Step 4: Review and audit the data

[Ehsanuls55]

Periodic reviews and audits of your inventory data are essential to ensure its accuracy.

Periodically, take the time to cross-check your physical inventory against the numbers in your Excel spreadsheet. Look for discrepancies, outdated information, or any missing data about your incoming and outgoing stock.

Integrating logistics software like Oracle Transportation Management and Zoho Inventory can streamline this process by aligning inventory data with real-time tracking.

These audits help maintain data accuracy and give you insight into your inventory trends, such as fluctuations in stock levels or seasonal changes in demand. These trends can predict future needs and ultimately improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.

Avoiding pitfalls and common mistakes
Manual inventory management in Excel is prone to errors. The most common mistakes are inconsistent data entry, incorrect labelling of products and neglecting to update stock levels. These errors are important because they can lead to it directors managers email list overstocking, stock-outs and inaccuracies in financial reporting.

Remember that infamous JP Morgan London Whale incident ? In 2012, JP Morgan Chase suffered a staggering $6 billion loss because an employee copied incorrect data from one spreadsheet to another without adjusting the formulas. Incidents like this highlight the importance of accuracy in financial and inventory management.

To avoid these pitfalls, follow these best practices:

Establish clear guidelines for data entry, including naming conventions and updates
Train all users to ensure consistent data entry
Organize regular recovery sessions to deal with possible new errors due to updates
Have a contingency plan in place to deal with unintentional errors. This could involve quickly identifying the error and notifying the team to address the discrepancies within a stipulated time frame.
Next, conduct a thorough data review to correct stock levels and a root cause analysis to avoid repetition/recurrence.