Lesson 265 · 3 min
Inventory checks with a spreadsheet
A simple stock sheet plus one AI-written formula tells you what to reorder before the shelf goes empty.
Many small shops keep stock in their head until a regular asks for her usual brand of fish sauce and it is gone. A free Google Sheets or Excel file with five columns is enough: item, unit, in stock, lowest you allow, and supplier.
Describe those columns to a chatbot and ask for a formula that marks each row "Order" when stock falls to the lowest level. It can also write a formula to count how many items need ordering today.
Once a week, count the shelf and update the stock column. It takes ten minutes, and the sheet does the thinking. Over time you can add a column for how many you sell per week to set better minimum levels.
Test any formula on three rows you can check by eye before trusting it. If something looks wrong, paste the formula back and ask the chatbot to explain it line by line.
Do it now
Build a reorder sheet
- 1. Make a sheet with columns: Item, Unit, In stock, Minimum, Supplier.
- 2. Add ten of your best sellers.
- 3. Use the prompt below to get the formula, then test it on a few rows.
I use [Google Sheets / Excel]. Columns: A = Item, B = Unit, C = In stock, D = Minimum, E = Supplier. Rows 2 to [N]. Give me a formula for column F that shows "Order" when C is less than or equal to D and "OK" otherwise, plus one formula that counts how many rows say "Order". Explain each in one sentence.
Quick check
Keep going
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- Prompt
- The instruction or question you give an AI. Clearer prompts with context usually get much better answers.