How to Use Excel for Inventory: Everything To Know About Using

Excel is the best choice for keeping records and everything. Tracking inventory by using Excel can be considered as simple and complicated as well. You can add almost 250 kinds of categories, entries for different workbooks, complex formulas for calculations, and more. When it becomes integrated with QuickBooks, you can always count for a treat. Be it your business transactions, profit and loss or any other report, with excel it becomes easier and efficient. Steps to use excel for inventory.

All you need to do is to figure out the right details for tracking as well as the categorizing of your data. With this approach, Excel will always have so much to offer and your mind will stay at ease. You will become pro and you can do what not when it comes to magic calculations.

Following are some of the suggestions for things to track under Excel spreadsheet:

• Description
• SKU
• Location
• Bin number
• Barcode or QR code numbers
• Quantity
• Reorder quantity
• Units
• Cost
• Reorder flag
• Inventory value

These above mentioned terms are just some suggestions to count for. You can always remove things that are not relevant to your business. You can also add a few of the additional items you’d like to track, in case we missed something. These specific categories will give you some good ideas to ensure that you have a solid idea for building your inventory management spreadsheet.

You could always choose to stop here with your Excel inventory tracking spreadsheet. Many organizations do it and have successful results. If you’re still feeling like taking things up a notch, then you can add smart calculations to your spreadsheet. You can use Excel’s powerful computational tools.

Some of the most commonly used calculations on an Excel inventory spreadsheet. Try these for starters:

• Quantity in Stock
• Quantity in Reorder
• Purchase Costs
• Inventory Value

With Excel, you can almost customize and configure it to your preference and do almost anything or everything. If there are some other calculations, then as well you would find valuable for managing your inventory. For this, you need to add them to your sheets.

If you’re all set to take Excel for a spin as your best inventory management tool, then the very first step involves finding the right template of spreadsheet for you. Here are again a few options to consider:

Build Self Designed Spreadsheet

If you already are a pro, then you can start building your sheet from scratch. It will give you better manual control and the freedom to design your spreadsheet as per your preference.

By taking this specific approach, you’ll be getting exactly what you want and need because you’ll customize it to meet your specific inventory challenges. IT can be considered as time taking but the benefits of having a spreadsheet that conforms to your company’s inventory management requirements is something that outweighs the other doubts.

The obvious and potential downside can be that building a spreadsheet from scratch can become pretty challenging. If you have complex requirements and aren’t familiar with the ins and outs of Excel.

Use a Pre-Filled Template for Excel

At any point, if designing an entire Excel inventory management spreadsheet from scratch appears to be too overwhelming (or not the best use of your time), then, you can always opt for a pre-built template. You can avail any template of your choice from a wide range of needs. If you can open Excel and search for “inventory,” you’ll be able to find pre-designed examples that may meet your requirements.

From there, it’s just a matter of finding one that suits you the best as per your business requirements and include all the major areas you need. You just need to select it, and apply your data and information.

Find a Template Online

If you don’t find anything suitable or you want something more than just Excel’s templates, then do not worry at all. There’s an entire world of internet that has zillion templates available in excel.

With a gazillion users, the Excel template community is full of spreadsheets that are designed and used by others. Several of these templates are free and some can be paid. As per your requirement, you can choose accordingly. You can find one you like, then just go ahead and download it, and it’s all set to go for record keeping.

Points to Remember While Working with Excel

Some points to consider while working with Excel:

You Need to Audit the Data on a Daily Basis:

We’ve always discussed how human error is always a possibility that never gets ruled out with Excel spreadsheets. In order to avoid such mistakes, you can simply conduct daily audits of your data. By utilizing the benefit of regularly scheduled audits, you can ensure to overrule the problems before they have the opportunity to get piled on over the time.

Alternate Solution is to Track Your Inventory Both on Paper and on the Spreadsheet.

This suggestion may appear like double work (because it is), but it will also give you a better picture by offering a daily count to compare. You can keep a check on your spreadsheet and spot discrepancies. The delay in updating is one of the biggest and most common reasons for human error with Excel spreadsheets happens when there are delays updating the sheet.

Store the Backups in the Cloud Space

Your Excel inventory sheets or any other reports related to your business is one of the most important documents. For this, you need to ensure that it’s backed up and saved at a safe place which gives you easy access at all times.

Consolidation of the Data for Monthly Reporting

With Excel, analyzing historical data becomes very challenging. We can ease off all the challenges by consolidating the data on a monthly basis. This way, your data management will become great.

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