A spreadsheet is a good way to start counting stock. It becomes a bad way to run it. If more than two of these sound familiar, the sheet has probably stopped serving you.
Nine signs
- The count never matches the shelf. You correct the sheet after every stock take, and the difference is different each time.
- Two people edit it. There are copies with slightly different names, and nobody is sure which one is right.
- You cannot say what is on hand without walking to the shelf. The sheet is a record of what someone last remembered to type.
- You oversell. You promise stock to a customer, or a marketplace order, that has already gone.
- Batches, serial numbers or expiry dates live in someone’s head. When that person is away, so is the information.
- You reorder by gut. You do not know what sells, what sits, or how many weeks of stock you hold.
- Month-end takes days. Reconciling stock to the accounts is a project.
- A new hire needs a week to learn the sheet. The formulas and colour codes are the system.
- You sell in more than one place. The shop, a marketplace and wholesale customers all draw on the same stock, and you update it by hand.
What to move to next
Match the fix to the problem.
- One site, a small team, stock that mostly matters at month-end. Stock control inside accounting software may be enough. SQL Accounting has inventory built in, with sales and purchase documents that flow from quotation to invoice and from purchase order to goods received.
- A counter that sells stock. A POS that posts into your accounts, so every sale moves stock without re-keying. SQL POS tracks serial numbers, batches and expiry dates, and works with several warehouses.
- Several sales channels. A system that keeps one central stock count and syncs it to every channel, so you stop overselling. That is what ODiN does.
- A warehouse floor where several people receive, pick and ship. A warehouse management system with barcode scanning and handhelds. That is GudangSys.
You do not need all of them. Start with the sign that hurts most.
Not sure which step you are on?
That is what the free consultation is for. We look at how you handle stock today, and say which of these fits, or that none of them does yet.