Every wastage entry in Papaya Inventory records a reason — it's what powers the waste-by-reason breakdowns in your dashboards. You can manage this list yourself: rename reasons to match how your venue talks about loss, add new ones, control the order they appear in, and deactivate the ones you don't use.
Default reasons
When ingredient inventory is enabled, Papaya creates 7 default reasons: Spoilage, Expired, Moldy, Damaged, Dropped, Theft, Other. Defaults are shown in each user's language automatically; reasons you create yourself appear exactly as you typed them.
Where to manage reasons
Go to Inventory → Inventory setup → Wastage reasons (merchant level).
Adding a reason
Click Add reason, enter a name, and save. New reasons are added to the bottom of the list.
Renaming a reason
Click the pencil icon, change the name, and save. Renaming is safe: historical wastage entries keep the reason name as it was when the waste was logged.
Deactivating a reason
Reasons can't be deleted, only deactivated — edit the reason and switch it to Inactive. A deactivated reason disappears from the Add Wastage picker but stays on all historical records and reports.
Reordering
Open the ⋮ menu and choose Reorder, drag the rows into the order you want, then tap Done. The order controls the Add Wastage picker, and the top active reason is pre-selected by default — put your most common reason first to save staff a tap.
Permissions
Staff need the Manage wastage reasons permission to add, edit, or reorder reasons. Logging waste itself doesn't require this permission.
FAQ
What happens if I deactivate every reason?
Waste can't be logged — the Add Wastage form will show a message asking you to reactivate at least one reason.
Do my reports change when I rename a reason?
Past entries keep the old name; entries logged after the rename use the new one.
Why can't I delete a reason?
Deactivating instead of deleting keeps your historical waste records and by-reason reporting intact.
This article is part of the Papaya Inventory series. See Wastage, Production & Movements for how to log waste, and Getting Started with Papaya Inventory for the full setup guide.