How to Start a New Inventory Audit (Offline Audit)

An inventory audit is how you count what is physically on your shelves and make Mantle match it. You can audit your whole inventory or just a small selection of it. Every audit is tracked in Mantle, so you can always see if and when one was attempted or completed.

This FAQ covers an OFFLINE inventory audit. With an offline audit, you download a CSV from Mantle, count your items (either by typing your counts into the CSV, or by printing the CSV and writing counts and notes on paper first), enter the counted numbers into the CSV, and then upload it back to Mantle.

Steps to Start an Offline Inventory Audit:

1. Open the Inventory Audit Screen
   • From the dashboard, open the menu bar and click INVENTORY.
   • In the sub menu that appears, select INVENTORY AUDIT.
   • A new window will appear on the right side of the screen. Any inventory audits you have started will be listed here.
2. Start a New Audit
   • In the upper right side of the window, click the blue NEW AUDIT button. Use this to start a full inventory audit or a smaller audit of any selection of inventory
   • Note: If you have an open inventory audit, you will not be able to start a new one until you finish or cancel the previous one.
   • Note: All audits, including cancelled and completed ones, are tracked on the main audit screen. This lets you see if or when an audit was attempted or completed
3. Choose What You Want to Audit
   • After you click NEW AUDIT, a new screen appears.
   • To start a new partial audit, select PRODUCT LINE.
   • If you have set up custom product filters ([LINK: How to Add Custom Product Filters FAQ]), they will appear after you select the product line and open the MORE FILTERS drop down menu, in about the middle of your screen.
   • Once you have picked your filters, click APPLY FILTERS on the right side of the top menu area. Your selection will load into the bottom half of the screen.
   • Note: You must select a product category to continue. If you do not select a category, you will get an empty CSV.
   • Note: You will want to select your filters before leaving the audit page, as returning to the audit later will not allow you to reselect the filter or select the filter if none had been chosen.
4. Start the Offline Audit and Download the CSV
   • In the middle of your screen, select OFFLINE AUDIT.
   • Helpful Hint: If you want to do a rolling audit, you can add your counts right on this screen without downloading a CSV. For more information, see [LINK: Rolling Inventory Audit FAQ].
   • A pop up window will ask if you want to perform an offline inventory audit and download the CSV. Click CONFIRM.
   • A new window will open to download the CSV. You can leave the file name as it is or change it to whatever you see fit.
   • Suggestion: Changing the file name to the category can help if you are going to perform multiple audits.
5. Open the CSV
   • Download the CSV and open it.
   • Important: For now, the CSV includes information that should not be changed. Please do NOT edit any of these columns: inventory_location_id, inventory_id, store_id, parent_sku, child_sku, product_description, store_name, quantity.
   • Physical Quantity (physical_qty) is the column where you enter your counts.
   • store_name identifies your location, which matters if you store inventory in more than one place.
   • Example: If you also use Mantle to track inventory in a different spot, such as a basement, warehouse, or safe, that location will show up here too, as long as it has ever had inventory, even if it is zero now.
6. Count and Enter Your Numbers
   • Make your physical inventory counts and fill them into the CSV.
   • Important: If you enter a ZERO (0) into the sheet, your count will show zero quantity on hand. If you leave a cell BLANK, no changes will be made to that item.
   • When you are done, save your CSV.
7. Upload the CSV
   • On the audit screen, on the left hand side, click CHOOSE FILES TO UPLOAD and select your saved file.
   • Once the file is uploaded, Mantle will take a few seconds to read the file and load the data onto your screen.
8. Review the Variance Column
   • On the right hand side, look at the VARIANCE column. It shows any changes to the inventory you just counted.
   • GREEN means your counted amount matches what Mantle expected.
   • YELLOW means your counted amount was different from what Mantle expected.
   • WHITE means no change was made to that inventory location. This usually means a blank was uploaded for that item.
9. Fix Any Mistake
   • If you notice a typo or a mistyped count, you can correct the item directly on the screen, OR correct it in the CSV and upload the CSV again.
   • Any changes will show in the VARIANCE column once the file loads.
10. Add Comments (Optional)
    • If you want to leave comments for yourself or for your own internal SOPs, scroll down if you need to. In the bottom left of the screen there is a text box for comments.
    • Suggestion: We recommend noting any oddities, or if inventory was found in a completely wrong location and had to be recounted.
11. Submit the Audit
    • Below the filters, at the top of the inventory columns, look in the middle right for the SUBMIT button. Clicking it finalizes the audit. After that, you cannot make any more changes to this audit.
    • Note: If you need to make changes later, you can always make an adjustment ([LINK: Adjustments FAQ]) or run another audit.
    • After you click SUBMIT, a pop up asks you to confirm or reject the changes.
      • Reject: Takes you back to the previous screen with no changes made.
      • Confirm: Makes the changes and closes the audit.
12. After You Confirm
    • • The screen changes slightly once the audit is confirmed. You can no longer upload or make changes to this audit. If you need to change an item, go to ADJUSTMENT or start another audit.

    Anything that had a physical count now shows the same color coding as before: GREEN for a match, and YELLOW for a difference between what Mantle expected and what you counted.