Free tool

What does manual stock admin cost you?

Takes about two minutes · nothing you type leaves this page

Spreadsheets, phone orders, full stock counts and the odd write-off each cost a few hours a week. Across several locations and a whole year they add up. Put in your own numbers to see the total.

Your business

Currency

Locations that hold stock warehouses, branches, shops

Staff cost per hour

Value of stock on hand

Time spent today

Stock admin per location, hours a week spreadsheets, checking shelves, re-keying

Full stock counts a year

Staff hours per count, per location

Customer orders taken by phone, email or message, a week

Minutes to take and type up each one

Losses today

Write-offs and unexplained loss, % of stock value a year expired, damaged, missing

Sales lost to stock-outs, a month

Profit lost on each one

Assumptions: how much a system could cut

These are cautious starting points, not promises. Change them to whatever you think is realistic.

Less stock admin, %

Faster counts with phone scanning, %

Orders customers place themselves online, %

Lower write-offs, %

Fewer stock-outs, %

Manual stock admin costs you, a year

–

Staff hours on stock admin–

With the assumptions applied

– staff hours freed

Admin time–

Stock counts–

Order entry–

Write-offs avoided–

Stock-out profit kept–

Potential saving a year–

Create your free workspace

Free during beta, no credit card. Hours are valued at your staff cost. They only turn into money if the time goes to selling or replaces overtime.

How the numbers are worked out

Admin time = hours a week × locations × 52.
Stock counts = counts a year × hours per count × locations.
Order entry = orders a week × minutes each × 52.
Write-offs = stock value × your write-off %.
Stock-outs = lost sales a month × profit on each × 12.

Each saving is that cost multiplied by the assumption you set for it. Nothing is rounded up and nothing else is added.

Where the time goes

For most businesses with more than one location, the two biggest lines are the stock counts and orders taken by hand. A count done from a printed sheet means walking every shelf twice: once to count and once to type it in. Scanning with a phone does both in one pass. Orders that arrive by phone or WhatsApp get typed up by someone who also has to check the shelf. A customer ordering portal lets the customer see the stock and place the order themselves.

For the counting side, see how to do a stock take. For running several sites, see managing inventory across multiple warehouses.

See it with your own stock

Create a free workspace, add a few products and scan one delivery in. It takes about ten minutes.

Create your free account