Excel to Inventory Tracker · Your App Cloud
Turn an Excel inventory sheet into an app
Upload the stock sheet you update by hand. Plan how item codes, units and location columns come across, and how a quantity you keep typing over becomes an opening count plus a record of every movement.
From stock sheet to stock history.
Settle what counts as one item, replace the typed-over number with movements, then count a shelf and compare.
01
Settle one code and one unit per item
Attach the workbook with the upload button above. In the prompt, name the column that identifies an item, such as SKU, and the unit each item is counted in. Where some stock arrives by the case, say how many units a case holds.
02
Replace the quantity column with movements
In a stock sheet, a sale or a delivery is a new number typed over the old one. Name the movements that change stock in your business, such as received, sold, moved and written off. Then pick the date on which today's quantities become opening counts.
03
Count one shelf, then compare
In the first version, record a delivery and a move between locations. Count a single shelf and enter what you find, then compare each figure with the one you expected. Only then decide who signs in and who may adjust stock.
What each part of a stock sheet becomes.
Sample columns from a made-up shop with a warehouse, one store and a delivery van, for illustration only. Match each one to a column in your own sheet and run the check beside it.
| In your stock sheet | In your inventory tracker | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| An SKU column with codes like 00417, or a supplier's 13-digit product number | The item ID that every receipt, sale and count points to | Excel drops leading zeros and shows long numbers in scientific notation. Look for codes containing E+ before you upload, then search the app for a code that starts with 0. |
| A Qty on hand column that someone types over after each sale, delivery or count | An on-hand figure worked out from an opening count plus every movement since | For three items, add the receipts and take away the sales and write-offs recorded since the opening count. The result should equal the app's on-hand figure exactly. |
| Warehouse, Shop and Van columns side by side, with =SUM(D2:F2) in a Total column | Stock for each item at each location, with the total worked out rather than stored | Leave the Total column out of the fields. Then compare the app's total with the workbook's for an item held in all three places. |
| A Unit column holding 'ea', 'each', 'box' and 'case/12' | One base unit per item, plus a case size for deliveries that arrive packed | Filter the column to see every spelling first. After the upload, receive one case of a 12-pack item and confirm the shelf rises by 12, not by 1. |
| A Min or Reorder level column, with Qty cells that turn red below it | A reorder list of items at or under their level, per location if the levels differ | Whether the red comes from a conditional format or a fill someone applied by hand, write its rule into the prompt. Say whether an item sitting exactly on its level counts as low, and test one that does. |
| A Notes column with entries like '2 broken', 'recounted Mar 3' or 'top shelf, bay 4' | Adjustments that carry a reason, and notes that stay on the item | Split the notes in two. Those explaining a change in quantity become adjustments with a reason. Those describing the item, such as where it is shelved, stay as notes. |
| A tab for each stock count, such as 'Count Jan' and 'Count Jul', or a copy of the file saved every month | Dated count records for each item and location, kept as history | Only the newest count should set the opening figure. Say whether older counts come in as history or stay behind, and check the count date on a few items. |
| A Unit cost column and a Value column worked out as quantity times cost | A stock value for each item and location, from the cost you choose | When a supplier's price changes, say whether stock is valued at the latest cost or an average. Compare the grand total with the workbook's on the switch date. |
| Repeated rows for one item, each with a different Lot or Expiry date | Batches under one item, each with its own quantity and expiry date | Confirm the item's on-hand figure equals the sum of its batches. Then ask for batches expiring within 30 days and check one of them by hand. |
What a stock sheet never wrote down.
The workbook holds the last number someone typed. It can't say when the shelf was counted, what has moved since, or why a figure dropped. Settle those first, because the tracker starts from whatever the sheet says on day one.
Count before you switch
A quantity cell can be weeks out of date. Count each location close to the switch and use those figures as opening counts, so the tracker doesn't begin with an old error built in.
Codes Excel changed as they were typed
Formatting a column as Text protects codes entered afterwards. It won't bring back zeros already dropped, or digits past the fifteenth, which Excel rounds down to zero. Recover those codes from shelf labels or the supplier's price list.
