As a company that sells tangible things, effectively managing your inventory is essential to the success of your enterprise. Counting every item you own daily may seem monotonous, but it is necessary.
Your company may experience financial loss and fail to live up to customers’ expectations if inventory counts are wrong (mainly if customers buy products that don’t provide an out-of-stock alert). Additionally, your accounting team will need to continuously update the books to accommodate errors, which could result in more tax problems than you ever wanted to handle. That is why it is crucial to maintain and create an inventory sheet, as it makes the process of business and inventory management a lot simpler. But before understanding how to create an inventory sheet, let’s take a look at what an inventory sheet is and what are some things you should include in your inventory sheet.
What is an inventory sheet?
For each sort of business, an inventory sheet has a wide range of meanings. A list of the inventory type, quantity, price per unit, and SKU or serial number is contained in an inventory sheet, regardless of the kind of business.
You can keep track of your inventory by using inventory sheets. This can be done by the owner or a worker that counts inventory as part of their regular tasks, depending on the size of your organization.
Things you should include in your inventory sheet
An inventory sheet can be as complex or simple as you desire. However, an inventory sheet should be able to accommodate all of your business-inventory-related requirements. Here are a few things you should consider including in your sheet as it will make inventory management much more straightforward.
- Names of all the items
On your inventory sheet, you must list each specific item, including any modifications. For instance, the 16-ounce and 20-ounce versions of liquid drinks would each have their own line item on the inventory sheet. Use that description or the product’s name (such as “16 oz. canned water”).
- Amount of inventory in stock
This lists the total number of products relating to a particular serial number in your inventory. For example, while listing down the number of shirts, consider the size, shape, fit and any other categories relating to it.
- Price per unit
Thanks to this, you can see how much you are paying for each inventory unit. For example, you are paying $2 per unit if you have 500 T-shirts on hand that cost you a total of $1,000.
- Sale price
Including the sale price is optional. However, if your business provides seasonal sales or discounts, adding sale prices to your inventory sheet can be very helpful.
- Location
Note which merchandise came from where if you have several inventory storage systems. It’s crucial to know your inventory before the order fulfillment process starts, whether you’re tracking it in a spare room in your home or a fulfillment center. This won’t be optional if you have many storage spaces.
Steps to create an inventory sheet
Now that you have familiarized yourself with what an inventory sheet is and what are the things you should include in them, this is how you create an inventory sheet. There are four main steps to follow to create an easy and efficient inventory sheet. These steps are listed below-
Open your spreadsheet program.
Use whichever spreadsheet application you are most comfortable with. No matter what software you use, the method is generally the same, even though the features and capabilities may vary slightly. Use a programme that makes it simple to access, amend, and save your inventory sheet, but only if it does so.
Name the headings
The heading for each column needs to be entered into the spreadsheet first. Depending on your business type and your top priority for inventory management, you can alter your headers. Typical headings include item name, serial number, sale price, order time, supplier, number of units in stock, cost per unit, etc.
Enter the items and any other information relating to it
It will take longer to set up your inventory sheet the first time because you have to fill out each column for each item. Your pricing or cost information may not change monthly, but your inventory levels will fluctuate.
Save and update
Once your sheet is configured with the appropriate categories and product details, save it and store it on your main work computer in a location that is simple to find. You can use your inventory sheet to document changes and update your records when you perform your weekly or monthly inventory check.
