An inventory adjustment changes the quantity of stock you hold without a sale or a purchase behind it. You use one when the shelf and the books disagree: goods broken in the stockroom, stolen, spoiled or past their date, a count that came up short, or a count that found more than the books say. Every adjustment carries a reason, a cost and the name of the person who recorded it, and it reaches the books the moment you save it.
SeroBooks keeps every adjustment on one register, the Stock Adjustments list, including the ones it creates for you (see Adjustments SeroBooks records for you).
Opening the Adjustments screen
- Vendors ▸ Inventory Activities ▸ Adjust Quantity/Value on Hand, or
- Inventory ▸ Adjustments.
The Stock Adjustments list
The heading shows how many adjustments are listed. Period limits the list to a date range (Today, This month, Last month, This year and so on, or a custom range); it starts on all dates and remembers your choice. Refresh reads the list again; New Adjustment starts one.
The list shows the most recent 100 adjustments in the period, newest first.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Ref | The adjustment number SeroBooks gave it. |
| Date | The date and time it was recorded. |
| Reason | The reason typed when it was recorded, or — if none was given. |
| Type | Stock found (stock added), Damage / loss or Correction (both remove stock). |
| Lines | How many items are on it. |
| Value | Its total value at cost. |
The footer reminds you that a Stock found row adds stock at the cost given and every other row removes it. You can sort, resize and choose columns, and use Email this or Export (CSV, Excel or PDF), as on other lists.
Double-click a row, or select it and press Enter, to open its page (see The adjustment page).
Recording an adjustment
- Click New Adjustment. If your role is not allowed to post stock adjustments, SeroBooks asks for approval first (see Permissions).
- In the search box (Search the item being written off…, or Search the item you counted more of… once Stock found is chosen), type at least two letters of the item's name, variation or code, then click the item in the list that drops down. It is added as a line with a quantity of 1. Repeat for every item on this adjustment; an item already on it is not added twice.
- Wait for each line's cost to appear. Under the item name you see finding the purchase cost…, then cost $X each. If SeroBooks cannot find a cost, the line says no purchase cost found — enter what it cost in red; type the cost in Cost.
- Enter the quantity in Qty for each line. Always a positive number: the direction is set in the next step.
- Choose the direction:
- Stock out (the default) — you counted less than the books say. Then choose Damage / loss (breakage, theft, spoilage) or Normal correction (a plain miscount).
- Stock found — you counted more than the books say.
- Type the Reason, for example Broken in the stockroom or Year-end count, aisle 4. It is recorded in the audit trail and printed on the note.
- Optionally tick what should happen as soon as it is saved: Print, Save PDF, Email or WhatsApp the adjustment note.
- Click Write off stock (for Stock out) or Add found stock (for Stock found).
A message confirms it with the adjustment's number (Adjustment … recorded — stock reduced. or … recorded — stock added.). The stock changes at once and the list refreshes.
The adjustment is recorded at the location this computer works in, and it is dated the moment you save it.
The New stock adjustment fields
| Field | What to enter / what it means |
|---|---|
| Search the item being written off… / Search the item you counted more of… | Finds items by name, variation or code (at least two characters). Click a result to add it. |
| Cost | What one unit cost you. Filled in from the last price you paid for the item, or its standard purchase cost if there is no purchase. Change it if the goods are worth something else; once you type, SeroBooks stops filling it in. |
| Qty | How many units to remove or add. Must be more than zero. |
| Bin icon | Removes the line. |
| Stock out / Stock found | Which way the count goes. The subtitle and the button change to match. |
| Damage / loss / Normal correction | For stock out only: what kind of loss it is. Shown as the Type on the list and on the note. |
| VALUE | The total of quantity × cost for every line: the amount that will post to the books. |
| Reason (recorded in the audit trail) | Why stock is being adjusted. |
| On writing off, also / On recording, also | Print, save, email or WhatsApp the note as soon as it is saved. Email and WhatsApp ask for the address or number, because an adjustment has no customer or vendor to send it to. |
The Write off stock / Add found stock button stays greyed out until every line has a quantity above zero and a cost above zero, and no cost is still being looked up. A line at no cost would move stock without moving any value, so SeroBooks does not allow it.
What happens in the books
An adjustment posts to two accounts, both chosen in Accounting Setup: Inventory on hand (your inventory asset account) and Damage / shrinkage write-offs (an expense account, called Inventory Adjustment (Shrinkage) in a new chart of accounts).
| Adjustment | Debit | Credit | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock out (Damage / loss or Correction) | Damage / shrinkage write-offs | Inventory on hand | The adjustment's value (quantity × cost) |
| Stock found | Inventory on hand | Damage / shrinkage write-offs | The adjustment's value (quantity × cost) |
Both directions use the same expense account on purpose: a miscount one month and its correction the next cancel out in one place, and the account shows what counting really cost you over the year.
