You already did the hard part. You started counting. You understood why it matters. You learned the vocabulary. You saw the spreadsheet break down. Now you need a tool that does the work you have been doing manually: calculating usage, setting PAR levels, and telling you what to order. You do not start over. You carry your data forward.
If you have read through the articles in this series, you already know more about inventory than most small business owners ever will. You understand what a count is, why it matters, how it connects to your P&L, what PAR levels do, why spreadsheets fail, and how to keep multiple locations consistent. That is not nothing. That is the foundation of a system.
The question now is simple: do you keep doing all of this manually, or do you let a tool do the calculations for you?
The biggest fear operators have about switching from a spreadsheet (or a clipboard) to an app is that they will lose their data. They spent weeks building their item list. They have counts from the last few weeks. They do not want to start from zero.
You do not start from zero. TrackItWeekly lets you import your existing item list directly. Your item names, your units, your starting quantities, all come with you. The import takes minutes. After that, the app takes over the work you were doing manually: calculating usage averages, setting PAR levels, and generating order recommendations.
You are not abandoning your spreadsheet. You are graduating from it.
| What You Were Doing | What the App Does Instead |
|---|---|
| Writing formulas to calculate usage | Automatic from your weekly counts |
| Guessing PAR levels from memory | Calculated from rolling 3-week averages |
| Comparing last week to this week manually | Side-by-side view on your phone |
| Figuring out what to order | App shows exactly what is below PAR and how many to order |
| Emailing yourself a summary | Finish and Notify sends the summary automatically |
| Comparing locations in separate sheets | All locations in one dashboard |
| Forgetting to count | App reminds you on count day |
| Counting on a laptop in the office | Counting on your phone in the stockroom |
The count itself does not change. You still walk the stockroom. You still look at what you have. You still enter the numbers. The app just does everything that comes after the count: the math, the comparison, the recommendation. The parts that were breaking down in your spreadsheet.
Day one: Import your item list (or enter items manually if you do not have a spreadsheet). Set up your first location. This takes 5 to 10 minutes if you have a list, or 20 to 30 minutes if you are entering from scratch.
Day one (continued): Do your first count. Walk the stockroom with your phone. Enter quantities for each item. The app records them. This takes 30 to 90 minutes depending on your item count.
Day one (after count): Tap Finish and Notify. The app emails you a summary of your count. No formulas, no spreadsheet, no manual math.
Week two: Count again on the same day. The app now has two data points and starts showing usage patterns.
Week three: Count again. The app now has a rolling 3-week average and starts calculating PAR levels for your items.
Week four: The app shows you what to order. Items below PAR are flagged. The recommended order quantity is calculated for you. You review, adjust if needed, and place your order.
From week four on, the system runs itself. You count, you review, you order. The app does the math.
Plans start at $19 per month for a single location with up to 500 items. The Growth plan is $79 per month for up to 5 locations with unlimited items and reorder alerts. The Scale plan is $149 per month for up to 10 locations with advanced analytics.
Every plan includes a 14-day free trial. No credit card required. You can count, see your usage data, and get order recommendations before you pay anything.
If the app does not make your weekly count and order process faster and more accurate than your spreadsheet, you have not lost anything. The trial is free. The data you generate during the trial is yours.
That is fine. The articles in this series work whether you use a spreadsheet, a notepad, or an app. The habit of counting on the same day every week matters more than the tool you use to record it.
If you want to start with a notepad and a simple count, read I Don't Track Inventory. How Do I Start?. If your spreadsheet is working but you want to understand the terms you will need eventually, read Inventory Terms Explained.
The app will be here when you are ready. The count is the foundation. The app is the tool that builds on it. You can start the foundation today, with or without the app.
Whether you use a notepad, a spreadsheet, or TrackItWeekly, the first step is the same: pick a day, walk your stockroom, and write down what you have. That is it. Everything in this series builds on that one action.
If you are ready to let the app do the math for you, start your free trial at app.trackitweekly.com/register. Import your items, do your first count, and see your numbers. No credit card, no commitment, no risk.
You already did the hard part. You understand the system. Now you just need a tool that runs it for you.
If you want to revisit any part of the journey before you start:
Import your existing item list into the app. Your item names, units, and starting quantities come with you. You do not start from zero. After the import, the app takes over the calculations you were doing manually: usage averages, PAR levels, and order recommendations. The count itself does not change. You still walk the stockroom and enter numbers. The app does the math.
Plans start at $19 per month for a single location with up to 500 items. The Growth plan is $79 per month for up to 5 locations with unlimited items. The Scale plan is $149 per month for up to 10 locations. Every plan includes a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Day one: import your items and do your first count. Week two: count again, the app starts showing usage. Week three: the app calculates a rolling average and sets PAR levels. Week four: the app shows you what to order. From there, the system runs itself.
No. TrackItWeekly lets you import your existing item list, including item names, units, and starting quantities. You are not abandoning your spreadsheet. You are graduating from it.
Yes. Every plan includes a 14-day free trial. No credit card required. You can import your items, do your first count, see your usage data, and get order recommendations before you pay anything.