50+ Sample Inventor Sheets

What Are Inventory Sheets?

First of all, a product inventory refers to the item a company purchases for resale purposes. And the word “inventory” can be associated with the process of listing or counting items used to sell or produce. With a plethora of products or items to store in a warehouse for different business types, inventory sheets are essential for recordkeeping. Hence, inventory spreadsheets record and manage the product or supply inventory so all items will be organized and beneficial for business operations. Also, this sheet marks your official checklist to write the inventory type, price per unit, serial number, etc.

According to Flexis, one out of three businesses would miss their shipping deadline due to selling an item that is out of stock.

Why Is an Inventory Sheet Important?

Indeed, each stock, item, product, or raw material can be tracked and recorded under inventory sheets. But why is that needed in the first place? And how does a mere spreadsheet help a business in general? In this section, you will learn the many importances of an inventory spreadsheet.

Inventory Identification: A well-known feature of an inventory sheet is its aptitude to identify, classify, and categorize every inventory product. All the items in the warehouse would have a corresponding stock-keeping unit (SKU), price per unit, the amount in stock, and other necessary classifications. Just like most inventory lists, each material is labeled accordingly, which is why tracking and identifying products are made easier.Inventory Tracking: It is no surprise that inventory tracking is one of the main functions of an inventory sheet. Just like how most tracking sheets work, you can log the current locations and situations of the product inventory. Real-time logs are even expected for most software inventory sheets. Thus, you can easily monitor which items have been shipped, sold, in shortage, and more.Accurate Data: Instead of merely assuming that your business is in stock or sold out, it is more reliable to rely on actual data results for accurate data. Hence, the inventory sheet serves as a data report that tells you the exact amount of items and other specifics. In fact, a survey reported that one out of three businesses would miss shipping deadlines due to selling items that are already out of stock. That explains why documenting precise data in the sheet is an absolute must to prevent mishaps.Overall Management: An inventory sheet alone is a multi-faceted document. Do not simply use it for counting items in the stockroom because you can use it to track inventory turnover, assess inventory performance, appraise the inventory budget, and document everything for accounting requirements. Thus, this sheet has all the key elements to structure a dynamic inventory management plan.Financial Records: Most importantly, inventory sheets help in recording the financial statement regarding inventory turnover and business sales in general. Remember that failing to document precise inventory counts prompts losing a lot of business money, particularly in not meeting customer expectations. That usually happens when clients buy items yet the business did not notify them about such products being out of stock. Also, you need the sheet to correct tax issues and accounting records to ensure you survive in the industry.

What to Include in an Inventory Sheet

You already know how consequential inventory sheets are. But are you fully aware of what the significant elements inside these sheets are? Indeed, every organization has its own different content and data in an inventory sheet. But in standard inventory sheets, they usually contain the following elements:

Name of Item: Expect the inventory sheet to list every name of the item in the inventory. In a restaurant, for example, the inventory sheet would consist mainly of food items. But you have to name them individually from the type of food, sizes, brand name, and other variations or brief descriptions.Serial Number or SKU: The next concern is the inventory SKU or serial number. This refers to the unique alphanumeric code used to recognize certain products. And these codes usually identify the item specifications from the color, brand, size, etc. Thus, you should categorize each product to its designated serial number to make it easier for your reference in tracking specific products.Amount in Stock: Always count the exact number of items available for every SKU in the amount in-stock section. An example is when you are running a clothing store. You can assume that there are at least eight small baby pink boucle dresses. And the newly arrived large branded apparel could have 20 items. Note that these figures are how you determine if your inventory is full or out of stock.Price per Unit: The inventory sheet has its own set of price lists, and it starts at the price per unit section. The price per unit refers to how much you should pay for every unit in the inventory. For example, if you have around 500 chocolates in stock that cost $1,000 in total, that would mean you should pay $2 per unit.Sale Price: Although the sale price is optional, it is crucial when required. You often need that in monitoring your business sales, discounts, and other pricing concerns for each item in the inventory. Thus, precise sale prices are needed to ensure you got accurate records documented in the inventory sheet.Location: Another optional section is the location. Companies that often need to include this section are those with more than one stockroom or warehouse. You need to specify each inventory storage room’s venue to check which area has certain items available or not. In fact, you might need this to check whether there is enough room to store more items in certain warehouses or not. You better not lose track of the storage locations because you might lose some of your product inventory instead.

