7 Free Excel Inventory Spreadsheets for Small Business Owners

Key takeaways

• Anyone can improve their inventory management with free Excel inventory templates, but these have their limitations and will make it harder to scale in the future.
• A product list template serves as a master sheet detailing every product, including name, SKU, cost, and retail price.
• An inventory list template offers a comprehensive overview of your stock and includes things like descriptions, reorder levels, and quantities to the basic product list.​
• You can use purchase order templates to document buyer’s purchase details such as product types, quantities, prices, and shipping info. These act as a reference for order verification.​
• Sales quote templates provide potential customers with cost estimates for orders, which is especially useful for bulk or custom requests.​
• Sales order templates are issued to customers before delivery. They outline products, quantities, pricing, and totals, serving as a reference for sales terms.
• A picklist template is incredibly useful to help guide warehouse staff in efficiently retrieving products for multiple orders simultaneously, dramatically improving fulfillment times.​
• Any manufacturer can benefit from a bill of materials template. These list specific components required to manufacture an item, acting as a “recipe” for the production processes.

If you need free Excel inventory templates to help you get organized, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve been helping small businesses overcome inventory challenges for 18 years, so we know a thing or two about inventory templates. 

In this article, we’ve compiled seven of the best and most used Excel inventory templates for you to download (for free). All good inventory management stems from meticulous record-keeping, so download those templates now!

Inventory template index and quick downloads

Need to find the right inventory template quickly? This index maps each spreadsheet to its core use case, highlights the key fields it includes, and shows exactly where it fits in your workflow, from product setup all the way through purchasing, sales, fulfillment, and even manufacturing.

Excel product list template: create a SKU catalog (product names, costs, and prices)

Think of a product list as a master sheet of every product your business carries. A good product list should include the product name, SKU, cost, and retail selling price.

Compiling a product list is a great way to get a feel for the different products you carry, their price points, and the profit margins they offer. However, a product list can quickly become overwhelming for business owners carrying many different products.

To remedy this, you could use a different product list for different product types, but that would add more spreadsheets to update and manage. Which avenue you take is really up to you.   

Download Free Excel Inventory Template: Product List

Excel inventory list template: track on‑hand stock, reorder points, and inventory value

Inventory lists are more robust versions of product lists. For this reason, they usually include SKUs, product descriptions, reorder levels, and reorder quantities. This makes them perfect for people who want a more comprehensive look at the products they carry.

We’ve written an entire article all about inventory lists if you want to learn more.

Download Free Excel Inventory Template: Inventory list

Excel purchase order template: create vendor POs and manage receiving

A purchase order (PO) is a document that a buyer gives to a seller that describes exactly what they want to buy. The information includes the type of products, quantities, agreed-upon prices, shipping details, and more.

Purchase orders provide you with a record of what you ordered and for how much. This will give you something to reference if you run into problems. For example, if you receive the wrong number of units or notice a higher charge, you could use a purchase order to resolve these issues.

It’s a good idea to use POs in your business from day one, so if you don’t use them already, download this Excel inventory template immediately!  

Download Free Excel Inventory Template: Purchase Order

Excel sales quote template: send estimates and convert to orders

A sales quote isn’t necessary for all businesses or customers, but it’s good to know how they function. Sales quotes are useful when prospective customers ask about how much an order could cost but aren’t quite ready to make that order yet. You’ll often deal with sales quotes in bulk orders or custom orders, where you need to create special items for a customer.

Download Free Excel Inventory Template: Sales Quote

Excel sales order template: confirm orders for picking, packing, and shipping

A sales order (SO) is a document given to customers before the delivery of goods or services. The information on a sales order is very similar to a purchase order, including the products, quantities, pricing, and totals. Much like a purchase order, these work as a great reference to the terms of the sale. If any issues arise, you can simply go back and check your sales order.

POs and SOs go hand in hand, so these two Excel inventory templates work really well together.   

Download Free Excel Inventory Template: Sales Order

Excel pick list template: batch pick items faster and with more accuracy

We’ve written an article about pick lists and how they can help you prepare orders faster. If you pick orders one at a time, then a pick list can improve your workflow by enabling batch picking. When your warehouse workers can retrieve products for several orders at a time, you can save a few extra hours each week.

Download Free Excel Inventory Template: Pick List

Excel bill of materials (BOM) template: define kits for assemblies and sub-assemblies

A bill of materials (BOM) outlines the specific components that make up an item. In other words, it’s like a recipe for manufacturing. BOMs are sometimes called product structures or associated lists. They are most commonly used in manufacturing companies to create items from raw materials.

The act of using a BOM to create finished goods comes in the form of a work order (WO). For example, if you manufacture sunglasses, your work order would detail that you need 20 pairs of lenses and 10 frames.

However, a work order can sometimes be the same as a purchase order (PO). One company might send a work order to another company to request their products/services.