Stock written off is valued at the cost on the line. Found stock is added as a new costed batch, so later sales of those units take their cost from it. Found stock carries no sales tax: nobody invoiced it, so there is no input tax to claim.
If either account is not set up in Accounting Setup, the stock still changes but nothing posts, and SeroBooks' ledger health check reports the adjustment as a document missing from the ledger. See How each transaction posts to the books.
The adjustment page
Opening an adjustment shows it as a page:
- Adjustment and its number, a Stock found, Damage / loss or Correction tag, and the date and time.
- Stock removed at (or Stock added at for Stock found) — the location.
- REASON GIVEN — the reason, or No reason was recorded.
- The lines: SKU, Item, Qty out, Unit cost and Value lost. For Stock found they read Qty in and Value added, and each quantity shows with a +. Double-click a line to open that item's Product 360.
- What left stock: Lines, Units removed and VALUE WRITTEN OFF. For Stock found: What was added, Units added and VALUE ADDED.
- Send the write-off note (Send the found-stock note for Stock found): Print, Save PDF, Email and WhatsApp.
Found units also appear on the item's stock card as Opening stock.
The adjustment note
The printed note is headed STOCK ADJUSTMENT with the number and says what the adjustment was: Stock written off (Damage / loss), Stock corrected (Correction) or Stock found. It lists the details, the reason given, and each item with QTY OUT, UNIT COST and VALUE LOST, then the units removed and the VALUE WRITTEN OFF. A Stock found note reads QTY IN, VALUE ADDED and Units added instead. It has signature lines for Recorded by and Authorised by, so it can be filed with your count sheets.
Adjustments SeroBooks records for you
These appear on the same list, with a reason that says where they came from:
- Damaged returns. When you take back goods on a credit memo and mark them damaged, the return first puts them back in stock and an adjustment then writes them off again, so damaged goods never look sellable. See Create Credit Memos and Refunds.
- Bin counts. When a count of a warehouse bin comes up short, the shortage is written off with the reason Cycle count — bin …. See Warehouse and bin locations.
- Goods lost in transit. When a transfer arrives short and you choose Lost/damaged in transit, the missing units are written off at the sending location. See Transfer Inventory between locations.
Permissions
Recording an adjustment needs the Post Stock Adjustment permission (under Inventory ▸ Adjustments in the role's permissions). A role that has not been given SeroBooks permissions uses its older Inventory access instead.
If your role does not have it, clicking New Adjustment opens an approval box: This is locked for your role. Anyone who has access to it can approve this one action. A colleague who has the permission enters their Login ID and Password to approve this one adjustment. See Roles and permissions explained.
Messages you may see
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| no purchase cost found — enter what it cost | SeroBooks has no purchase for this item and no standard cost. Type the unit cost in Cost. |
| 'Item' does not track stock, so there is no count to correct. | Stock found was chosen for an item that keeps no stock (a service or non-inventory item). There is nothing to adjust. |
| 'Item' tracks serial/IMEI numbers, so found units have to carry them… | Serial-numbered items cannot be added through a quantity. Receive them on a bill or import them with their serial numbers. |
| 'Item': found stock needs a unit cost… | Enter a cost above zero. |
| A message that a quantity or unit cost is not plausible | Found stock with a very large quantity, unit cost or line value is refused as a likely typing mistake. Check the figures. |
| ERROR: NOT ALLOWED: Mismatch between stock adjustment and purchase quantity. Product: … | You are writing off more of the item than SeroBooks has received into this location. Check Stock Levels and the item's stock card, and write off no more than is on hand. |
| This stock adjustment is dated …, which falls in a period closed on … | Your closing date is on or after today. Ask an administrator to move it, or enter the closing date password if one is set. See Set Closing Date and Year-End. |
| Something went wrong — the adjustment was NOT recorded | Nothing was saved and no stock moved. Try again; if it repeats, contact support. |
Tips
- Count first, adjust second. Print the Physical Inventory Worksheet (Reports ▸ Inventory), count, then record one adjustment per location for the differences.
- Always give a reason. An adjustment is the one stock movement with no customer or vendor to vouch for it; the reason is what an accountant or auditor reads.
- The Stock Adjustment Detail report (Reports ▸ Inventory) lists write-offs for any period you choose. See Inventory reports.