Why your stock records don’t match what’s on the shelf

You count the shelf and find 37 bags of cement. Your records say 45. Where did eight bags go?

Sometimes the answer is theft. Far more often, the stock records were wrong to begin with. Here are the usual causes, and how to keep your records honest.

1. Deliveries recorded late, or not at all

Goods arrive, go straight onto the shelf, and the supplier's delivery note sits in a drawer. Until it is entered, your records undercount. Then someone sells what the records say you don't have, and the numbers go negative.

Fix: record every delivery the day it arrives, against the supplier's delivery note or invoice.

2. Sales that never reach the stock records

Cash sales written in a book, items given to a regular customer "to pay later", a quick sale while the till was busy. Each one leaves the shelf without leaving the records.

Fix: every item that leaves goes through the till or an invoice. No exceptions, even for the owner.

3. Returns that aren't recorded

A customer brings back a damaged item. It goes back on the shelf, or into the bin, but the records never change.

Fix: record every return. Goods back on the shelf go back into stock; damaged goods are written off as damage.

4. Units that don't match

You buy in boxes of 100 and sell in single pieces. Or you buy by the roll and sell by the metre. If the records mix units, the numbers are wrong from the start.

Fix: decide one unit for each item, the one you sell in, and convert deliveries into it when you record them.

5. Damage, expiry and shrinkage

Broken items, spoiled goods and small losses are part of trade. Ignoring them makes the records too high.

Fix: write them off as they happen, with a reason. A record of write-offs also shows where losses are concentrated.

Count regularly, and explain every difference

A full stock count once a year isn't enough. Count your fastest-moving and most valuable items every month, and the rest at least quarterly. When the count differs from the records:

1. Check deliveries, sales and returns for that item since the last count.
2. Correct any recording mistakes you find.
3. Record what remains as an adjustment, with the reason.

Differences you can explain are a process problem you can fix. Differences you can't explain, repeatedly, on the same items, are worth a closer look.

How SooBooks helps

In SooBooks, sales, deliveries, supplier bills and returns all move stock automatically, and each movement is recorded with its date and source. Adjustments are recorded with a reason, low-stock alerts warn you before you run out, and the stock value in your accounts follows the same records, so your books and your shelf tell the same story.