Inventory reconciliation every Friday, with every difference explained
Inventory reconciliation without a day of spreadsheets. Every Friday afternoon Sai compares the stock in your inventory or accounting system with your warehouse, 3PL or count sheet, item by item, looks for the usual causes of each difference, such as unreceived deliveries, unshipped orders and returns, and drafts the adjustments that are left. Nothing is posted until you approve it.
The routine
# Routine: Weekly inventory reconciliation
Schedule: Weekly on Friday at 3:30 PM
Runs on: Berry's computer
Ask me before acting: yes
Stop a run after: 1 hour
## Each run
1. Export on-hand quantities by SKU and location from the inventory or accounting system.
2. Get the same from the warehouse or 3PL report, and the latest count sheet if there is one.
3. Match by SKU and location and list every difference, with its value at cost.
4. For each difference, check receipts not yet entered, orders shipped but not recorded, returns in transit and transfers between locations.
5. Write the likely cause next to each difference. Draft an adjustment only for what is still unexplained.
6. Save the reconciliation as Inventory_Rec_<YYYY-MM-DD> in the Reconciliations folder.
## Rules
- Ask me before posting any adjustment.
- Never change receipts, orders or transfers to make numbers match.
- Differences above the threshold in the Settings tab go to the top for review.
## Send me
Total difference at cost, the largest items with their likely causes, and draft adjustments waiting for approval.What is inventory reconciliation?
Inventory reconciliation is the process of comparing the stock recorded in your inventory or accounting system with the stock that is actually on hand, from a physical count or a warehouse report, and resolving the differences. Differences come from receiving errors, unrecorded shipments or returns, transfers, damage and shrinkage. Reconciling regularly keeps the cost of goods sold, reorder decisions and available-to-sell numbers accurate.
Most of the work is matching and checking, item by item, every week. That is exactly what a routine can do.
How this routine reconciles inventory
Every Friday afternoon Sai runs these steps:
- Pull both sides. On-hand quantities by SKU and location from your system, and from the warehouse report or count sheet.
- Match and value. Each SKU is matched and every difference is listed with its value at cost.
- Look for the cause. Sai checks receipts not entered, shipments not recorded, returns in transit and transfers.
- Draft what is left. Only unexplained differences get a draft adjustment, with the reason.
- Wait for approval. You review the list; adjustments are posted only after you approve.
What you get every Friday
Over time the reconciliations show which locations or processes cause most differences, which is where fixes pay off.
- A dated reconciliation file for the week
- Every difference by SKU and location, valued at cost
- The likely cause next to each difference
- Draft adjustments for what is still unexplained
- Large differences flagged at the top
Ways to reconcile inventory, compared
Most teams use one of these.
| Method | Setup | Compares system and warehouse | Explains differences | Ongoing effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spreadsheets by hand | None | Yes | By hand | High every week |
| Cycle counts in an inventory or warehouse system | Medium | Yes, for counted items | Partly | Medium: counts and reviews |
| Integrated inventory software with a 3PL connection | High | Yes, automatically | Partly | Low once connected |
| A Sai routine | Paste the routine, point it to both reports | Yes | Yes, it checks receipts, shipments and returns | Low: review and approve |
If your system and 3PL are already integrated, use the integration and run this routine monthly as a check. Where stock lives in separate systems, a weekly routine is the cheapest way to keep them in step. The Shopify inventory report gives the daily snapshot; this routine does the matching.
How often should you reconcile inventory?
Weekly is a good rhythm for businesses with steady order volume, because differences are still easy to trace. Low-volume businesses can run it monthly before the close. Fast-moving or high-value stock can be reconciled more often. Use Repeat in the demo above to match your cycle.
Set up the routine in Sai
- Copy the routine above and paste it into Sai, or click Start with Sai.
- Set the schedule to Weekly on Friday at 3:30 PM, after the week’s shipments are out.
- Keep Ask me before acting on, so adjustments wait for your approval.
- Give Sai access to the inventory or accounting system and the warehouse or 3PL portal, and set the review threshold in a Settings tab.
- Run it once alongside your usual reconciliation and compare the results.
Reorders based on the reconciled stock can be drafted by purchase order automation. For ERP-based stock, see NetSuite automation and SAP GUI automation.
Why use a computer use agent for inventory reconciliation?
Stock data usually lives in at least two places, your own system and the warehouse or 3PL portal, and they rarely connect. A computer use agent exports from each through its screens, matches them and checks receipts and shipments the way an inventory controller does, without an integration project.
Sai ranks at the top of OSWorld, the open benchmark for computer use. In reconciliation, that means every SKU checked every week and differences explained instead of plugged.
Skills this routine uses
- Excel automation: Clean, merge and update workbooks, refresh a model from new numbers, and build the weekly report in the real Excel app.
- NetSuite automation: Enter vendor bills in NetSuite from the PO and receipt, attach the PDF and leave each one Pending Approval, with mismatches left for you.
- SAP GUI automation: Run repetitive SAP transactions through the GUI from a work list, with a screenshot of every posting and a stop on every exception.
Related guides
- AI e-commerce operations: Stock, suppliers and orders
- Routines in Sai: How schedules, approvals and run limits work
- AI bookkeeping: Inventory and the close