Multi-location inventory: keeping every site's stock straight

Multi-location inventory stops working the moment two sites each keep their own spreadsheet: the same part reads “in stock” on one tab and “out” on another, and nobody can say which number is current. The fix isn’t a bigger spreadsheet. It’s one system where every site records against the same list, so a site is just one more place stock can be, not a separate count.

The pattern holds whether your sites are two offices, a shop and its backroom, a warehouse and three vans, or a dozen storerooms across a city: model where stock sits in two levels, keep one running total, and make moving stock between sites a recorded step instead of a guess.

Why per-site spreadsheets drift apart

A spreadsheet per site drifts because nothing keeps the copies in sync. Branch A’s sheet lives on Branch A’s computer, updated when someone remembers; Branch B never sees it. Multi-site inventory management on spreadsheets also hides transfers: stock leaving one site and arriving at another gets logged once, if at all, so totals quietly stop adding up. Within weeks, the “master” count is a guess stitched from whichever sheet someone last opened.

Model “where” in two levels: site and shelf

The fix is to stop treating “which site” and “which shelf” as the same question. Give every stock-holding spot two levels: the site itself — a building, branch, warehouse or depot, with an address if people need to find it — and the storage inside it, such as a shelf, box, room or vehicle. Storeroom inventory for a single site is just that site’s storages; add a second site and you add storages under a second site, never a second spreadsheet. Give each storage a name that says its site too (“North, shelf A”, “South, shelf A”), so nobody restocks the wrong one.

One total, and a number for each site

Once storages are grouped this way, you get two numbers for free. The item’s total is the sum across every storage, wherever it sits — the figure for reordering. Each site’s number is just that site’s storages added up — the figure for “do we have any here.” Inventory across multiple locations only gets confusing when a tool shows one and calls it the whole picture; seeing both stops anyone asking “do we have more somewhere else?”

Stock transfer between locations

A stock transfer between locations is two stock movements, not one click that teleports an item. Decrease the quantity at the sending storage and increase it by the same amount at the receiving one. Recording both halves, even manually, means the history shows where it went and when, instead of one site’s count dropping with no explanation.

	Single site	Multiple sites
Shelf names	“Shelf A” is enough	Put the site in the name: “North, shelf A”
A transfer	Rare, obvious	Routine — record both sides
“Do we have it?”	One number	Total, plus a number per site
Who records	Whoever’s there	One named person per site

Who updates what, and naming that holds up

Decide early who records stock at each site, and agree on names before storages multiply. A short checklist:

• Use one pattern everywhere: site, then spot (“North, shelf A”, “South, van 2”).
• Keep it short enough to fit on a printed label.
• Name sites the way your team already talks about them (the branch name, not an internal code).
• Pick one person per site who keeps names and assignments tidy as it grows.

When one spreadsheet is still fine

If you run a single site, one person does the counting, and nothing gets moved between places, a shared sheet is still a reasonable choice. Multi-location inventory earns its keep once a second site opens, stock travels between sites, or more than one person needs to trust the same number without calling around to check.

Where Tana fits

Tana models this with storages — a shelf, box, room or vehicle, with stock recorded per storage — grouped under optional locations, a building or site with an address and a map pin. An item’s total is the sum across every storage in every location. Move stock between storages by decreasing one and increasing another; both changes are kept in the item’s history, along with who made them and when. Storage names are unique within a team, which keeps “North, shelf A” from being confused with its twin at another site. Everyone on the team sees the same live numbers the moment they change.

A low-stock alert threshold is set per item against its total across all storages combined, not per site; if one storeroom running low matters more than the team total, check that storage directly. CSV export lists item, storage, location and quantity together, so a multi-site count still opens as one spreadsheet when you need it.

Frequently asked questions

Can I track inventory in two locations without running two separate systems?

Yes. Set each location up as a group of storages in the same team, and every item’s total already adds both together. You never maintain two lists.

How do I record a stock transfer between locations?

Decrease the quantity at the sending storage and increase it at the receiving one by the same amount. Both changes stay in the item’s history, so you can see where stock moved and when.

Should every site use the same storage naming convention?

Yes. Agree on one pattern, site then spot (“North, shelf A”), before you have many sites, so every name is unique and readable on a label.

Does a low-stock alert apply per site or across the whole team?

Across the whole team: a threshold is checked against the item’s total over every storage it’s kept in, not any one site on its own.