Inventory reporting tells you what you hold, what it is worth, and what is selling. Without it, reorders become guesses and cash sits in products that never move.
Below, you will find what inventory reporting includes, the ten reports retailers rely on most, and a map that matches each report to a decision.
You will also learn how often to run each one, how to build a report step by step, and which mistakes to avoid.
Key Takeaways:
- An inventory report earns its place when it leads to a decision: reorder, discount, transfer, or investigate.
- Begin with stock levels, valuation, sell-through, and turnover, then add ABC analysis, GMROI, and aging as your catalog grows.
- Run fast-moving categories weekly and valuation and profitability reports monthly.
- Inventory reports capture what you hold. Inventory management reports add performance, reorder points, and margin.
- A POS that generates reports automatically cuts down the stale data and entry errors that spreadsheets create.
What Is Inventory Reporting?
Inventory reporting is the process of collecting stock data and organizing it into reports that show how much inventory a business holds, what it is worth, and how quickly it sells. Retailers use the results to decide what to reorder, discount, transfer, or investigate.
Accurate reports lead to sharper purchasing decisions and less exposure to costly surprises, such as a bestseller running out the week before a promotion. They anchor the wider practice of retail inventory management, where ordering, counting, and pricing decisions all start with reliable stock data.
What an Inventory Report Includes
Inventory reports draw on a shared set of core fields. The table lists the ones to track at a minimum.
| Field | What it records |
|---|---|
| SKU | The unique code that identifies a product |
| Description | Product name, size, or variant |
| Quantity on hand | Units physically in stock |
| Unit cost | What you paid per unit |
| Total value | Units on hand multiplied by unit cost |
| Reorder point | The stock level that triggers a new order |
| Location | The store, stockroom, or warehouse holding the units |
| Date range | Start and end dates of the reporting period |
A POS that runs a perpetual inventory updates these fields as sales and deliveries happen, and its reports reflect current counts. Periodic systems refresh the numbers only after a physical count, so their reports drift out of date between counts. The tradeoffs are covered in our comparison of periodic vs. perpetual inventory systems.
PRO TIP!
Automate your reports with a POS such as KORONA POS inventory software to save time and reduce human error.
Inventory Reports Vs. Inventory Management Reports
An inventory report is a snapshot of current stock, while an inventory management report analyzes how well that stock is handled over time.
| Feature | Inventory report | Inventory management report |
|---|---|---|
| Time frame | One moment in time | Weeks, months, or quarters |
| Question answered | What do I have right now? | How well am I managing it? |
| Typical contents | Units on hand, location, stock status, current value | Turnover, reorder points, GMROI, sell-through |
| Example | A stock levels report | A turnover or GMROI report |
A store owner reviewing Friday’s low-stock list is reading an inventory report. The same owner comparing GMROI across categories once a quarter is reading an inventory management report.
A related term, the inventory control report, is a snapshot too and adds a check on whether recorded quantities match what the system expects. For a deeper look at the distinction, read inventory control reports.
Why Inventory Reporting Matters For Retailers
Stock ties up cash, and inventory reporting pinpoints where that cash sits and whether it is turning back into sales. U.S. retailers carried inventory equal to 1.36 months of sales in August 2026, according to Census Bureau data published through FRED. Three outcomes justify the effort.
Fewer Stockouts And Faster Replenishment
Reports flag products approaching zero ahead of empty shelves. Compare a product’s days of supply with its supplier lead time, and reorder whenever the stock would run out first.
The payoff is fewer lost sales and less rush ordering. Prevention tactics get a full treatment in how to avoid stockouts.
Less Cash Tied Up in Slow Stock
Valuation, aging, and sell-through reports expose products that absorb cash without selling. Early detection leaves room for a markdown or a supplier return, so these products never harden into dead stock.
Fewer Count Errors
Hand-keyed updates and manual counts introduce mistakes that compound over time. Reports generated from POS transactions reduce that risk, and comparing them with periodic physical inventory counts catches the remaining gaps.
Quick Note!
KORONA POS’s shipment tracking feature lets you know when items have been shipped and what’s in them. The system also sends notifications about low stock, overstock, and out-of-stock items. With a single click, you can also get a report card on each item in your product catalog.
