It happens more often than you’d think. A cigar brand you’ve carried for years suddenly changes their box count — what used to be a box of 20 is now a box of 25. Or a beverage vendor switches from 12-packs to 10-packs. The product is the same, but the packaging is different, and that means your SKU structure needs to change.
Before TORO had a tool for this, you’d have to manually create a new master SKU, update the cost, re-link any SKUs that referenced the old one, deactivate the old master, and hope you didn’t miss a step. Now there’s a button that does all of it for you.
How It Works #
Open the item in Item Details (double-click the item from any item list, or search for it)
Make sure you’re in Advanced View — you’ll see a table listing all of the item’s SKUs
You’ll see a button labeled Manufacturer Changed in the upper-right area of the SKU panel. The button label includes the item’s packaging type — something like “Manufacturer Changed Cigars/Box” or “Manufacturer Changed Items/Case” — so you always know what you’re working with
Click the button. TORO walks you through three quick prompts:
How many items in the new package? — Enter the new count. If the box used to hold 20 and now holds 25, type 25. The old count is pre-filled as a starting point.
What’s the cost? — Enter what you’re paying for the new package size. TORO pre-fills a smart default here: it takes the per-unit cost from your old master SKU and multiplies it by the new count. So if your old box of 20 cost $100 ($5 per unit) and the new box has 25, it’ll suggest $125. You can accept that or type in whatever your vendor is actually charging.
What’s the retail? — You’ll only see this prompt if you’ve been manually setting your retail price on this item. If your item uses auto-adjusted retail (which is the default), TORO calculates the new retail automatically from your markup rules and you won’t be asked.
Click OK on the last prompt and TORO handles the rest:
- Creates a new master SKU with the new count and cost
- Copies over your markup percentages, max discount, and packaging type from the old master
- Sets the new SKU as the master
- Any other SKUs that were linked to the old master for their cost (like a singles SKU that derives its per-unit cost from the box) get automatically re-linked to the new one — their costs and retails update on the spot
- Deactivates the old master SKU (it’s kept for historical records, just no longer active)
The SKU table refreshes and you’ll see the new master highlighted at the top. That’s it — you’re done.
When to Use This #
- A manufacturer changes the count in a box, case, tin, or pack
- A vendor restructures their packaging (e.g., switching from tins of 50 to tins of 40)
- You need to update the master SKU’s unit count while keeping everything else properly linked
Things Worth Knowing #
Your old data stays intact. The old master SKU isn’t deleted — it’s deactivated. All your historical transactions, purchase orders, and cost records that reference it are still valid and accurate. You’re not rewriting history, you’re moving forward.
Linked SKUs update automatically. If you have a singles SKU (or any other SKU) that gets its cost from the master, TORO recalculates it based on the new master’s per-unit cost. You don’t need to touch those manually.
The button only appears in Advanced View. If you don’t see it, make sure you’re not in Basic View or “Cost & Retail at Time of Transaction” mode.
You need a master SKU. If the item doesn’t have a master SKU set (the button will be grayed out), you’ll need to set one first using the “Set Master Sku” button below it.
You can always undo this manually. If something doesn’t look right, you can reactivate the old SKU, set it back as master, and deactivate the new one. But in practice, the automated process handles it cleanly.
Related Articles #
Adding a New Item to Your System — Creating items and setting up SKU structures
How TORO Manages Your Inventory — Understanding SKUs, costs, and the big picture
Receiving Inventory — Checking in shipments with the new packaging
