Switching from Katana to Stocksmith — A Migration Guide for Small-Batch Manufacturers

If you’ve made it to this guide, you’ve probably already weighed the options. You’re not here because you’re still considering Katana. You’re here because you’ve decided it’s not right for your business and you want to know what the switch actually looks like.

So let’s skip the comparison and get into it.

Why small-batch manufacturers leave Katana

Before the migration steps, it’s worth naming the specific frustrations that usually drive the switch. Not to pile on Katana (it’s genuinely good software) but because understanding why you’re leaving shapes how you set up your new system.

The most common reasons product businesses move away from Katana:

The price-to-value ratio stops making sense. Katana’s Starter plan begins at $299/month. For a solo operator or a small team producing in batches for Shopify or Faire, that’s a significant overhead for features designed around dedicated production teams, shop floor tasks, and work order coordination.

The enterprise mental model doesn’t fit. Katana was built for product businesses with production staff, shift scheduling, and managed shop floors. If you’re the only person making things — or a small team with flexible production — Katana’s workflow model can feel like software asking you to be a factory when you’re a studio.

The integrations are plan-gated. On Katana’s entry-level plan, you get Shopify. Etsy, Amazon, WooCommerce, and other channels require upgrading. Most small-batch manufacturers sell across multiple platforms from day one.

Recipe costing feels secondary. Katana does costing, but it’s wrapped inside a manufacturing workflow model built for volume. Stocksmith treats recipe costing and COGS as the primary output: everything else is in service of that number.

None of this makes Katana a bad product. It makes it the wrong product for a specific kind of business. If that’s you, here’s how to move.

Before you export: what to prepare

The migration goes smoother if you do a little housekeeping in Katana first.

Audit your active materials. Go through your materials list and archive or delete anything you’re no longer using. There’s no point importing dead stock into a new system; it creates noise and slows setup.

Reconcile your current stock counts. Do a quick physical count of your raw materials before you export. If your Katana stock levels have drifted (and they almost always do), you want accurate numbers going into Stocksmith, not inherited errors.

Collect your supplier information. Katana stores supplier data separately from materials. Make a note of your main suppliers, lead times, and reorder quantities. This data doesn’t export cleanly into Stocksmith’s format, but you’ll set it up fresh in a few minutes.

Note your current stock valuations. If you use standard costing in Katana, note the per-unit cost for your key materials. You’ll re-enter these in Stocksmith to establish your opening inventory value correctly.

Step 1: Export your data from Katana

Katana allows you to export core data as CSV files. Here’s where to find each:

Materials

Settings → Inventory → Materials → Export

The materials export includes: Material name, SKU, unit of measure, stock quantity, and unit cost. This is your most important export, as it maps directly to Stocksmith’s materials import.

Products and BOMs (recipes)

Settings → Inventory → Products → Export

This exports your finished product list. Katana also allows BOM (bill of materials) export, though recipe data may need reformatting to match Stocksmith’s import template. Download both the product list and the BOM export.

Purchase orders and stock movements

Katana doesn’t export purchase orders in a format Stocksmith can import directly. If you need historical purchase records, export them for your own records, but you won’t import this history into Stocksmith. You’ll start fresh from current stock levels.

Sales orders

You can export sales history from Katana. For migration purposes, you won’t import historical orders. Your Stocksmith sales history starts from when you connect your channels. If you need historical records, keep the Katana export as an archive.

Step 2: Set up Stocksmith and import your data

Start your 14-day free trial and work through these steps in order. The sequence matters: materials first, then products, then recipes, then channels.

2a. Import your materials

Manufacturing → Materials → Import

Stocksmith accepts CSV imports for materials. The required columns are: Name, Unit (e.g., g, oz, ml, each), Cost Per Unit, and Quantity On Hand.

Map your Katana materials export to this format. The main adjustment is usually the unit column, since Katana uses abbreviations that may differ from Stocksmith’s accepted values. Check the Stocksmith help centre for the full list of accepted unit types.

Tip: Import a small batch (10–20 materials) first to validate the format before importing your full list.

2b. Set up your products

Manufacturing → Products → New Product

Products in Stocksmith are your finished goods (what you sell). You can create these manually or import via CSV. If you have a large catalog, the CSV import is faster.

One thing to note: Stocksmith distinguishes between Products (what you sell) and Components (sub-assemblies or intermediate goods that go into products but aren’t sold directly). If you make gift sets, bundles, or products with multiple sub-assemblies, Components are how you model those.

2c. Recreate your recipes

Stocksmith recipes (Bills of Materials) connect your materials to your products and drive everything: cost calculation, stock deduction on manufacture, and COGS reporting.

