Inventory Dashboard
See how many products you hold, what your stock is worth, how much of it is selling and which products need reordering.
What the Inventory Dashboard Shows
The Inventory Dashboard gives you a health check of your stock: how many products you hold, what the stock is worth, how much of it is selling, what you are buying against what you are selling, and which products need reordering. Open it from Dashboard > Inventory in the sidebar.
Example: a buyer sees that Active Inventory has fallen to 10%, meaning nine in ten products have not sold in the last 90 days, while Inventory Purchase vs Cost of Goods Sold shows buying well ahead of sales for three months. She pauses the next purchase order for slow lines and reviews the oldest stock instead.
Before You Start
Cost prices: Inventory Value and Cost of Goods Sold are worked out from your products' cost prices, so add them for accurate figures.
Reorder levels: Reorder Required and Products To Reorder depend on the stock levels you set. See Stock Levels & Replenishment.
Suppliers: give products a main supplier and raise purchase orders in Helm, so supplier spend and reorder suggestions can be shown. See Mastering Suppliers in Helm and Purchase Orders.
No date picker here: the summary cards show your stock as it is now, and the charts show the last twelve months by month.
Summary Cards
Hover over the information icon on any card to see its definition in Helm.
Charts and Tables
Switching to Suppliers Need Replenish
Click the arrow next to Products To Reorder and choose Suppliers Need Replenish to see the same need grouped by supplier. From this view, Go to Purchase Orders takes you straight to raising an order.
Tip: click a product name in Products To Reorder to open that product and check its stock levels and supplier before you order.
Reading the Purchase vs Cost of Goods Sold Chart
Purchased higher than Cost of Goods Sold for several months means you are buying faster than you sell, and stock value will grow.
Cost of Goods Sold higher than Purchased means you are selling down stock. Good for cash, but check Products To Reorder so best sellers do not run out.
The two roughly level over time is the healthiest pattern: you replace what you sell.
Best Practices
Check Products To Reorder before raising purchase orders so you order what is actually running low.
Watch Active Inventory over time. A falling figure means more of your range has stopped selling.
Keep an eye on supplier concentration. If one supplier takes most of your spend, a delay there affects most of your stock.
Keep cost prices current so Inventory Value and Cost of Goods Sold stay accurate.
FAQ
Why is Reorder Required showing 0%?
Why is Reorder Required showing 0%?
Either nothing is below its reorder level, or reorder levels are not set for your products. See Stock Levels & Replenishment.
Why are Time to Out of Stock and Projected 30D Sales showing a dash?
Why are Time to Out of Stock and Projected 30D Sales showing a dash?
Helm needs enough recent sales for a product before it can estimate these, so new or slow-selling products show a dash.
Can I change the date range?
Can I change the date range?
No. The cards show current stock, and the charts show the last twelve months. For other periods, use the report links to open the matching report.
Why is Inventory Value lower than I expect?
Why is Inventory Value lower than I expect?
It uses cost prices. Products without a cost price add nothing to the value, so check that cost prices are filled in.
Where do the supplier figures come from?
Where do the supplier figures come from?
From the purchase orders you raise with each supplier in Helm. See Purchase Orders.
Use the Inventory Dashboard each week to see what your stock is worth, what is moving and what needs ordering, then act on it from the inventory list or purchase orders.
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