Counting Stock and Tracking What Moves
Okay. Last lesson we set up the product list, ugly and functional, which is exactly how it should look right now. Don't fix the colors. I will find out.
This lesson we're adding the part that actually makes it an inventory tracker instead of just a list. We're adding counts. In, out, and what's left.
The three columns you actually need
Sooo here's where people overbuild. You do not need a column for every possible thing that could ever happen to a box. You need three columns, and that's genuinely most of it:
- Starting count (or "count as of last check")
- Received (stuff that came in)
- Sold / used / shipped out (stuff that left)
Then one more column that does the math for you: Current count, which is just Starting plus Received minus Sold. That's it. That's SUM and subtraction, which you already know from a few lessons back.
Set it up like this, left to right:
| Product | Starting Count | Received | Sold | Current Count |
|---|
Current Count formula is something like =B2+C2-D2. Adjust the letters to wherever your columns actually landed. If your columns are in different letters, that's fine, just match it to your sheet. This isn't a test with one right answer, it's your sheet.
Where the number actually comes from
Here's the part people skip and then wonder why their tracker's lying to them. Somebody has to physically count the thing, or check the receipt, or check the order confirmation, and type the number in. The spreadsheet doesn't know your inventory. It only knows what you tell it.
I say this in almost every lesson at this point because I mean it every single time: check your numbers against reality. A spreadsheet will hand you a confident wrong answer with zero hesitation. It doesn't feel bad about it. You have to be the one who catches it.
Decide how often you're actually going to update this
This is the step people build beautifully and then abandon in three weeks. Be honest with yourself right now. Are you updating this daily? Weekly? After every shipment?
Pick the smallest commitment you'll actually keep. A tracker updated messily once a week beats a gorgeous system you gave up on in February. Write your update day at the top of the sheet if you need the reminder. I'm serious, just type it in a cell. "Update Fridays." Future-you will thank past-you.
A quick story on why I plan this stuff out loud now
I used to just wing these lessons. Figured I knew the material, I'd talk through it, it'd be fine. Then one night in my Primary class I basically ad-libbed the whole lesson, no real plan, just vibes and confidence. And it went dead silent. Not the good kind of quiet where people are thinking. The kind where you can feel you've lost the room and you don't know where you lost them.
I felt that one in my stomach. Genuinely sat with it after.
So now I outline everything, teaching or spreadsheets, doesn't matter. That's actually why this lesson has three columns and not eleven. I planned what you actually need before I started typing this out. Winging it costs you something. I've paid that cost. I'd rather you not.
A word on formulas breaking
Your Current Count column might show something weird at some point. Negative numbers, usually, if you sold more than you logged as received, or if you forgot to update Starting Count after a recount. Don't panic. Just trace it back: does Starting Count match what you actually had? Does Received match your last order? Nine times out of ten it's a typo or a column that didn't get filled in, not some deep math problem.
And if you genuinely can't find it, that's allowed too. Sometimes I fix a broken formula without fully knowing why it was broken in the first place. I just try things until it works again. Not glamorous. Works fine.
One thing to skip for now
You do not need conditional formatting yet, the red-cell-when-you're-low thing. That's coming, and honestly I think it's more useful than half the fancy charts people chase, but one thing at a time. Get your counts flowing correctly first. Pretty and clever come later, always later.
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Before next time: get your three columns built and put in real numbers from an actual count, even a rough one. Don't estimate from memory, actually go look. We'll make the sheet warn you when something's running low next.