If you run a distribution, wholesale or trading business, stock is your money. It sits on shelves, moves between godowns, and has to match what your books say. When it does not, you find out at the worst time: a customer orders something you do not have, or a stock-take shows a gap nobody can explain. This guide covers what to track, where stock records go wrong, and what to look for in inventory software.
What you need to know about your stock
- What you have of each item, and where it is.
- What you have ordered from suppliers and when it arrives.
- What customers have ordered and not yet received.
- Which items are running low, and which are not moving.
- What each item cost you, so you know your margin.
Where stock records go wrong
- Entries are late. Stock comes in or goes out, and the register is updated the next day, or not at all.
- Billing and stock are separate. A sale is billed in one place, and someone has to reduce stock in another.
- Nobody sees low stock coming. You find out an item has run out when a customer asks for it.
- Purchases are not matched. Goods received and supplier bills do not agree, and the difference is hard to trace.
- Dead stock hides. Items that stopped selling months ago sit on the shelf and tie up cash.
A routine that keeps stock honest
- Give every item a code and a name, and use them everywhere.
- Record goods received against the purchase order on the day they arrive.
- Reduce stock automatically when you bill, so one entry does both jobs.
- Set a minimum level for items you cannot run out of, and get an alert when stock drops below it.
- Count a few items every week instead of everything once a year, and fix differences straight away.
- Review slow-moving items every month, and decide whether to discount or stop buying them.
What to look for in inventory software
- Live stock levels that update when you purchase and when you bill.
- Purchase management, from order to receipt.
- Low-stock alerts.
- GST-ready invoices in the same system, so you do not enter the same sale twice.
- Customer and supplier records that link to their transactions.
- Reports on stock value, movement and what is not selling.
How Bizezz handles this
Bizezz has a Purchase and Inventory module with purchase management, live stock tracking and low-stock alerts, next to billing and GST, CRM and finance in one workspace. Plans start at ₹499 a month for a single module. Please confirm current pricing with us or on bizezz.com. See the Bizezz page.