Updated 2026-09-30 · 3 min read
Almost every practice sells something at reception. The hygienist finishes the cleaning, recommends an interdental brush or a water flosser, and the patient leaves asking whether they can take one home. It's a service for them and income for the practice.
And almost every practice handles it the same way: a box in a cupboard, a notebook next to it and the count of how many are left in somebody's head. It works until the day the patient asks for one and they ran out last week without anybody writing it down.
Why front-desk sales get out of control
It isn't a question of tidiness. It's that the treatment is charged at the till and the product lives somewhere else. If recording the sale of a mouthwash means opening another spreadsheet or writing in a notebook, with the waiting room full it doesn't get recorded, or it gets folded into the treatment and at the end of the month nobody knows how much of what was sold.
The answer is making selling a product cost the same as charging for a cleaning: one more line on the same receipt.
The product, on the same receipt as the treatment
In ClaudIA, products live inside the till. Each one has its record: name, brand, product family, retail price, cost price, VAT rate and barcode. At reception you search by name or scan it with the barcode reader, and the product goes on the receipt next to the treatment, with its price and its VAT.
When you take payment, its stock goes down on its own. If the whole receipt is refunded, it comes back. And if the system thinks there are fewer units left than you're selling, the till warns you but doesn't stop the sale: the product is already in the patient's hand, and what's needed is a look in the cupboard. The product is flagged for exactly that.
Stock, with its reasons
Stock isn't typed in by hand: it's the sum of every movement, and every movement has its reason.
| What happens | What reception does | What gets recorded |
|---|---|---|
| The supplier's order arrives | Taps «Delivery» and types the units | A delivery, with who recorded it |
| It's sold at the till | Nothing: the payment does it | A sale, with its receipt |
| The whole receipt is refunded | Nothing: the refund does it | A return, with its document |
| The cupboard is counted | Taps «Count» and types what's there | An adjustment for the difference |
Ordering before it runs out
Each product gets a minimum. When it drops below that, the list flags it as «Below minimum» and the summary at the top says how many there are, so the order goes out in time and not when the patient is already waiting at the desk.
And the question «why are there two left if there were eight on Monday?» always has an answer: the product's history shows every movement with its date and its receipt.
Who touches what in the practice
Reception, or whoever is at the front desk, can record deliveries and counts: they're the ones who receive the order and open the cupboard. The catalogue and the prices are changed only by whoever runs the practice, so nobody changes a price by accident and the count doesn't depend on the practice owner.
Orders to the supplier are still placed the way they are now, with the list of what's below minimum in front of you. And the WhatsApp and voice assistant focuses on appointments: products are sold at the till. The detail is in products and stock, and the full payment flow in the practice's POS.