How to Create a Smart Inventory Sheet

The easiest way to track all your product inventory is through an inventory sheet. But how you prepare the inventory sheet itself marks the foundation of how helpful, organized, or successful inventory management shall be. Thus, you cannot take the process of making it lightly. To make a smart inventory sheet, you only need to follow these steps:

Step 1: Save a Sample Inventory Sheet Template

There is a reason why there are plenty of sample inventory sheets enlisted in this article. They are your ultimate premade spreadsheets so you can come up with inventory sheets as much as you want without recreating the exact design and without starting from scratch again and again. And don’t forget that each template is ready to download and print anytime. Moreover, you can edit your document however you like from the format and design so there is no need to stick with standard examples. Personalize your inventory sheet in the best way possible!

Step 2: Add the Elements of an Inventory Sheet

From the names of every product or supply list, the unique serial numbers, price per unit, and other elements discussed earlier, ensure that you have all of them covered in your inventory sheet. And most inventory sheets divide those elements by column. So you have one column for the item name, another for the units in stock, etc. But you can also insert more relevant elements in the sheet that you think are relevant to your inventory. That may include the minimum order quantity, name of supplier, order time, and so much more.

Step 3: Encode the Items’ Complete Information

Sometimes, what causes your inventory sheet to be unhelpful could be its lack of detail. Take the enlisted items, for example. Does it have enough data to identify it? Maybe your description was too broad in stating that a product refers to grocery food, medical equipment, or any property. You need to specify it further from the brand name, size, and other specs. It may take longer to write a detailed inventory sheet but, rest assured, the outcome will be worth it. The sheet will be a reliable reference for data reports, for sure.

Step 4: Find Ways to Organize Your Data

Don’t force too much data to insert into your inventory sheet. Organizing the data is one of the important steps here anyway. So take away any unnecessary detail, change complex statements into simpler words, and add visual organizers like graphs and organizational charts rather than writing whole paragraphs. Whatever helps in presenting your details in the most organized and easily understandable way possible is encouraged here.

Step 5: Update the Sheet Regularly, Especially During Inventory

Once you are through, your constant responsibility is to update the inventory sheet regularly. Oftentimes, you do that during inventory may it be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Maybe the pricing or cost sheet details stay the same but inventory levels can increase or decrease at any time. Also, you would likely check the stocks available if things are stockpiling or going short. And inventory sheets with data that are up to date will help your business prosper so keep it up.

FAQs

What does an inventory sheet list?

According to Chron, inventory sheets enlist a business’s items to use, produce, or sell. These inventory checklists or sheets naturally state the names of the products, keep track of the products’ costs, and even monitor how many items go in and out of a business.

What are the types of inventory?

Inventory may be categorized according to raw materials, finished products, work-in-process inventory, buffer inventory, transit inventory, decoupling inventory, anticipation inventory, and cycle inventory.

How do you keep track of inventory?

There are many ways to conduct effective tracking on your inventory, especially along with an inventory sheet. And some tips include:

  • Prepare an inventory program with sales analytics on a real-time basis.
  • Sell your products in proper order.
  • Never stockpile low-turn stocks.
  • Don’t forget about quality control measures.
  • Conduct an asset management plan.
  • Prioritize the most valuable products.
  • Engage in research report forecasts.

Whether you are a new small business or a well-established corporation, chances are inventory tracking will still be part of your operations. Thankfully, you can headstart your inventory management scheme using top-notch inventory sheets. With organized warehousing systems, constantly improving cash flow, and a reliable inventory sheet to boot, rest assured, you got all the tools you need to maintain all your business resources appropriately. Time to put what you learned into practice by downloading sample inventory sheets now.