Download Free Excel Inventory Template: Bill of Materials(BOM)

When Excel inventory templates aren’t enough: signs you need inventory software

Excel templates are a great place to start for an up-and-coming business. They’re flexible and familiar to most people, since Excel is already widely used in most businesses. But at some point, the limitations of these templates will start to show.

So how do you know when you’ve outgrown these templates? Well, if you’re spending more time fixing spreadsheets than actually managing inventory, that’s usually a sign. But don’t worry, this is a natural step all growing businesses experience, and it’s exactly why inventory software is so useful.

When spreadsheets start to break down and fail

Spreadsheets have some pretty common issues that make long-term use risky. You might recognize a few of these:

• Version control issues: Multiple files, multiple edits, and no clear “source of truth”.
• Formula errors: One small mistake can throw off your entire inventory count.
• No audit trail: Hard to track who changed what, and when.
• Limited collaboration: Things get messy fast when multiple people are updating the same file simultaneously.
• Multi-location complexity: Managing inventory across multiple warehouses becomes much more complex.

Individually, you might be able to manage these. But when they start to stack, that’s when things get tricky. While these may seem like minor inconveniences, they’re costly mistakes that can lead to stockouts, double orders, or missed shipments.

What to look for in inventory software

So, when it’s time to move to inventory software, how do you know what to look for when upgrading? Here’s some must-have features that should help you:

• Product catalog: a central hub to manage all your items, SKUs, variants, and descriptions.
• Stock level tracking: real-time visibility into what’s on hand, reserved, and available.
• Purchase orders: create and send POs to vendors, with automatic stock updates upon receipt.
• Sales orders: track customer orders from quote to fulfillment to invoicing.
• Low stock alerts: get notified when inventory drops below your reorder points.
• Reporting: clear insights into inventory value, stock movement, and sales/purchase activity.
• Multi-location support: track inventory across multiple warehouses or storage locations.
• Barcodes: speed up receiving, picking, and stock counts with barcode scanning workflows.
• Integrations: connect with accounting tools like QuickBooks or Xero and sales channels like Shopify or Amazon.
• User permissions: control who can see and do what across your team.

This is where software like inFlow comes in. Instead of patching together spreadsheets, you connect every aspect of your business into a single centralized system.

How inFlow replaces each Excel template

Now, you might be wondering exactly how inFlow will replace each of the above templates, so let’s break it down:

• Product list → Products
  Manage all your items, variants, and stock levels in a centralized product catalog.
• Purchase order template → Purchasing
  Create, send, and receive purchase orders while automatically updating inventory.
• Sales order template → Sales
  Track customer orders from quotes to sales orders, to fulfillment, all the way to invoicing.
• Pick list → Fulfillment
  Generate pick lists and packing slips to streamline order processing
• Bill of materials (BOM) → inFlow Manufacturing
  Build finished goods from components and sub-assemblies with full visibility into inventory usage.

With inFlow, there’s no more juggling multiple spreadsheets or struggling to keep everything up to date and synced. Our software guarantees less manual work, fewer errors, and a lot more clarity across your entire inventory workflow.

FAQ

What is an Excel inventory template?

An Excel inventory template is a prebuilt spreadsheet designed to help you track and manage your stock without having to start from scratch. Depending on the type, it can help you record product details, monitor stock levels, create purchase orders, or manage sales. They’re free, flexible, and a great starting point for small businesses that are just getting their inventory processes in order.

What types of inventory templates do small businesses need?

Most small businesses benefit from a combination of templates rather than just one. A product list gives you a master catalog of everything you carry. An inventory list tracks what’s actually on hand. Purchase orders and sales orders document what’s coming in and going out. And if you’re in fulfillment or manufacturing, pick lists and bills of materials round can be very useful.

What’s the difference between a product list and an inventory list template?

A product list is your master catalog. It captures the basics, such as product name, SKU, cost, and retail price. An inventory list builds on that by adding stock quantities, reorder levels, and reorder quantities. Think of the product list as what you sell and the inventory list as how much of it you have. If you’re just getting started, the product list comes first.

How do I know when Excel templates are no longer enough?

A good rule of thumb: if you’re spending more time fixing your spreadsheets than actually managing your inventory, it’s time to move on. Common warning signs include version control issues, formula errors that skew your counts, a lack of a clear audit trail, and difficulty collaborating with your team. These problems tend to stack up fast as your business grows, and that’s when inventory software becomes the smarter move.

What are the best practices for managing inventory with spreadsheets?

Keep it simple and consistent. Use one template per function (don’t cram everything into one sheet), update your records in real time rather than in batches, and always back up your files. Standardize your SKUs from day one so your product list, inventory list, and order templates all speak the same language. And if multiple people are touching the same file, establish clear ownership to avoid conflicting edits.

What inventory software should I use when I outgrow Excel?

When spreadsheets start holding you back, dedicated inventory software like inFlow gives you everything your templates covered, including product catalogs, purchase orders, sales orders, pick lists, and BOMs, all in one connected system. The big difference is that updates happen automatically, stock levels adjust in real time, and your whole team works from the same source of truth.