Step 1
Track quantities separately at each site
Use consistent product identifiers and units across locations. A business-wide total is useful for planning, but customer orders need the quantity available at the site that will fulfill them.
- Maintain a shared product catalog.
- Review on-hand and available quantities by location.
- Assign local responsibility for receipts and counts.
Step 2
Record dispatch and receipt on transfers
Distinguish a transfer request from goods actually dispatched and received. While goods are traveling, keep an in-transit record in your workflow rather than making the same units available for sale at both ends.
- Record source, destination, items and quantities.
- Capture the dispatch date and transfer reference.
- Confirm received quantities and investigate shortages.
Step 3
Reconcile local and overall stock
Transfers should explain location changes without creating new purchased inventory. Count each location periodically and review unresolved transfers. Account for goods in transit when comparing physical site totals with overall ownership.
- Review outstanding transfers and expected receipts.
- Compare source dispatch with destination acceptance.
- Investigate repeated location differences and delayed receipts.
Worked example
Example: stock in transit
Site A starts with 50 units and Site B with 10. A dispatch of 15 leaves 35 at A, 10 at B and 15 in transit. Once accepted, B holds 25 and transit returns to zero. Total owned stock remains 60.
Illustrative example; use your own transaction data.
Frequently asked questions
Can I promise stock held at another location?
Check transfer time, reservations and the fulfillment plan before promising delivery. A business-wide quantity does not mean every site can dispatch the item immediately.
Why do my warehouse totals not match the overall total?
Check in-transit goods, unconfirmed receipts, reservations and the definitions used by each report. Reconcile all quantities at the same point in time.