Three Ways to Use Daobook Prescriptions

One of the most common things we hear from practitioners is: "I'd love to use the prescription features, but I'm not sure I need full inventory management."

Good news — you probably don't.

Daobook's prescription and inventory tools work in three independent levels. Most practitioners find that the first or second level gives them everything they need. Here's how they work, so you can decide what makes sense for your practice.

Level 1: Record Your Prescriptions

This is where most practitioners start, and for many, it's all they need.

Daobook comes pre-loaded with over 450 traditional formulas and 640+ individual herbs, all searchable by Pinyin name. Type "Ban Xia" and Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang appears with its full composition and dosages ready to go.

• Search and select classic formulas, or build custom ones herb by herb
• Set dosage, administration, and warning instructions
• Save your custom formulas to reuse with a single click
• Record prescriptions within consultations or as standalone records
• Use simple quantity-based pricing (e.g. $0.50 per gram) to add prescriptions straight to invoices

Level 2: Know Your Costs and Margins

If you'd like to understand what each prescription actually costs you versus what you charge, you can enable herb inventory in your settings and add your materials with their cost prices.

Here's the key: you don't have to manage stock levels to track costs.

When you create a herb material, product, or formula batch, there's a Track Inventory toggle. Leave it off, and Daobook treats the item as always in stock — no counting, no stock alerts, no deductions. But it does know the cost, which unlocks:

• Cost + Markup pricing — set a markup percentage per material type (e.g. 50% on granules) and Daobook calculates the prescription price automatically from the actual herbs used
• Packaging costs — add a flat fee per prescription type
• Price rounding — round to the nearest dollar, $5, or $10
• Auto-invoicing — prescriptions are added to the consultation invoice with the calculated price, ready to go

Level 3: Full Inventory Management

Some practitioners — particularly those running a dispensary or managing large herb stocks — genuinely need to track what's on the shelf. This level is there for them.

It uses the same herb materials and products from Level 2, but with the Track Inventory toggle switched on. This adds:

• Live stock levels that update automatically when you dispense prescriptions
• Low stock alerts via email and in-app notifications, with configurable thresholds per item
• Stock status at a glance — in stock, low stock, or out of stock, colour-coded across your inventory
• Expiry date tracking with advance warnings
• A full transaction history for every stock movement

The beauty is in the toggle

Every herb material, product, and formula batch has that same Track Inventory switch. You can track stock on your high-volume granules but leave your rarely-used bulk herbs untracked. Mix and match however suits your practice — even within the same inventory.

A note on setup

If you're thinking "but I'll need to enter hundreds of herbs before I can start" — you don't. The formula database is already there. For Level 1, there's genuinely nothing to configure.

For Level 2, you only need to add the materials you actually use and their cost prices. Most practitioners find they regularly prescribe from a core set of 30–50 herbs, not the full 640+. Start with those, and add others as they come up.

Which level suits you?

• Writing prescriptions and want good records? Level 1 — you're already set.
• Want to understand your costs and automate pricing? Level 2 — a bit of setup, ongoing value.
• Running a dispensary and need stock control? Level 3 — it's there when you need it.

If you'd like a hand figuring out which approach makes sense for your practice, just reply to this email — I'm happy to help.