Types of Inventory Reports
Ten inventory reports handle the bulk of retail decisions. Individually, a report answers a distinct question and points toward a distinct action, and together they track the retail KPIs owners monitor closely.
Stock Levels And Stock Status
A stock levels report lists the units on hand by SKU or product category, and a stock status view adds incoming orders and products below their reorder point. In KORONA POS, these reports track critical inventory levels and trigger replenishment alerts.
Days of supply = units on hand ÷ average daily units sold
When days of supply drop below your supplier’s lead time, place the order now. A product with 10 days of supply and a 14-day lead time will sell out before the next shipment arrives.
Setting reorder triggers like that across the whole catalog is a routine part of inventory planning. One caution: the Key Performance Report in KORONA POS uses the label Days of Supply for a backward-looking figure, the average number of days a product is held before it sells.
Inventory Valuation
Inventory valuation puts a cost figure on all unsold stock. That total is the cash sitting on your shelves.
Inventory value = units on hand × unit cost
Compare the total month over month. A rising value alongside flat sales points to overbuying, so ease off purchasing until sell-through recovers. Accountants lean on inventory valuation figures when closing the books.
In KORONA POS, the Stock Valuation report snapshots the current value of products in stock using the last purchase price recorded for the product.
It reflects current quantities and nothing older, and KORONA does not keep warehouse reports for past dates, so schedule the Warehouse report through Automatic Report Dispatch to build a month-by-month record. The demo in the examples section below walks through the valuation report.
Inventory Turnover
Inventory turnover measures how many times you sell and replace your stock during a period.
Inventory turnover = cost of goods sold ÷ average inventory
Average inventory is the sum of beginning and ending inventory divided by two. Take a shop with $240,000 in annual cost of goods sold and $60,000 in average inventory: it turns its stock 4 times a year, or close to every 91 days.
PRO TIP!
A low ratio indicates excess stock or weak demand. A ratio far above your category norm may mean thin shelves and missed sales. In KORONA POS, the Key Performance Report lists the inventory turnover rate per product. The inventory turnover ratio post goes further into the metric.
Sell-Through Rate
Sell-through rate is the percentage of received stock that sold within a set period, usually one month.
Sell-through rate = units sold ÷ units received × 100
Receive 200 units and sell 150, and the sell-through rate is 75%. Some systems divide by units sold plus units still on hand. Choose one method and stay consistent across periods.
PRO TIP!
A low rate suggests overbuying, weak demand, or a pricing problem, and a markdown or promotion is the usual response. A high rate says to reorder sooner. KORONA POS sell-through reports display how inventory moves across seasons. For the full explanation, see our post on sell-through rate.
Aging And Dead Stock
An aging report measures how long a product has sat in your store since it was received. It exposes slow movers before they become dead stock. Age bands such as under 30 days, 31 to 90 days, and over 90 days make the report easy to scan.
Stock in the oldest band is the prime candidate for a markdown, a bundle, or a return to the supplier, and reordering should pause until it sells through.
A planned markdown strategy sets how deep and how soon to cut prices. KORONA Studio’s Slow Seller report, part of the Plus plan, shows which products have the least impact on revenue and gross profit. A companion article on slow-moving inventory lays out next steps.
ABC Analysis
ABC analysis ranks products by their contribution to revenue and sorts them into three grades. A items are the small group of products that generate the largest share of your revenue, commonly 70% to 80% depending on the cutoffs a tool uses. B items contribute a moderate share, and C items form the long tail of low-value or slow sellers.
In KORONA POS, the ABC analysis report, which comes with the Plus plan, grades products by revenue share, with A items at 70% of revenue, B items at 20%, and C items at 10%, and it lists a grade for both net revenue and net yield.
The report converts those two grades into recommendations: a product graded A for net revenue but C for net yield gets an “Increase Price” recommendation, one graded C for net revenue but A for net yield gets “Lower Price,” and one graded C on both is marked “Delist.”
Protect stock levels on A items and review C items for discontinuation. ABC analysis is explained step by step in a separate post.
Gross Margin Return on Investment (GMROI)
Gross margin return on investment (GMROI) measures the gross margin earned per dollar of inventory.
GMROI = gross margin ÷ average inventory cost
Consider $90,000 in annual gross margin on $30,000 of average inventory cost: the GMROI is 3.0, which works out to $3 of gross margin per $1 invested in stock. A result above 1.0 means the inventory earns back more than it cost.
