Multi-Location Inventory for a Small Business

Multi-location inventory means knowing what's in each place you keep stock, not only the total: the kitchen where you make things, the shop where you sell them, the market stall on Saturdays, a storage unit. The method is simple to say: keep a balance per location, record every move between them as a transfer (out of one place, in transit, into the other), count each location separately, and restock each one to its own levels. Your till may already track sales per shop location, but for a maker the ingredients, the production and the moves happen elsewhere, so the stock picture has to cover all of it. Below is how the stock moves in a typical week, transfers and stock in transit, counts, and restocking.

The short version

• Keep a separate balance for every place stock sits.
• Every move between places is a transfer: out of one, in transit, into the other.
• Stock in transit belongs to neither place until it lands, but it's still yours.
• Count each place on its own; differences point to the place they happened.
• Set restock levels per place, and restock by transfer before you buy.
• The total is the sum of the places, not a number of its own.
• TaroStack keeps stock per site and per shelf, with transfers and stock in transit. More below.

A week across three places

Windward Roots, the made-up taro business I use in these examples, makes taro chips in its kitchen, sells them in its shop, and takes them to a Saturday market:

The company total on Saturday night is 515 bags, but the useful facts are per place: the shop is down to 55 and needs a transfer on Monday, the kitchen has plenty, and the stall came back with 30. A single total would hide all three.

Transfers and stock in transit

A transfer is two moments: it leaves one place, and it arrives at another. In between, it's in transit, still yours and still in your stock value, but not available at either end. Recording both moments matters when they're hours or days apart, and when what arrives isn't what left: a case dropped on the way, a short pack. Print a transfer note for the driver, and check it at the other end. How shelf labels help each place keep its stock findable is in inventory labeling ideas.

Counting each place

Count each location separately, on its own sheet or screen. A shortage at the stall and a surplus in the kitchen might cancel in the total and hide two separate problems: something wasn't recorded coming back, or something was sold at the stall without being rung up. How to count well, location by location, is in how to count inventory.

Restocking each place

Restock the selling places by transfer from where the stock is, and buy or make only when the whole business is short. How to set the levels themselves is in par level vs reorder point.

Where this stops working

A spreadsheet with a column per location works until stock moves faster than someone updates it. The transfer to the shop gets entered on the shop's column and forgotten on the kitchen's. The stall's leftovers come back in a cooler and nobody logs them. The till knows what the shop sold, but not what the kitchen made or the stall took. Within a few weeks, each column is wrong in its own way and the total is a guess.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack keeps every place as its own site, with stock per site and per shelf, and the moves between them on record.

Each place is a site. The kitchen, the shop, the market stall, a storage unit or a co-packer's premises are sites, each with its own stock, down to the shelf. Stock value is shown per site, and people can be limited to the sites they work at, so someone at the shop sees the shop.

Transfers with stock in transit. A transfer takes stock out of one site and puts it in transit until it lands at the other, with a transfer note to print. What arrives is received at the other end, so a dropped case shows up as a difference, not a mystery. Lanes and lead times between sites tell planning how long a move takes.

Restocking per site. Reorder points and levels are set per item and per site. When one site is short, the reorder line says which of your other sites has spare and offers to move it, already filled in, so you transfer before you buy. Planning works across every site: what to make, what to buy and what to move, and when.

And each site counts on its own. Counts run per site on a phone, even at a market with no signal, and show what each difference is worth before you post it. Batches recorded at the kitchen take ingredients from the kitchen's stock, and TaroStack connects to Shopify and to Square for your sales.

Stock, counts and lots for one site are on every plan, from $49 a month; more than one site, transfers, stock in transit and planning are on Standard at $99, for up to 3 sites, and Pro at $199 covers up to 7. 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

How do you track inventory across multiple locations?

Keep a separate balance for each place, record every move between them as a transfer, count each place on its own, and set restock levels per place. The company total is the sum of the places.

What is inventory in transit?

Stock that has left one location and hasn't arrived at the other. It's still yours and in your stock value, but not available at either end until it's received.

How do you transfer inventory between locations?

Record it leaving the first place, send it with a transfer note, and record it arriving at the second, checking what arrived against what left.

Should each location be counted separately?

Yes. Counting each location on its own shows where a difference happened; a single total can hide a shortage in one place behind a surplus in another.