Free Year-End Inventory Checklist

Treat the year-end review as a comparison: what you assumed in January against what is true now. The checklist gives you seven sections, four worksheets and a last page for the three changes you will make.

Seven sections, from your production space to your technology
Four worksheets: a BOM check, a stock count, your biggest months and a re-cost of your best sellers
Four printable pages, ready to fill in by hand
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First page of the printable Year-End Inventory Checklist showing the business details, how to use it and the first two sections

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What's on it

Seven sections and four worksheets, on four pages

Each section opens with a line on what to look at, then the checks to tick. Four end in a worksheet where you write the difference down, two leave space for what you found and what changes, and the last asks three questions about the tools you use.

Reset your warehouse and production space

Your layout was built for the orders you expected, so walk the floor and see whether it fits the orders you got. Check the zones for making, packing and shipping, how raw materials are stored and labelled, and where problem orders go. It ends with space to write what you found and what changes.

Document your production processes

If your most experienced person were off for a month, could someone else make your products? The checks cover your SOPs, your training and a documented BOM for every product. The worksheet has you pick your best seller and compare its recipe with what the last four batches actually used.

Track your inventory

Set what your records say against what is on the shelf. The checks cover how materials, usage and reorder points are recorded, when you count and how you review shrinkage. The worksheet starts with the three items that hold the most stock value, and you write down your count before you look at the records.

Forecast your sales

Mark last January's forecast against what actually sold, or use this year's sales as your baseline if you never wrote one. The worksheet has you name your three biggest months and what made each one big: a launch, a holiday or one large wholesale order.

Look at your customer service

Customer messages record every time your stock, product pages or promises did not match what someone expected. Read a month of them as data, and check that your policies are written down and visible on every channel you sell through. It ends with space for what you found and what changes.

Review your pricing

If your costs moved, your margin moved with them, whether or not the price on the page did. The worksheet sets each best seller's cost per unit last January beside its cost now, with the price and the margin now, using your average sale price with discounts included.

Review your technology

A spreadsheet that coped with twenty orders a week may not cope with two hundred. Answer three questions in your own words: how long your last stock count took to reconcile, how many people can update the sheet without breaking it, and whether it will hold up if you grow next year. Then check that your team has the access they need, and that a new hire has a clear path through every tool.

The printable covers seven of the guide's nine steps. The other two, reviewing your costs and cash and staying on top of new regulations, stay in the guide.

When to use it

Run it before your year ends, while there is still time to act on what you find.

Before your year ends

The checks are about what you can still change: your layout, your reorder points and next year's prices. Run it while those changes are still ahead of you.

With the people who run things

Production, shipping and customer messages each see what the records miss. Page four has room for the three changes that matter most, each with an owner and a date.

Every quarter, in short form

Page four also has a Q1 to Q4 tracker for the two checks worth repeating: count the three items that hold the most stock value, and re-cost your best seller at today's prices.

Why the year-end review is a comparison

A review that only produces a total can't tell you where your records went wrong, or why. So the checklist asks you to count a few items, set each count against your records, and write down the difference. Every line that does not match is a finding: a missed check-in, a batch that used more than its recipe says, or damage nobody logged.

Cost works the same way. Write down what each product cost per unit last January next to what it costs now, and the gap is what happened to your margin, whether or not the price on the page changed. The pricing worksheet has a column for each, with the margin formula underneath.

Our year-end inventory checklist guide works two of these through with worked examples: a recipe that calls for 500 g of shea butter but averages 8% over on the floor, and a hand cream re-costed at today's prices. Read it next to the printable or on its own.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is in the year-end inventory checklist?

The checklist has seven sections: your production space, production processes, inventory tracking, sales forecast, customer service, pricing and technology. Four have a worksheet to fill in: a BOM check, a stock count, your three biggest months and a re-cost of your best sellers. The last page has room for the three changes you will make, with an owner and a date for each.

When should I use the year-end inventory checklist?

Use the checklist before your year ends, while there is still time to act on what you find. Most of the checks are about what you can still change, such as your layout, reorder points and prices for next year. Page four also has a quarterly tracker for the two checks worth repeating: count the three items that hold the most stock value, and re-cost your best seller at today's prices.

Do I need inventory software to use the checklist?

No. The checklist is a printable PDF you fill in by hand, and the checks work with whatever holds your records now, whether that is spreadsheets, another system or a notebook. The comparison needs two things: a count of what is on the shelf and a record of what you expected to find. A system that keeps your records as you go makes the comparison quicker, but the checklist works without one.

Can I use the checklist for my physical stock count?

Yes, for the items that matter most. The count worksheet is built for the three items that hold the most stock value: you write down what you counted before you look at what the records say, then the difference and the reason. For a count of every item, use it alongside our inventory count sheet template.

Who is the year-end inventory checklist for?

The checklist is built for small-batch product businesses and small manufacturers: teams that make things in batches, hold materials and finished stock, and sell through one or more channels. The checks assume you have a production space, recipes or bills of materials, and some record of what you expected to find, even if that record is a spreadsheet.

How do I get the year-end inventory checklist?

Enter your email in the form at the top of this page and the checklist is sent to you, free. It is a four-page PDF made to print and fill in by hand. Signing up also adds you to the Stocksmith mailing list, and every email we send has an unsubscribe link.

Next step

Start next December from numbers you trust, not a rebuild

If your records live in separate spreadsheets, the review starts with rebuilding them.

Stocksmith keeps your materials, batches, costs and sales in one place, so the records side of the comparison is ready whenever you count.

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