Stock doesn't match the shelf

System says 10, shelf says 7. Don't just fix the number yet — find out why it drifted, or you'll be doing this every week.

Step 1 — check the ledger

Open the product's stock ledger (from the product row or the Stock page). Every movement that touched it is there: purchases in, sales out, transfers, returns, adjustments.

Read it top to bottom and look for the story:

• A purchase that was never actually received?
• A transfer that left but was never received at the other end (in-transit)?
• A return that restocked to a different location than you counted?
• An adjustment someone already made?

Often the "missing" stock is sitting in the ledger, not missing at all.

Step 2 — recount before adjusting

Count the shelf again — counting errors outnumber real shrinkage. Check it's the same variant (size 7 counted while the ledger shows size 8) and the same location.

Step 3 — fix it properly

• One or two items off → a stock adjustment records the correction with a reason in the ledger.
• A whole shelf drifted → run a stock take on that category and reconcile the lot.

Prevent the next one

The usual drifters:

• Received a shipment without posting the GRN (stock sat in "ordered")
• Sold the wrong variant because barcodes weren't per-variant
• Transfers dispatched but never confirmed received
• Manual "just edit the number" fixes — which is exactly what the adjustment flow replaces