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Why Negative Stock Balances Appear and How to Prevent Them

Negative stock balances can occur for several reasons, from incorrectly recorded supplies to the wrong warehouse being used for stock deductions. Here's how to identify the cause and restore accurate inventory records.


The supply was recorded after the stock had already been deducted

If a product or ingredient shows a negative quantity in Inventory → Stock after a sale or manual write-off, the most likely reason is that its supply hasn't been recorded yet or was entered with a later date.

Poster deducts stock when you make a sale, produce items using a recipe or semi-finished product, or perform a manual write-off. If the item isn't in the system at the time of deduction, its stock balance becomes negative.

How to fix a negative stock balance

  1. Open Inventory → Supplies in the back office.
  2. Search for the product with the negative balance and review its supplies.
  3. If there are no relevant supplies, create a new supply to cover the shortage.
  4. Check Inventory → Stock again. The balance should become zero or positive.

If you want to reset the current stock balance and start from scratch

  1. Open Inventory → Stocktaking in the back office.
  2. Click Add in the upper-right corner.
  3. Choose the stocktaking type:
    • Partial — for selected ingredients.
    • Full — for all products in the warehouse.

      💡 Partial and full stocktaking are available only on the Mini, Business, and Pro plans.
  4. In the Actual stock column, enter 0 for the required products.
  5. Complete the stocktaking. The stock balance will be reset to zero at the time it is completed.
  6. Create new supplies in Inventory → Supplies.

After that, all future stock deductions will be based on the updated stock balances.


The supply was recorded for one warehouse, but stock is deducted from another

A negative stock balance can also occur when a supply is recorded for one warehouse while stock is deducted from another.

This is usually easy to spot: stock in one warehouse never changes despite ongoing sales, while another warehouse shows negative balances.

By default, Poster deducts stock from the warehouse selected as the deduction warehouse for the venue, not from the warehouse where the supply was recorded.

If detailed deductions by production stations are not configured, Poster deducts stock from the warehouse where the latest inventory movement for that item was recorded. As a result, stock may be deducted from a different warehouse than expected.

 

How to deduct stock from the correct warehouse

  1. Open Access → Locations in the back office.
  2. Click Edit next to the required venue.
  3. In the Stock deductions section, select Configure deductions by production stations.
  4. Assign the appropriate warehouse to each production station.
  5. Save the changes.

This setting applies only to products and recipes assigned to a production station.

After changing the settings, perform a separate stocktaking for each warehouse. Enter 0 where the product isn't physically stored and the actual quantity where it is available.


The negative stock balance has been accumulating for a long time

If a negative stock balance has been accumulating for a long time, it may be difficult to identify the document that caused the issue. In this case, perform a stocktaking and update the stock balances to match the actual quantities.

  1. Open Inventory → Stocktaking in the back office.
  2. Count your inventory.
  3. Complete the stocktaking.

Poster compares the recorded and actual quantities, shows any discrepancies, and automatically adjusts the stock balances.

After completing the stocktaking, verify the results in Inventory → Stock.

Perform stocktaking after the business day or shift has been closed, when all sales, write-offs, and supplies for the day have already been recorded. This ensures the results match the actual stock and prevents new transactions from creating additional discrepancies.

 

How to prevent negative stock balances

To avoid negative stock balances in the future, set a minimum stock level for each product. When the quantity approaches zero, you'll know it's time to record a supply before the item runs out.

You can also enable low stock notifications to receive alerts in Poster before an item reaches a negative balance.


If you can't determine the cause of a negative stock balance on your own, contact us via chat. We'll help you identify the issue and restore accurate inventory records.