Stock reconciliation kit: find out why your numbers disagree

Guide

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

Which number should you change?

Not enough is known yet. Those screens might describe different things, at different times. Before correcting a quantity, establish what it counts and find the evidence for the difference.

This kit gives you a repeatable way to do that. It includes a worked example, a reusable workbook and a one-page checklist. You do not need a ChannelWeave account to use it.

Start with one stock pool

Choose one SKU, variant or identifiable physical copy, in one defined stock pool. State which locations belong to that pool. Compare like-for-like units: one cable is not a pack of five cables, and a record release is not a particular used copy.

The workbook is deliberately limited to whole, interchangeable base units in a seller-managed pool. Keep separate warehouse pools, third-party fulfilment stock and stock owned by another business separate. Kits, bundles, fractional units, pre-orders and backorders need their own model and are outside this template.

Do not add quantities from different Channel listings to calculate physical stock. Several listings can refer to the same units.

Write down what each number means

If held plus reserved exceeds physical stock, the workbook marks the calculation unavailable rather than hiding the inconsistency with a zero. It cannot detect whether the same physical unit appears in both held and reserved quantities when their total remains within the physical count. That needs evidence from the underlying records. If you find an overlap, stop and resolve it before using the calculated quantity.

These are the kit’s explicit definitions. Stock systems use different labels. A bin name or a “quarantine” movement is not, by itself, evidence that software excludes that quantity from allocation or Channel publication. Verify the actual controls.

Take comparable snapshots

Record an as-of time and timezone, not just the time you downloaded a file. The workbook uses UTC and accepts numeric spreadsheet date/time values, displayed to the second. Use the same time in stock and listing rows only when the evidence really represents that time. Preserve source precision: hidden fractions of a second can still make two values different. Do not round away a difference to force a match.

If trading continues during the count, record receipts, dispatches, reservations and releases that cross the cutoff. Refresh the snapshots or reconcile those movements to a common point. Do not edit timestamps merely to make the workbook accept a comparison.

Preserve the original exports or screenshots. Give each review a unique text label such as REV-001, and each listing observation a label such as LIST-001. The workbook treats IDs without case sensitivity. It rejects numeric values, extra leading/trailing/repeated spaces, and wildcard or comparison characters (*, ?, ~, <, >, =). This prevents a reference from being interpreted as a matching pattern rather than an ID. Note the evidence references. Unknown quantities remain blank; enter zero only when it has been established.

A deliberately messy worked example

All products, quantities, timestamps, owners and evidence references below are fictional. They are teaching examples, not customer data or measured results. The common stock snapshot is 11 September 2026 at 10:00 UTC.

EX01: One discrepancy is not one diagnosis

Twelve mugs are physically present. Two are held, and three different mugs are reserved. That leaves seven uncommitted. The recorded physical quantity is fourteen, creating a separate count variance of minus two.

The eBay snapshot shows nine. The Website snapshot shows seven. For this fictional pool, both listings are intended to expose the full uncommitted quantity with no extra cap or buffer, so the reviewed expectation is seven on each.

Next action: recount the defined pool, check transfers and movement history, and trace the listing output. The nine could reflect held stock not being excluded, but the numbers alone do not prove that. Nor does reducing the physical record by two resolve the listing discrepancy automatically.

EX02: A stale screenshot is not a current mismatch

The record is still on the shelf but reserved for an open order. There are no uncommitted units. An eBay screenshot from 09:45 shows one; the stock review is from 10:00.

Next action: check the reservation timeline and obtain a comparable listing snapshot. The workbook returns Time mismatch, not a numeric listing difference. Do not replace the earlier timestamp with 10:00 without new evidence.

EX03: Matching quantities can conceal the wrong mapping

The red bag pool contains four units, and the listing also shows four. However, the mapping review has found both red and burgundy references associated with the listing. The colour and stock identity are not yet confirmed.

