Your stock numbers disagree. Which one should you change?

A physical count, an available quantity and a marketplace listing can describe different things. Before making them agree, find out what each number means.

You count twelve mugs. Your stock system says fourteen. One listing shows nine and another shows seven.

Which number should you change?

The honest answer is: you do not know yet.

There might be a counting error, a reservation, a hold or a delayed movement to investigate. There might also be a perfectly good reason for a listing to show less than the quantity on your shelves.

Making the screens agree is not the same as explaining the discrepancy. It can hide the evidence you need to put things right.

First, separate the questions

Consider a fictional stock pool containing twelve mugs. Two are held for inspection. Three different mugs are reserved for open orders and have not yet been dispatched.

Using the definitions in our reconciliation kit:

• Physical units: twelve. All twelve are still present, including the held and reserved units.
• Uncommitted units: seven. Twelve physical units, less two held, less three separately reserved.
• Count variance: minus two. If the stock record says fourteen physical units for the same pool and time, the count is two lower than the record.

Those last two figures answer different questions. Seven describes what remains uncommitted under this model. Minus two describes a difference between the physical count and its comparable record.

Neither figure, on its own, explains why a listing shows nine.

You still need to check what the listing represents, which stock it draws from, and whether a cap or buffer applies. Do not assume that changing the physical record will also resolve the listing discrepancy.

Several listings can share the same stock

Suppose three listings refer to that same pool of seven uncommitted mugs.

Adding their displayed quantities does not tell you how many mugs exist. The listings are different ways of offering the same stock, not three new stock pools.

Equally, seven uncommitted units does not automatically mean every listing should advertise seven. If a documented listing policy caps the displayed quantity at five, a listing showing five may be correct.

Establish the expected quantity from the listing’s identity, unit, stock pool and policy. Do not simply copy the largest number you can find.

A matching number is not enough

Two screens can show four while referring to different variants. A screenshot taken before an order can disagree with a stock review taken after the units were reserved. A returned item can be physically present without being ready for sale.

Before comparing quantities, ask:

1. Is this the same thing? Check the SKU, variant or identifiable physical copy. One cable and a pack of five are not interchangeable observations.
2. Is this the same pool? Identify the included locations and keep separate fulfilment or ownership pools apart.
3. Is this the same moment? Record the snapshot time and timezone. Account for receipts, dispatches and reservation changes across the cutoff.
4. What should this listing show? Establish the mapping and any applicable cap or buffer before deciding its quantity is wrong.

If the evidence is missing, leave the conclusion open. Do not edit a timestamp or enter an invented zero to make a comparison pass.

A free kit for working through the evidence

We have published a stock reconciliation kit to make this review easier to organise. You can use it without a ChannelWeave account.

It includes:

• Six fictional worked cases covering count differences, stale snapshots, uncertain mappings, a return awaiting inspection, a listing cap and a missing unit.
• A reusable XLSX workbook with separate Stock review and Listing review sheets.
• A one-page printable checklist and a diagram explaining shared stock pools.

The workbook checks its inputs and withholds a numeric listing comparison when the snapshot time or confirmed basis does not support one. It does not establish that basis for you: the mapping, policy and source records still need human review.

It also cannot prove that held and reserved quantities refer to different physical units merely because their totals fit. Check the underlying evidence before relying on the calculation.

What the kit does not do

This is a manual review aid, not a stock-adjustment file. It does not connect to marketplaces, change stock, publish listings or resolve reservations. A Ready input status is not permission to make an adjustment, and Quantity matches does not prove that future updates will succeed.

The model covers whole, interchangeable base units in seller-managed stock pools. Bundles, fractional units, pre-orders, backorders and third-party fulfilment pools are outside its scope.

The workbook has been checked in its authoring engine and independently recalculated using a development build of LibreOffice Calc. Native Microsoft Excel and Apple Numbers behaviour remains unverified. Keep the original file and confirm the worked-example results in your spreadsheet application before relying on a completed review.

Start with one discrepancy

Choose one SKU or physical copy. Preserve the original count, stock record and listing evidence. Name an owner and a next action.

Where a correction is needed, use your established authorisation process. Then take fresh evidence and check the stock record and affected listings separately. Keep completed workbooks private if they contain business information, and leave buyer names and other personal data out of the notes.

The aim is not to make every number identical. It is to know what each number means, explain the differences and verify the result.

Get the free stock reconciliation kit.