Freezer Inventory Sheet for a Food Business (Free Template)

A freezer inventory sheet lists everything in the freezer, one row per lot: what it is, its lot code, where it sits, the date it was frozen, the date you'll use it by, how much there is and what it's worth. A freezer needs its own sheet more than any other shelf, because it's the place where stock goes to be forgotten: lots slide to the back, labels frost over, and "frozen" gets mistaken for "keeps forever". Freezing slows the loss of quality, but it doesn't stop it, so frozen stock still needs a use-by date and an order of use. In the example below, a kitchen's two freezers hold seven lots worth $1,646.56, and two of them, a bag of cooked kalua pork with 12 days left and frozen kūlolo with 19, need to be used first. Below is what to record, how to lay out the freezer, the weekly check, and a free template.

The short version

• One row per lot, not per item: two lots of the same purée have two dates.
• Record where each lot sits in the freezer, so it can be found without emptying it.
• Give frozen stock a use-by date, from your own tests or your supplier's.
• Put the oldest lots at the front and top, and the newest at the back and bottom.
• Check weekly: temperature, use-soon lots forward, expired lots out, a quick count.
• Value the freezer; it's often more money than it looks.
• TaroStack keeps every frozen lot with its dates and sends the oldest out first. More below.

What to record

A filled-in example

Windward Roots, the made-up taro business I use in these examples, keeps a chest freezer and an upright. As of October 13:

Two things stand out. The kalua pork with 12 days left is on shelf 3, at the back, behind the newer lot: exactly where the oldest stock shouldn't be. And the oldest purée is at the bottom of the chest, under 22 newer tubs, which is how lots end up expiring unused. The lilikoi purée is the season's fruit, bought at harvest for a year of lilikoi butter; how that's planned is in seasonal inventory.

Laying out the freezer

• Oldest at the front and top, newest at the back and bottom, so first-expired-first-out is the easy reach.
• One lot per spot where you can, and the spot on the sheet.
• Labels that survive the cold: lot code, item and use-by date, written or printed big enough to read through frost.
• A space for what's on hold, apart, for a lot waiting on a check or a decision.

How the order of use works across a whole kitchen is in FEFO vs FIFO, and labeling ideas are in inventory labeling ideas.

The weekly check

Expired stock written off without a record is money that disappears from the books without a reason; how to record it is in what is expired stock.

Get the template

Download the freezer inventory sheet. One row per lot with where it sits, the dates, quantity and cost; days left count from today, use-soon and expired lots are flagged, and the freezer's value adds itself up. A second sheet keeps the weekly check. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.

Where this stops working

The sheet is right on the day it's updated. Then someone takes four bags of pork for a batch and forgets to cross them off, a delivery of butter goes straight into the upright, and the frozen kūlolo ships in two orders. By the next weekly check the sheet and the freezer disagree, and the count in a freezer at −2°F is done fast, with cold hands, and without the sheet.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack keeps every frozen lot with its dates as the stock moves, so the freezer's list is never a week old.

Every lot, with its dates. Receiving records each lot with its dates, and scanning a supplier's GS1-128 case label fills in the lot and use-by date. Every batch you freeze goes into a lot of its own with its best-by date, and lot labels print with the code and date.

Oldest first, automatically. Batches and orders take stock first-expired-first-out by default, so the four bags of pork for Tuesday's batch come from the lot with 12 days left, not the newer one. Lots close to their date show in your alerts, and a forecast shows what will expire unsold and what it's worth. Lots on hold stay out of what's available.

And counts in the cold. Counting works on a phone with no signal, inside a walk-in freezer, and sends itself later; it shows what each difference is worth before you post it. Write-offs carry their reason, so expired stock is reported by reason, item and site.

Lots and expiry, first-expired-first-out, alerts, counting and write-offs with reasons are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.

Questions people also ask

What should a freezer inventory sheet include?

One row per lot with the item, lot code, where it sits in the freezer, the date it was frozen, the use-by date, quantity, cost and value, and the days left with a status.

How do you keep track of freezer inventory?

Keep a row per lot, record where each sits, put the oldest at the front, cross off what's taken as it's taken, and check the sheet against the freezer every week.

Does frozen food need a use-by date?

For a business, yes. Freezing slows the loss of quality but doesn't stop it, so give frozen stock a use-by date from your own tests or your supplier's, and use the oldest first.

How should a walk-in freezer be organized?

Oldest lots at the front and top, newest at the back and bottom, one lot per spot where you can, labels that survive the cold, and a separate space for anything on hold.