A stock card, also called a bin card, is a running record for one item: every time some comes in or goes out, a line goes on the card, and the balance says how much should be on the shelf. At the top: the item, the unit it's counted in, where it's kept, a reorder level and a maximum. Each line: the date, a reference such as the purchase order or the batch it went into, the quantity in, the quantity out, the new balance, and who wrote it. When the balance falls to the reorder level, it's time to order. A card works when every movement is written down, and that's also how it fails: a bag taken on a busy night shift and not written makes the card wrong until the next count. The fix is to count on a schedule and write each difference as its own line with a reason, so the card matches the shelf again and the shortfall is on record. In the example below, a wholesale bakery's flour card is three bags off. Below is what goes on a card, the example, and a free template with a card per item.
The short version
- A stock card tracks one item: every receipt and every use, with a running balance.
- Top of the card: item, unit, where it's kept, reorder level, maximum.
- Each line: date, reference, in, out, balance, who.
- At the reorder level, order.
- Count on a schedule; write each difference as its own line with the reason.
- A card is only as good as the last movement someone remembered to write.
- TaroStack takes ingredients off stock when a batch is made, so nothing depends on writing. More below.
What goes on a card
| Part | What to write |
|---|---|
| Item | The name everyone uses, and the supplier's code if it helps |
| Unit | The unit it's counted in: a 50 lb bag, a case, a pound |
| Kept at | The shelf, rack or cooler |
| Reorder level | The balance at which you order, from use during the supplier's lead time |
| Maximum | The most you have room for, or want to tie money up in |
| Each line | Date, reference, in, out, balance, initials |
| Counts | A count line: the difference written in or out, with the reason |
Setting the reorder level is in reorder point example, and the count itself in inventory count sheet example.
An example: a wholesale bakery's flour
Flint Hills Bakery, the made-up wholesale bakery in Topeka, Kansas, I use in these examples, keeps a card on each rack in the dry store. The bread flour card for the first ten days of October:
| Date | Reference | In | Out | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1 | Opening count | 34 | 34 | |
| Oct 2 | Batch, sourdough | 6 | 28 | |
| Oct 3 | Batch, sandwich loaves | 8 | 20, reorder | |
| Oct 5 | PO 1187 received | 40 | 60 | |
| Oct 6 | Batch, sourdough | 7 | 53 | |
| Oct 7 | Batch, sandwich loaves | 9 | 44 | |
| Oct 8 | Batch, rolls | 5 | 39 | |
| Oct 9 | Batch, sourdough | 7 | 32 | |
| Oct 10 | Batch, sandwich loaves | 8 | 24 | |
| Oct 10 | Count: 21 on the rack | 3 | 21 |
The card hit the reorder level of 20 bags on the 3rd, and the order came in on the 5th. On the 10th the rack held 21, not 24: three bags went out without a line, most likely on the night shift's rolls. The count line brings the card back to the shelf, and the three bags, about $90 of flour, are on record instead of hidden. The sugar card is down to 4 bags against a reorder level of 6, so sugar goes on Monday's order. How the bakery costs its loaves is in how to calculate COGS for a bakery.
Get the template
Download the stock card template. A sheet for each item, with the item, unit, where it's kept, reorder level and maximum at the top; type each line's date, reference, in and out, and the balance runs on and flags the reorder level in red. Copy a sheet for each new item. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Forty cards on forty racks, three shifts, and a balance that's only right if every person writes every bag. The cards tell you what should be there; the count tells you what is.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack moves stock when the work happens, so the balance doesn't depend on someone writing a line.
Batches take what they use. A batch of sandwich loaves takes its flour, sugar and butter off stock from the recipe, and the actual amounts can be changed on the batch, so the night shift's rolls take their flour without a card.
Receiving adds it back. Each delivery is received against its purchase order, with its lot, and the balance goes up.
Counts with reasons. A count on a phone, even offline, shows each difference and what it's worth before you post it, and each one carries its reason.
Reorders in days of cover. The reorder list shows each item in days of cover, with each supplier's lead time and minimum, so flour is ordered before the rack gets to 20.
| The job | Stock card | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Flour used by a batch | A line, if someone writes it | Taken off by the batch |
| A delivery | A line on the card | Received against the PO |
| A count difference | A count line | An adjustment with its reason |
| When to order | The reorder level on the card | Reorder list in days of cover |
Recipes, batches, receiving, counts and the reorder list 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.