---
title: "Store Minimum Levels"
description: "Set a minimum quantity per hospital item per store, see which items are below it, and fill the Main Store's suggested floors in one click."
date: 2026-11-08
lastModified: 2026-11-13
category: "admin"
author: "Dr. Umesh Bilagi"
beta: true
---

## Overview

A **minimum level** is the quantity of an item a store should always keep on hand. It is set per item **per store**, so the Main Store can hold a different floor from each ward. Once a floor is set, the store dashboard can tell you how many items sit **below** it, and the [Shortage](/docs/store-shortage) screen lists exactly which ones.

A minimum level applies to **hospital stock** — items the store physically holds and moves. Pharmacy items are not part of this screen.

The list is hospital stock only. A billed service — OPD Consultation, Bed Charge, a room charge — is a charge, not stock: nothing is ever received, so it has no quantity to set a floor against and does not appear. Charges remain visible on invoices, just not on the stock screens: **MIS Reports → Stock → Current** leaves them out too.

The figure that is compared with the floor is the item's **available** quantity: what is physically on hand at that store, minus anything already reserved by a [ward indent](/docs/store-indents) that has not been fully issued yet. An approved but unissued indent is why **available** can sit below **on hand**, and a ward asking for more than the store holds makes it negative — that shortfall is demand the store still has to buy.

A ward's floor also drives what it is suggested to hand back on the [Dormant stock](/docs/store-returns) screen: an item the ward has not consumed for a long time is offered back down to its floor, so the ward keeps only what it is supposed to.

## Prerequisites

- The store exists. Create stores in **Admin → Store Management → Store Master**.
- Someone is named as the store's **in-charge** in Store Master. Without an in-charge, only an admin or director can set that store's levels.
- The item is a hospital item with a purchase price, or it has been received into stock at some point (a purchase, a physical stock entry, or a ward issue).

## Workflow

### Open the store dashboard

Any user with the **Store** module can open **Modules → Store**. Admins also have a shortcut on the Admin page: **Admin → Store Management → Store Dashboard**.

The dashboard lists the stores you may see, with four counts per store:

| Column | Meaning |
|--------|---------|
| **Items in stock** | Hospital items the store currently holds a non-zero quantity of |
| **Floors set** | Items at this store that have a minimum level |
| **Below floor** | Items whose available quantity is under their minimum level — click it to open [Shortage](/docs/store-shortage) filtered to this store |
| **Minimum Levels** | Opens that store's grid |

A user who is not the in-charge of any store, and is not an admin, director or the Main Store's in-charge, sees a message asking an administrator to assign them in Store Master.

### Set a floor

1. From the dashboard, click **Minimum Levels** on a store.
2. Find the item with the search box, or page through the list.
3. Type the minimum in the **Minimum** column.
4. Click **Save**.

Only the rows you changed on the current page are saved. Leaving the field blank **clears** the floor — a store either has a floor for an item or it does not; there is no "zero floor" unless you type `0`, which is a real floor that the item can never fall below.

The **Available** figure turns red when it is under the minimum you are typing, so you can see the effect before saving.

### Set a maximum — wards only

A **ward's** grid carries a second column, **Maximum**: the quantity the ward should not normally be asked to hold above. Leave it blank for no ceiling, or type a figure and **Save**.

- A maximum cannot be below the minimum set for the same item.
- It never blocks anything. When the Main Store approves an [indent](/docs/store-indents) that would take the ward past its maximum, the indent screen turns the **In ward** figure red and names the item — the approval still saves.
- The Main Store has no **Maximum** column. Purchases land there and are governed by its minimums, not a ceiling.

### Search and paging

The grid loads 100 items at a time. **Search** filters by item name on the server, and **Prev/Next** move between pages. If you have unsaved changes and move pages, NICE HMS asks before discarding them.

### Suggested floors — Main Store only

When the store is the **Main Store**, two more things appear:

- **Suggested** — a starting floor worked out from the item's most recent hospital purchase: 25% of the quantity purchased, rounded up, and never less than 1. An item that has never been purchased shows `—`. The percentage is a system setting; the default is 25%.
- **Apply all** — writes the suggestion for **every item that does not already have a floor**. Existing floors are never overwritten, so it is safe to run after you have set the ones that matter. It reports how many levels it wrote, and running it a second time normally writes none.

Suggestions exist only on the Main Store because that is where the hospital purchases land. Wards receive stock through indents, so a purchase figure would not describe a ward's use.

## Who can change minimum levels

| Who | Which stores |
|-----|--------------|
| admin, director | Any store |
| The Main Store's in-charge | Any store |
| A store's own in-charge | That store only |

Every role that can open the **Store** module can view any store's levels; the table above is about changing them. Everyone else sees the grid read-only with a note explaining who may edit it.

## Common Issues

**An item I need is not in the list.** The grid shows hospital items with a purchase price, items that have been received into stock, and items that already have a floor. Add the price in the Item Master, or receive stock through a purchase or a physical stock entry, and the item appears. A service such as Bed Charge or OPD Consultation never appears — it is billed but never received, so it has no stock and cannot hold a floor.

**I cannot edit the field.** You are viewing a store you are not the in-charge of. Ask an admin to make you the in-charge in Store Master, or ask the Main Store's in-charge.

**The store is inactive.** Minimum levels are read-only for a deactivated store. Reactivate it in Store Master first.

**An item shows a negative on-hand figure.** That is a real shortfall, not an error: the item was billed out before it was ever received. It counts as below its floor until a purchase or a **Set Stock** count at the Main Store brings it back up. A count is a Main Store count — the typed quantity is what the Main Store ends at — so a count of 10 on a Main Store reading of −3 leaves exactly 10, and 0 clears it.

**Apply all reported 0.** Every item that has a purchase already had a floor. Hand-set floors are deliberately left untouched.

## FAQ

**Q: Why is Bed Charge (or OPD Consultation) not in the list?**
A: It is a service, not stock. It is billed on invoices but nothing is ever received into a store for it, so it has no quantity to keep above a floor. Only items that can actually sit on a shelf have minimum levels — keeping charges out of the list also keeps the "below floor" count meaningful.

**Q: Does a minimum level change stock?**
A: No. It is a threshold for reporting and buying decisions; it never moves a quantity. Stock changes only when a purchase, issue, return or consumption voucher is posted.

**Q: Does a maximum stop the Main Store approving more stock for the ward?**
A: No. The maximum only warns while an indent is being approved. The approval saves, and the warning tells you the ward would go above its ceiling — use it to decide, not to block.


**Q: What happens when I clear a minimum?**
A: The floor is removed for that store and item, and the item stops counting toward "Floors set" and "Below floor" for that store.

**Q: Why is a floor blank by default?**
A: A blank means "untracked", which is different from "should never be low". Only items you care about need a floor, so a new hospital is not flooded with noise.

**Q: Does each ward need its own levels?**
A: Yes. Stock at each store is counted separately, so each store's floor is set separately. The Main Store's in-charge can do this for every ward from one place.