Stock take template for Excel: free inventory count sheet

What an inventory count sheet needs

• SKU or item code, and a short description, so two people count the same thing.
• Location or bin, so the count walks the shop in order and nothing is counted twice.
• A Counted column that is blank. Hide the expected quantity from the counter (a blind count) so they count what is there, not what they expect.
• Counter initials and date, for the recount conversation later.
• In the office copy only: system quantity, counted minus system, and unit cost to put a value on the difference.

How to run the count in six steps

• Export your stock list (SKU, name, location, on hand, cost) from your till, shop or accounting tool.
• Stop or note sales and deliveries during the count, or record them separately.
• Print the blank sheet, or a blind copy of your list, and count one location at a time.
• Type the counted numbers into the sheet next to the system quantity.
• Sort by the difference. Recount the large ones before you change any record: most big gaps are a miskeyed number or a misplaced box.
• Adjust the stock record once, from the recounted figures, and keep the sheet as the audit trail.

Excel or Google Sheets?

The sample .xlsx opens in Excel, and Google Sheets can import it (File, Import). We checked its formulas with two independent spreadsheet readers and in real Google Sheets (blank cells, zero, decimals and text typed into the count column). The “Open in Google Sheets (make a copy)” button above gives you that Sheet.