Troubleshooting | Stock Numbers Don't Match Reality

Stock drift is inevitable — thefts, mis-picks, damages, miscounted deliveries. The question is never “is there drift” but “where did it enter”. Check in this order.

1. Unreceived purchase orders — a delivery that arrived but was never received against its PO leaves stock invisible (see Inventory | Purchasing & Purchase Orders). Check open POs with “0 received” against what's actually on the shelf.

2. Unapplied transfers — a stock transfer created between locations but never completed moves nothing physically while everyone assumes it did. Check Inventory → Stock Transfers for open ones.

3. Refunds and returns — a refund processed without the restock option leaves the shelf fuller than the system knows. Check recent returns for the restock choice.

4. Manual edits — a hand-edited quantity with no note. The item's history shows when the number last changed and by whom.

5. Genuine shrinkage — damage, theft, mis-picks. Only a count tells you this for sure.

Reconciling without a full stocktake

Run a cycle count scoped to just the suspect items or bins (Picking → Cycle counts): scan what's really there, review the variances, and apply. Stock corrects in one click and every adjustment is recorded with its reason.

Preventing drift

Little and often: a short weekly cycle count of one aisle keeps the system honest, so the annual stocktake stops being an excavation. The daily reorder digest in Inventory Planning flags the items drifting fastest.