Inventory Adjustment Form (Free Template)

An inventory adjustment form records every change to stock that isn't a delivery, a batch or a sale: stock thrown out because it expired or spoiled, samples given away, damage, and the differences a count turns up. Each line should carry the item and lot, the quantity added or removed, a reason from a short fixed list, the value at cost, who made the change, and, above a set amount, who approved it. Kept that way, the form stops numbers being changed quietly, and a month of it shows exactly what waste and corrections cost and why. Below is what goes on the form, the reasons worth using, a month summarized by reason, and a free template.

The short version

• Record every change that isn't a delivery, batch or sale.
• Each line: date, item, lot, where, quantity (+ or −), reason, unit cost, value, who, approved by.
• Use a short fixed list of reasons, so the totals mean something.
• Value every line at cost: a number of grams means little; a number of dollars gets attention.
• Require approval above a threshold.
• Total by reason every month.
• TaroStack puts a reason, a value and a name on every adjustment, automatically. More below.

What goes on the form

Reasons worth using

Keep the list short and fixed. "Bad", "gone off", "out of date" and "binned" as four reasons turn a monthly total into a puzzle. And keep "Count correction" separate from waste: a correction says the records were wrong, not that food was thrown away.

A month, by reason

Windward Roots, the made-up taro business I use in these examples, logged six adjustments in the first half of October:

Expiry is the biggest line, which points at rotation, covered in stock rotation methods. The count corrections nearly cancel out, which suggests the records are close; if they kept running one way, that would be worth looking into. Three lines were over the $25 threshold; one of them, the coconut cream, still needs its approval.

Approval, without slowing anyone down

Set a threshold, say $25: anyone can record an adjustment, and anything above it needs the owner's or manager's initials. That keeps a sample or a dropped jar quick, and makes a $300 write-off a conversation. It's also the simplest control against stock disappearing on paper. Large write-offs and their accounting are in what is an inventory write-down.

Get the template

Download the inventory adjustment form. The Adjustments sheet has every field above, a dropdown of reasons, the value worked out at cost, and the approval threshold in one cell; a line over the threshold with no approval turns red. The By reason sheet totals lines and value for each reason. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers. Waste in a kitchen, with its own log, is in waste log template.

Where this stops working

A paper or spreadsheet form only works if every change goes on it, and the changes that matter most are the ones that don't: the stock count someone "fixed" in the sheet, the box thrown out at closing, the samples nobody wrote down. The form also sits apart from the stock records, so even a perfect log has to be copied into the inventory by hand, and the value on each line is whatever cost someone typed.

How TaroStack does it

In TaroStack the adjustment form isn't a separate document: every change to stock goes through it, so nothing changes quietly.

Every adjustment carries a reason. An adjustment can't be made without one: lost, damaged, expired, spoiled, sample, found, correction or customer return. Every movement is a permanent record of who, when and why, and corrections are recorded as corrections, which can be undone, rather than overwriting the number.

Every line has a value. Adjustments are valued at what the stock really cost, from its FIFO layer or moving average, so the losses report shows what was lost, by reason, item and site, in dollars. Counts show what each difference is worth before you post it, so a 7 lb correction is a number with a value, not only a new balance.

And the patterns show. The losses report totals a month by reason, so expiry, spoilage and samples each have a number, and TaroStack forecasts what will expire before it's used, while there's still time to stop the biggest line growing. Roles decide who can adjust stock, and people see only the sites they work at.

Adjustments with reasons, counts, the losses report and roles 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 is an inventory adjustment form?

A record of every change to stock that isn't a delivery, a batch or a sale, such as expired, spoiled or damaged stock, samples and count corrections. Each line has a reason, a value at cost and who made it.

What are the reasons for inventory adjustments?

Common ones: expired, spoiled, damaged, sample, found, count correction and customer return. Keep the list short and fixed so monthly totals by reason are meaningful.

Who should approve inventory adjustments?

Set a threshold: anyone records small adjustments, and an owner or manager approves anything above it, such as $25. It keeps everyday changes quick and large ones visible.

How do you record an inventory adjustment?

Note the item, lot and place, the quantity added or removed, the reason, the unit cost and value, and who made it. Total the month by reason to see what waste and corrections cost.