Data Files samples / Wholesale and trading

Northbank Trading

Customers, suppliers, products, orders, purchase orders, stock and invoices for a wholesaler.

Download 122 KB13 tables, 11 queries, 6 reports, 4 print templates and 5,945 invented records, dated back from 2026-10-22.

Rutba Data Files with Northbank Trading, the wholesale and trading sample, open at its print template Invoice: a page laid out with the business's own name and address at the head and one of its records filled in, beside the list of the database's tables and how many records each holds — Northbank Trading in Rutba Data Files, made with its invented records and open at its print template Invoice.

Overview

Northbank Trading is an invented wholesaler of specialty foods and supplies for the trade: teas and coffee, spices, rice and grains, dried fruit and nuts, oils, sauces, baking goods and kitchen supplies. It sells to shops, delis, cafes, restaurants and hotels in ten countries, and buys from a dozen suppliers.

The sample holds eighteen months of trading, made up a day at a time. Customers order more as the year ends. Each order is cut to what is on the shelf, so stock never goes below nought, and it goes down as orders ship. Twice a week the buyer raises purchase orders for whatever has fallen to its reorder level, and those arrive some days later. Every shipped order is invoiced; most invoices are paid on time, some late, and the newest are not yet due.

Customers, suppliers and carriers share one Companies table, told apart by their Kind, so a company that both buys from you and sells to you is entered once.

In Rutba Data Files, choose Wholesale and trading on the start screen, then With sample records to look around, or Empty for the same design with nothing in it.

It suits, with small changes

A distributor or importer
A cash and carry
A builders' merchant or parts supplier
A wine merchant selling to the trade
An online shop that sells to businesses
A manufacturer's sales office

Read on

Tutorial: the everyday tasks: 6 everyday tasks, step by step, each naming what to open.
Tables, fields and relationships: every field of 13 tables, and how they are related.
Queries, forms, reports and print templates: what each one shows, its criteria and calculated columns, and when to print it.

Things you should know

Everything in a sample's records is invented: the business, the people, their addresses, e-mail addresses on example domains that reach nobody, and phone numbers from the ranges kept for drama and fiction. Tax, company and bank numbers are placeholders of zeros.
The dates count back from the day the file was made, and some run on into the weeks after it, as real bookings and due dates do. Made from the Data Files start screen, a sample is dated from that day. Queries that compare with today (overdue, due this week) show more as a downloaded file gets older.
To start empty, choose the same business on the start screen and then Empty: the same tables, queries, forms, reports and print templates, with nothing in them but the Start Here guide.
Your records live in one file on your computer. Keep copies: File, Save As makes one, and a copy on another drive or in your own cloud storage keeps it safe if this computer is lost. Close the database before copying the file by hand.
Every change to the design (a new field, a renamed table) is a numbered step that Data Files keeps, so you can see what was changed and when.
Units in Stock on a product is the sum of its Stock Movements: received above nought, sold and corrected below. When you change one, change the other, or count the stock and add an Adjusted movement to put it right.
An order line keeps its own Unit Price, Discount and Tax Rate, so a later price change never alters an order already taken or invoiced.
Invoice and purchase order numbers are typed by you, a new run each year. Number them in date order and never use one twice; Data Files refuses a number already used.
Customers, suppliers and carriers share the Companies table. Kind says which a company is, and most queries choose by it.
VAT is a rate on each order line, taken from the product's group in Categories: food at 0, kitchen and cleaning supplies at 0.2. Delivery is charged at the standard rate. Check the rates for your own country and goods.

Starting with your own records

Start with Business, your own name, address and payment details, which every document prints. Then Categories and Companies (your suppliers and carriers first, then your customers), then Employees and Products. Orders, purchase orders, stock movements and invoices come in as you trade. If you already hold stock, enter it as one Received movement per product and set Units in Stock to match.

Making it yours

Every change to the design is a numbered step in Data Files, so a change can be seen and undone.

Sell in more than one currency: add a Currency field to Companies and a rate to Orders, and a calculated column for the amount in your own currency.
Keep several warehouses: add a Warehouses table, point Stock Movements at it, and group the stock queries by warehouse.
Record part payments: add a Payments table pointing at Invoices, and an Unpaid invoices query that sums what has been paid against each one.
Give customers their own prices: add a Price Lists table (customer, product, price) and use it when taking an order.
Track batches and best-before dates: add a Batch and a Best Before field to Purchase Lines and Stock Movements.
Add sales tax: add a Tax Rate field to Products and a calculated column for the tax on each line.

Questions people ask

How do I print one invoice?: Open Print templates, choose Invoice and choose the invoice. Press Print, or Save as PDF to send it by e-mail. From the Invoices form, the invoice on screen prints with the Print button.
Why does a product show below its reorder level when a delivery is due?: Products to reorder looks at Units in Stock only. Run Purchases on order to see what is already coming before ordering again.
How do I give one customer a discount on everything?: Type the discount on each of their order lines. To make it automatic, add a Discount field to Companies and copy it onto each line as you take the order.
Where do I change the name and bank details on invoices?: In the Business table: its one record is printed at the head and foot of every document.
Can a customer also be a supplier?: Yes. Enter the company once with the Kind it is most, and choose it as either; queries that choose by Kind will show it under that one.
How do I start again with my own records?: Make the sample again from the Data Files start screen and choose Empty: the same tables, queries, forms, reports and print templates, with nothing in them.

Data Files is free

It comes with Rutba Office, with no account and no trial.

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