Stock Ageing & Dead Stock Tracker Spreadsheet
This spreadsheet ages your stock line by line, so you can see how long you have had each box as well as what it is worth.
A stock figure tells you how much you have, not how long you have had it, and every stocktake ends with one number that is the wrong one. Some of that stock will be money again in a fortnight and the rest is a decision nobody has made yet — the total on its own cannot tell you which is which.
What is in it
- Products — 300 rows, and the only table you type into: six things per line.
- Ageing — the whole shop in five buckets, category by category.
- The Slowest 40 — your worst lines ranked automatically, with what half price would actually return.
- By Category — where the money is and how fast it moves.
- Overview — the whole shelf on one screen.
- Start Here and Setup: four numbers — where dead starts, where slow starts, what holding stock costs you and how many times a year you want the shelf to turn.
Who it is for
Shops, wholesalers, workshops and anyone holding stock long enough for some of it to stop moving. Dead and slow are two cells in Setup and they are yours: a florist would call ninety days dead and a furniture shop would call it new, and moving them moves every bucket, verdict and total in the file. Lines that have never sold are handled too — leave the last-sold date blank and the file measures from the day the stock arrived.
The worked example
The worked stocktake has 128 lines and 4,681 units, worth $32,969 at cost and $96,551 at retail, turning 4.78 times a year with 76 days of cover. $15,362 of it has not moved in 90 days — 46.6% of the money on the shelves — 14 lines have never sold at all, and the oldest has been there 1,572 days.
The part that surprises people is what clearing it would return. The forty slowest lines cost $11,130 and are worth $31,171 at full retail, which nobody is paying — but at half price they return $15,585, which is $4,456 more than they cost you. The file does that sum on every line, so you can stop arguing with yourself about it.
How it works
Compatible with Microsoft Excel 2016 or newer on Windows or Mac, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice. No macros, no add-ons, no account to create, nothing to install.
The download has two workbooks: one with the example above already filled in, so you can see what every column expects, and the same file completely blank for your own figures. A plain-English guide comes as a PDF. Order on WhatsApp — $9
Orders are taken on WhatsApp: message me and I’ll send the payment details, then the files as soon as the payment is confirmed.
A look inside the file
Questions people actually ask
How do I work out which of my stock is dead money?
You type six things per line — the cost, the price, how many you have, when you first had it, when it last sold and how many sold in twelve months — and the file works out days held, days since it sold, days of cover, stock turns, margin and a verdict in words. In the worked stocktake 128 lines held $32,969 at cost, turned 4.78 times a year with 76 days of cover, and $15,362 of it had not moved in 90 days: 46.6% of the money on the shelves. Fourteen lines had never sold at all, and the oldest line had been there 1,572 days.
Ninety days is not dead in my trade — does that matter?
No, because dead and slow are two numbers in Setup and they are yours: a florist would call ninety days dead, a furniture shop would call it new. Change one cell and every bucket, verdict and total in the file moves with it, along with what holding stock costs you and how many times a year you want the shelf to turn. The Products tab holds 300 lines and is the only table you type into.
Where do I get the last-sold date, and do I have to do all of it?
Most tills and shop systems will export it, and if yours will not, an educated month is enough — the ranking barely moves and the answer is still far better than no date at all. You do not have to do the whole shop either: do the forty lines you already suspect, which is usually where most of the dead money is, and add the rest over time. Lines that have never sold get a blank last-sold date and the file measures from the day the stock arrived instead.
Does it work in Google Sheets or do I need Excel?
Both — it is built as .xlsx for Excel 2016 or newer on Windows or Mac, and it loads into Google Sheets through File then Import then Upload. LibreOffice opens it too. No macros, no add-ons, no account to create, nothing to install and no subscription: you download the file and it is yours.
Does it connect to my till?
No — nothing syncs and nothing logs in, which is exactly why it works with any system you already have, and I never ask for a password, your till or your accounts. It is not a till, EPOS or stock control system, not a reordering or purchase-order tool and not a barcode counting app. It will not sell the stock for you; it tells you which boxes cost you money to keep and what letting them go would put back — in the worked file the forty slowest lines cost $11,130 and return $15,585 at half price, which is $4,456 more than they cost.
Need it built around your business?
This file assumes a shelf of stocked lines you count and price one by one. If yours works differently — the same lines held across three locations that need comparing, batches with expiry dates rather than an age in days, or one item bought at four different costs over a year — I can build the same ageing and clearance arithmetic around the way your stock actually sits.
All other templates are listed on the Excel & Google Sheets Templates page.