Next action: inspect the listing’s variant and stock reference. Keep Basis confirmed? set to No until SKU, variant, unit, pool and listing policy have been established. Do not merge records merely because their titles look alike.

EX04: A return on the shelf is not automatically saleable

The returned radio is physically present, but inspection is incomplete. It belongs in physical units and held units. It contributes nothing to the kit’s uncommitted quantity. The listing shows one against a reviewed expectation of zero.

Next action: verify the hold actually prevents sale in the relevant systems, correct the listing through the established workflow if authorised, and retain the inspection outcome. A refund alone is not evidence of a received or saleable return.

EX05: A lower listing quantity can be correct

There are eight uncommitted cables. A documented policy caps the fictional eBay listing at five, and the listing shows five.

Next action: retain the policy evidence. This is Quantity matches, not a problem to fix by raising the listing to eight. A match at one snapshot does not prove that future updates will succeed.

EX06: A missing unit needs a movement check

No book is physically present, while the stock record and Website listing each show one. A dispatch reference exists, but its effect on the stock record has not yet been verified.

Next action: reconcile dispatch and stock movement evidence before making an adjustment. Do not record both a delayed dispatch consumption and a separate write-off for the same unit. Record the cause only when the evidence supports it.

Use the workbook for your own review

1. Read Worked example. Its stock rows and listing observations describe the same six fictional cases above.
2. On Stock review, use one row per stock pool. Enter a unique Review ID, a clear SKU/pool label, the snapshot time and the three physical quantities. Add the recorded physical quantity when you have a comparable source.
3. On Listing review, use one row per listing or variant. Link it to the exact Review ID. Enter the snapshot time, shown quantity and independently reviewed expected quantity. Preserve the policy or mapping evidence in the notes.
4. Set Basis confirmed? to Yes only after checking identity, unit, pool and the policy behind the expectation. A quantity match cannot confirm those facts for you.
5. Use the results to prioritise investigation. Input status: Ready means the required stock inputs passed the template’s checks; it is not approval to adjust stock. Quantity matches means only that the two reviewed quantities match at a comparable snapshot.
6. Record an owner, evidence and next action. After an authorised correction, take new evidence and preserve the original review. Confirm the stock record and affected listings separately.

Amber cells are editable inputs. Pale blue-grey cells contain formulas. The templates provide 20 stock rows and 30 listing rows per review. For more rows, start another copy of the workbook; do not add rows without extending and testing the bounded formulas. Keep each listing with its stock review in the same file.

The workbook does not import data, connect to a marketplace, alter stock, publish listings or resolve reservations. Do not upload it as a stock-adjustment file. Keep it private if you fill it with business data, and avoid buyer names or other personal data in the evidence notes.

Close the issue with evidence

An issue is ready to close when the identity and quantity basis are established, the snapshots are comparable, the difference is explained, an authorised action has been completed where needed, and a fresh check shows the intended result. A known cap may explain a difference without requiring a change.

Keep the original evidence, the decision, the action reference and the follow-up snapshot together. If you still cannot explain a difference, leave it open with a named next action rather than forcing the numbers to agree.

Keep the next review smaller

Give each quantity a defined owner. Know who maintains physical balances, who confirms reservations, and how listing expectations are produced. Record caps and buffers alongside the listing they affect. Revisit repeated causes rather than treating every mismatch as a new stock adjustment.

ChannelWeave’s SKU and barcode cleanup resource addresses identifier hygiene. This kit addresses quantity evidence. The Inventory guide and Allocated lines guide explain the corresponding ChannelWeave workflows.

If you want to see how ChannelWeave could fit your operation, contact the team. The kit remains useful on its own.

Workbook format and limits

The XLSX has been checked in its authoring engine and independently recalculated using a development build of LibreOffice Calc. Native Microsoft Excel and Apple Numbers behaviour has not been verified. Keep the original file and confirm the worked-example results in your spreadsheet application before relying on a completed review. The workbook is a review aid, not an inventory import file.