01
Item Master
Your product catalogue. Enter each item once with a unique SKU, HSN code, GST rate, purchase and selling price, reorder level, and opening stock. Every other sheet reads from here.
Stock and Inventory Management Template in Excel, Free for Indian Businesses
Track what you have, what it is worth, and what to reorder. Enter your items once, log stock in and out, and the dashboard shows current stock, inventory value, and Low Stock or Out of Stock alerts for every item. Updated for FY 2026-27.
- Current stock for every item, calculated from your purchases and sales
- Inventory value at cost and at selling price, with your total stock worth
- Automatic Low Stock and Out of Stock alerts so you reorder on time
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Petpooja presents
Stock & Inventory Template
For Indian Shops & Retailers
5
Sheets · Excel template
FY 2026-27
What's Inside
Five sheets that turn a pile of stock into numbers you can act on
02
Stock Movements Log
Record every purchase and sale as one line. Pick the SKU from a dropdown and the item name fills in. Put received stock in Qty In and sold or issued stock in Qty Out.
03
Live Stock Dashboard
Current stock for every item, worked out as Opening plus total In minus total Out. Nothing to fill in here, it updates the moment you log a movement.
04
Reorder Alerts
Each item is flagged green for In Stock, amber for Low Stock (at or below your reorder level), or red for Out of Stock. One glance tells you what to reorder.
05
Stock Valuation
Every item valued at cost and at selling price, with a total inventory value and your potential gross margin. Use it for your accounts, insurance, or a bank facility.
06
How It Works + GST 2.0 Rates
A plain walkthrough of the stock maths using the sample data, plus the current GST slabs (0, 5, 18, 40 percent) after the 22 September 2025 change, so your Item Master carries the right rate.
Why This Matters
Most Shops Run on a Rough Guess of What's in Stock
Ask a shop owner how much stock they are holding and the honest answer is usually a shrug. The fast-movers run out on a Saturday rush, while slow items sit on the shelf for months, quietly holding your cash.
Inventory is the biggest chunk of working capital for most Indian retailers and distributors. Money you spent on goods is money you cannot use until those goods sell. When you cannot see what is overstocked and what is about to run out, you lose on both ends: dead stock ties up cash, and stockouts send customers to the shop next door. It is one of the quiet ways small retail shops lose profit without realising it.
A stock register fixes this. Enter your items once, log every purchase and sale, and you always know the current count, the value on your shelves, and exactly what to reorder. The template does the arithmetic: Opening Stock plus everything received minus everything sold, per item, live.
It also keeps you on the right side of the law. Under Rule 56 of the CGST Rules, every GST-registered business (other than composition dealers) must keep a true account of its stock, showing goods received, supplied, and in hand. A clean stock sheet is that record. Do a physical inventory audit each month and post any difference as an adjustment, so your books always match the shelf.
Sample Preview
What the dashboard shows for a 10-item shop
Here is the Stock Dashboard for the sample data that comes loaded in the template:
Basmati Rice 25kg (SKU-1001): 40 opening + 35 purchased - 8 sold
= 67 bags in stock, worth ₹77,050 at cost. Status: In Stock (green)
Cola 2L (SKU-3002): 18 opening, 18 sold, 0 left. Status: Out of
Stock (red) so you reorder now
Items to reorder: 4 flagged, 3 Low Stock (Toothpaste, Detergent,
Assam Tea) plus 1 Out of Stock
Total stock value at cost: ₹1,04,360 across 10 SKUs, the cash
currently sitting in your inventory
Value at selling price: ₹1,20,630, leaving a potential gross
margin of ₹16,270
... plus per-item Total In, Total Out, and colour-coded status for every SKU, all
calculated across 5 sheets.
Key Stats
The stock records the law expects you to keep
Rule 56
Of the CGST Rules, 2017. Every GST-registered business, other than composition dealers, must keep a true account of stock: opening balance, goods received and supplied, losses, and closing balance. A clean stock sheet is exactly this record.
Source: CBIC, Rule 56 of the CGST Rules, 2017Section 35(6)
Of the CGST Act. If you cannot account for your goods, the officer can treat the unaccounted stock as if it were supplied and levy tax on it, plus penalty. Poor stock records turn into a direct tax bill.
Source: CBIC, Section 35(6), CGST Act, 2017Section 145A
Of the Income-tax Act. Closing stock must be valued at lower of cost or net realisable value, inclusive of tax, to compute your business income. Without a valued stock sheet, you cannot file this correctly.
