Outbound Stock: Reducing Inventory for Sales and Adjustments

Outbound Stock is OneCart’s method for reducing inventory quantities from your existing stock levels. This feature is designed for recording sales, damages, losses, internal use, and any scenario where you need to decrease your current inventory.

How Outbound Stock Works

Outbound Stock subtracts the quantities you specify from your existing stock levels.

Example:

• Current stock in OneCart: 55 pieces
• Excel spreadsheet shows: 10 pieces (outbound)
• Calculation: 55 - 10 = 45 pieces
• Result: OneCart quantity becomes 45 pieces

You don’t need to calculate the final quantity yourself - OneCart automatically subtracts the outbound amount from whatever stock you currently have.

When to Use Outbound Stock

Outbound Stock is perfect for:

• Recording manual sales - Account for direct or offline sales
• Damaged inventory - Remove defective or broken products
• Inventory shrinkage - Account for theft, loss, or missing items
• Internal use - Remove items used for samples, demos, or testing
• Stock adjustments - Correct over-counted inventory
• Returns processing - Remove inventory sent for returns/refunds
• Quality control - Remove items that failed inspection

Key Advantage

No calculations needed! You just specify the amount you’re removing, and OneCart handles the math:

• You discover 25 damaged pieces
• Just upload “25” in your Outbound Stock file
• OneCart subtracts it from whatever quantity you currently have
• No need to look up current stock or calculate totals

Prerequisites

Before using Outbound Stock, ensure you have:

• ✅ Set up your Item Master
• ✅ Connected your platforms
• ✅ Imported and matched your listings
• ✅ Enabled inventory sync

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Prepare Your Excel File

1. Create a new Excel spreadsheet with these columns:

   • SKU (Column A): Your product SKU codes
   • Quantity (Column B): The amount you’re removing (not the final total)

2. Example format:

   SKU           | Quantity (Removing)
   PROD-001      | 15
   PROD-002      | 5
   PROD-003      | 30
   

3. Important notes:

   • Use the amount you’re removing, not final quantities
   • Quantities should be positive numbers (OneCart will subtract them)
   • Use exact SKU codes from your OneCart Item Master

Step 2: Access Outbound Stock in OneCart

Outbound stock functionality follows a similar process to Inbound Stock. For exact navigation paths and interface details, check if there’s an existing article about outbound stock operations or contact OneCart support.

Step 3: General Outbound Process

The outbound stock process typically involves:

1. Accessing the outbound stock feature in OneCart
2. Uploading your prepared file with SKUs and quantities to remove
3. Reviewing the calculated results (current stock minus outbound amount)
4. Confirming the reduction

Important: Review carefully for negative stock warnings before processing.

Step 6: Verify Results

1. Check updated quantities in your inventory
2. Confirm the math: Old quantity - Removed amount = New quantity
3. Address any negative stock warnings if they appear
4. Monitor platform sync to ensure changes propagate
5. → Track your inventory changes

Real-World Examples

Damaged Inventory

• Scenario: You find 20 damaged units of WIDGET-001 during inspection
• Current stock: 150 units
• Outbound file: WIDGET-001, 20
• Result: 150 - 20 = 130 units

Internal Samples

• Scenario: Marketing takes 10 units of DEMO-002 for trade show
• Current stock: 75 units
• Outbound file: DEMO-002, 10
• Result: 75 - 10 = 65 units

Multiple SKUs Adjustment

• Scenario: Monthly inventory audit reveals shrinkage
• Outbound file:

  PROD-A01    | 5
  PROD-B02    | 12  
  PROD-C03    | 3
  

• Result: Each SKU gets the specified amount subtracted from current stock

Important Warnings

Negative Stock Results

If your calculation would result in negative inventory:

• OneCart will warn you before processing
• Consider if you’re removing more than you actually have
• Check if you need to update current stock first
• You can choose to proceed (resulting in negative stock) or cancel

Zero Stock Impact

• Reducing inventory to 0 will show “Out of Stock” on platforms
• Customers won’t be able to purchase these items
• Plan timing carefully to avoid sales disruption

Best Practices

Documentation

• Record reasons for outbound stock in your notes
• Keep documentation (damage reports, internal use logs)
• Track patterns to identify recurring issues
• Note disposal methods for damaged goods

Verification

• Count physical inventory before updating OneCart
• Verify quantities against your records
• Double-check SKU codes to avoid errors
• Test with small batches for large reductions

Timing

• Update promptly when inventory changes occur
• Don’t accumulate adjustments - process them regularly
• Coordinate with team to avoid duplicate entries
• Consider customer impact when timing updates

Troubleshooting

Negative Stock Warnings

• Review your current stock levels before processing
• Check if amounts are correct - you might be removing too much
• Consider if you need Inbound Stock instead to add inventory first
• Verify you’re not double-counting reductions

SKU Not Found

• Verify SKU codes match exactly with your Item Master
• Check for typos, extra spaces, or formatting issues
• Ensure SKUs exist in OneCart before uploading

Quantities Not Reducing Correctly

• Confirm you’re using Outbound Stock (not other methods)
• Check that quantities are positive numbers
• Verify your Excel file formatting is correct

Alternative Methods

If Outbound Stock isn’t right for your needs:

• → Bulk Upload for setting exact quantities - When you know the final amount you want
• → Inbound Stock for adding inventory - When receiving new stock
• → Manual updates for individual SKUs - For one-by-one updates

Related Articles

• → Understanding all four inventory update methods
• → What’s the difference between bulk upload and inbound stocks
• → Fixing SKUs with negative quantity

Dealing with regular inventory adjustments? Consider implementing systematic processes for tracking and documenting outbound stock to maintain accurate records.