Tracking Alterations in CloudBridal

CloudBridal offers three ways to track alterations. Pick one below, then follow that section start to finish - each one is a complete path, so you can ignore the other two.

Which Approach Fits Your Store

Charging one flat fee regardless of the work? Use the single alteration fee. No setup.

Want each service priced consistently and itemized for the bride? Use the itemized menu. This is what most stores want.

Also need to know who performed each alteration, track each one's status separately, or report on revenue by alteration type? Only inventory items do that. It's the heaviest option, so choose it for those three things specifically - not for the itemization, which the menu already gives you.

Starting with the menu and moving later is safe: every service name and price is stored on its orders, so your history stays intact.

A Single Alteration Fee

Uses the built-in Alteration Price field on the order. Ideal when your seamstress totals up the work and you don't need it broken down.

On the order form, the Other Add-ons section holds three such fields:

• Alterations - the alteration charge
• Additional Work - non-alteration work such as steaming or pressing
• Additional Fees - miscellaneous charges

Each has a checkbox to switch it on, a price, and a notes field for describing the work. The amount joins the order total automatically.

If You Don't See the Field

Visibility is set per Inventory Item Type, and the types created at signup already differ:

To switch it on elsewhere, go to Settings → Inventory → Items, open the item type, and under Enabled Customer Order Fields check Alteration Price → Display.

An Itemized Alterations Menu

A price list your staff check off on the order. Each service ticked becomes its own line on the ticket and receipt.

Setup

Five steps, once.

1. Find your store's vendor record. Go to Vendors. A record named after your store was created when you signed up - that's the one your alterations menu will live on. If it's missing, click Add Vendor, enter your store name, and save.

2. Pick an item type. Go to Settings → Inventory → Items. The Service type created at signup already fits - no stocked inventory, comments on, excluded from purchase orders - so most stores use it as-is.

Create a dedicated Alterations type instead if you also sell steaming, preservation, or rush fees and want those kept apart. Click Add Item Type, name it "Alterations", leave Track Stocked Inventory unchecked, uncheck Eligible for Purchase Orders, and enable Comments under Enabled Customer Order Fields.

3. Point that item type at your store. Still in the item type, set Default Vendor (Optional) to your store's vendor record, and save.

Don't skip this one. Your menu only appears once an order has a vendor, and this fills it in the moment staff pick the item type. Without it the menu looks like it isn't there.

4. Build the menu. Go to Vendors, open your store's record, and select the Add-ons tab. Click New Group:

• Group Name: "Alterations"
• Display for Item Types: the item type from step 2, so the menu stays off dress orders
• Non-Taxable: check if alteration labour isn't taxed where you are
• Discountable: check if percentage discounts should apply

Then click Add Add-on to Group once per service - hem, bustle, take in bodice, straps, cups - giving each a Retail Price. Wholesale Price is optional, for when you pay a seamstress per job. Drag to reorder.

Add-ons have no variants, so price tiers become separate entries: "Bustle - French, 1-3 pts" and "Bustle - French, 4-6 pts".

5. Create an alterations item. Go to Inventory and click Add Item. Choose your item type from step 2, set Vendor to your store, name it "Alterations", and in the item's Add-ons field select every service you just built. Save.

This is what makes the menu land open and ready on the order rather than tucked inside a collapsed Other Vendor Add-ons group.

Using It on an Order

1. On the bride's ticket, click Add Item and choose your "Alterations" item
2. Open the Add-ons field - your menu is listed with prices
3. Check off each service she needs
4. Adjust a price if this order is a special case
5. Add notes to any service for the seamstress

For something not on the menu, type its name and press Enter. One-offs like this apply to that order only.

Running a second group - "Embellishments", say - lets you mix tax and discount treatments, since each group carries its own.

Alterations as Inventory Items

Each alteration becomes a service item in your inventory, and each one added to a ticket becomes its own line. That's what buys you per-alteration seamstress, status, and reporting - and it's why entry is heavier.

Setup

1. Set up the item type. Follow steps 1-3 of An Itemized Alterations Menu above, with two additions when configuring the item type:

• Check Order Status Tracking When Part of Multi-Item Order so each alteration carries its own status
• Enable Seamstress under Enabled Customer Order Fields

The Service type won't do here - it has neither setting - so create a dedicated Alterations type. Set Default Applicable Taxes to your alteration taxes, or leave it blank if they're exempt.

2. Create an item per service. Go to Inventory and click Add Item for each one:

• Item Type: Alterations
• Vendor: your store
• Item Name: e.g. "Bustle Installation"
• Price: your default for this service

3. Add variants for the pricing options within each service:

Bustle Installation

Hem

Using It on an Order

1. On the bride's ticket, click Add Item
2. Search for the alteration (e.g. "Bustle")
3. Choose the variant (e.g. "French Bustle (4-6 points)")
4. The price fills in from your variant pricing
5. Repeat for each alteration needed

Four alterations means four lines to add rather than four checkboxes, and a price change means editing each item's variants rather than one list. That's the cost of the extra detail.

Same Ticket or Separate Order

Either approach works on the dress ticket or on its own order.

On the same ticket - one order number covers dress and alterations, payments apply to the combined total, one receipt. Use Add Item on the existing order. This suits most stores, especially when alterations are agreed at the time of the sale.

As a separate order - its own order number, payments, receipt, statuses, and sale date. From the customer's profile, click New Order. Choose this when you run a separate alterations department, bill alterations independently, agree the work long after the dress sale, or might need to refund alterations without touching the dress.

Sales Tax on Alterations

Tax treatment varies by location - check with your accountant before configuring.

Additional Work Price Field and Additional Fees Price Field have their own tax-exempt settings alongside the alterations one.

If your prices include tax (common in the UK), enable Prices Inclusive of Tax in Settings → Sales & Orders → Sales Tax. CloudBridal then calculates and shows pre-tax amounts, and tax-exempt items display at the price you entered.

FAQs

I built my menu but it doesn't appear on the order.
Almost always step 3 of the setup. Your menu belongs to your store's vendor record, and add-ons only appear once the order has a vendor - so an order with none, or with a dress designer as its vendor, won't show it. Setting Default Vendor on your alterations item type fills it in automatically.

My menu appears, but collapsed under "Other Vendor Add-ons" with a warning.
That's how add-ons render when they aren't selected on the item on the order. Complete step 5 and select your services on your alterations item.

Why does the menu live on my own store's vendor record rather than on my dress designers?
Add-ons belong to a vendor, and add-ons on a vendor are added to purchase orders to that vendor by default. Put alterations on a designer and a hem lands on your next PO to them, needing unchecking every time - plus you'd maintain the same menu once per designer.

Can I change a price for one bride without changing my menu?
Yes. Adjust it on the order; your menu is untouched.

Can I report on revenue by alteration type?
Only with alterations as inventory items, which report at item and variant level. Add-on amounts are included in order totals but aren't broken out by service.

I started with the menu and now want the detailed version. Do I lose my history?
No. Every service name and price is stored on its order, so past work stays intact - you'd start using items going forward.

Related Documentation

• Vendors - vendor records, where add-on menus are configured
• Inventory Management - item types, items, and variants
• Making a Sale - building orders, the foundation for every approach here
• Sales Tax Setup - taxes and tax-exempt settings
• Orders Setup - order statuses and order form configuration

Updated on: 22/08/2026