicine list.
2. Look for any notes or visual indicators (such as a color highlight) showing medicines within 30 days of expiry.
3. Prioritize dispensing medicines close to expiry before they expire.

Option B — Run an expiry report:

1. Go to Reports → Inventory Reports (or Reports → All Reports).
2. Look for a report labeled "Expiring Stock" or "Batch Aging."
3. This report shows medicines grouped by expiry date, highlighting those expiring soon.
4. Use this report weekly to plan what to dispense or return to the supplier.

Step 5: Remove expired stock

When a medicine has reached its expiry date:

1. Do not dispense it to patients.
2. Create a Return or Stock Adjustment to remove the expired batch from your inventory.
   • Go to Inventory → Stock Movements → New Return (or ask your pharmacy manager).
   • Select the expired medicine and batch.
   • Record the reason as "Expired."
3. Save the adjustment. Your inventory count is now corrected.

Accounting impact

Receiving stock (with batch and expiry):

• No accounting entry on receipt; the cost is capitalized in your Inventory account.

Removing expired stock:

• Inventory account is credited (reduced by the cost of the expired batch).
• Expense account (such as Loss on Expired Stock, or Cost of Goods Sold adjustment) is debited.
• Your pharmacy administrator will configure which account receives the loss.

Tips & common mistakes

• Record batch and expiry immediately: Do not delay. Once received, data must be accurate to avoid dispensing expired medicines by mistake.
• Check expiry dates on arrival: Compare printed dates on the medicine box with the supplier's delivery note. Reject batches already close to expiry on arrival.
• Use the expiry report regularly: Set a weekly reminder to review expiring stock and prioritize its use before the deadline.
• Keep packaging for reference: Store medicine boxes or labels so pharmacists can verify batch and expiry information when needed (e.g., for audits or patient inquiries).

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