How small businesses keep track of inventory

Many small sellers start with a spreadsheet before paying for inventory software. It works well if you keep it simple and update it on a routine.

A simple setup

One row per product (SKU).
A status column: Lead, Bought, Shipped, Live, Sold out.
Units bought, units left, unit cost.
Stock cost left = units left × unit cost.
Date bought, so you can spot stock that hasn't moved.

A weekly routine

Update units sold from your sales reports.
Move rows to the next status.
Check items older than 60–90 days and decide whether to cut the price.

See where your cash is

A pivot table or SUMIF by status shows how much money sits at each stage.

Where is my cash stuck? The Amazon Inventory Tracker dashboard shows stock by stage (Lead, Bought, Shipped, Live, Sold out) and the cash tied up. Example data.

The Amazon Inventory Tracker in the Seller Sheets Bundle (€69, 8 sheets) has this layout with a dashboard.

Not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Amazon. Excel and Google Sheets belong to their owners. Written with AI assistance. General information only, not tax, legal or financial advice; fee and rule examples as at Oct 2026 — check current fees and rules with the official source. No particular sales or profit result is promised.