How do you "keep" inventory

[Former_Member]

So I got a crash course this morning in everything I should have done over the last 6 months that my shop has been actually active and it's kind of intimidating. lol

My question is how do I keep inventory? I talked to a friend of mine this morning who's a tax preparer and she said I need a beginning inventory and an ending inventory. I understood that part, but do I do that just at the beginning and end of the year or is it a 365 type of thing? What does keeping inventory entail?

[IvoryCatCreations]

What you started the year with, what you added or subtracted (took off the market) what you sold, and what you ended the year with.

[Former_Member]

I keep Excel spreadsheets that list everything I have in current stock. I compare the spreadsheets to the physical inventory every couple of months just to make sure that my numbers are still correct. That makes it much easier for me to decide which supplies I need to order.

On January 1st I take a full physical inventory of everything I have in stock for the business including finished items, crafting supplies, mailing supplies, office supplies and anything else.

That gives me both my ending value for the previous year and my starting value for the current year.

[Former_Member]

I use an online program called craftybase. It was kinda tedious to get all the inventory loaded into the program - as a jewelry artisan, I have lots of materials - but I love the program now. My rule is I can't use any new material until I document it in the program.

And, it also helps me price my items, track projects (finished pieces), track sales (including printing invoices) and it imports listings from etsy.

If you're interested in checking it out, feel free to convo me for a referral code.

[Untwistedsister]

Usually a business that just buys and resells merchandise has a beginning inventory and then you add the items during the year that you purchased and subtract what you sold to give you a year end inventory which should equal what you actually have on hand. But when you are dealing with materials to create inventory, there are other methods of accounting which may be better suited to your business. Check with your accountant to see what accounting methods you can use and then choose what is best for you.

[AvonnieStudio]

Hello Donna, I'm checking out craftybase! Did you use hobby or pro? What's your experience with it? Do you think it's necessary to pay for the monthly fee? Thank you :)

[Former_Member]

Hi Avon, I have the pro version - the etsy import feature (my favorite!) is not included in the hobby version.

I tried to keep my own records using a bunch of spreadsheets and found that I didn't keep it up, so prepping for taxes was painful! For me, it's worth the investment in the program. All I have to do for taxes this year is print some reports for my accountant. Love that!

My experience - please keep in mind I create jewelry which involves LOTS of little pieces.

Loading inventory into the program was painful, but that's 'cause I needed to count beads and findings...

I love that you can:
- add a picture of your material AND your finished products
- copy material listings for when you have different colors of the same thing for instance
- customize your hourly wage and tax rate - yes, hourly wage. What is your time worth?
- manage inventory and projects and other expenses and orders
- import etsy listings. Plus, when the program runs the import it also updates all sales, expirations, etsy fees etc.

The program will calculate different price points based on your time and materials. It tells you the base cost of the item, suggested wholesale, retail, and ETSY prices based on mark up and fees. That feature was a true eye opener for me. I was amazed how far my items were underpriced.

The program lets you enter non-etsy orders as well.

And, their customer service is awesome. They have updated some stuff over the last year that just makes things a little easier, which I appreciate.

It might sound like I love the program, and I do. After over a year of using it, it's become part of the business process. In fact, my rule is that I can't use any material until I've logged it into the application. That forces me to spend the few minutes logging a new order before I bury myself in my bead corner playing with the new toys...

In interest of full disclosure, craftybase isn't paying me for this opinion. However, if you want to check it out more closely, and use my referral code, both of us will benefit with a 10% discount...
http://craftybase.com/ref/938e46b5

[AvonnieStudio]

Hello Donna! Thank you very much for taking time and leaving me this helpful comment :) I see that they have 14 days trial and I will give it a try! I'll also use your referral code when I do. Thank you so much!