Ordering From a Cut List: Bulk Line Entry for Cabinet Shops

Cut list ordering lets a cabinet shop paste or upload its list of doors, drawer fronts or panels in one go, instead of clicking through a configurator 40 times. The system reads each line, checks it against your size and option rules, flags anything that cannot be built, and turns the rest into a priced order the shop can submit.

Why trade buyers think in lists

A homeowner orders one kitchen, once. A cabinet shop orders every week, and the order already exists before they reach your website. It lives in their design software, a spreadsheet, or a handwritten sheet on the bench.

Asking that buyer to re-enter 40 lines through a step-by-step form is asking them to do your data entry. Some will do it. Many will keep emailing you a PDF, and your office will retype it, with every risk that comes with retyping.

Bulk line entry meets the buyer where their data already is.

What a cut list line needs to contain

For cabinet doors and fronts, a usable line typically includes:

• Quantity
• Width and height, in a stated unit (inches or millimetres, fractions or decimals)
• Style (Slab, Shaker, five-piece, etc.)
• Finish or colour
• Item type (door, drawer front, panel, filler)
• Hinge bore side and count, if you bore doors
• Grain direction, for veneer or solid wood
• A line note or room label, so the shop can sort the delivery

Agree on a column order and publish it as a template. The fewer surprises in the file, the less time anyone spends fixing it.

A simple template

Those sizes are illustrative. Use the units and fractions your shop already works in.

Validation is the whole point

Pasting a list is easy to build. Checking it is where the value sits. Each line should be tested against the same rules your homeowner checkout uses:

1. Is the width and height within the minimum and maximum for that style?
2. Is the finish offered on that style?
3. Does the hinge bore count make sense for the door height?
4. Is the grain direction valid for that material?
5. Is the unit recognizable (a "30" that should be "30 in" versus "300 mm")?

Lines that pass go straight into the order with a price. Lines that fail are highlighted with a plain-language reason, so the dealer can fix them in place. Nothing goes to production until every line passes.

That is the same idea as the final review step for homeowners, applied to volume. There is more on why that step matters in the final review step that cuts wrong-size orders.

Paste, upload or both

There are two common ways dealers get a list in:

• Paste from a spreadsheet. The dealer copies rows from their spreadsheet and pastes them into a grid. Fast for small and medium orders.
• Upload a CSV. Better for long orders or for shops that export directly from design software.

Supporting both covers most of your accounts. If a dealer's software exports columns in a different order, a column-mapping step on upload saves them reformatting every time.

After the first order: reorders

Cabinet shops reorder. They need a matching replacement door, a second kitchen in the same finish, or the same vanity fronts for every unit in a building.

Once a list has been entered and validated, it should be easy to:

• Reorder the whole order in one click.
• Copy it and change a finish or a few sizes.
• Pull up past orders by PO number or job name.

Repeat ordering is especially important for suppliers of drawer boxes, RTA boxes and cut-to-size panels, where the same lines come back week after week. See drawer boxes, RTA boxes and panels: repeat B2B orders.

Rolling out cut list ordering to dealers

1. Publish your template with a sample file.
2. Ask your highest-volume dealer to send their next order through bulk entry.
3. Watch which lines fail validation and why. Often it is units or naming, which you can fix with clearer column headers.
4. Update the template and share it with all accounts.

Bulk entry works best as part of a full B2B dealer portal, where the dealer's price tier, PO number and terms apply automatically to the uploaded order.

How Inlay handles this

• Dealers in the Inlay dealer portal can paste or upload a CSV or cut list for bulk line entry.
• Every line is checked against your trade rules (sizes that fit, options offered together) before the order can be submitted.
• The dealer's price tier, PO number and payment method (card or Net 15, 30 or 60 terms) apply to the bulk order.
• Past orders can be reordered in one click, and validated orders sync to Allmoxy or any system that accepts a webhook, CSV or email.

Book a 20-minute demo to see a cut list checked against your own rules.