A stock report that people act on answers two questions: what needs ordering before it runs out, and what's sitting there that won't sell. To answer the first you need, per item, stock on hand, stock on order, the recent rate of sale, the supplier lead time and the reorder point that follows from them. To answer the second you need the age of the stock (when it last moved), its value, and how many months of cover you're holding at the current rate of sale. Every stock module holds the ingredients: Sage 200 stock control, Business Central's item ledger, QuickBooks Online inventory on Plus and Advanced, Xero's tracked inventory (in a basic form), and dedicated systems like Unleashed, Cin7 or Brightpearl. What the standard "stock valuation" report shows is the value by item as at today, which answers the auditor's question and neither of the two above.
What metrics belong on a stock report?
| Metric | Definition | Formula | Why it's on the report |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock on hand | Units and value by item and location | From the item ledger | The starting point |
| Stock on order | Units on open purchase orders, with expected date | From purchase orders | You don't need to reorder what's already coming |
| Rate of sale | Average units sold per week over a recent window | Units sold in last 8 or 13 weeks ÷ weeks | The denominator for everything else |
| Weeks of cover | How long the stock will last at the current rate | (On hand + on order) ÷ rate of sale | The reorder trigger and the overstock flag in one number |
| Reorder point | The level at which to reorder to avoid a stock-out during lead time | (Rate of sale × lead time in weeks) + safety stock | What "we need to order" means, per item |
| Suggested order | What to order now | Max(0, reorder point + order quantity − on hand − on order) | The list purchasing works from |
| Stock age | Days since the item last sold, or since the stock was received | Today − last sale date (or FIFO receipt date) | Finds what isn't moving |
| Slow and obsolete value | Value of stock with age over a threshold, or cover over a threshold | Sum of value where age > N days or cover > M weeks | The write-off decision |
| Stock turn | How many times a year the stock is sold through | Cost of sales (12 months) ÷ average stock value | The one number for the board |
| Stock-outs | Items with zero on hand and open demand | Count where on hand = 0 and (sales orders open or rate of sale > 0) | Lost sales, visible |
Source: standard inventory formulas; the windows and thresholds are choices your business makes and writes on the report.
Two choices to make once and print on the report: the window for rate of sale (8 weeks catches seasonality faster; 13 smooths it), and the thresholds for slow (say, cover over 26 weeks) and obsolete (no sale in 12 months). Different businesses will pick differently; the point is to pick and be consistent.
Where does the data come from?
| System | Stock feature | What it holds | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sage 200 | Stock Control module | Items, locations, bins, costing (FIFO, average, standard), movements, reorder levels, supplier lead times | Full ingredients; the stock analysis codes are useful classifications |
| Business Central | Item ledger, inventory | Items, locations, costing methods, movements, reorder policies, vendor lead times; the Inventory and Inventory Valuation Power BI apps | Full ingredients; the free apps cover valuation and movement well |
| QuickBooks Online | Inventory (Plus and Advanced) | Quantity on hand, cost, reorder point per item; movements via transactions | Reorder point but not lead time; single location on standard plans |
| Xero | Tracked inventory | Quantity and cost per item; movements via invoices and bills | Basic; no reorder logic, no locations |
| Sage 50 Accounts | Stock control | Items, cost, reorder levels, movements | Single-company, desktop; ODBC route to Power BI |
| Unleashed, Cin7, Brightpearl and similar | Dedicated inventory | Everything above plus multi-channel, batches, serials | Own reports are often good; API to Power BI for joining with finance or sales |
Source: each vendor's product documentation, read 21 September 2026.
For most of these, the ingredients are there and the standard reports are the wrong shape: valuation by item rather than a decision list. That's a modelling job over data you already hold, not a new system.
What should the report look like?
Three pages, and the first two are lists:
Order this. Items where on hand plus on order is below the reorder point, sorted by how many weeks until stock-out, with the suggested order quantity, the supplier and the lead time. This is the page purchasing opens on Monday. If it has thirty rows, purchasing has thirty decisions; if it has three hundred, the reorder points are wrong.
Deal with this. Items with cover over the slow threshold or no sale in the obsolete window, sorted by value, with age and last sale date. This is the page the FD and the ops manager look at quarterly. The total at the top is the provision conversation.
The picture. Stock value over time, stock turn, weeks of cover distribution (how much of the value is in 0 to 4 weeks, 4 to 13, 13 to 26, over 26), stock-outs this month, by category and location. For the board.
Row-level security if buyers should see only their categories or sites.
How do you make it trustworthy?
- Reconcile the model's stock value to the system's valuation report for the same date, every refresh, on a page. Any difference is a costing-method or a cut-off problem and it's found before the FD finds it.
- Store month-end snapshots of on hand, value and age. Stock systems show today; the trend of slow stock over twelve months is what changes purchasing behaviour, and it needs history you keep yourself.
- Handle the costing method the same way the system does. FIFO, average or standard. If the model values stock differently from the ledger, the reconciliation will show it.
- Lead times need a source. If the system holds supplier lead time per item, use it. If it doesn't, a small table purchasing maintains is the honest substitute. Don't default it to a number nobody chose.
If the stock module is the only source, this is a single-source build and it's what the First Report is for: one system, one report answering "what do we order and what do we write off?", the headline figure (stock value) reconciled back to the system to the penny, £1,950 fixed, ten working days (see the First Report). Stock plus sales orders from a separate web shop, or a dedicated inventory system joined to the accounts, is two sources and a Reporting Sprint. Power BI Pro is £10.80 per user per month on Microsoft's UK page as of September 2026, for each viewer.
Common questions
What should a stock report include?
Per item: on hand, on order, rate of sale, weeks of cover, reorder point, suggested order, age and value. Presented as two lists (order this; deal with this) and one overview (value, turn, cover distribution, stock-outs).
How do you calculate weeks of cover?
(Stock on hand + stock on order) ÷ average weekly rate of sale, where rate of sale is units sold over a recent window (8 or 13 weeks) divided by the number of weeks. Print the window on the report.
How do you calculate a reorder point?
Rate of sale × supplier lead time (in the same units, usually weeks) + safety stock. Suggested order is then reorder point plus your order quantity, less on hand, less on order, floored at zero.
What counts as slow-moving or obsolete stock?
Your choice, written on the report. A common pairing is slow = more than 26 weeks of cover, obsolete = no sale in 12 months. The value of stock meeting each rule is the provision conversation.
Can Business Central or Sage 200 produce this already?
They hold every ingredient and their standard reports cover valuation and movement well; Business Central's free Inventory Power BI app goes further. The decision-list shape (order this; deal with this) usually needs building, and it's a model over data you already have.
Does Xero or QuickBooks have stock reporting?
Xero's tracked inventory and QuickBooks Online's inventory (Plus and Advanced) hold quantity and cost per item, and QuickBooks holds a reorder point. Neither holds lead times or does multi-location on standard plans, so the reorder logic needs a small supporting table.
How much does a stock report cost to build?
From a single stock system, it's a First Report: £1,950 fixed, ten working days, with the stock value reconciled to the system before it ships. Power BI Pro is £10.80 per viewer per month on Microsoft's UK page as of September 2026.