Katana’s BOM export format doesn’t import directly into Stocksmith. You’ll recreate recipes manually, referencing your Katana BOM export as a guide. For most small-batch manufacturers with 10–30 recipes, this takes a few hours. For larger catalogs, plan a full day.

For each recipe:

1. Open the product in Stocksmith
2. Add each material ingredient with the quantity used per unit produced
3. Set the recipe yield (how many units the recipe produces)
4. Add labour time if you track it

Once a recipe is set up, Stocksmith calculates cost per unit automatically and updates it whenever material costs change.

2d. Enter your opening stock

After materials are imported with quantities, Stocksmith automatically has your opening stock. Do a spot-check against your physical count and correct any discrepancies using Stock Adjustments.

2e. Connect your sales channels

Settings → Integrations

Stocksmith connects to Shopify, Etsy, Amazon, WooCommerce, Wix, Square, PayPal, Faire, and more. Connect each channel you sell through. All integrations are available on all plans.

Once connected, channels sync automatically (typically nightly). Your historical orders won’t import, but going forward, every order that comes in will appear in Stocksmith, update your finished goods inventory, and feed your COGS report.

What Stocksmith does differently

After migration, a few things will feel noticeably different. Most of them are simpler.

No work orders. Stocksmith uses “Manufactures” instead of work orders. When you produce a batch of product, you record a Manufacture. The recipe runs, materials deduct automatically, and your finished goods inventory increases. It’s one step instead of a workflow.

No shop floor view. Stocksmith doesn’t have a shop floor screen or task assignment to production staff. If you have a small team, you’ll coordinate production outside of Stocksmith and record the completed manufactures.

COGS is front and centre. Stocksmith’s financial reports are built around COGS. It’s the first thing you see in the dashboard. The monthly COGS report is designed specifically for Schedule C and tax filing.

Pricing support is baked in. Every product in Stocksmith shows your cost, your selling price, and your margin. If your materials costs change, your margins update automatically. Katana does this too, but in Stocksmith it’s the primary use case rather than a feature within a larger manufacturing workflow.

Sales channel data flows automatically. Rather than creating sales orders manually, Stocksmith pulls them from your channels. You don’t manage an order inbox inside Stocksmith. Orders arrive, inventory adjusts, and COGS accumulates.

What you’ll leave behind

This section is important. Be honest with yourself about whether these gaps are dealbreakers for your business.

Production scheduling. Katana’s production planning view (schedule work orders, view capacity, manage production queues) has no equivalent in Stocksmith. If you’re managing multiple production runs with different staff members, you’ll need a workaround (most teams use a shared calendar or a simple Trello board for this).

Shop floor task assignment. Stocksmith doesn’t assign tasks to specific team members or track time-per-operation per worker. If you need detailed production labour tracking at the individual task level, Stocksmith isn’t there yet.

Purchase order management. Katana has a full PO workflow: create POs, send to suppliers, receive stock against the PO. Stocksmith doesn’t have a PO system. You can track supplier costs and material purchases, but there’s no formal PO workflow. Most small-batch manufacturers handle POs by email anyway, so this is rarely a blocker in practice.

Multi-location inventory. If you stock materials or finished goods across multiple physical locations, Stocksmith tracks a single inventory pool. Katana has multi-location support that Stocksmith doesn’t currently offer.

If any of these gaps are central to how your business runs today, take the 14-day trial seriously and pressure-test whether you can work around the missing pieces before you commit to switching.

Setup checklist

Use this to track your migration progress:

Before you start:

• Archive inactive materials and products in Katana
• Do a physical stock count and reconcile Katana levels
• Export: Materials CSV, Products CSV, BOM CSV
• Note supplier details (lead times, reorder quantities)
• Start Stocksmith 14-day trial

Week 1, Core setup:

• Import materials (test batch, then full import)
• Create products (import via CSV or manual entry)
• Recreate recipes (reference Katana BOM export)
• Verify recipe costs against Katana (spot-check 5–10 products)
• Adjust opening stock counts if needed

Week 2, Channels and testing:

• Connect all sales channels (Shopify, Etsy, Amazon, Faire, etc.)
• Verify first order sync (check stock deduction and COGS)
• Record a test Manufacture (check material deduction)
• Run a COGS report for the current month (validate it looks right)
• Book onboarding call if needed (free on all plans)

Before cancelling Katana:

• All active recipes recreated in Stocksmith
• At least two weeks of live order syncing tested
• COGS and material reports reviewed and validated
• Historical Katana data archived locally (export full data backup)

Frequently Asked Questions