Healthy levels vary by category, so compare products within your own store before looking outside it.
In KORONA POS, the Key Performance Report lists GMROI by product, a handy starting point for that comparison. Retailers use GMROI to optimize pricing and steer buying toward the lines with the highest return, and a retail margin calculator helps confirm the gross margin figures that feed the formula.
Inventory Profitability
Inventory profitability reporting attributes profit to individual products, categories, and time periods. It has three parts:
- SKU Profitability: Measures the profit a stock keeping unit generates, to gauge performance at the product level.
- List Profitability: Evaluates the profitability of product categories, such as brands or types.
- Trend Profitability: Follows profit across periods to expose shifts within products or categories.
Reviewing these product performance analytics supports cost cuts, clearance of slow sellers, and promotion of top performers.
Inventory Replenishment
Replenishment reporting tells you what to reorder and how much, based on current stock, reorder levels, and recent sales.
In KORONA POS, the Inventory Order Report lists the products from a chosen supplier with their on-hand quantity, reorder level, quantity on order, units sold over the past 4, 9, and 13 weeks, and a recommended order quantity for the next five weeks.
Use it to reorder products whose days of supply fall below supplier lead time and to spot gaps before they reach the shelf. Pair it with open-to-buy planning to set purchase budgets for the season.
Shrinkage And Adjustments
A shrinkage report compares the stock your system expects with the stock you count on the shelf and flags the gap. That gap is known as shrink in retail.
Shrinkage value = book inventory value minus actual inventory value
Shrinkage percentage = shrinkage value ÷ total sales × 100
With $2,400 in shrinkage on $120,000 in sales, the shrinkage rate is 2%. Typical causes include theft, damage, supplier shortages, and counting or data entry errors. Log the reason whenever stock is adjusted so patterns surface by product or location.
KORONA POS supports stock counts from the POS or the mobile inventory app, and those counts supply the actual figures a shrinkage report needs. Pair the report with loss prevention tools to act on what it finds.
Inventory management a headache?
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Inventory Report Examples in KORONA POS
These three reports illustrate inventory reporting in practice. The demos are interactive, and the reports belong to POS reporting and analytics.
Example 1: Stock Valuation Report
The Stock Valuation report summarizes the value of unsold inventory at a particular moment. Start with the column totals for current stock and goods value, followed by a scan of individual products for stock holding more cash than sales justify.
Example 2: GMROI Report
The GMROI report sets a product’s gross profit against the cost of the inventory behind it. It suits the job of trimming underperforming lines. Hunt for the lowest ratios and decide whether to cut orders, adjust prices, or drop the product.
Example 3: ABC Analysis Report
The ABC analysis report categorizes products by their value to the business. The insight reduces dead stock and may lift inventory turnover. Confirm that the A grade products stay in stock, and check the C grade products for candidates for clearance.
Sample Stock Valuation Table
The table below uses made-up figures to demonstrate how a valuation report reads. It is not store data.
| SKU | Product | Units on hand | Unit cost | Stock value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LQ-1042 | Bourbon, 750 ml | 48 | $18.50 | $888.00 |
| LQ-2210 | Craft IPA, 6-pack | 120 | $8.40 | $1,008.00 |
| SK-3305 | Rolling papers, king size | 200 | $0.95 | $190.00 |
| VP-4120 | Vape pod, 2-pack | 75 | $11.20 | $840.00 |
| CS-5008 | Energy drink, 16 oz | 240 | $1.35 | $324.00 |
| Total | 683 | $3,250.00 |
Discover Advanced Analytics and Custom Reports
Speak with a product specialist and learn how KORONA POS can work for your business.
Report-to-Decision Map
Use the map below to match the question in front of you with the report that answers it and the action that follows.
