Stock control in Excel: how far it goes and when to move on

November 2, 2026 · 6 min read

Almost every warehouse starts with an Excel file. That is not a bad thing: it is cheap, everybody knows how to use it and for a few items it works. The problem comes when the warehouse grows and the spreadsheet does not.

What Excel does well

→Keeping a list of items and their quantities.
→Producing simple reports and sharing them.
→Getting started without spending anything.

Where it breaks

→It does not update itself: every receipt and every dispatch has to be typed in, and what is not typed in does not exist.
→It does not flag errors: if someone types 10 instead of 1, nobody finds out.
→Several people at once overwrite each other.
→It does not know which bin each thing is in unless you maintain that by hand.
→It does not connect to your store or your carrier.

Signs that it is time to move on

→Every count is out of line with the spreadsheet.
→You sell something you no longer had.
→You lose time looking for goods.
→Orders grow and so do errors.

How to switch without starting from scratch

That Excel file is not thrown away: it is the foundation. The warehouse system is set up with the locations, items and stock you already have, and from then on every movement is scanned. At Ubika we set it up for you with your own data. Warehouse software for small businesses.

Keep reading

What Ubika does: warehouse management software · software for 3PLs · WMS for e-commerce