Inventory Movement & Control Reports

The Movement & Control reports track every change to your inventory quantities over time. While the On-Hand reports show you a snapshot of where things stand right now, the Movement reports show you how they got there. These reports are invaluable for auditing, shrinkage detection, and operational oversight.

Accessing These Reports

From the main menu bar, navigate to:

Reports > Inventory > Movement & Control

You will see five report options:

1. Inventory Movement Ledger
2. Inventory Adjustments
3. Transfers
4. Receiving Detail
5. Negative Stock Exceptions

All five are presets within the Inventory Movement Report form. When you select one from the menu, the report opens with the corresponding preset already applied.

Permission Required

All five reports require the RPT_VIEW_INV_MOVEMENT permission. Super Admins and Location Admins have this permission by default.

Common Filters

All movement reports share these filters:

• Location — Filter to a specific location or view all locations
• Date Range — Set the From and To dates to control the reporting period

Inventory Movement Ledger

The Movement Ledger is the most comprehensive movement report. It shows every single stock change in chronological order, regardless of the type of change. Think of it as the general ledger for your inventory.

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Movement Types Explained

• Sale — Stock decreased because an item was sold through the POS or an invoice was fulfilled. Qty Change will be negative.
• Receive — Stock increased because items were received from a purchase order. Qty Change will be positive.
• Adjust — A manual inventory adjustment was made, either increasing or decreasing stock. The Notes column typically contains the reason.
• Transfer In — Stock arrived at this location from another location via an inter-location transfer.
• Transfer Out — Stock left this location heading to another location.

Tips

• Use this report to trace the complete history of a specific item by filtering or searching for its name or SKU
• The Running Balance column lets you verify that the current on-hand quantity is correct by following the chain of changes
• Export to CSV for detailed reconciliation work

Inventory Adjustments

The Adjustments report filters the movement data to show only manual quantity changes. This is your primary tool for monitoring shrinkage, count corrections, and write-offs.

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Using Adjustments for Shrinkage Detection

Shrinkage refers to inventory loss from theft, damage, spoilage, or administrative error. The Adjustments report is the best tool for detecting patterns:

• Look for recurring negative adjustments on the same items — this may indicate theft or chronic damage
• Compare adjustment frequency across locations to identify problem areas
• Review the Reason column for vague or missing explanations, which may warrant further investigation
• Cross-reference large adjustments with the Audit & Security Reports to see who was working at the time

Tips

• Require employees to enter a reason for every adjustment; blank reasons should be flagged for review
• Run this report weekly to stay on top of inventory discrepancies
• Sort by Change descending to see the largest adjustments first

Transfers

The Transfers report shows all inter-location stock transfer activity, including the origin, destination, quantity, and current status of each transfer.

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Tips

• Filter by Status to find transfers that are still pending or in transit
• Use this report alongside the Stock by Location report to verify that transfers have been received
• Transfers that remain in Pending or In Transit status for an unusually long time should be investigated

Receiving Detail

The Receiving Detail report tracks items received from purchase orders, including any variances between what was ordered and what actually arrived.

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Tips

• Filter by Vendor to review a specific supplier's delivery accuracy
• Items with consistent negative variances may indicate a vendor reliability problem
• Cross-reference with the Inventory Costing & Purchase History Reports to see cost implications of receiving variances

Negative Stock Exceptions

The Negative Stock Exceptions report lists all items that currently have a quantity below zero. Negative stock should not occur under normal operations and typically indicates a data entry issue, a timing problem, or a system configuration that allows overselling.

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Why Negative Stock Happens

Negative stock quantities typically occur for one of these reasons:

• Sales before receiving — Items were sold before the purchase order was received into the system
• Timing gaps — A sale was processed at the register before a manual adjustment or transfer was entered
• Data entry errors — An incorrect quantity was entered during an adjustment or receiving
• System configuration — The system is configured to allow sales even when stock is zero, which can push quantities below zero

Tips

• Review this report daily and resolve negative quantities promptly through adjustments or by receiving pending purchase orders
• The Last Received Date column helps you determine if there is an unprocessed receipt that would correct the balance
• Persistent negative stock on certain items may mean their reorder points need to be raised

Related Articles

• Inventory On-Hand & Valuation Reports — Current stock levels and valuation
• Inventory Costing & Purchase History Reports — Purchase costs and vendor pricing
• Purchasing Analysis Reports — Purchase order analysis and backorders
• Audit & Security Reports — Security audit trails and approval logs