Stock is money sitting still on a shelf. Too much means tied-up capital; too little means lost sales — and a spreadsheet will not tell you when you cross from one into the other.
The problem is not that spreadsheets are bad. It is that they do not update themselves when you sell simultaneously from a shop, the phone and an e-shop.
Want a review of your stock flow?
Tell us how many SKUs you hold and where you sell and we will tell you what you actually need.
When a spreadsheet is no longer enough
Five signs. Two or more means the change is already overdue:
- You sold something that did not exist. The classic, when two channels do not sync.
- Stocktaking takes days and produces discrepancies nobody can explain.
- You do not know what has sat still for more than six months.
- You reorder by eye, or when somebody notices it has run out.
- More than 200 SKUs or more than two points of sale.
The third is the most expensive and the least visible: stock that does not move appears in no report until you have to clear it at a discount.
The four numbers that matter
You do not need dozens of metrics. You need these four, per SKU or per category.
| Metric | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Safety stock | How much you hold so you never run out |
| Reorder point | When to order again |
| Stock turnover | How many times a year it cycles |
| Dead stock | What has not moved in 6–12 months |
The reorder point comes from a simple formula:
(Average daily sales × supplier lead time in days) + safety stock
An example: you sell 4 units a day, the supplier takes 10 days, you hold 20 as safety stock. You reorder when you drop to 60 units, not when you hit zero.
Turnover shows the health: below 2 times a year means tied-up capital; above 10 usually means you are losing sales to shortages.
What a system does that a spreadsheet does not
| Function | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Real-time updating | You do not sell what you do not have |
| One stock pool, many channels | Shop, e-shop and phone agree |
| Threshold alerts | You order before it runs out |
| Movement history | You know who did what, and when |
| Barcodes or QR | Stocktaking takes hours, not days |
| Cost tracking | You know what each SKU leaves you |
The last row is what changes decisions. Plenty of businesses discover that their highest-turnover products are not their most profitable ones.
If you also run an e-shop, the connection is essential to avoid double entry — the architecture is described in ERP to e-shop integration.
A separate system or inside the ERP?
| Standalone tool | Inside the ERP | |
|---|---|---|
| Start-up cost | Low | Medium to high |
| Time to implement | Days | Weeks |
| Accounting connection | Needs integration | Built in |
| Suits | Small, single-channel | Businesses with volume and invoicing |
The practical rule: if you issue many accounting documents and buy on supplier credit, stock belongs in the ERP. If you are a small e-shop with a simple flow, a standalone tool is cheaper and faster.
What an ERP covers overall is in what an ERP is.
Not sure which fits you?
Send us your SKU count and sales channels and we will propose an option with costs.
What it costs
| Component | Indicative range |
|---|---|
| Stock tool subscription | €25 – €120 per month |
| ERP warehouse module | €40 – €250 per month |
| E-shop connection | €400 – €2,000 one-off |
| Barcode scanners | €80 – €300 per device |
| Initial data capture and migration | €300 – €1,500 |
The comparison is not against a “free” spreadsheet. It is against the time spent on data entry, the sales lost to shortages, and the capital sitting on a shelf.
How to migrate without chaos
- Clean up first. Duplicate codes, products you no longer sell, inconsistent names.
- Do a real stocktake before the switch. Wrong opening numbers ruin any system.
- Start with one category, not the whole catalogue.
- Keep the spreadsheet alongside for a month, purely for cross-checking.
- Appoint one owner who enters and verifies.
The first step is also an opportunity for your catalogue structure — the logic of categories and codes is in e-shop categories.
Frequently asked questions
How many SKUs justify a system?
Above 200 active SKUs, or two points of sale. Below that, a well-organised spreadsheet can still work.
Do I need barcodes?
If you stocktake more than twice a year, or hold similar-looking items, yes. It pays for itself at the first stocktake.
How does it connect to invoicing?
The stock system records what sold; invoicing transmits it. The obligations are in e-invoicing and myDATA.
What do I do with dead stock?
Separate it, set a decision deadline, and liquidate it as an offer or a bundle. The worst outcome is leaving it invisible.
Does this apply to service businesses?
For consumables and spare parts, yes. For pure services, the constraint is time rather than stock.
The first step
Take your ten best-selling SKUs and calculate the reorder point for each with the formula above.
If you find you are consistently ordering late, you have found why you lose sales without it showing up anywhere.
Next step
Book a free 30-minute call with the team at The Dev Alley. We will look at your stock flow and tell you what changes first.