A stock count that doesn't match the system is inevitable. What matters is how you correct it. Ledgestra treats stock the way accountants treat the ledger: every change is a new, dated record, and nothing is silently overwritten.
Every movement is a record
Stock moves through five movement types: receipt, issue, adjustment, transfer in and transfer out. Each has an item, a location, a quantity, a date and a reference. Quantity on hand is calculated from these movements automatically.
Movements can't be edited or deleted after the fact. A mistake is corrected with an offsetting movement, the same principle as reversing a journal entry. Your stock history always explains how you got to today's number.
Documents that move stock for you
- Goods receipts post a receipt movement for each line when posted, with or without a prior purchase order.
- Customer deliveries issue stock to the customer.
- Returns to suppliers and from customers move stock back, optionally with the matching credit note.
- Consignment stock, held for or from a partner, is tracked separately from stock you own.
Revaluation through the GL
Sometimes the quantity is right but the value isn't. Inventory revaluation posts a value adjustment for stock on hand at one item and location. An increase is debited to inventory and credited to the offset account you choose, and a decrease is the reverse. It lands in the general ledger as a journal entry, so the balance sheet moves with it.
Allocation: reserve before you promise
Reservations set stock aside before it's delivered or consumed. A reservation can be made against a purchase order, a sales order, a cost file (a job or project) or another reference, and cancelled when plans change. Procurement and sales share the same reservation list, so both teams see the same commitments.
Inter-company transfers
Moving stock between your own legal entities posts both sides in one step. A transfer out at the source location and a transfer in at the destination are recorded, along with a journal entry between the two GL accounts you pick. Each entity's books stay correct without a manual journal.
Why this approach
An auditor asking "why did this item's quantity change?" gets an answer from the records alone. The same records drive the balance sheet, the stock reports and the reservations your sales team relies on.