Source: Section 145A, Income-tax Act, 1961
Common Mistakes
7 Stock-Keeping Mistakes Indian Shops Make
01
No single item list with SKU codes
Without one master list, the same item gets counted three ways and nothing reconciles. A unique SKU per item is what ties your purchases, sales, and stock count together.
02
Not logging every stock in and stock out
Skip a few entries and the dashboard drifts from reality within a week. The count is only as good as the movements you record, so log each purchase and sale as it happens.
03
Never setting a reorder level
If you do not tell the sheet when stock is low, it cannot warn you. Set a reorder level per item that covers your supplier's delivery time plus a small buffer, then act on the amber flags.
04
Ignoring dead stock
Slow items quietly hold your cash and take up shelf space. The valuation column shows exactly how much is parked in each item, so you can spot what to discount and clear. It is one of the inventory mistakes retail stores make most often.
05
Never doing a physical count
Theft, breakage, and billing errors mean the shelf rarely matches the book. Count physically each month and post the difference as an adjustment, or the gap only grows.
06
Not valuing stock at all
If you cannot state your closing stock value, you cannot finish your accounts, file income tax correctly, or support a working-capital loan. The dashboard values it for you, live.
07
Carrying the old 12% and 28% GST rates
Since the GST 2.0 change on 22 September 2025, the slabs are 0, 5, 18, and 40 percent. An old item list still tagged 12 or 28 percent will throw off every downstream GST figure.
Comparison
Stock Tracking: From Memory vs This Template
| Aspect | From Memory / Notebook | With This Template |
|---|---|---|
| Current stock per item | A guess, checked by walking the shelf | Calculated live from every movement |
| Knowing what to reorder | Noticed only when it runs out | Amber and red alerts before it does |
| Stock value | Rarely known | Valued at cost and selling price, live |
| Dead stock | Discovered at year-end | Visible per item in the valuation column |
| Physical count vs book | Hard to reconcile | One adjustment row fixes the gap |
| GST rate per item | Looked up each time | Stored once in the Item Master |
| Records for GST and accounts | Scattered or missing | One sheet that satisfies Rule 56 |
Stop guessing what's on your shelves
Download the free Stock and Inventory Management Template and know your count, value, and reorder list in one glance.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is a stock management template and who needs one?
It is a simple system to track how much of each item you hold, what it is worth, and when to
reorder. Any business that buys and sells physical goods needs one: kirana and grocery stores, garment and
electronics shops, pharmacies, distributors, and small manufacturers. You enter your items once in the
item master,
log stock in and out, and the dashboard keeps the running count for you.
How does the sheet calculate current stock?
For every item it uses one rule: Current Stock = Opening Stock + total Qty In - total Qty Out.
The opening stock comes from your Item Master, and the ins and outs are added up from the Stock Movements log
by SKU. So the moment you record a purchase or a sale, the dashboard count changes on its own. There is
nothing to recalculate by hand.
How do the reorder alerts work?
You set a reorder level for each item in the Item Master. The dashboard compares current stock
against it and shows a status: green In Stock when you are above the level, amber Low Stock when you are at or
below it, and red Out of Stock when the count hits zero. Sort or scan the Status column and reorder the amber
and red items. Set the reorder level to cover your supplier's lead time plus a small safety buffer.
How is my stock valued?
Each item is valued two ways: current stock times the purchase price gives value at cost (the
cash tied up), and current stock times the selling price gives value at selling. The dashboard totals both
and shows your potential gross margin. This is a straightforward cost method. For income tax, closing stock
is valued at the lower of cost or net realisable value under Section 145A, so keep your purchase prices
current. To clear slow movers without eroding your margin, our
free discount calculator
helps you set the markdown, and if you also track recipe or product costs, the
food cost calculator
pairs well with this sheet.
Do I have to keep stock records by law?
If you are GST-registered, yes. Rule 56 of the CGST Rules requires a true account of stock,
and Section 35(6) of the CGST Act lets an officer tax unaccounted goods as if they were supplied. A
maintained stock sheet is your defence. It also feeds your
GST invoicing
and returns, since the HSN code and rate you store per item are the same ones your invoices need. It works in
Microsoft Excel, and in Google Sheets after a quick import.
About Petpooja
Petpooja is India's leading SME business software suite, trusted by 1,50,000+ businesses across retail, restaurants, healthcare, manufacturing, and more. From billing and payroll to task management and procurement, Petpooja helps Indian businesses run better, every day.
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