| Question | Report | Action |
|---|---|---|
| What do I have, and what is running low? | Stock levels and stock status | Reorder products whose days of supply fall below supplier lead time |
| How much cash sits in stock? | Inventory valuation | Slow purchasing when value climbs while sales stay flat |
| How fast does my stock sell and get replaced? | Inventory turnover | Trim orders on low-turnover SKUs and watch fast movers for stockouts |
| Did last month’s purchase sell? | Sell-through rate | Mark down or promote products with low sell-through |
| What is not selling? | Aging and dead stock | Discount, bundle, return to the supplier, or stop reordering |
| Which products drive revenue? | ABC analysis | Protect stock of A items and review C items for removal |
| Is my inventory earning its cost? | GMROI | Reduce investment in products with a low return |
| Which items and categories deliver the biggest profit? | Inventory profitability | Shift shelf space and budget toward top earners |
| When should I reorder? | Inventory replenishment | Place orders based on reorder levels and recent sales |
| Where is stock disappearing? | Shrinkage and adjustments | Investigate gaps and count high-risk SKUs more frequently |
How to Build an Inventory Report
To build an inventory report, list your products with SKU, cost, and price, add quantity and location, set a timeframe, pick the report suited to your question, run it, and act on the results. Six steps take you from raw data to a finished report.
1. Build a Complete Product List
Start with an up-to-date list that includes SKUs, descriptions, cost, and price. The list underpins all your reporting, and a missing cost value makes valuation and GMROI unreliable.
2. Add Quantity And Location
Record the units on hand per product and the location holding them. Multi-location stores need one quantity per location, which lets the report surface imbalances and transfer opportunities.
3. Set a Timeframe And Stick to It
Choose a daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly window and keep that window constant from run to run. Consistent periods keep trends comparable, and seasonal comparisons work best year over year, since April and November sales are not alike. Holiday peaks distort month-over-month comparisons, so holiday inventory management is a useful companion read before the season starts.
4. Choose The Report That Answers Your Question
Match the report to the question using the decision map above. A reorder question points to stock levels or replenishment, a cash question to valuation, and a performance question to sell-through or GMROI.
5. Run The Report in Your POS
Generate the report from your POS so the figures come straight from sales and receiving data. That automation is the core of automated inventory management, where counts update without manual entry. Spreadsheets work for small catalogs, and the post on a basic inventory spreadsheet shows how to set one up.
6. Review And Act on The Results
Assign an owner, set a deadline, and record the decision on any item that needs attention. A report that triggers no action is a record, not a tool.
Spreadsheet Vs. POS Reports
| Factor | Spreadsheet | POS-generated report |
|---|---|---|
| Data freshness | Updated by hand, so it reflects the last entry | Updates as sales and receipts post |
| Accuracy risk | Manual entry errors | Entry errors drop because data comes from transactions |
| Effort per cycle | Hours of counting and typing | Minutes to generate |
| Scalability | Suits small catalogs | Handles large SKU counts and several locations |
Inventory Report Template
An inventory report template is a spreadsheet with one row per product and columns for identification, quantity, cost, and reorder data. The layout below works in Excel or Google Sheets.
| SKU | Product | Location | Units on hand | Unit cost | Stock value | Reorder point | Units sold (30 days) | Days of supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LQ-1042 | Bourbon, 750 ml | Main Store | 48 | $18.50 | $888.00 | 24 | 36 | 40 |
| LQ-2210 | Craft IPA, 6-pack | Main Store | 120 | $8.40 | $1,008.00 | 60 | 90 | 40 |
| VP-4120 | Vape pod, 2-pack | Main Store | 75 | $11.20 | $840.00 | 20 | 15 | 150 |
Two formulas drive the calculated columns:
- Stock Value = Units on Hand × Unit Cost
- Days of Supply = Units on Hand ÷ (Units Sold ÷ 30)
In the sample rows, the vape pods carry 150 days of supply against 40 for the other two products, a gap that marks them for review.
The Units Sold column comes from sales records, and a daily sales report template is a simple way to capture those figures daily. Add supplier and lead time columns if the sheet will drive purchase orders.
How Often Should You Run Inventory Reports?
Check stock levels daily or weekly, review performance weekly, and save valuation, turnover, and profitability for a monthly pass. Busier stores need tighter schedules, and slower catalogs may stretch them.
| Frequency | Reports to run | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Daily | Stock levels and low-stock alerts (high-volume stores) | Catch products approaching zero ahead of stockouts |
| Weekly | Sell-through, slow sellers, replenishment | Adjust orders and promotions when a correction costs little |
| Monthly | Valuation, turnover, GMROI, profitability, ABC analysis | Track trends and measure the cash tied up in stock |
| Quarterly | Aging review, shrinkage and variance, cycle count results | Move aged stock and compare system counts with shelf counts |
| Annually | Full physical count and ABC grade reset | Confirm records match reality and refresh product grades |
Common Inventory Reporting Mistakes
Four mistakes undermine inventory reporting: using outdated cost data, tracking stock in separate systems by channel, skipping physical counts, and running reports without acting on them.
