Adjust inventory levels
About inventory tracking
Square’s inventory management gives you basic tools to keep a clear count of in-stock items in your item library, and manage your inventory from anywhere. For items with inventory tracking enabled, the stock count will update based on sales from your point of sale app, Square Invoices, and for orders shipped through your online store.
From the Item Sheet on Square Dashboard, you can use the Manage stock modal to quickly update stock levels across all variations of an item at a given location using keyboard navigation. This is especially useful for power users managing items with many variations.
Before you begin
You have two options for managing your inventory tasks:
Make updates to your inventory from the Square Dashboard on a laptop or desktop computer. When updating your inventory in the Item Library on Square Dashboard, you can click an item's status pill for quick availability changes, make manual changes to individual items, or use the import tool to update stock levels in bulk. This option is best suited for the back office, when you may have larger updates to make.
Update your inventory from your point of sale app and POS devices. This option is best suited for quick updates.
In order to use inventory features, you need to have items in your item library on Square. Learn more about how to create and edit items with Square.
To use inventory management, make sure you’re running the latest version of the Square app on your mobile device.
The Manage stock modal uses keyboard navigation and is available on desktop and laptop computers only.
Adjust inventory levels
Stock actions allow you to adjust stock levels and apply reasons. For instance, you are able to add or remove stock and assign reasons such as Stock received, Inventory Re-count, Damage, Theft, Loss, and Restock return.
- Sign in to Square Dashboard and go to Items & services (or Items & menus or Items & inventory) > Items > Item library.
- Click on the selected item from the list.
- Under Inventory and toggle on Track stock to enable inventory tracking for this item.
- Enter the current stock count in the Quantity field.
- To enable per-variation inventory tracking, go to the Variations section. For each variation, toggle on Advanced Stock Tracking to set stock counts at the variation level.
- Click Save.
Update stock with the Manage stock modal
Use the Manage stock modal from the Item Sheet to quickly update stock levels across all variations of an item at a specific location. The modal supports keyboard navigation so you can move through variations and locations without using a mouse.
- Sign in to Square Dashboard and go to Items & services (or Items & menus or Items & inventory) > Items > Item library.
Click on an item to open the Item Sheet. - In the Variations section, click Actions
- Click Manage stock.
- Use the arrow keys to select a location. The modal displays all variations for the selected location.
- Select a Reason from the drop-down menu for the first variation. The reason you select automatically applies to all other variation rows.
- Enter the stock adjustment quantity for each variation. Use the Tab key or arrow keys to move between rows. If applicable, enter a Vendor and Unit cost for the adjustment.
- Click Done to save your changes.
Adjust inventory levels in bulk
The Import tool allows you to download a report of your current inventory and update your inventory quantities in bulk. This is especially helpful for adding new inventory and verifying current stock. The import tool is only available in your Square Dashboard.
Sign in to Square Dashboard and go to Items & services (or Items & menus or Items & inventory) > Items > Item library.
Click Actions > Export Library.
In this report, update your New Quantity values and save the Excel (.xlsx) or CSV (.csv) file to your computer.
Click Actions > Import Library from your Item library.
Drag and drop or browse your saved file to the Import Inventory window and click Next.
Review the data and click Next to confirm.
Once the steps are complete, your stock is instantly updated.