Explain the next step

A difference needs a decision, not a guess.

After checking a count, record whether a product needs another recount, remains under investigation, or has a proposed adjustment. The decision keeps the exact quantities and count context you reviewed.

Record the reason you actually know

Choose a nonzero product difference. Select a next step and enter a reason; adjustments require one. An optional private investigation note stays in the full backup and history, but out of the shareable decision report. Preview before recording. A discrepancy does not establish theft, damage or any other cause.

See the quantity change first

The proposed new Other adjustment is the existing adjustment plus counted-minus-expected. Arithmetic uses thousandths of a unit. For example, an existing adjustment of 0.001 and a remaining difference of 0.001 propose 0.002. Sales, production, returns, losses and physical counts are unchanged.

Review before and after values, then confirm Apply reviewed adjustment locally. This changes only the browser worksheet and retains the decision’s source and resulting quantities together. It does not post to Shopify, Zoho, accounting software or another inventory system.

A changed source needs another review

Recounts, changed movements, product spelling or count context make an earlier decision stale. An already applied adjustment cannot be applied again from the same record. Later edits retain the original before/after record and mark it as an earlier state. Separate products are never netted together.

Keep the worksheet and explanation together

Recording and applying first change memory. Save in browser or download the full private backup to retain the worksheet, saved count copies and decision history together. Current backups use version 3; versions 1 and 2 can still be imported and start with no invented decisions. Up to 500 decisions fit within 1 MB, inside the existing 3 MB collection limit.

Saving rejects another tab’s newer collection. Keep your own full backup, then load the saved collection before continuing. A storage failure preserves the previous saved JSON and leaves your current edits in memory. Unreadable saved data can be downloaded before you explicitly replace it.

Share a reviewed explanation

The text report includes the selected product’s original expected/count/difference, prior and proposed or applied adjustment, reason and timestamps. Private notes and source context are omitted. Your reason can still include sensitive information; review it before sharing. These are editable local records, not immutable audit evidence.

Compare with inventory systems

Zoho’s adjustment guide documents warehouse, reason, quantity and draft/applied stages. Sortly’s Stock Counts guide describes discrepancy review, recounting and quantity updates. Official sources checked September 12, 2026. BatchTrace provides a local companion workflow; it does not replace those connected inventory controls or establish that they lack this feature.