Blog · 5 min read

Craft Inventory Tracking Spreadsheet: How to Track Supplies, Batches and Reorders

By the Oak & Tally team

Running out of jars the week before a craft fair. Buying another spool of the ribbon you already had three of. Not knowing what a finished item actually costs because the price of your main material went up in spring.

If any of that sounds familiar, you don't need complicated inventory software. A well-built spreadsheet can handle supplies, batches and reorders for most small handmade businesses, as long as it's set up around how makers actually work.

This guide explains what to track, how to structure it, and the few formulas that do the heavy lifting.

Why makers need a different kind of inventory system

Retail inventory tools are built for shops that buy finished products and resell them. Makers are different:

• You buy materials in packs (a 10 lb bag, a case of 24 jars, a 50 m spool) but use them in small amounts per item.
• One product uses several materials, and one material goes into several products.
• You make things in batches, and each batch pulls stock from many materials at once.
• Material prices change, so your cost per item changes too.

A good craft inventory spreadsheet connects these pieces: materials, recipes, production and purchases.

The five tabs that make it work

1. Materials (your supply library)

One row per material. Useful columns:

• Material ID (a short code like M-WAX or M-JAR8)
• Name, category and supplier
• Unit (lb, oz, piece, meter)
• Pack size and pack price
• Starting stock
• Reorder at: the stock level where you want a nudge
• Calculated: cost per unit, units purchased, units used, on hand, stock value and status

Cost per unit is simply pack price ÷ pack size. If a case of 24 jars costs $30, each jar costs $1.25.

2. Purchases (restocks)

Every time you buy supplies, add a row: date, material ID, packs bought and total paid. The spreadsheet adds the units to stock and can update your average cost per unit, which is more accurate than using the last price you paid.

3. Recipes (bill of materials)

This is the heart of it. For each product, list each material and the quantity used to make one finished item:

Product SKU	Material	Qty per item
CND-LAV	Soy wax	0.5 lb
CND-LAV	8 oz jar	1
CND-LAV	Lavender fragrance	0.8 oz
CND-LAV	Cotton wick	1
CND-LAV	Label	1

The spreadsheet multiplies each quantity by the material's cost per unit and gives you an accurate materials cost per item. Change the price of wax in one place, and every candle that uses it updates.

It can also tell you how many you can make from current stock, and which material is the limit. That's very handy before a big order.

4. Production Log (batches)

Whenever you make a batch, log the date, SKU and quantity. The sheet multiplies the recipe by the batch size and takes those materials off your on-hand stock automatically.

Over a month this gives you a clear record of what you made, what it used and what it cost.

5. Dashboard

The summary you'll actually look at:

• Total inventory value
• Number of materials tracked
• How many are at or below their reorder point
• How many are out of stock
• A reorder list of exactly what to buy next

The formulas behind it (no macros needed)

You can build all of this with standard functions that work in both Google Sheets and Excel:

• SUMIFS to total purchases and usage per material (for example, all units of M-WAX used across production batches).
• INDEX/MATCH to look up a material's cost per unit from its ID.
• Simple IF logic for status: if on hand ≤ 0, "Out"; if on hand ≤ reorder point, "Reorder"; otherwise "OK".
• MIN across recipe lines to find how many items current stock allows.

Avoid functions that only work in one app (such as newer lookup functions that may not exist in older versions of Excel) if you or your team switch between Sheets and Excel.

Setting good reorder points

A reorder point is the stock level where you should buy more. A simple rule:

Reorder at = (units you use per week × weeks it takes to arrive) + a safety buffer

If you use 6 lb of wax a week, your supplier takes 2 weeks to deliver, and you want a 1-week buffer:

Reorder at = 6 × 2 + 6 = 18 lb

Adjust before busy seasons. Many makers raise reorder points in October for the holiday rush.

Connecting inventory to pricing

Once you know the materials cost per item, you're most of the way to a solid price. Add packaging, your labor time and an overhead share, and you have a full unit cost. From there you can work out the price you need for your target margin after marketplace fees.

This is where an inventory spreadsheet pays for itself. When a supplier raises prices, you'll see the effect on every product's margin straight away, instead of finding out months later.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Tracking packs instead of units. Always convert to the unit you use in recipes.
• Forgetting small materials. Glue, tape, labels and test pieces add up.
• Not logging production. If you don't log batches, stock levels drift and the reorder list stops being trustworthy.
• Never counting. Do a quick physical count once a quarter and correct the starting stock if needed.
• Building it too complicated. If it takes more than a few minutes a week, you'll stop using it.

A ready-made option

If you'd rather skip the build, our Maker Inventory & Pricing Calculator has all of this ready to go:

• Materials library with cost per unit, on-hand stock, stock value and reorder status
• Purchases tab that updates stock and average cost
• Recipes (bill of materials) with cost per item and "can make" counts
• Production Log that takes materials off stock automatically
• Products tab with unit cost, fees, profit, margin and the price you need
• Pricing Calculator with a price ladder
• Dashboard with inventory value and a reorder list

It works in Google Sheets and Excel, with no macros and no subscription, and comes with a filled demo file so you can see how everything fits together. See the template →

Quick recap

1. Track materials in the unit you use, with a reorder point.
2. Log purchases so stock and average cost stay current.
3. Build recipes so every product has a real materials cost.
4. Log production so stock comes off automatically.
5. Check the reorder list weekly, and count once a quarter.

Know your numbers. Keep making.

Not tax, legal or accounting advice. Our templates are organizing and estimating tools; results depend on the data and rates you enter. Etsy is a trademark of Etsy, Inc. Oak & Tally is independent and not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by Etsy, Inc. Screenshots show a fictional demo shop.