Relying on Outdated Cost Data
Valuation, GMROI, and profitability reports depend on current unit costs. In categories where supplier prices shift frequently, such as liquor, stock value may drift from reality within weeks.
Update costs whenever a new stock receipt arrives, and know which costing approach your system uses. The average cost method blends all receipts into one unit cost, whereas a last-purchase-price approach reflects the newest receipt alone.
Keeping Separate Systems For Each Channel
Online and in-store stock tracked in separate systems produce conflicting numbers and overselling. Retailers with several locations or channels need one source of truth, a topic examined further in multi-store inventory management.
Skipping Physical Counts
Reports mirror whatever the system believes. Without counts, phantom inventory builds up: products listed as in stock but missing from the shelf. Cycle counting checks a rotating portion of the catalog and keeps records current without closing the store. Regular inventory reconciliation resolves the differences it uncovers.
Running Reports Without Acting on Them
Reports that sit unopened cost time to produce and return nothing. Set a fixed review slot on the calendar and name one owner per report.
Improve Your Inventory Reporting With KORONA POS
KORONA POS automates the reporting process, replacing slow, error-prone manual work with real-time data. Stock levels, valuation, sell-through, and ABC grades update from live sales and receiving activity, so nobody has to rekey numbers before a review.
Customizable dashboards put the figures that drive decisions on one screen. A retail KPI dashboard built around stock, sales, and margin keeps those numbers in front of the team, and notifications for low stock, overstock, and out-of-stock items surface problems between report runs.
Stock counts run from the POS or the mobile inventory app, which keeps system quantities aligned with shelf counts. Counts and real-time stock tracking arrive with the Retail plan, and the ABC analysis and top and slow sellers reports with the Plus plan. When a number needs a closer look, a one-click report card for any product adds item-level detail.
Pair these tools with the cadence table and decision map above, and each report ends in a concrete action: a reorder, a markdown, a transfer, or an investigation.
Speak with a product specialist and learn how KORONA POS can power your business needs.
Speak with a product specialist and learn how KORONA POS can power your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Do Inventory Reports Mean?
An inventory report condenses a store’s stock data into a readable summary: what sits on the shelves, what it cost, where it is kept, and how fast it moves. Buyers lean on that summary to spot top performers, lagging categories, and products that need attention before ordering again.
What Is The Difference Between Inventory Tracking And Inventory Reporting?
Tracking follows products in motion, from the receiving dock to the shelf to the register, and logs where they sit at any moment. Reporting takes that recorded history and condenses it into snapshots or period summaries that people can analyze and act on.
What Is a Perpetual Inventory Report?
A perpetual inventory report draws on records that change the moment a sale, return, or delivery is entered, so the on-hand quantity stays current. Systems built on periodic counts reconcile at count time. POS software generally keeps perpetual records automatically.
What Is The 80/20 Rule in Inventory?
Known as the Pareto principle, the 80/20 rule says around 80% of sales trace back to 20% of products. ABC analysis puts that idea to work by sorting products into A, B, and C grades by revenue contribution, which tells you where to focus tight stock control.
How Often Should You Run Inventory Reports?
Stock levels deserve a daily or weekly look, sell-through and slow sellers a weekly one, and valuation, turnover, GMROI, and profitability a monthly one. Keep the reporting window identical from run to run, and shorten the cycle for high-volume stores.
What Type of Asset Is Inventory Reported as?
Inventory is reported as a current asset on the balance sheet because a business expects to sell it within one year or its normal operating cycle, whichever is longer. Confirm the exact treatment for your business with your accountant.
When Should Inventory Be Recorded?
The usual trigger is receipt of the goods together with the transfer of ownership. Shipping terms move that trigger, because title may pass when the order ships or when it arrives. Ask your accountant to pin down the timing for specific purchases.
Is a Spreadsheet Enough For Inventory Reporting?
For a short product list at one location, a spreadsheet does the job. Hand-built reports eat time, invite typos, and freeze at the last update. A POS feeds reports straight from transactions and keeps pace as the catalog and the number of stores grow.