Rows that aren't stock
Section headings such as 'CLEANING' typed on a row of their own, blank spacer lines and a grand total at the foot of the sheet can each pass for an item. Name them in the prompt, and compare the tracker's item count with the rows you meant.
Stock that moves during the switch
An upload is a snapshot, not a sync. Anything received or sold between the upload and the first day in the tracker has to be entered as a movement, or the opening figures are wrong already. Stop typing quantities into the workbook that day.
An illustrative starting point
A stock history where the stock sheet was.
Items with one code each, stock per location worked out from recorded movements, and a reorder list in place of red cells.
Every movement on record
Ask for receipts, sales, moves and write-offs to be saved as entries, each with a date, a quantity, a location and the person who recorded it. Ask for a reason to be required on adjustments, then check that a blank one is refused.
Stock at each location
Ask for a view per location and one across all of them. Move five units from the warehouse to the shop, then check that both places changed and the item's total stayed put.
A reorder list
Ask for one list of the items at or under their level, grouped by supplier if that is how you order. Record a sale that takes an item below its level and look for it there.
Counts entered from the shelf
Staff sign in at one address, with the access you describe for each collection. The app opens in a browser, including on phones, so try entering a count while standing at a shelf and check it lands on the right location.
Together in your app cloud
The pieces behind the possibility.
Choose the models and services that support the experience you want to create.
Database
Keep data and context for apps and agents
Authentication
Give the right people access
Email
Keep conversations moving
A little more context
Good questions.
Why record movements instead of editing the quantity?
A number typed over another can't explain itself. When each receipt, sale, move and write-off is its own entry, a count that disagrees can be traced to the entry behind it. Keep counts as separate records too, so a correction sits next to the figure it corrected.
Can the tracker hold stock in several locations?
Yes, if you name each location in the prompt, such as a warehouse, a shop and two vans. Ask for each move to be one entry with two sides, out of one place and into another. Check that a move changes both locations, and that a van with nothing in it shows zero rather than vanishing.
Can it warn me when stock runs low?
Start with the reorder list: open it to see the items at or under their level. An app can also send email and run tasks on a schedule you set, such as a Monday message to the buyer listing low items by supplier. Send the first few to yourself, and check the list before placing orders.
Can several people record stock at the same time?
Staff sign in to the published tracker, and you describe who may receive deliveries, record sales and post adjustments. Test it with two accounts recording sales of one item: both entries should appear, and the on-hand figure should reflect both.
Can I keep using the spreadsheet while I switch?
Only for a short, planned overlap. Quantities typed into the workbook after the upload never reach the tracker. Pick a switch date, count, enter whatever moved since the upload, then stop editing quantities in Excel. If a supplier still sends deliveries as a sheet, bring each one in as a deliberate import of receipts, tried on a copy first.
Can a model help with reordering?
You can add an agent inside the app that drafts an order for each supplier from the reorder list, when asked or on a schedule you set. Ask it to base quantities on recent sales, and have a person check every line and send the order. Describe it as unable to change stock, then test that it can't post a receipt. Model and service usage is metered separately.
Which plan does an inventory tracker need?
Recording a movement means saving it, and knowing who recorded it means sign-in. Both need a backend, as do the low-stock email and a scheduled reorder draft, so the tracker is an app with data, and putting it live needs a paid plan. Current plans are on the pricing page.
Can I get the stock history out again later?
Yes. Export covers your app's data and code. Before you archive the workbook, run an export and check that it holds the movements and counts, not only today's quantities. Keep the old file until every location has been counted in full with the tracker.
Explore Pricing for plans, included capabilities, and usage details.
Keep exploring.
Plan an inventory tracking app ↗
See the outcome and the capabilities behind it.
Why stock counts don't match, and how to find the cause ↗
For once the tracker is running: tracing each count difference to a movement, measuring accuracy and planning cycle counts.
Build an asset management app ↗
For equipment with serial numbers that is lent out and returned, where each piece is tracked by who has it and in what condition.
Understand data and context ↗
Give information the right place in your app.
Prepare to publish ↗
Check the experience you will share.
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